COMING SOON!
"PREFACE
Religion is the business of South Asia. Our temples, mosques and monasteries have no memory of being touched by a dark recession. The sun always shines on them and business is on a constant upswing. Our gods and saints are an all-powerful brand whose glitter has survived the millennia. As is the sacred culture of priesthood all over the world, in South Asia, too, the swamis, mullahs and monks have built the religious business from humble beginnings to towering heights. They have set up a vast network of closely held, sprawling religious institutions on prime land. The tax-dodging management of these places of worship is as transparent as an oil slick. Yet, the poor of South Asia flock to the temples, mosques and gompas to sacrifice a good part of their countryside on their altars.
What have the holy men, the keepers of these power places, given the people in return? Nothing much – except social stress and tension.
In Sri Lanka, the bhikkus, from their core business of producing monks, expanded into the related areas of politics and war. As keepers of the peaceful and compassionate Buddhist tradition, the Sinhala Buddhist clergy has defended actions of murderous kings, sanctioned violence to root out evil, engineered ethnic riots, marched into battle, and created myths to promote ethnic nationalism.
In India, egged on by the Hindu priesthood, the right-wing political parties have dragged a deplorable communal agenda into mainstream debate.
Islamic zealots in Bangladesh and Pakistan have made mole-like incursions into ordinary life, obliging people to behave in a stricter Islamic manner. In Pakistan, the rift between the two Muslim sects of Shias and Sunnis has widened to such an extent that the Shias are close to being declared an endangered species.
The Buddhist world of Bhutan and Tibet is run by a shadowy network of reincarnate lamas who receive from god private intelligence briefings that are not available to ordinary souls. However, within the monkhood, power struggles are plentiful.
South Asians are more alike in deep ways that matter than may appear from superficial differences of language and religion. They are patient and tolerant and have a strong desire for peaceful coexistence – even with their exploiters. The consequent spirit of accommodation has allowed all kinds of rogues to rise and shine in subcontinent’s environment.
In my extensive travels on foot, bicycles, vehicles and even helicopters through the thousands of visibly declining villages of India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Tibet, Nepal, Afghanistan and Pakistan, I have addressed several gatherings, big and small. In these finest nests of filth, disease and ignorance, hordes of people with sad eyes and sunken cheeks, in stained and tattered clothes and with dishevelled hair, their hands caked with mud and no shoes to pinch their feet, greeted me with dance and music. These bent, filthy, illiterate citizens laboured all day to keep their body and soul together, and at the end of the long day shared morsels of food with dogs and cats and flies, and their blood with hordes of mosquitoes which infest their makeshift dwellings. From the raised podium I looked down at them, sitting on their haunches with folded hands, and wondered why these starving masses never thought of seizing the temples and mosques, that had thousands of years of piled riches locked up in their vaults.
I have nothing against religion. In fact, I would have made an effective religious head. I also have nothing against the promiscuous Lord Vishnu, right-wing Krishna or the left-of-centre Shiva. I accept all their wantonness, decadence and advocacy of opportunism and materialism with a sense of humour. All the pot-smoking fakirs, and sadhus with limited wardrobe, have my full respect. The fiery angels and smiling devils of the Buddhist pantheon adorn the walls of my house. I have great admiration for the fantastic mythological legends and tall religious tales – and even greater admiration for the masses that have endured them through the ages. In Escape From Heaven, I have only attempted to make these myths a bit more unbelievable and the tall tales taller – though some of the gods and saints have been brought down to earth. I have faithfully resisted the temptation to unseat any of the deities and usurp their position. Every subject has been handled with due detachment.
What I am particularly irritated by is the cant, self-delusion and hypocrisy surrounding the places of power. I am incensed and infuriated beyond measure by the pick-pocketing priests of temples and mosques. However, to be fair, at Buddhist gompas, Sikh gurudwaras and Christian churches there are no hands grasping at your wallet.
In spite of all the hanky-panky that goes on, when visiting a place of power it is always a good idea to pay your respects to the priests. You never know when you may need them to open doors for you in heaven."
