I have decided to defend Chitra Ramkrishna (as a social experiment) because I find her decision-making style (reliance on spiritual advisors) no different than many other Indians in leadership positions.
Here’s an example of important decisions being guided by superstitious and non-objective factors, where Dr K Sivan, the Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) continues what is apparently a tradition within the organisation to seek the blessings of Lord Venkateswara in Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh and advice of the pontiff of the Udupi Krishna mutt to find an auspicious time for the launch of the Moon Mission.
So, my question is: What is the qualitative difference between the ISRO chief seeking blessings of a religious head and enquiring about auspicious timing for a rocket launch and the NSE chief consulting a yogi for official appointments, other than the obvious lascivious nature of the latter allegations and the naturally unnatural public interest in all things sexual or even the wink-wink, nudge-nudge insinuations of sexual scandal?
If our defence is going to be that while it is impossible to ascertain the degree of faith and superstition that went into an executive or operational decision, one must only concern oneself with the result, which is measurable and hence, not subject to frames of references, then, in that case, the NSE, as a commercial enterprise, is doing rather well for its users and shareholders, and we should not care about Chitra’s decision-making process while the Chandrayan-2 mission was a failure; so, we should ideally hold the religious head who was consulted regarding its operational decisions and the ISRO chief who did the consulting squarely responsible for it and recover costs. But we are mocking Chitra and applauding K Sivan. What gives?
- Remember, we are a country where:
A saffron-wearing (saffron is the colour of asceticism in Hinduism and Buddhism), terror-accused, out-on-bail, self-styled holy woman (‘Sadhvi’) who worships the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi and promotes drinking cow urine as a cure for Covid is elected a Member of Parliament from the 16th largest city in India (and 131st in the world), Bhopal, the capital of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. - The Union Health Minister (himself a medical professional, a doctor no less), in the middle of the second wave of Covid, personally endorses an untested, utterly useless ‘Ayurvedic medicine’ to ‘fight Corona’ and lies about WHO approvals. Thankfully, the Indian Medical Association protested this. But, lest one forgets, this (the immediate denunciation of woo by professionals and experts) is not the norm, but an exception.
- The most populated Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (which, if it were a country, would be the world’s 5th most populated one, is governed by a saffron-clad head of a religious order (Gorakhnath Math) who is also the founder of a militant religion-based youth organisation and a regular spouter of hate against religious minorities, going all the way to threaten to kill 100 of ‘them’ for every 1 of ‘ours’, amongst other utterances.
- The Union Minister for Defence (in-charge of all the land, sea, and air forces of the Republic of India, a secular country), when he goes to take delivery of the latest 4th-generation fighter aircraft from France, conducts a Hindu puja (prayer) and ties (to this state-of-art weapons platform) a string of green chillies and a lemon (as well as breaking a coconut and placing a lemon under the wheel ritually) to ward off evil and protect this fighter jet from evil eyes, and is defended by his colleagues, also highly educated, well-travelled, Union ministers handling sensitive and important portfolios for the nation.
- When there is an alleged lapse in the security arrangements of the Prime Minister of India, the Chief Minister of the Indian state of Tripura personally conducts (and pays for it from the state treasury) a Hindu ritualistic fire sacrifice called the ‘Mahamrityunjaya yagna’ for the Prime Minister’s ongoing safety and well-being.
- The Union Finance Minister claims India is entering ‘Amrit Kaal‘ (a term from Vedic astrology, it is the critical time when the gates of greater pleasure open for the inhuman, angels, and human beings, and is considered the best and most auspicious time to start new work) and shifts to the traditional accounting of ‘Bahi Khaata’ for the 2019 budget, as the domestic media goes crazy portraying her as the Hindu Goddess of wealth, Laxmi in their coverage of the budget.
- The Prime Minister himself has at least one temple dedicated to him, is considered the 11th avatar of Vishnu after Ram, Krishna, and other Hindu Gods, and personally conducts Hindu ritualistic worship (puja) as the primary worshipper (yajmaan) publicly at inaugurations of temples, however important, and unveiling of statues of Hindu saints, however egalitarian.
- Actors, cricketers, business people, politicians, leaders, police officers, journalists, bureaucrats, judges, even scientists in India often consult swamis and babas and perform rituals and mumbo-jumbo as a routine affair. Many of these are even publicised. No one cares.
So, not to labour the point, but how is what Chitra Ramkrishna did any kookier than any of the above (and these are just some examples from a bottomless source that will leave you spoilt for choice)? Honestly, how?
P.S: The NSE is a can of worms. Please consider buying the excellent exposé by Sucheta Dalal and Debasis Basu. So, all isn’t hunky-dory anyway. But I am using this particular incident (of taking advice from one’s spiritual guru to take professional decisions) as an example because this is what the media cannot stop talking about.
P.P.S: Hat tip, Darshan Mondkar, for the examples.
