Can money buy happiness?

Money is important for everyone. This is not because money has certain inherent health benefits like some vitamins or other essential dietary components that we need, but because of the way our society is structured. We have decided to make money not only a currency but an essential commodity for survival in society. Even though everyone agrees that money is important, this one question is difficult to answer: Can money buy happiness?

My answer is "maybe," it all depends on what that person wants from their life. The relationship between money and happiness is complex and that's why it is often debated. Money can definitely contribute to certain aspects of happiness, such as financial security, physical comfort, and most importantly access to power and resources, however, its ability to directly buy happiness is limited and conditional and it varies from person to person. 

On one hand, having an adequate income can alleviate financial stress, provide for basic needs and other desires, and offer avenues for personal and social enjoyment and fulfillment. It can also enable individuals to pursue their passions, indulge in experiences, and enjoy certain standards of living that enhance their overall well-being. Also, financial stability can contribute to peace of mind, reduce anxiety and uncertainty about the future, and enable a person to help others. However, the pursuit of wealth has its own pitfalls and comes with its own problems. The pursuit of wealth and material possessions as a means to happiness can come at the cost of personal time, resulting in strained relationships, added stress and anxiety, and total dependency on that source of money. The research has shown that beyond a certain threshold, additional money does not necessarily lead to a proportional increase in happiness. This threshold can differ from person to person, but once basic needs are met, factors such as social connections, purposeful work, and personal growth become more significant determinants of happiness and financial wealth alone. Sometimes, the relentless pursuit of money can lead to a sense of emptiness, as individuals may find themselves trapped in a cycle of consumption and comparison, always chasing after the next possession or achievement in search of fulfillment. Unless inherited, wealth needs to be earned, and this pursuit of wealth can come at the expense of other important aspects of life such as health, leisure time, and quality relationships. Many people already complain about the long working hours they spend to accumulate wealth which leads to stress and burnout and neglect of one's physical and emotional wellbeing. The problem is even after knowing all this, people can't stop chasing money as they are trapped in the cycle of consumption and comparison.  

So, the point is, money can do a lot of things for you and it really depends on an individual and their priorities and situations if money can buy happiness for them or not. There was a time in my life when every issue and problem was related to money and I used to think only money could resolve all the issues, this was true for that particular phase, but not every phase of life is the same, our questions change and so the answers also change. Money can contribute to certain aspects of happiness, but true well-being and fulfillment stem from a multifaceted approach that encompasses various dimensions of life including the money dimension. Apart from money, cultivating meaningful relationships, pursuing passions and interests, contributing to the community, spreading kindness and love, and nurturing a sense of purpose are all essential components of a fulfilling life. True happiness arises from a holistic approach and money can be an integral part of this approach. One needs to decide how much and to what extent money is important for them and act accordingly. As individuals, we need to strike a balance between our financial well-being and the pursuit of happiness in a broader sense. 

Thank you for reading and please share your views on this topic. 

© Vinay Thakur, All rights reserved, Vinay can be reached at thevinay2022@gmail.com 

Sibling rivalry

Having siblings comes with its own pros and cons. The good part is that you always have someone to talk to and someone to look for support whenever you need it. On the other hand, you have to share almost everything with your siblings up to a particular age, you have someone nagging you all the time, and there is no way to escape this person even if you want to. Hence there is a popular phrase "sibling rivalry," even though siblings are not supposed to be rivals of each other. It is true that most sibling relationships go through a very volatile phase, this phase mostly starts in their teens and continues in their twenties, and then slowly things cool off and settle to bring some normalcy to their relationship. How strong the sibling bond remains largely depends on how tremulous was that volatile phase and how long it takes to cool things off. Another thing that complicated this is that most siblings are not good communicators with each other no matter how articulative and patient they are otherwise. One can easily notice the anger and contempt for no reason when siblings are having an argument with each other, these feelings are not with malice or any other bad intentions but they are there. Too much proximity and continuous presence in each other's life generates some unwanted and unavoidable hostility towards each other. Sibling rivalry is no fun either for siblings or parents, but it is an unavoidable phase of their lives that is impossible to escape, therefore, it is better to learn some valuable lessons from it. This rivalry only results in some positive results when siblings use it for healthy competition and get motivated by each other. It does reach to this stage in many cases but not without its own struggles. 

