Iconoclasm: Broken images of the Past Any society, present or past, has its own beliefs and things it considers sacred and holy. In Goa, the earlier inhabitants worshipped the Earth as represented by the 'Sater', 'Santer'. or the 'Roenn'. Thus 'Sateri' or the Earth Goddess came into being. She was of an ever changing form, but always the same. Her names changed Kelbai, Tulzai, Lairaiee but Sateri remained always the Earth Goddess. The stone or metal idols had not arrived in Goa then. The people were at peace with Nature. They worshipped nature in its natural form. They neither made, nor needed, any man-made idol. Then came the first invasion or in-migration and caused the first iconoclasm!
The word icon is a small, four-letter word with a great importance. Literally, the word means a mosaic or painting or statue of a sacred person that is regarded as sacred by it self. To the people who believed in Sateri, she was a goddess. To those who did not believe it was a termitorium, an anthill in which the wood decaying 'white ants' lived. While one group happily destroyed the termitoria as evil, the other lost an icon that was sacred to them and dearer than their own lives. This was the iconoclasm then. It does not matter whether the iconoclasts were the Saraswats from the North, Muslims from the East, the Shaivites from the South or the Catholics from the West. The then local populace of Goa underwent a drastic change that they would have wished to do without. Change is the only thing that is constant. That is the irony of life! If the fish eating Saraswats are anathema to the pure vegetarians Brahmins, the beef eating Muslims are equally hard to accept for the Saraswats. Likewise, the Muslims and Jews find the pork eating Christians hard to stomach. The simple principle of life is that inclusiveness promotes growth. The statistics of the religions will reveal that today the religions with the broadest food base have the largest following. The excessive use of hormones in poultry and other meats, the disastrous effects of sedentary life and consumerism as well as the increasingly invasive procedures of allopathic medicine is turning the world towards vegetarianism, ayurveda and yoga. Do not be surprised if there is a sudden upsurge in the demand for non-militant brand of Hinduism or the ever pacifist Saterism: the indicators of an iconoclasm are already there. Conversions by free choice have more to do with lifestyle and less to do with faith. It is not limited to religions but to even simple belief in Mult-level Marketing systems. A study of even Amway will validate what I say. Try finding any Amway person with a beard or even a moustache after 9/11 and you will be surprised that you cannot find any. Even those who claim to have pride in their Bharatiya and Maratha sanskruti and itihas, have willingly cut their own moustache. The Sardars in Delhi have raised a hue and cry over some burglars cutting the hair of a Sikh boy. Should they want to join Amway, they will happily become "Mona". That is conversion to the American Way, by free, adult, educated choice. Post 1600 A.D., most religious conversions have taken place by choice and perpetuated down the generations by the traditions. There have been no Inquisitions but the numbers grew more rapidly than during the 1500s. Schools, hospitals, student centres, food, clothing, housing and such inducements are more likely to gain converts that a Grand Jury of Inquisition. If the Catholics converted other faiths in Goa till 1961, it is now the turn of Protestant groups and Believer cults to convert the catholics to their brand of Christianity. Just like designer clothes, the labels are socially important! What has faith got to do with it, anyway? The Hindu 'Shuddhikaran' groups and the Muslim Jammats have also learnt the tricks of the conversion trade. Religion is now run by market forces. It is all about money, honey. The most convertible commodity in the world is currency. This article of faith is increasingly gaining currency. We have come a long way from once a month "Full moon" parties organized by the hippies at Anjuna in winter, through week-end discos to round-the-year Rave parties all over Goa. It is no longer any Babazito at Rito's or a dumbo at Jumbo's or any Saturday night fervour. If you have the money, they have the event for you, even at your own house, attic or loft! What you do is your problem, they only organize the things for you, you dope. If you are wondering where all the money comes from, you must be a real dope. There is no hope for you. Iconoclasm is here. Join in or roll over. This is no flight of fancy, as a lady passenger on the Kingfisher Airlines flight from Chennai to Kochi discovered in this August. The converts are brazen about it. A 65-years old Public Works Minister from Kerala was actually 'groping in the dark' when the cabin lights were switched off during take-off. He violated her 'private space' and that was a "PJ" stretched too far for her comfort. He traveled the distance to Kochi in the cabin and was jettisoned from the cabinet, thereafter. The Chief Minister did not approve of such 'works' in public. Thank God for Achutanandan! (ENDS) Miguel Braganza's column at: http://www.goanet.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=482 ============================================================================== The above article appeared in the September 1, 2006 edition of Gomantak Times, Goa _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list Goanet@lists.goanet.org http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org
