DYNASTIES INTO DUSTBINS

May 16, 2014 : Red letter day in Indian history after August 15 , 1947. On this day Indians threw away two most powerful political dynasties into political oblivion. While the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty met with the worst electoral defeat of all time with a meagre 44 seats out of 543 ( 8 %), Kalaigner Karunanidhi dynasty in Tamilnadu was eclipsed beyond recognition with ZERO out of 39.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first  Prime Minister of India laid the foundation for the most political dynasty of the country.Indira Gandhi knew that to retain power in a vast nation powerful state leaders should be weakened. She branded the charismatic Kamaraj, Nijalingappa, Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy and other leaders as anti-people Syndicate; empty slogans like Garibi Hatao were raised to hoodwink the people ;  and split the Congress party to have personal control. In 1975, she declared National Emergency ; arrested popular leaders like Jayaprakash Narayan ; promulgated media censorship ; evicted urban poor from their habitats ; forcibly sterilised men and women of all ages in the name of family planning ; and unleashed fear across the country. The massive electoral defeat suffered by her personally and her party in 1977 was only a temporary shocker. The dynasty manipulated the weaknesses of the opposition, and returned to power with a bang in 1980. Since then, the dynasty has been in direct or remote control of  state power for a quarter century. State leaders were made sycophants ; grass root structures became weak or non-existent ; and all decisions were imposed by the dynasty and its High Command. Finally even the exalted position of  Prime Minister was made a JOB. Dynasty believe that Party is their fiefdom and even the country is its property. "India is Indira and Indira is India " was a famous or notorious slogan during the Emergeny Era. Absolute control of power by the dynasty wiith total lack of  of accountability. Corruption became the order of the day and people were taken for granted. Amitabh Bachan once remarked that "they (dynasty) are Rajalog". The arrogant dynasty became insensitive to the mounting anger of the people and was unprepared for the Electoral Tsunami.

The postmortem of the Congress Party's performance in the elections was on predicted lines. Pre-scripted resignation of the dynasty and the rejection of the same by the  weak Working Committee, a creation of the dynasty , was a boring drama . Congress leaders are afraid to take responsibility having enjoyed power by subserving the dynasty. FEAR OF FREEDOM as written by The Brazilian Philosopher and Educator Paulo Friere in his famous book "Pedagogy of the Oppressed ". The party functionaries have all along internalised hegemony of the dynasty from Indira to  Rajiv to Sonia to Rahul and Priyanka  to Priyanka's children and grandchildren. Dynasties are always optimistic ,and forget that the historic mission of all power hungry dynasties is to wither away over time :through the ballot or bullet.

TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND SOCIAL WORK PROFESSION

Indian and other traditional societies have a reservoir of traditional knowledge which has not been explored by social work teachers and practitioners. In a country with the majority of the population being rural and tribal,oral traditions of the people have not been given due recognition by social work professionals neither in research nor in practice. Creative literature ,oral as well as written , preceded social sciences in understanding social relations and human behaviour. Indian society cannot be fully studied without taking into account of the orality of the Indian rural and tribal culture and literature. The kind of insights that folklore can yield into our social life can seldom be provided by the objective and so-called scientific study of our society.

Social and individual development is the concern of social work. Application of folklore in social work practice is of high utility in social group work and community organization. Changes in attitudes and practices can be brought about by folk songs and plays, which are created by the people of a particular community  themselves., and which facilitate interchangeability of roles between the performers( change agents ) and the audience (client groups ). Folk songs touch the mind ( emotions and thinking) which signals heartbeats (feeling and sensitivity), and the combination of both make men and women to put these thoughts and feelings  into action or practice ; they no longer remain merely in the realm of knowledge . So  social work profession in India should take serious cognisance of the intersection between folklore and social work. Only Athropology ,including Medical Anthroplogy , has the wisdom to have close association with the folklore and folk practices.

KERALA'S MULTINATIONAL SPIRITUAL CORPORATION

"Spirit"and pseudo-spiritualism are in abundant supply in Kerala ,known as God's Own Country with Devils aplenty .Boys get baptised into liquor consumption as early as from the tender age of  12. Kerala is on the top with regard to alcoholism , sexual abuse of girl children by fathers and close relatives, harassment of girls and women in society, and suicide though the state has the highest literacy in India.People seek solace wherever it is readily available . So  priests, astrologers, Godmen and Godwomen, etc  thrive. Kerala is not an exception ;all over the country swamis, gurus, soothsayers and other pseudo-spiritual merchants (though many are in jails) are worshipped.. For instance ,Tamilnadu and neighbouring states in the recent past had the presence of KALKI Bhagawan(God), the tenth incarnation of Lord Vishnu , and his spiritual movement with numerous followers around him. Finally ,KALKI had a brush with law and police.

Mata Amritanandamayi  Math in Kerala is the ultimate destination for laity,celebrity,political class of all ideologies,corporate bosses, and all needing spiritual cleanliness. From here "spirituality and divinity " are exported to all countries with spiritual bases and centres. The simple devotee of Lord Krishna became a Goddess herself over time ,perhaps like Lord Krishna himself ,with temple rituals and "poojas". A new spiritual order of monks and "sisters" is in place.. The Math has a battery of highly skilled marketing strategists and articulate "swamis ", a TV channel , corporate style organisations and community service. The Math has been engaged in outstanding health care and rehabilitation of families affected by Tsunami and other disasters. Thousands of believers are benefitted with emotional support from the Mata with her personal touch and "hug" . On the negative side, its medical college, engineering colleges, and other educational institutions are becoming corporate enterprises. Massive flow of foreign funding under the FCRA Act and huge donations from devotees are worrying  phenomena.

Gail Tredwell, who became Gayathri, spent nearly twenty years at the Math and was a part of the inner coterie of Amma (Mother ) Her book HOLY HELL became an explosive to Amma's believers demystifying the Mata. Sleaze, rape, sexual abuse, cruelty to inmates, witch-hunting of dissidents and critics, diversion of devotees' donations to family, disproportionate  accumulation of wealth by family members and relatives of the Mata, and other unpleasant matters are explained in the book of Gail. Popular TV personality John Brittas of Kairali /WE TV interviewed Gail. The interview was virtually a wide dissemination of information on the Mata and The Math among the Kerala diaspora and others across the globe. A concerned citizen went to the court. Though the case was dismissed,it is a temporary reprieve. The Kerala government has taken the stand that a book cannot be the basis for filing a case. A weak defence. But the dice has been cast. The wind of the present day can be a cyclone tomorrow. Mata is a Goddess to her followers. So it is her responsibility to accept an impartial investigation into the functioning of the Math by eminent citizens.

Mother Teresa is the only Mother India can be proud of. All other "Mothers" are pale shadows of Teresa, the Mother of all time.