Can parents help? Not much. Parents are not the reasons for this problem and they can do little to resolve it. Even the forceful use of parental authority that most parents use when they run out of ideas is of little use in this case. Parents can definitely help by not making things worse by comparing siblings with each other and they should make sure that things don't get out of control and get physical, but beyond that, it is the siblings themselves who can resolve whatever issues they have. Acting as a mediator can be an option but most parents don't give enough time to develop such a relationship with their child where they can have candid conversations about various issues their child is facing, hence this option is not available for most parents. As mentioned earlier, things largely depend on how and when things cool off. Arguments and friction are unavoidable, but one thing that siblings don't do with each other which they do in their other relationships like their friendships is that they don't offer the same benefit of the doubt to their siblings that they offer to their friends. 

Siblings can be a great support to each other and this relationship should not be taken for granted just because this is a family-originated bond. Siblings must put some effort and invest quality time in building this relationship as they do with any other relationship. Like any other relationship, this also goes through its own ups and downs, and if not given the attention it requires can disintegrate and get damaged beyond repair. However, there is no need for parents to panic, keep an eye and don't get involved too much, there is no need for firefighters if there is no fire. Siblings should be able to sort out all the issues on their own with little help from their parents. 

Thank you for reading and please share your views on this topic. 

© Vinay Thakur, All rights reserved, Vinay can be reached at thevinay2022@gmail.com 

Difference between connection and communication

Social media has changed the way we communicate. One can argue that it has increased our connectivity with the world which was out of our reach just a few years ago. Today, we can connect with anyone active on social media and initiate communication. But the question is are we really connecting with each other or just communicating. One of the reasons is that we are confusing communication with the connection. During my childhood, having more than 10 or 20 friends was almost impossible, we did not know that many people of our age. I and my friends used to meet almost every day and chat for hours, we used to spend so much time with our friends that our parents had to drag us back home. We used to get lectures from our parents regularly about time spent with our friends. Today our friend lists run into hundreds or thousands, but still, we feel lonely or disconnected. Why?

We now have platforms available for us where we can communicate and can communicate continuously if we want. However, communication does not always mean connection. Most of the communication on social media platforms has become a type of broadcast where one party says and another party listens, there is rarely a constructive dialogue. Some platforms have become a place to argue and score points over your opponents. There is a lot of communication, but hardly any connection. This is why even though people are busy communicating, they feel empty. Even though everyone is busy broadcasting how they are having a wonderful time, they have no avenue to discuss their stress and depression.  Even though people are texting each other continuously they hesitate to share their mental health issues. Even though we have these amazing communication platforms at our disposal, we rarely use them to establish a genuine connection, a connection that can stand by us in our time of need, listen to our worries, and comfort us. People have found tremendous ways to share their talents and become influencers, but we still lack ways to understand each other's feelings and share them honestly without being judged. This is why I have decided to focus on connections rather than just communication. I still write my blog and post on social media, but I make a point to connect with people that matter to me. I try to call or message them regularly and am available to talk to them when they need someone to share something. I listen attentively when people have something to say about my blog or about my other opinions and views. This has helped me a lot, and I hope these interactions also helped others who connected and communicated with me. I believe if you want help, start helping someone when they need help and someone will help you when you are in need. This is how we can build an ecosystem where compassion and empathy are organic and not just for display on social media. It is easy to show anger, pity, or sympathy, but it is not easy to show compassion and empathy. Communication will happen automatically when a connection happens, but it is not true the other way around. Let's be brave and try to connect with each other rather than just communicate.     

Thank you for reading and please share your views on this topic. 

