Queuing up is in Our Blood -I [Puja or Publicity]

Population is the worst problem, isnt it ? Thats the fist inference of any insensitive and misinformed analysis of Poverty, Poor infrastructure, Unemployment or Health care that the green card[1] holders often delve into. Under the influence of this Malthusian myth some iitan, who is about to receive sainthood, even remarked, people not able to ensure their children go to school should be denied parenthood !!. But in a resource-flushed human sanctuary like iit bombay, the twitching realities of India bare our skin. All because of our big brains, short sightedness.

So its Ganesh Puja 2007. One of the biggest festivals of Maharastrian Hindus, and celebrated throughout India by Hindus in schools and colleges as well as in homes. Hostel 1 has erected the idol, a podium and barricaded the prayer area inside the ground floor lounge which housed earlier a dozen chairs and a dozen newspapers, two carrom boards, chess table, a 47" plasma TV and few mattresses. All these are now pushed off to half of the room, some thrown out. And there is an equally aerated, well-lit, bigger and completely empty lounge just upstairs.

The Puja went on for 10 days, with several prayer hours in a day and continuously oozing hymns from the tape. And on the other side of the barricade the plasma TV glittered with skimpy girls and buzzed lewd music. The newspapers were the worst sufferers. The biggest challenge to the mutual tolerance of both sides was the cricket match. It was too important, it went on full volume in the evening prayer session which by its own loud hymns was desperately trying to connect the god and the devotees. Too important cause otherwise devotees would ask the viewers to simply mute or switch off the TV. Usually the whole lounge swells like a gravid belly on those match-days, and the half of it was crying for help now. Some heed it and rushed to the upstairs lounge, to the old 29", abandoned TV. Soon it filled up too.

On the podium where the Idol seated, there was an A4-size mocking at us. It read "Unity in Diversity".

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1. Green card is a benefit offered by one of the eastern state govts. of india for people having 2 children. The children get some relaxation/advantage in admission and so on.