THE BUSINESS OF MIRACLES(27 Nov 2006)

My favourite icebreaker as a trainer is to perform a magic trick and then lead a discussion to understand the logic behind the magic. Magic seems simple when explained and the problem lies that most of us want somebody else to explain it. And we swallow any such explanation as long as it “seems convincing”. But if magic is about “doing”, so is the logic behind it. More often than not, we do not apply even, the basic principles of our education, to understand the unexplained.

Last week, TV channels zoomed onto the birthday celebrations of an old man in a saffron robe being wheeled out for the adoration of teeming devotees. The discussion centred on the same old stuff: the claim to be God, the assassination attempts, the legion of celebrity devotees and, the sordid controversy about the old boy’s behaviour with little boys. Then, there’s the business of the ‘miracles’: the materialising of rings, expensive watches, sacred ash and the odd locket. It is pertinent to note that every single ‘miracle’ can easily be duplicated by even a moderately-skilled magician or a student of science. Very few people will question the cruel irony where the rich receive riches (gold rings, branded watches, etc) and the poor are gifted dust (holy ash).

The objection to any self-styled God-man’s ‘miracles’ is fundamental. If they claim cosmic ability to change destiny and to heal the human body, then why don’t they just heal themselves, or change the script for suicidal farmers? The counter-argument about he-does-so-much-charity does not condone the assumption of divinity. Religious philanthropy is not novel. For instance the Ramakrishna Mission does much, yet none of its monks claims to be God. And they don’t need to produce Omega watches out of thin air. They are too busy helping the poor.

And so are the real “miracle-men” like Baba Amte, Anna Hazare and other dynamic citizens who are taking on the challenges head-on. If India has to be a truly developed nation, we need less of god-men who only indulge in sham speech and more of good men who initiate appropriate actions. The business of miracles is enchantingly deceptive as it makes us shift the onus of responsibility from ourselves to the mystic. But the business of proactive action is the one that shall salvage our situation.

Behind every magical miracle there lies logic of reason …
Let’s apply our education to “speak through action”!

Regards
Pravin
27 November 2006, Goa.