© Vinay Thakur, All rights reserved, Vinay can be reached at thevinay2022@gmail.com

Courage is to speak when it's easy to keep mum

Bullying is a type of abuse, physical and mental abuse. It is also called ragging or many other names, but the fact is that it is a type of abuse and torture. Bullying is also different than many other types of abuse, it happens in the full public glare. It happens in schools, colleges, universities, neighborhoods, social media, families, locker rooms, and many other public places where others are present, but they either don't react or watch as mute spectators. It is also true that it is not easy to stand up against a bully or resist raging. When most don't resist. When most surrender, ignore it as a minor nuisance or a necessary evil and try to justify it as a junior-senior interaction or friendly banter. It is hard to resist it. It is hard to stand against it. Even people subjected to bullying or ragging try to downplay it as they feel resisting it is much more damaging than tolerating it.

People justify their lack of action as a choice of the lesser evil. They feel standing up for abuse is more damaging than tolerating it, they find obedience more convenient than resistance. They may have their own reasons for behaving like this. However, not everyone thinks and behaves that way. Not everyone tolerates abuse wrapped as friendly banter or a necessary evil. Some chose to speak while the rest chose to keep mum. They do it at the cost of their mental peace and without any support. It is not easy to stand up for something when you see everyone accepting the status quo and obliging. It is not easy to resist when people who should resist try to convince you to keep quiet and tolerate it. Despite all this, some show this courage, and they are heroes. They choose to speak up even when it is scary, even when they feel threatened and intimidated, even when there is no support from friends and colleagues, and even when they know that speaking up may have unfavorable consequences. 

It is not easy to stand up against a bully, but that's the choice we have to make. This bully can be anyone, it is not always a human. In many cases, it is a person or a group of persons, like your seniors or even your own family, but not always. The bully can be a religion or some age-old tradition that may force you to do something against your wish, or we may get ridiculed or heckled by society or the community just for raising our voice of dissent against such practices. We must stand, we must resist, and we must raise our voices against all forms of bullying. Why? Because that's the right thing to do. It may not be easy or convenient, but it is the right thing. Nothing may change even after we register our dissent. It doesn't matter. We must stand, not because we will see that change, but to initiate that change. Someone must initiate the process of resistance, it may take years or decades to bring that desired change after the initiation, but initiation is important. I stand in solidarity with all those who show this courage. The world may never recognize or appreciate our actions, but every place we speak up, it changes something, may be a trivial change considering the vastness of the problem, but still, it is a change. The change that is initiated by us. We did the right thing when others chose to ignore and that is what matters the most. This post is dedicated to all who chose to stand up when it is not convenient to stand; to all who speak up when it is convenient to ignore and keep mum; and who resist when it's easier to oblige and surrender. Be proud of your actions, tell your stories to kids, and inspire them to resist suppression and injustice in any form and size.  

Thank you for reading and please share your views on this topic. 

Vinay can be reached at thevinay2022@gmail.com

I am with you

I am with you. If you need any sort of emotional support, a shoulder to cry, a word of encouragement, someone to talk to, express your fears or frustrations, complain about any injustice, share your pain or happiness, or just a company, I am with you. We all need to be there for each other in a moment of need, this is an ideal I strive for, it may or may not happen, but there is no harm in trying. This post is not a reaction to the suicide of a young and successful Hindi cinema actor Sushant Singh Rajput. The post was planned and prepared much before that, I just felt the need to publish it after reading the news about this unfortunate incident. My views about mental illness and suicides were completely different while growing up in India and during my initial years in the USA, I used to think only weak people commit suicide. However, over the years I educated myself about the topic of mental health and learned a lot about it which I didn't know before. This learning changed my views completely and allowed me to look at my own life from a different perspective. Part of the reason for my ignorance can be attributed to the taboo associated with this subject in Indian society where I was born and grew up. Actually, it would be unfair to single out India for having a taboo associated with mental health-related issues, such a taboo still exists in many societies even today.

