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An evening of Narkasur spotting
Din-I-Ilahi, the perfect religion for a very special generation.
By Cecil Pinto
"Big nalkasur daddar!", screamed my son Fabian
pointing to a huge green roadside Narkasur
effigy, in the popular seated position,
somewhere near the St. Inez-Taleigao
junction. Fabian had been appointed our
Narkasur-spotter while his elder brother Desmond
kept up a non-stop conversation with me. This was
our annual father-and-sons routine on the evening
before Diwali in Panjim. Astride my trusted
Activa scooter, with Desmond seated behind and
Fabian in front, we would do the standard route
from Tonca through Panjim to Mala and back, and
in the process see every Narkasur in town. Much
more exciting than watching Cartoon Network, and
definitely cheaper than a movie, popcorn and cola
at Inox. Especially since Fabian turned four.
Before that we felt morally justified in saying
that he was technically in the three-and-below
category, and hence did not need a separate ticket.
"Small nalkasur daddar", piped in Fabian, who has
a language problem not only with 'l' and 'r' but
apparently also in estimating size. Any Narkasur
above twelve feet was 'big' and anything below
that was 'small'. The word 'medium' did not exist
in Fabian's vocabulary. Maybe he will grow up
intolerant of mediocrity, which isn't such a bad thing!
"But Dada if they're going to burn the Narkasur why make one at all?"
"It's symbolic son, like the Ganesh idol that
costs so much to make and decorate and is then immersed"
"But Ganesh is good and Narkasur is bad, no Dada?
So why they are worshipping Narkasur?"
"No son, they are not worshipping Narkasur. It's
all symbolic. By burning the Narkasur they are
celebrating the triumph of good over evil."
"Dada is Narkasur the God of Cellphones?"
"Why on earth would you think that son?"
"See so many people are stretching their hands
and facing their cellphones to the Narkasurs"
"Those people have camera-phones Desmond. They
are not taking blessings, they're taking photos!"
"Dada why are there much more Narkasurs this year
than last year? And bigger and better ones?"
"Elections are coming up son. Politicians need
votes and supporters. They give money to the
local boys to make Narkasurs hoping they will in
turn be their supporters come elections. This is
a good time for the public. Politicians will
sponsor anything from dances to dhirios to get support and votes."
"So Dada are politicians like Narkasurs then?"
"Far worse son. A Narkasur will stop eating when
he is full. A politician's greed has no limit."
"Dada who exactly was Narkasur? Why does my
friend Anubhav talk about Laxmi Pooja? What is Diwali dada? "
"I'm, not quite sure son. I think Narkasur was a
demon who used to terrorise the villagers and
Lord Krishna killed him. Or maybe they're
celebrating Rama's victory over Ravana. Laxmi, I
think, is the Goddess of Wealth. Now I wouldn't
mind her visiting us tomorrow along with
Saraswati, the Goddess of Knowledge. Imagine I
would never have to work again and you would not
have to do homework. Just kidding son."
"You don't know much about Hindu religion, do you Dada?"
"Sadly you are right son. We were raised with a
blinkered vision of only our religion. I want you
to be different son. Learn whatever you can about
all religions. Absorb what is good in each
religion. You remember the story I told you about Akbar and Birbal? "
"Yes, Dada. Birbal was very smart."
"But Emperor Akbar was wise and concluded that no
single religion could claim the monopoly of
truth. He merged the best of all faiths into a
new religion he called Din-i-Ilahi. Akbar was a
man way ahead of his time. Unfortunately the
Din-I-Ilahi didn't have many takers then. Perhaps it should be revived."
"But Dada grandma says that our religion is the
best and our God is the only true God."
"I don't know son. Some say there is only one God
and these are all just different forms. I prefer
to think that there are many Gods and all of them
are good. What do you think Desmond?"
"I think the Hindu gods really rock Dada. They're
so colorful and cool! And they have wars and can
fly and carry mountains and have many heads and
hands and
Can I become a Hindu Dada?"
"Sure you can son! But if you have to change your
religion do it for the right reason. Nor because
someone offers you some freebies, and definitely not for more colourful Gods! "
"Anubhav says Hindus can become Christians but Christians can't become Hindus"
"Not true. You and Anubhav belong to a special
generation my son. You can become anything you
want to be. Always remember that. You can be
anything you choose to be. It's not important
what religion you choose or if you follow
religion at all. What you do for your fellow man is what is more important."
My sudden philosophical discourse was interrupted
by a loud cry from Fabian who had spotted a
brightly lit stall selling colourful Diwali
lamps, "Rights! Rights daddar! Led rights!"
"Dada, can we buy a Diwali lamp and hang in our balcony like Anubhav has?"
"Sure we can son. Everybody should celebrate when good defeats evil."
"But Dada grandma says that only Hindus should
celebrate Hindu festivals and we must celebrate only Catholic festivals."
"My son that is as wrong as wrong can be. What
grandma's generation and my generation did was
all wrong. We used religion to divide. We fought
and still fight petty battles and major wars
because of religion. Your generation has the
opportunity to use religion to unite. Come let's
buy a Diwali lamp and hang it in our balcony,
with pride in our multi-cultural heritage. And we
shall light fireworks and have fun celebrating
Krishna and Laxmi and Rama and Sita and whoever -
all the good guys. And we shall burn all the
Narkasurs and Ravanas and all the bad guys. That
part is easy. Now only if we could get rid of all selfish politicians."
------
The column above appeared in Gomantak Times dated 26th October 2006
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