Ritual and Real
Place a stone under any banyan tree,
Decorate flowers of all sorts around;
Apply crimson or sandal-paste or ghee;
Hide, to witness, how devotees abound...!
Stick-incense smokes spread with nose-drilling scent,
Oil-lamps lit, by men and women unknown,
Heaps of coins, like hills and peaks, soon ascend,
Faces shine, masks of blind faith balloon-blown...!
Tent erected; Altar constructed; hymns broadcast,
Priests pop up, like white termites after rains;
Grab all gifts as though, for self, God had asked,
Rational beings laugh at their lost brains...!
This is frequent in my precious nation,
Midst her classical wisdom abundant;
Pull of heart toward easy salvation,
Drowns our masses into myths inundant...!
Rituals, like rocks, heavily weigh down,
Blood-cum-heart chain-like link with the divine;
Wisdom, not blind faith, should become true crown,
Shouldn't new wine-skins be filled with new wine...?
18 November 2022
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