Post Monsoon Spiritual Jamborees

Monsoons having subsided, and there will be only a very brief stint of evening thunder showers due to the retreating winds in October-November, it's great time for spiritual gatherings and jamborees in Kerala. Whoever named Kerala 'God's own country' may not be aware of the fact that during certain months, so many Gods get spruced up across the state.

I wonder if a small state like ours could accommodate so many such divine Personnel(Blasphemy??). I am not speaking of temple festivals, which have an active participation of the general masses, and are more or less based on customs and conventions of the locality. In temples too, rapid commercialization is going on, and the aggressive ad campaigns initiated by some temple authorities vouch for the fact.

Our urban elite needs something more sophisticated, something more urbane, and the new trend is discourses on the Geetha, for 7 -10 days. Like a coffee club party, some people gather, and decide to do something to disseminate the message of the Geetha, and the rest progresses as usual, like any other fund raising program anywhere in the state. These very people, who by temperament never need to be near the message of the Geetha, look upon the opportunity as a forum for socializing.

One Chartered Accountant( he is the de-facto head of anything spiritual in my home town; someone there to question his birth right?), a couple of retired technocrats, a score of middle level technicians, and several bank, insurance, and government clerks (some even flaunt as officers – poor guys!!1), and some advocates (most of them have nothing to do at bar) make a wonderful recipe of a 'spiritual pot pouri committee.' I had witnessed one such group making a request to self introduce, when the real message of the Geetha is to realize self! Without realizing self, how can we introduce ourselves is never a question that disturbs such groups.