Swami Nityananda incident

So here we go again, yet another Swami caught on camera having sex and the “God man” from being a revered person has now suddenly become public enemy number one due to his sexual escapades being caught on tape and subsequently being aired on every TV channel.

There are people who are divided on this topic and I shall try to address their opinions on this topic while putting forth my own. This incident has raised a whole gamut of questions which I shall raise and subsequently try to answer them, without probably being able to provide any concrete solutions to them.

1. Why are they given this kind of importance in the first place?
The answer to this is the same as the one I give to my North Indian friends when they ask me why the south Indian actors have such a mass following. It’s because the masses consider these God men to be kin to God. The early South Indian actors such as MGR and NT Rama Rao played mythological figures in movies and so the masses consider these actors to be Gods themselves and to their credit they did do their bit in alleviating the sufferings of the masses. So when they made a transition from movies to politics they were very successful. So now you know why Rajnikanth is so popular in Tamil Nadu.

2. Should they given this kind of importance?
Honestly, I don’t think so. I mean, give any ordinary man a few beers to drink and he’ll preach the same things that our Swamis do, and might actually do a better job than them.

3. Was it wrong or sinful of him to have sex?
Not unless he blackmailed or forced the woman into having sex with him. I haven’t seen the video and I won’t see it either, not because I don’t enjoy sex videos, but the fact that if I really want to watch some pornography I’d rather watch something with better quality and picture and sound clarity.

Our history is replete with stories and incidents of sages, god men having sex with women. The most famous example that comes to my mind is that of Vyasa whose act of copulation with Ambalika and Ambika (known as Niyoga) resulted in the birth of Pandu and Dhritarashtra respectively.

The Raven, whose blog I frequently read, has a different take on this whole issue. He’s appalled by the fact that there is so much mileage being given to this issue while we, the government in particular, have conveniently forgotten about the case where a senior police officer who has received honours from the government, was in fact a deranged psychopath who molested a young and ultimately drove her to commit suicide. Why is it that criminals like the one aforementioned, are allowed to get away scot-free? Why focus so much a Swami and his sexual escapades instead?


But there’s another that stills remains unanswered. Why is it that certain incidents create a greater furore than others which seem to be of grave importance? I guess this can best be explained by Dr. Peter M. Sandman’s equation:-

RISK = HAZARD+OUTRAGE

Mr. Sandman goes on to explain that in this equation hazard and outrage do not have equal weightage.”When hazard is high and outrage is low, people underreact,” he says. “And when hazard is low and outrage is high, they overreact.”

This should explain why a Swami’s sex tape creates more sensation that a state Governor’s (And I guess he would take that as an insult). A Swami is a revered man, whereas a Governor or any politician for that matter is looked upon by an average Indian to have been involved in some sort of wrongdoing. Hence the former create more media sensation.
It’s perfectly alright for a 40 year old Muslim actor to drink alcohol and have numerous girlfriends and have premarital sex, whereas it is sinful for a Muslim woman to wear skirts and play sports. In India, the latter has causes more outrage and hence the over-reaction.

There is where I believe the media has a bigger role to play. Unfortunately, every time there is a new story for the news channels to telecast, the older issues, which sometimes are more important, are put on the backburner. It’s not just the media but all of us that need use our senses and tackle issues which are of greater importance to our society.

Brothers in Alms

I've just finished reading a post written by my schoolmate Kiran Rao about his encounter with a "child-beggar" and how it got him thinking if he was committing a moral offence by giving alms. I've always been against the idea of giving alms to beggars irrespective of how old/young they are. But now, it has really got me thinking.

A few months back my cousin and I were waiting at a busy traffic signal waiting for the light to turn green, when an old man walked up to us asking for money. I firmly but politely turned him down, only for him to be called back by cousin, who gave him a Rs. 10 note. Needless to say, I didn't approve of my cousin's deed of charity. I told him that he was encouraging begging, a social evil eating up our society, instead of fighting it, and that one should work to earn a living. My cousin argued that the guy had probably got so used to begging through all his years that he just lacked the motivation to work for food. So does that mean that we do our bit in killing whatever little motivation is left in him by offering him easy money, I quipped. The signal turned green, and our topic of discussion changed as my bike soared through the busy streets of Ameerpet. Come to think of it now, what if that old man didn't receive any alms that day, and he turned to stealing to sustain himself ? And then made a habit of it, because he finds it more convenient and less despicable, if not honourable.

Out on the streets we have the able bodied and the physically impaired beggars. Some of these beggars have families and are forced to beg by their parents who in all likelihood are beggars themselves. The others beg and earn money for their dalaals, who in return for the money earned by these kids, provides them with food and shelter.

Kiran writes "what the parents don’t see are that if the kid goes to school instead of wasting his childhood in begging, he’ll probably get a proper "job" and in the long run make more money". Kids in poor families, are looked upon as a source of income, which explains why most of the maids who have worked/work in our houses have more than 3 kids who do odd jobs to support her (there may be exceptions, but these would be very few in number, so few that one could actually count them on their fingers and toes). These kids are expected are contribute to the expenses of the family, and sending them to school would not only mean that they wouldn't be contributing much financially, but would also be an added expense to their parents.

This pops up another question... Why are some kids forced to beg by their parents instead of being encouraged to work? Well, this happens only in the case of those whose parents are lazy bums, and want their kids to make money without breaking a sweat.


I don't think I have ever given money to an able bodied child. I've always believed that when a child begged for money, they ought to be turned down and told to work instead of begging. Even if one kid out of 100 pays heed and actually works to earn his/her money, our society would change for good. The parents of such at the end of the day only care if the money is in and not really worry about how their kid got it. Mind you, by asking kids to work I am in no way endorsing the idea of child-labour.

I was just about to finish this post with a couple of more lines, when I realized that all along I was just talking about the able-bodied. What about those who are genuinely handicapped? What work could a man with no hands possibly get? Begging racket in India is as prevalent and affluent as the drug cartel in South America. Infants and homeless young kids are nabbed or enticed with the lure of food and shelter and their body parts are then mutilated and are forced into begging. What about the torture that they go through? Who will save these unfortunate ones from their misery? Will we ever be able to do that? I believe I've answered some of the questions my friend raised. Who's going to answer the questions that I've raised? Or will some questions forever remain unanswered???