Fast, Pray, Broker

On godmen as gatecrashers at Anna Hazare’s party

In June, after cruel circumstances forced Baba Ramdev to wear a salwar kameez in the mistaken belief that it would blind a policeman to a beard running up to his navel, Sri Sri Ravishankar too arrived at the party. He was already hovering over news channels before taking a flight to Dehradun to convince his crossdressing brother to give up his fast. In one of those interviews, Sri Sri was asked why he himself wouldn’t go on a fast and he replied: “I have so many followers outside the country. If I go on a fast, it will become an international issue. This is our problem and it should remain within India.”

The answer, as nonsensical as it is, is telling—it is the language of a politician. Unless he was delusional (which is always a possibility with godmen), it is hard to understand his ignorance of an invention called television that reveals such secret agitations to the rest of the world. This week, when Anna Hazare’s fast was at that point where anti-corruption slogans wouldn’t stop his body producing ketones, Ravishankar, with immaculate timing, arrived again and started going from the house of one politician to another, stopping to pose before TV news cameras in between. Stray voices from the Anna Hazare camp about their not inviting him or wanting him did not matter. Like an Amar Singh of a different time and a different level and perhaps a different ethic, he had turned into the middleman par excellence.

If he is Sri Sri, then he should be beyond all this. Why does he want to do it? He already has a huge following. There is no dearth of money; his client base in marketing terms is SEC A and A+. He is not known to be dishonest and there is really no favour he needs from the State that he can’t get anyway.  The answer is competition. Like businessmen and politicians, even godmen are in a constant struggle to retain their flock from other godmen.

On Tuesday night, on Sagarika Ghose’s show, one saw an unlikely participant. Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev was part of the panel discussing the Lokpal Bill. He, too, held a finger up, waiting for his turn to speak on the current crisis facing this country. He held his finger up for a long time. When his turn came after Sagarika fumbled between calling him Mr Jaggi Vasudev and Sadguru and eventually calling him both, he was interrupted mid-sentence and the discussion moved on. It was oddly pathetic. Why did a man like him need to endure such humiliation when thousands queue up to listen to him? Most likely to counter Sri Sri’s first mover advantage.

About The Author

Madhavankutty Pillai

Madhavankutty Pillai has no specialisations whatsoever. He is among the last of the generalists. And also Open chief of bureau, Mumbai  

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