Mental health is a very complex subject. It is not easy for many to understand it, but everyone needs to make an effort to learn about it as we all may suffer from some mental health-related issues at some point in our lives. Whether we realize it or not, we all go through these things, the only difference is in some cases it is more severe compared to others. We all go through complex emotions, and our reactions can be vastly different towards the same incident, the intensity of emotions, and ways of expressing them differ from person to person. Many of us are vulnerable under certain situations, we feel insecure, scared, depressed, or anxious for some reason or for no reason at all. It is important to have some support during these unsettling times, it is especially important these days when families are nuclear and most people prefer to live a separate and independent life. It is not bad to be independent, rather it is a good thing, independence teaches us many valuable lessons. However, on many occasions, we need some psychological help and support, and if we are alone it is hard to find such support. We all need such support, we need someone with whom we can share our feelings, our fears, concerns, our highs and lows, where we can be ourselves without being judged. Even though we prefer to be independent and there is a physical distance that separates us, we can make use of technology to bridge that gap. Bridging this gap is now possible with the invention of social media, we all can support each other no matter where we live or how far we are from each other. Of course, it will be great to find someone like this among the people from our immediate surroundings, but if we can't, we should not hesitate to find genuine support in the virtual world.

I want to be one such support for people who need it. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me and I will try my best to be a person who could offer the required emotional support. It is easy to get in touch with me, apart from this blog, I am on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. I believe that offering someone support or hearing ear or encouragement is not a favor but can be a very rewarding experience for both people involved in it. I have done it on multiple occasions, someone did it for me when I needed such support and in both cases, it has enriched my life. Emotional exchanges are not easy, one has to cross a barrier before sharing their vulnerable side with others. Crossing this barrier can be easy for some and extremely difficult for some, it's a personal journey and personal challenge. It is true that emotional exchanges cannot be a one-way process, there needs to be a connection. Unless both people connect with each other there can not be a proper exchange of emotions, and there cannot be a bridge through which emotions can cross from one person to another, such connection is crucial. However, establishing an emotional connection does not always mean one can feel the pain or fear to the same extent as the next person is feeling, it is important to understand those feelings. It is extremely hard if not impossible to understand what exactly another person is going through. I have learned it through personal experience, it's easy to say "things will get normal," "be strong," or "don't worry," but sometimes things never get back to normal, people don't want to be strong, or they cannot stop worrying. A person who is offering support needs to recognize these feelings and then only can offer any useful support to someone going through an emotional crisis.

Depression or any other mental issue is real and let's talk about it. There is no shame in asking for help when we need it. People of all genders, sexual orientations, and social or economic backgrounds might go through mental health-related issues. Let's try to support each other and devote as much time as we can to help each other whenever one of us needs such help. I know that not everyone will be interested in devoting their time to this nor everyone can find some time to do this, let's try to contribute as much as we can within our limits. But if it is please consider it, mental health is as important as physical health, and if we can develop a community that can support each other's mental health, let's do it. Remember, I am with you if you need me.

Thanks for reading and please share your opinion about this topic. 

Is it possible to be neutral and political at the same time?

The topic of this post also originated from one of my Facebook discussions. One of my Facebook friends wondered if one can be neutral and support any political party or ideology? According to me, definitely one can. It's really a tough balance to strike, no doubt about it, but it's possible. Being neutral doesn't necessarily mean being politically inactive, one can choose to remain politically inactive, and nothing wrong with it, however, being neutral about one's opinions does not make someone by default politically inactive. Voting is one of the fundamental rights of citizens of any democratic country. While voting, one has to choose from the given options, this is how it works. Nowadays, in many places, there is an option for a write-in candidate (you can write the name of the candidate which you think is more suitable but not on the ballot), or NOTA (none of the above), but realistically, these options rarely make any difference. A neutral person can support a political party or vote for a particular candidate irrespective of her or his party. The only difference is that just because she voted for them such a person does not stop questioning or opposing whenever she feels there is a deviation from the agenda based on which she offered her support. Rather, such people are the first ones to ask for accountability and transparency, raise concerns, offer constructive criticism, and keep up the pressure. This is healthy for democracy. When a voter of any political party or a leader asks for accountability or raises difficult questions that party or a leader has to listen to those voices. The risk of losing an election is one of the biggest motivators for a political entity to take action. 

