The ways of politicians
By: K S S Pillai
Politics in some parts of the country has become so crooked that wily politicians use anything to get votes, including misinterpretation of religions.
Religion is a collection of beliefs, practices, and cultural systems that connect people to spirituality and sometimes morality. It can also refer to the worship of a supernatural being or power.
It is also described as a system of beliefs that helps people to understand the world and their relationship with God. A true religion leads to a way of life that involves love, compassion, and service to others, apart from living a pure life, separated from sin.
I have settled in a North Indian state where people belonging to one religion dominate. Real estate tycoons build high-rise buildings in cities with many flats, with customers of a particular religion in view, and shoo away those of other beliefs. It is thought safer for people of similar beliefs to live in proximity. The segregation of religious groups is so wide that people avoid going to an area that is dominated by people of another religion.
Most parts of my native state of Kerala are fortunately free from such segregation, though ‘vote bank politics’ has started raising its head in some areas. Political parties there usually have members from different communities and in their decision-making bodies. This is also the case while selecting candidates for election to various bodies. Votes are cast based on the policies of political parties and not on the candidate’s religion.
This factor is observed in all spheres of village life. Teashops are owned by people practising different religions, and people throng to them in the mornings, considering only the quality of drinks and food provided. Those who work in teashops are from any religion, which is a personal matter.
In Kochi, where I have a flat in a condominium, my neighbours are of different religions. We often visit one another, chat for long hours, and partake in tea or coffee along with eatables prepared by the womenfolk of the house, sometimes helped by the guests.
Children play together, giving no thought about their religion. It is impossible to say a person’s religion by looking at his dress and appearance. People do not mind when sounds from different places of worship mix with the cacophony created by birds and the drone of aircraft flying in the distance.
This trend is followed in various festivals. The villages have a mixed population of all religions, with temples, mosques, and churches in each place. During childhood, we bathed in the nearby Pamba River, visited the nearest temple, applied sandal paste to our foreheads, returned home, and got ready for school. Christians used to go to their churches on Sundays, and Muslims to their mosques on Fridays.
Most parts of the year witness festivals in these places, and all residents enjoy them. Some even attend interesting speeches or hear them from loudspeakers at their homes. They also attend entertainment programmes if they are to their liking.
Traders and their customers around these places belong to different religions. If the festival continues throughout the night, there would be a large crowd, and traditional gamblers, jugglers, beggars, fortune-tellers, and pick-pockets would swarm the place, and their victims would be from all sections.
There is a church belonging to a particular sect of Christians at Parumala, across the Pamba River, and it is customary for the devotees to cover the distance to the church by walking, even from far-off places. They are provided free resting places, cold water bottles, buttermilk and similar drinks by people of different religions. When processions are taken out from the places of worship, they are received with respect by various organizations.
It is the custom among Hindus that when a marriage proposal comes, the first thing both families do is consult an astrologer to find out whether the horoscopes match. They proceed only when the green signal is obtained from the astrologer. People also visit him to find out the cause of the unprecedented obstacles they suddenly face. An astrologer friend has told me that the practice has now spread to non-Hindus, though their visits are kept secret.
(The author is a retired professor of English. A regular contributor to ‘The Kashmir Vision’, his articles and short stories have appeared in several national and international publications)
