Disclaimer: This article is based on a bunch of statistics that have been picked up from reliable sources (Hey! Google is reliable!). This is not meant to defame any babaji and give their devotees any idea that might compel them to reconsider their faith in the respective babajis. This is a light hearted article meant for the entertainment of those students who are currently supposed to be working on the essay that’s due tomorrow and the working men who are supposed to be working on their big presentation but, are in front of their computer screens. Because well,
Any resemblance to any person/ thing/ Babaji is purely coincidental.
Lakkad Baba, Noodle Baba and what-not-baba– rings a bell? (What up, Sarabhai v/s Sarabhai reference!)
Spirituality, says wiki, is the search for the sacred, for that which is set apart from the ordinary and worthy of veneration, “a transcendent dimension within human experience…discovered in moments in which the individual questions the meaning of personal existence and attempts to place the self within a broader ontological context.”
But there’s so much more to it, if we dig deeper into the [mal(?)]practices that take place throughout the nation.
God is one. But His manifestations are many. And those manifestations, or babajis as we call them have so much more to them than meets the eye.
The first one obviously being the recent couple of cases that made it to the front pages- those of such men being indulged in criminal activities, ranging from drug dealing to manhandling to sexually assaulting their very own devotees! (Taking no names here. Can’t handle lawsuits so early in my career.:P)
Not to forget the very logical comments made by some of them on some of the most horrifying criminal acts that the country has ever witnessed (Reference: The statement issued by Asaraamji on the Nirbhaya murder case in which he stated that the victim should have addressed her predators as “brothers” in order to save herself and in the statement, somewhere suggesting that she was indeed “asking for it”).
But. This isn’t even it. What we’ve seen throughout and I shit you not when I say this, but Babajism (yayy! I just coined a new term!) is a very lucrative business indeed. A lot of babajis have been accused of trading the faith of their devotees in exchange for money (Hey! We are not claiming anything! So say the papers).
Starting with the monthly/weekly spiritual session that you’ve already got your seats booked for (How much did you pay for it by the way? :P), there are pendants and strings and bracelets and what not with magical powers to keep you from the evil eye! And like that wasn’t enough, a lot of them have even set up their own line of medicinal items and beauty products. Be it that common cold that’s been bothering you for a while (Gaumootra on the rocks, bitches. B|) or the intestinal issues or asthma or well, constipated bowels, Babaji’s got it all sorted for you. Apart from the spiritual lectures on faith and reverence (for which you’ve obviously paid up a lot already), Babaji also gives away these medicines (or as we’d call it- Babaji ki booti). Because the messengers of God to the rescue! Aww Yeah. But wait! You didn’t think you were gonna get all that for free, did you? xD
But hey! We are not, in any possible way, trying to say that all of ‘em are alike. But well, there might be a few who could just be. Can’t completely cross out the possibility now, can we?
P.S.- If you’re wondering why that business deal that you’ve been chasing isn’t working out, maybe go out and pamper your taste buds with jalebi (there is a strong possibility kripa vahin ruki hogi!), we’ll tell you that and won’t charge you a single penny for that!
By Dhwani Mohan
