Tags:
Journalism of Courage
You must meet him a guru, a follower advised me. 8220;He8217;s doing great work 8212; and I8217;m part of that great work. We8217;ve uplifted hundreds in this village, thousands in that district, millions altogether. We8217;ve transformed convicts. We8217;ve changed lives, even souls. Meet him, write about us, give us publicity.8221;
I get to hear this monologue once a week or oftener. Couple of times, in my naivete, I even went out of my way to get some gyan, become a 8216;better person8217;, learn to get in touch with my spirit. All in vain.
I go, but since it8217;s a journalist they call and not an individual, I go with my questions 8212; some of them rather rude 8212; so that I can get interesting reactions and engage with the guru in his disturbed form. I get no answers. Asking us to go deep, the gurus I find have a depth that hardly moves beyond two or three questions. Anything beyond this and these religious/spiritual leaders are loath to answer.
As for me and my truths, my 8216;spirituality8217;, I see it with greater clarity in the self-conscious debut of a child in a school play, I hear it in the pip-squeak voices of the schoolchildren as they attempt Pink Floyd8217;s 8216;Shine on You Crazy Diamond8217;, I feel it in the tears that stream down my eyes when they enact India8217;s freedom struggle, with a six-year-old Bhagat Singh dying to a toy pistol. They speak their truth, simply, honestly, freely 8212; no past, no future, just that one precious 8216;spiritual8217; moment.
