Recently when I shared the news about one incident which happened in India where some people wanted to spread flowers in the path of rape convict Narayan Sai when police planned to take him to a hospital for a medical check-up and to a court for the demand of legal custody on my Facebook wall, one of my friends asked why people need these dhongi (fake, pretentious or cheat) gurus or babas? The answer is not that easy and straightforward. Why the heck these people want to glorify a rape convict or a criminal? This criminal was arrested after a manhunt for almost two months, he was trying his best to escape the law like any other criminal and he should be treated like that but I know that his devotees won't accept it, and we need to understand why they do this.
I think everyone needs some sort of counseling at different stages of their lives for various issues or problems they face. Parents, teachers, and other close relatives play this role in the early part of our lives, when we grow up our education is supposed to empower us to deal with most of these things on our own and if we can't then various books, movies, friends, and other resources can perform the role of counselor whenever needed. All these resources help us to deal with various issues and problems in our life. But not everyone has access to such resources for their mental health-related needs, and even if they have it's quite possible that sometimes even all these things combined can not answer all their questions, then they need someone to comfort them, someone to say to them that everything will be okay. Many times, these fake gurus fill this void in people's lives. People get attracted to these babas or gurus because they do mass counseling, initially for free to trap all their customers. These self-proclaimed gurus entirely depend on their personal charm, charisma, and fan following. Many of them have good oratory skills, good knowledge about many scriptures, great memory, and charming personality, but they are not professionally trained to offer any professional advice or consultation about any personal issues. But that's what most of them do and that's the main reason for their popularity. Hardly do people go to them just to listen to their speech, many visit them for consultation. Once they are popular they become powerful, their devotees become their strength, and many of them have so strong influence locally that it's very difficult even for law enforcement agencies to take any action against them even if any charges are pressed against them. The influence and clout of some of these people are so great that even people who suffer abuses from their hands don't dare to file any complaint against them. Many cases of financial irregularities, sexual abuse, or exploitation don't even get reported. All these benefits and immunity that come with this profession of babagiri have attracted many people with good memory and oratory skills into this profession. The case of Nirmal Baba who offers very absurd and stupid solutions to people's problems is one such example of popular baba.
Seeking the help of a counselor for any personal or professional problem is not a culture in India rather it's a taboo. Most people still hesitate to visit a psychiatrist or counselor. They always worry about what other people will think if they come to know that there are some mental health-related or personal issues in their lives. However, visiting any baba or anyone like him is not at all considered as something unusual, rather it's something that everyone loves to talk about. People like to discuss about greatness of their guru, the various powers he/she possesses, and also about miracles they can do. Even people visit these fake gurus to seek advice related to many medical issues this can be very dangerous but still they do it. The presence of such culture for centuries has created a very fertile environment for many such gurus and their cult movements. Some declare themselves an incarnation of some deity and exploit people's weaknesses and emotions. Actually, these fake counselors in the name of various babas and gurus fill the vacuum created by the absence of professional counselors in people's lives. This all needs to stop, but all these babas or gurus are not going to close their shops on their own. As long as there are customers and favorable market conditions they are going to sell their product. Also, we can not put the entire blame on these cheaters, people who buy their products, and government and law enforcement who don't take any actions to stop these practices are equally responsible for this. Actually, we need to make their product out of date if we want to remove their influence. We need to expose their fraud and wrongdoings systematically to stop their business. Some of these self-styled gurus are still worshiped by many even if they are facing serious charges like rape or sexual misconduct, and many of them fool people by making unverified claims and selling non-tested treatments for many diseases. People are blinded by their faith and problems and follow these people without any logic or thinking.
A tireless campaign against all these fake gurus is required. People with a rational mind and the capacity to think logically need to come together and work towards this goal. It won't be easy to challenge these fake gurus. Many devotees of all these gurus are like suicide squads they are willing to do anything for their guru or God. A very determined and systematic effort is required to free our society from the clutches of these evil-minded people who take advantage of the ignorance and weakness of people. People should take the help of some professional counselors rather than these types of babas for their medical, personal, and family problems. Professional help is always better as it's more reliable. NGOs also can play a crucial role in solving this need for professional counseling for people and with the help of everyone we can eradicate the need for these fake gurus from our society.
