During the holy month of Shravan, people have kept a tradition of worshiping the 'shivling' with milk. With hundreds of thousands of shivlings around the country, the milk flows out of the temples into the gutters and go waste. On these occasions, our national lives balance on the razor edge of reason that separates superstition from reality. On the one hand, millions of children that are drowned in poverty go to bed without milk. On the other hand, thousands of litres of milk roll over the marble smoothness of God's idol and drain away under our feet.
Ahmedabad Mirror raised a campaign to dissuade people from wasting milk but donate the same for an earthly and humane cause. People responded. Both Ahmedabad Mirror and the people of Gujarat deserve appreciation for this imaginative and practical initiative that has given support to the needy people of the land. And as a result, the milk that was destined to drain away - has now quenched the thirst of the needy. At the end, a sigh, a smile of gratitude, a day spent well and a sleep of satisfaction.
There is a similar flux of wasteful practices around the places of worship in the country. For example the lighting of 'diyas' in the temples of south India with oil, which in effect amounts to thousands of liters of oil every day that can otherwise be used for alleviating poverty. Millions of candles that are lit in churches and other places release toxic smoke into the air whose effects are not fully gauged. Thousands of floating diyas left to float in our rivers like in Ganga at Hardwar sink in the waters and not only waste resources but also pollute the waters. I guess we need a detailed study on practices in the places of worship that do more harm than good, except that they give an irrational satisfaction to the superstitious minds. Avoiding them would in no way derogatory to faith.
People working together and raising mutual help and mutual aid is more effective, direct and result oriented than the grandiose programmes of the Government that are brought into force through election manifestos or high powered political campaigns. 'Garibi Hatao' has not removed poverty. 'Awas jojna' has not brought shelter to those whose lives are spent under the sky. 'Subsidized ration' has not filled the stomachs of people. Most of these campaigns have a long chain of people between 'command and compliance' and by the time the benefit trickles down to the needy, it will either be late or too meager or subverted upstream. Therefore, people working at the ground level with simple objectives like the Gujarat Shravan experiment by Ahmedabad Mirror could be far more effective, timely and useful.
Let us worship the virtues of life. Let us milk the nipples of mind that could pour mercy.
V.K.Saxena
President
National Council For Civil Liberties
Ahmedabad.