It is common to ignore criticism coming from opponents as the perception is they will criticize no matter what, that is why it is important to have a pressure group within the party that keeps an eye on what's going on. This means neutral voters or independent voters have a bigger role to play in politics than supporters of any political party or leader. There has to be a substantial number of independent voters to create this pressure otherwise populist politics is going to overtake. This is what's going on in many parts of the world where a certain political leader, party, or ideology has a massive fan following resulting in unilateral political discourse. In this situation, neither opposition nor independent voices matter much as they do not have any influence on the electoral outcome. That is why if you have an independent voice, and protect your independence, occasionally, you might feel isolated or out of place, but cherish that independence as it's neither a common thing nor easy to achieve. Be politically active without being bothered by the political undercurrents, and make sure to connect with right-minded people so that your voice is loud enough to register its presence. In any real democracy dissent or neutral voices are encouraged, if not, it's not a real democracy yet.

Thanks for reading and please share your opinion about this topic.

Martin Ginsburg - what an inspiration

While I was watching a documentary on Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, I came to know about her incredible husband and an amazing human being late Martin Ginsburg. What a man he was, an incredibly talented lawyer himself who supported each and every adventure of his life partner. I don't want to create an impression that normally husbands do not support the career aspirations of their wives, they do, but more often it is the wife who needs to adjust to the changing career situations of her husband. At least till now, this is the dominant picture. Slowly this is bound to change, but this man belonged to the era where any such example was almost next to impossible to find, but he wholeheartedly supported every career objective and ambition of his wife without any reservations or hesitation. He not only followed a path that was a rare thing during his time and is still a rare thing even today but also set up an example of a partnership where the roles are not defined by gender. He is an inspiration for every man or woman to learn how to coexist together without being jealous of each other and thrive in our own careers without imposing any unnecessary burdens on each other. I was immensely impressed by their incredible partnership. It is the partnership that matters in any relationship. If there is no mutual trust and respect then either it becomes an exploitative relationship for one of the partners or it develops cracks and starts to disintegrate. I encourage my readers to read more about them, maybe their stories can inspire you to support each other so that both can achieve their dreams without feeling that they compromised too much. 

I was impressed by the trust level between Justice Ginsburg and Martin, both were incredibly lucky to find each other, this is an amazing love story that needs to be told. I hope she writes more about their incredible journey so that others can learn from their struggles and triumphs. Thank you, Martin, for being such an amazing partner. 

Thanks for reading and please share your opinion about this topic. 

You will be fine

"You will be fine," is a simple and short sentence, but it can have a profound effect on your mental state if you hear these words at the right time. Many times, we go through a rough phase in our lives. We struggle or face challenges that seem difficult to overcome in our personal or professional lives. Some obstacles look too big to overcome. Some tasks look too onerous to finish. Sometimes we feel drained because of our efforts just to stay afloat. Sometimes we do not know whether we are moving in the right direction or not. Sometimes there is too much uncertainty in life, or we get overwhelmed by so many things on our plate. Under these situations, we really want someone to say "You will be fine."

