The Divine Madness

The Divine Madness

This has just been borrowed from the spiritual page but has nothing to do with my godly intentions , for once. I have two friends who will be heaving a sigh over this.

The building is broken down,paint peeling off, there are more plants growing on the parapets and the nooks of the walls than in the so called main garden. The path way to the building doesn't exist and has more sand than the beaches of Bondi. The rooms are cubby holes smeared with a paint which is of the bygone era bleached of life, windows with iron bars as if blocking away any ray of light or sunshine which might dare to creep and spread some warmth. The floor doesn't exist , uneven strewn with excuses of desks and chairs. The black board has no slate on it. The walls have faded painted alphabets ,both in Roman English and Punjabi but lines have disappeared as if the struggle to survive was too much . The entire compound has a dead , neglected feel. 

This is a prominent village in Doaba , a senior secondary school run by the government.

Punjab , a rich state in ruins now fallen  is holding its SGPC elections today. The polling booth was made for the electorate , each siding fighting for the Panth and holding the keys to heaven and salvation . It's  a wonder where the ideology is lost , it is more important and mandatory to have a flowing beard , Yes, I understand that one has to comply with the signs of being a sikh , the 5 symbols which are given to  us by Guru sahib to discipline us . Why has rigidity set in the newest most flexible religion ? Why have we become prisoners to the interpretations of a few hard-core religious extremists? Extremism, excess always positions itself for fall eventually. It digs its own grave .

The scene at the booth was hilarious but sad at the same time ( pun intended) , everyone was proclaiming to vote for the panth, a triangular contest was on cards . One was the true son of the guru -ghar , the second was for the real akali dal and the third one was the hard-core alkali dal ( Amritsar). All of them , were clad in white kurta pajamas, impressive with their blue turbans and respectable lengths of beard. I wonder , which oil works for the long , right colored salt pepper beards ?

There is also a point for wonder...how do all of them get pointy in the end? Even Dumbeldore was shown with the same flowing beard , our one and only export to Holly wood apart from Ms Mallika and her ample bosom.The religious battle is won on only one platform divinity which is guarded by the SGPC which till date does not allow women to do kirtan in the Drabar Hall. Nor is a Hindu or a muslim allowed to do seva , where the basis of Nanak's Bani was sung with the help of Bala and Mardana. Who appointed us as the moral guardians of a faith which is the most modern , is the only one in the world which treats all of us equals is tolerant , and started the unique practice of a communal kitchen where no one is big , small , rich or poor . But , the crusaders have turned sellers of religion where vote is bought on basis of emotion. I saw the common man , woman voting just because it was for the guru-ghar , that effectively seals every question, doubt ever raised by one. No one dare raise a voice of dissent because doing so means questioning  the Supreme. No one ever wants to be caught in that cross-fire , believe me.

We need a reform where we can in corporate the newer generation, intellectuals which will make Sikhism flourish and not be strangulated or die a slow death .This divine madness which will be our downfall needs resurrection , to save it for Punjab which shall rise as a phoenix.

Ravneet Sangha.