[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]
I think everyone needs some sort of counseling at different stages of their lives for various issues or problems they face. Parents, teachers, and other close relatives play this role in the early part of our lives, when we grow up our education is supposed to empower us to deal with most of these things on our own and if we can't then various books, movies, friends, and other resources can perform the role of counselor whenever needed. All these resources help us to deal with various issues and problems in our life. But not everyone has access to such resources for their mental health-related needs, and even if they have it's quite possible that sometimes even all these things combined can not answer all their questions, then they need someone to comfort them, someone to say to them that everything will be okay. Many times, these fake gurus fill this void in people's lives. People get attracted to these babas or gurus because they do mass counseling, initially for free to trap all their customers. These self-proclaimed gurus entirely depend on their personal charm, charisma, and fan following. Many of them have good oratory skills, good knowledge about many scriptures, great memory, and charming personality, but they are not professionally trained to offer any professional advice or consultation about any personal issues. But that's what most of them do and that's the main reason for their popularity. Hardly do people go to them just to listen to their speech, many visit them for consultation. Once they are popular they become powerful, their devotees become their strength, and many of them have so strong influence locally that it's very difficult even for law enforcement agencies to take any action against them even if any charges are pressed against them. The influence and clout of some of these people are so great that even people who suffer abuses from their hands don't dare to file any complaint against them. Many cases of financial irregularities, sexual abuse, or exploitation don't even get reported. All these benefits and immunity that come with this profession of babagiri have attracted many people with good memory and oratory skills into this profession. The case of Nirmal Baba who offers very absurd and stupid solutions to people's problems is one such example of popular baba.
Seeking the help of a counselor for any personal or professional problem is not a culture in India rather it's a taboo. Most people still hesitate to visit a psychiatrist or counselor. They always worry about what other people will think if they come to know that there are some mental health-related or personal issues in their lives. However, visiting any baba or anyone like him is not at all considered as something unusual, rather it's something that everyone loves to talk about. People like to discuss about greatness of their guru, the various powers he/she possesses, and also about miracles they can do. Even people visit these fake gurus to seek advice related to many medical issues this can be very dangerous but still they do it. The presence of such culture for centuries has created a very fertile environment for many such gurus and their cult movements. Some declare themselves an incarnation of some deity and exploit people's weaknesses and emotions. Actually, these fake counselors in the name of various babas and gurus fill the vacuum created by the absence of professional counselors in people's lives. This all needs to stop, but all these babas or gurus are not going to close their shops on their own. As long as there are customers and favorable market conditions they are going to sell their product. Also, we can not put the entire blame on these cheaters, people who buy their products, and government and law enforcement who don't take any actions to stop these practices are equally responsible for this. Actually, we need to make their product out of date if we want to remove their influence. We need to expose their fraud and wrongdoings systematically to stop their business. Some of these self-styled gurus are still worshiped by many even if they are facing serious charges like rape or sexual misconduct, and many of them fool people by making unverified claims and selling non-tested treatments for many diseases. People are blinded by their faith and problems and follow these people without any logic or thinking.
A tireless campaign against all these fake gurus is required. People with a rational mind and the capacity to think logically need to come together and work towards this goal. It won't be easy to challenge these fake gurus. Many devotees of all these gurus are like suicide squads they are willing to do anything for their guru or God. A very determined and systematic effort is required to free our society from the clutches of these evil-minded people who take advantage of the ignorance and weakness of people. People should take the help of some professional counselors rather than these types of babas for their medical, personal, and family problems. Professional help is always better as it's more reliable. NGOs also can play a crucial role in solving this need for professional counseling for people and with the help of everyone we can eradicate the need for these fake gurus from our society.
Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.
Links:
No comments:
Post a Comment