BELIEF -- FAITH
Baba Piramal invoked the heavenly Gods.
Dressed in saffron the long-bearded sadhu mumbled as his followers sat in awe in anticipation of the miracles of miracles. Faith had drawn them in hordes to his overcrowded tent. He was decked in currency note garlands and gold jewellery.
Baba’s inner circle of about ten trusted disciples brought order and discipline to the congregation.
Devotees jostled to get a glimpse of the Baba as his half-opened eyes were devoid of the pupil. Just the white eyeball was enough to press home the fact that Baba was deep in meditation and one with the Lord. His wildly gesticulating hands added to the fervour.
All around the tent oil lamps with their burning wicks provided luminance and enhanced the ambience of the space. Rising Wisps of smoke from these lamps along with the incense sticks gave the effect of the devotee's wishes and requests bring transported in their white hazy stream straight to the heavens.
On one side the burning ’yajna hawan kund’ emanated the aroma of sandalwood.
On the other side, a rectangular patch on the floor had been paved with live coals.
Baba was getting ready to walk on this coal for people who kept faith in him. Chants of,” Baba ki Jai” (Long live Baba) filled the air. They were his believers. They had faith in him. They wanted him to live forever. After all, he claimed to possess paranormal powers, such as the ability to heal, the ability to see or influence future events and the ability to read minds.
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Six months back, Baba seemed to have appeared in their lives from nowhere.
As a traveller through the village, he had camped for a few days under a tree with a handful of his followers. A few days later a lame beggar and his blind wife were also passing through the village. Baba’s first miracle in front of a few villagers was the healing of these passing mendicants.
Faith healing by the Baba had transformed the poor couples lives.
In front of the villager's eyes, the blind lady got back her sight by the miracle touch of Baba. Next with his healing touch, he had transformed the limping beggar to walk properly. The news spread in the village like wildfire and soon the crowd for his darshan started growing. A tent was built with the benevolence of the wealthy villagers and Baba and his flock got a roof over their heads. A low stage was set which had Baba’s mat and a few belongings.
Baba emphasised that he did not belong to any religious order. He was just hungry for peoples love and faith.
His daily miracles were so enthralling that few people noticed that the first blessed couple were no more to be seen as they had moved on from the village.
He was materialising vibhhuti (sacred ash) and other objects like watches and jewels and distributing them in his conclave.
He spoke seldomly and there were long stints of maun vrat (silence vows)
He would suddenly point out to one among the crowd who was brought up to Baba and made to lie down flat on the floor. Amidst the rituals, a blanket was draped on this person. As the frenzy increased Baba would chant and touch the blanket with a stick he had. In front of all his believers, the lying down person along with the blanket would levitate and rise slowly. The crowd would go wild. Another touch of the blanket would bring the sailing person and blanket back to the ground.
There were evenings when Baba appeared to be floating above a mat supported only by a bamboo stick held in his hand.
Donations and offerings poured into the Baba and his core team of disciples. They came in form of food, flowers, money and jewellery. His team screened unwanted people from crowding in for Baba’s darshan and limited only those they felt had blind faith in him and his miracles.
Baba continued shining.
His followers would also be awed by Baba's power to use magical water from his brass kamandalu (oblong water pot) He used this water to sprinkle on the disciple. They had faith that this water would free them from their sins. After all, Baba made rocks explode by sprinkling holy water from this Kamandalu.
Their faith continued and started flaming like his sacred fire. They had seen Baba create fire by pouring ghee on wood. They had also seen their Baba carry flames in his hand and on his tongue.
Six months on, all these miracles had attracted the majority of the wealthy villagers along with the poor. While the well-to-do had filled in Baba’s materialistic coffers the poor added the numbers to build up the faith.
This evening a miracle of miracles had been announced. A huge Agni puja to bless the whole village would be held after which Baba would be walking on live coals. The message sent out was that Baba would be adorned in garlands made of currency notes and gold jewellery so his faithful were pursued to donate as much as they could. The more offerings, both money and gold, donated by the villagers the more they would be blessed.
The yajna was completed and Baba was getting ready to walk on the live coal. The beating of drums, blowing of the conch, insistent ringing of bells all heralded the fact that a miracle was underway in the packed tent. The air was electric with these acts. Everyone present was charged with devotion and chanting loudly. It was blind faith in their living lord.