One day I was walking to my work, sad and dejected because of the sad news of someone close passing away, having no clue about whether I would survive in a new field where I was trying to establish myself, in general feeling very low, and I read "you will be fine" written on a wall while my way to work. It really helped. I smiled after reading it, it instantly made me feel hopeful and optimistic. Someone saying that we will be fine is not going to reduce the intensity of our struggle or the difficulty of our challenges but it will have a positive effect on us. It makes us more optimistic that we can go through that phase successfully. My wife Reena is a great support for me, she is my eternal "you will be fine" person, as she believes that I can do anything and always encourages me to chase my dreams. Reena is not scared to walk with me on a path that is different than the path that others around us take. I really admire her courage and many times derive my strength from her support. I am lucky to have such a person around me. However, our loved ones can't be with us everywhere, sometimes you need some extra support from people around you,  and that's when such assurance from someone else can help. For me, it was the writing on a wall by some artist, for someone it can be a coworker, a friend, a book, a quote, or some other person. We all should try to be supportive of people around us as we do not know from what phase of life they are going. They might be feeling really low and that one encouraging gesture from us might be enough for them to gather the strength that they need to overcome that obstacle, to survive that vulnerable moment.

Stress and anxiety are an integral part of modern-day life, we all need to deal with it and many times solutions to the big problems are through small steps. If we can help each other by being genuinely supportive then why not do it. Remember, having a healthy atmosphere around us will also make us more happy and healthy, it will also motivate us and if one day we need some support we will have an ecosystem around us that is capable of offering that support. We all should try to build such an ecosystem and as we all know any good work should start with us. We should initiate by being supportive and encouraging. Please be supportive and encouraging. It is okay to push people and motivate them to do their best. It is okay to demand high standards and performance. At the same time, when people feel low, it is necessary to offer them support and motivation that can help them overcome failures, stress, and worries. Give it a try, believe me, you will be fine.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

Importance of healthy relationships in our lives

Humans are social animals. We prefer to live in groups, and many of our oldest institutions like religion, and marriage are the result of our need to have some sort of organized social and family structure to live as a community. As a result of this communal need, we also believe in building and cultivating relationships. This is the reason we not only cherish and value our biological relationships but we equally care and value our social or non-biological relationships as well. The fact is that no matter what type of relationship it is, it takes time, effort, honesty, and sincerity to cultivate it and make it strong. Every relationship goes through ups and downs, there can be rough patches along with smooth sailings, but there are going to be variations, and during these ups and downs our patience, persistence, and sincerity are tested. 

Each and every relationship has to be a two-way exchange. One-sided relationships don't last long, and if they do, then one person gets exploited as another person has no contribution towards nurturing that relationship. I think we all need to pay special attention to our professional and personal relationships for our own mental well-being. Both of them occupy two major spheres of our lives, one is a personal and another one is a professional sphere, both are equally important. If we tilt the balance in the favor of one at the cost of another then the ignored part is going to hurt us and the people around us in that sphere. People might think why am I giving so much importance to professional relationships? After all, work is work how can it be so important? Actually, it is very important. Not only for your survival but also for a healthy and vibrant workplace where others feel comfortable and welcomed so that the overall performance of the organization is enhanced, and not only we personally benefit, but society at large benefits. 

Developing and maintaining a healthy relationship is hard work. It demands a lot of our time and effort, but if we look at the long-term benefits of having strong bonds with people around us we won't complain about all the efforts we have to put into developing those bonds. My only suggestion is, no matter what type of relationship it is, biological or nonbiological give it a fair chance, participate wholeheartedly and honestly, keep things sorted and simple, and don't make things too complicated when they don't have to be. Enjoy the relationships and don't feel burdened by them because when we enjoy things we don't care how tough they are or how much effort they take, be happy and try to make others happy. But remember, it is important to be happy first, then only you can make others happy.  Everyone needs companionship and support, and it is not that difficult to get it, just follow the right path. Relationships are important, so treat them with the respect and importance they command. When you are respectful and committed make sure that you receive equal respect and commitment from the other side. Don't be in a one-way and exploitative relationship, no matter what the relationship is. A healthy relationship makes our journey of life more exciting, after all, we all are going to become a memory one day, so make sure that you create a good one. 

Thanks for reading and please share your opinion about this topic. 

Why do people need these fake Gurus?

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.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Links:

1. Narayan Sai held for rape after 58 days

2. नारायण साईं गिरफ्तार, समर्थकों ने कोर्ट के बाहर बिछाए फूल