Atleast It’s Not Our Conman

I was diagnosed with Dengue less than two weeks back. The strange journey towards this discovery could be a piece of its own, with modern medicine being hopelessly close to failing me but being effective when it mattered. Urban residents like me will rarely take the time to reflect and appreciate the healthcare we have but the realisation dawned on me as I watched Panchkula on 25th August.
I requested my father to not change the channel from the coverage of the Gurmeet Singh Verdict. A passing retort he gave stuck with me and I felt a strong irritation brewing inside. He suggested that the followers who had gathered were fools while completely ignoring the fact that a few days back, he sent a copper ring from work for me to wear so that I don’t get sick again. The idea was for me to wear it for a few days and recite the Hanuman Chalisa before going to bed. I was incensed, not necessarily by the superstitious belief, but because I had just finished a round of therapy sessions on anxiety and if I had started this ritual, I would never stop. Fear is powerful enough for us to never let it go, even as we see it eating us from the inside- a fact many ‘godmen’, groups, and corporations exploit astutely.
A large portion of the Indians who celebrated Gurmeet Singh’s conviction are similar to my father. They will gladly rejoice the downfall of a ‘fake Godman’ while shielding their gurus, cults, astrologists, Vaastu, crystals, numerologists, palmists, and other ‘miracle workers’ from any criticism. Education, social class, and lifestyle have no bearing on this behaviour which often comes out of a fear of losing the status quo. The 21st Century holds no sway on these irrationalities but seems to be evolving with the new technological developments.
Western Horoscopes, ‘trusted’ WhatsApp forwards, and several hipster pseudo-sciences which crop up everyday exploit the same fear and uncertainty used by our spiritual conmen. When appealing to fear, you don’t have to dress up something to perfection to make it believable because your target has already had the thoughts you’re trying to communicate.
We lived in a flat numbered 602 in the A wing but on the suggestion of Numerologist Sanjay Jummani, it was changed to 602-B, causing endless confusion to delivery executives for a decade. We have had furniture relocated and idols/images placed at specific points based on vaastu suggestions. I spent several hours in the lead-up to my ICSE examinations, writing my signature several times on a blank piece of paper based on the suggestions of a handwriting analyst cum Astrologist. I met her again a few years back where she rued the mess I had made of my life and said I should do a MBA in HR and I will do good in film/TV production but my writing won’t take me far. I refused to believe her or cave into that fear again.
Every good thing which happens in our life should be credited to them in some way while our miseries are our own fault (or our stars) either in this life or the previous one. The abdication of our self-worth and self-esteem for such assurances is a harrowing experience so intense, that even as I write, I am contemplating if some abstract force in the universe will punish me for this blasphemy.
We cannot be certain that our conmen could be involved in heinous crimes like rape or murder but Gurmeet Singh’s case isn’t in isolation from the news available to us everyday. Mumbai’s newspapers will frequently feature news stories about ‘godmen’ who have been arrested for sex crimes, often involving minors. A strange phenomenon is when these stories surface in the form of questions in the popular Sex-Ed column of Mumbai Mirror where a survivor often wonders whether he or she has just been assaulted (Dr Watsa has said he has been receiving such queries since the 70s). The column has attained such a cult status as a source of humour and voyeurism that even such horrifying confessions are not taken as cognisance of a toxic culture which needs to be reined in by law and order.
A dangerous man has been sent to jail this week but the blind faith which he espoused has left death and destruction as his swansong. We will decry the foolishness of those ‘blind’ men and women, never realising that we are in the same boat as them, even if our madness isn’t as visible as theirs.
I celebrate the conviction of a rapist and the justice won for the survivors. But the exploitation of fear he symbolises is far from defeated.
