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Gods Don't Need Us, We Need Them This is regarding Mr. Sharique Ahmad Khan Niazi’s blog “Blasphemy” of 14th February 2006 on http://goddessdurga.blogspot.com/. He has mentioned a poster depicting the Hindu Goddess Durga carrying bottles of Greek whiskey and that The National Council of Hindu Temples (UK) is demanding the poster be burnt. The blog requests all Indians to complain about this poster to the concerned authorities. I am a Hindu myself and believe that it would definitely hurt the religious sentiments of most Hindus around the world. Let me have the liberty of sharing with you a very bizarre incident I heard about firsthand, that took place a couple of years ago in our city, Pune, when I realized the true power of the Goddess. Our neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Tate (name changed), a childless couple, had been praying to Goddess Durga for a boon of a child in their fourteen years of marriage, to no avail. Then one day, Mr. Tate’s brother and sister-in-law met with an accident and died leaving behind a four-year old son, Ganesh (name changed). This couple being next-to-kin had no choice but to bring Ganesh home. Their bitterness at not having their own child made them vent their ire on the little four-year-old. They never realized that he was an answer to their prayers. He had not yet overcome the trauma of his parents’ death; in fact, he had not fully understood that they were never coming back. The couple treated him more like an unpaid servant than a close relation, although they did enroll his name in a small, local school. One day, at the age of six, he confided in his schoolteacher, who advised him to pray everyday at the local Durga temple and ask for peace and happiness. The boy, in all innocence, did just that. When the boy was fifteen years of age, the couple was on their yearly visit to a distant Bhavani Temple (a reincarnation of Goddess Durga). They took this boy with them so he could fetch and carry for them on their journey. The boy did not mind the work. His visit to the temple would make any amount of work worthwhile. On their way back home, it was raining heavily on the ghats (hills). Ganesh had probably been allotted a seat with a broken seat belt. As told by eyewitnesses, at one point the car skidded on the rain-swept road. For some unknown reason the car door opened just then and Ganesh was thrown out of the hurtling car onto the road. He lay dazed but unhurt on the side of the road. The car turned a few times, out of control, and finally went down the ravine never to be found again despite search parties. Ganesh inherited the wealth the couple had left behind, as there were no other claimants. This incident made me realize the power of the Goddess. She answered the prayers of the one She thought most deserved it. We tend to forget many times that we are mere humans. Requesting the company that advertised in this insensitive way to withdraw the poster is one thing. However, is it necessary to incite people all over the world to be up in arms on this issue? I have an extremely strong belief in the Goddess’ powers and feel that She has her own ways of dealing with these issues. If our incitement in going to result in violence of any kind then we are like the couple, blind to her real powers. If we make a peaceful request to the company, probably through emails from across the world, we would be like the boy whose prayers were answered because he really believed in her powers. And most important of all, if we did not react at all, She would still take care of the matter in Her own way. GODDESS DURGA DOES NOT NEED US TO FIGHT HER BATTLES; WE NEED HER TO FIGHT OUR BATTLES IN LIFE.
This article was posted on March 08, 2006
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