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Outside the tent, tyres screeched as the open police jeep from a faraway village came to a halt. Along with them, two more jeeps filled with armed police halted. They surrounded the tent. Moustached Inspector Sher Singh got off from the driver's seat of the first vehicle.
Moving to the back of the vehicle he opened the hinged half-door and beckoned the two handcuffed passengers to get out from their seats. A constable sitting with them assisted them alight.
Flanked by the long arm of the law the couple, head bowed in shame, shuffled as the tent was opened and they came face to face with the Baba who had just finished walking on the stretch of coal. More than being affected by the heat from the tongues of fire at his feet the sight of the police, the handcuffed prisoners and the look on two faces erupted a volcano of fear and feeling of ’games up’ within him. He was now standing face to face with his accomplice. They were none other than the first miracle couple.
As Sher Singh shouted out in his commanding voice asking both the prisoners to identify their gang leader both of them pointed towards Baba.
He was immediately put in handcuffs. As the cold metal touched his raw skin he knew he and his gang of con artists had finally been busted.
He was saddened by the fact that it was just before he could decamp with peoples faith and the material collection he had made in this village and was getting ready to move into the next targeted village.
His modus operandi was simple. He planted the husband and wife as a blind and limping couple in a village. Either he and his gang preceded their entry into the new place or came in later. Acting as if they did not know each other Baba would appear to have cured them to start building up the faith in the village. That would be the first miracle. The couple would then disappear to the next planned village and wait for Baba's arrival. The cons would be repeated. In the meantime, the Baba would win the following of the unsuspecting villagers by the so-called miracles like materialising vibhhuti and other objects which are performed by sleight of hand.
In levitation of a person under a blanket, the trick was done by his accomplice lying on the floor covered by a blanket and slowly raising himself using two hockey sticks.
In Baba’s trick of levitation holding a stick: he appeared to be floating above a mat supported only by a bamboo stick held in his hand. The hollow bamboo stick and his robes contain a bracket that supports his weight and a rod runs through the bamboo and is anchored hidden under the mat. It looked very convincing and cool.
Making rocks explode by sprinkling holy water was total chemistry. The rocks had sodium crystals embedded in them, which reacts to ordinary water and expands rapidly.
Creating fire by pouring ghee on wood was also science: The woodpile contained potassium permanganate. It reacts to the glycerine, which is passed off as ghee and catches fire.
He had mastered the fire-eating or carrying flames on palm trick to appear very convincing. The theory was that a cube of burning camphor can be held safely for a few seconds, by practice. It can also be held on the tongue. If the camphor becomes too hot, the performer exhales and closes the mouth, putting off the flame.
His walking on burning coals was also practised to perfection. It was an old trick. There is salt sprinkled on the coal which draws moisture; or the performer has wet his feet, forming a layer of dirt on them. If the performer walks quickly, he will not get burned.
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As his gang of fake disciples were rounded up and the loot was retrieved by the police, Baba was still zapped where things had gone wrong. He had lost all his faithful followers in a jiffy.
Unknown to him it was another loss of faith that was responsible.
The lame beggar was cheating on his wife and having an affair with a young lady in the new village. Fuelled by this unfaithfulness the wife had spilt the beans about her husband, their gang and their ‘Baba’ gang leader to the local police. She had completely lost faith in her husband.
Interesting twists of human faith feelings and fidelity have been skillfully crafted into this narrative.
ReplyDeleteBlind faith the bane of our masses easily exploited by the unscrupulous babas!
Lovely story! I enjoyed the details of the imagery. Thanks for the explanations, the readers will not be duped!
Thanks Anamika. Aprreciate your kind compliments. Glad that you enjoyed the narration.
DeleteIf you believe it, it is God. Otherwise just another sculpted stone. Wow!! This was yet another great storytelling from you.
ReplyDeleteExcellent take on the word 'Faith' or 'Belief' . The fact that we rely so much on faith is well explained and how blind faith can make you believe in the supernatural.
ReplyDeleteYour clarifications on the abracadabra ....or the magical belief was interesting too.
As usual an excellent piece. Feel sorry for the magicians whose myth has been destroyed. So your Chemistry seems excellent. Very well written.
ReplyDeleteKudoos to you:)