Dips of Devotion

BY THE TIME YOU READ this, the Maha Kumbh would have been over.

The millions of people who took a dip in the waters of the Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati did so because they believed in the Maha Kumbh. They believed in its spiritual powers, in its religiosity and, most importantly, it was and remains an article of faith in and with them.

What is shocking is that this country has become so polarised and so feeble-minded that even in this people found fault. People were finding fault with the administration, people were finding fault with people’s faith. People were mocking the fact that there were waters that were dirty and therefore people could contract diseases.

And I was a bit appalled, not at how people attacked other people’s faith, but at the pettiness with which they approached it. And as always, politics followed. You had politicians of all hues shout about the lack of administrative efficiency, talking about the realities of taking a dip, and not something that will wash away their sins. Be that as it may, I think we need to recognise that faith and religion are deeply personal.

The problem is that, in India, of late, we have allowed politics to infect faith with its viciousness and vileness. And when that happens, you will see a lot of people either revolt against that misnomer or belief, or you will have people fight back with even greater viciousness.

Something that doesn’t augur well for a country that is so diverse, in terms of both its castes, creeds and colours, as well as the faiths and religions it practices and believes in.

I was perhaps one of the few who had all plans to go to the Maha Kumbh, but then work travel took over and I could not make it. Why was I going to the Maha Kumbh? I was going to the Maha Kumbh because I believed that there would be a level of spiritual solace that I may have garnered. Would it wash away my sins? I don’t know. But that was not important. I’ve always believed that your relationship with God or any superior being cannot be transactional. It must emerge out of belief, respect and reverence. It cannot be something that emerges from a desire that, oh, if you do this for me, then I’ll come back and give you more money or do more penance or something like that.

I was also going to the Maha Kumbh to see how humanity comes together without any major upmanship and does what it actually believes in.

For me, the Maha Kumbh was a collection of believers. It wasn’t a collection of worshippers. For me, the Maha Kumbh was about people coming together to celebrate their religion or their belief or their articles of faith. It wasn’t about whose Instagram got more viral attention. If that was their reason for going there, so be it.

I don’t know when I will ever go to the Kumbh, certainly not when the Maha Kumbh happens, which will be perhaps after another 144 years. But I will recognise and appreciate those who went as well as those who didn’t. People have their reasons to follow religion or faith, be that as it may. People must also be given that freedom, without that freedom being impinged on through mockery or facetiousness or some level of vitriol which we are ready to pour on anything nowadays in our country.

We have to recognise that India has always been a land of believers, whether it was the belief that was emergent from philosophy or the belief that emerged from ideology or the belief that emerged from our religions.

In every which way, India’s life journey has always been anchored in spirituality. And the fact that the people of this country can go back to their roots, visit their rootedness, and see for themselves the evolution that India has made is something we need to laud and celebrate.

I’m not going to, even for a moment, suggest that one religion is better than the other or one faith is superior to the other. But there must be a reason why India spawned so many religions and why we are who we are. This is a reason to be joyous about, not cynical.

devotionlife journeyMahakumbh 2025Prayagrajspirituality