Today was an off-day again which meant more time for sightseeing...we head out w/our driver from yesterday Surinderbhai who first took us to the ISKCON temple. It was amazing and disgusting at the same time-so glamorous and many people but it just did not feel right at some level [we were welcomed by a firm devotee who told us something abt those who were enlightened and followers of Krishna consciousness and those who hadn't discovered it---clearly all four of us must've looked like we fell from the latter group]. The minute you walk outside of the vicinity you realize the needs of the people are yet to be met at a more basic level. Endless money spent on land...building it...jewels...maintaining it...etc etc etc. As if that wasn't a reminder of the current day reality we then went to Humayun's Tomb which was in our [Farah & me] opinion the Delhi version of the Taj Mahal in a different color. Again SO much money and land spent on one person---that too after their demise??? While it was grand and what not one just wonders of what use is it? Maybe at the most the revenue it is producing from tourism [might I add that the cost for Indians is 10 Rs. or 25 cents and for foreigners it is 250 Rs. or 6 bucks---sorry Farah I should've gotten ur ticket]. Headed off to lunch at a fancy-smancy place for Italian and when I say upscale I mean it!!! [We sound hypocritical don't we---honestly we didn't know our driver wld take us to such a place] Our final part of the outing was supposed to be visiting Rajghat [where the samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi is] but that wasn't a success because apparently some minister was visting. That in itself is an issue---what an absolute inconvienience to the public simply because one minister is visting. Quite honestly the question becomes what is the visit of this minister achieving for the nation minus turning off foreign visitors???
Back to my title...it just amazes me and becomes all the more apparent that what I had once heard Swami Sacchidanand mention is in fact the bitter truth [probably why he is not a famous Swami and not many have heard of him]. If we were to collect all the wealth that is hidden w/in the temples, masjids and tombs of our nation then we would be anything but a third world country. Clearly people would rather put 10 Rs. into the donation box as opposed to using that 10 Rs. to feed a hungry mouth or to take their child to the museum or something. For some reason it is not apparent to them that the 10 Rs. they just donated will only be used as a means to collect another 20 Rs. in someway or another...worse off...the 10 Rs. will be used directly or indirectly to convince the unenlightened of why one sect or group of followers is superior to another and why one NAME of God is better to pray to another name that is advocated by another sect or group. Absolutely disgusting. Many preach [preaching is easy---it comes naturally to humans I think] the philosophy that we are ALL the children of one God but very, very few actually believe it and follow it.
1 comment:
I was loving the pictures until I read about the ridiculousness of maintaining such tourist attractions at the detriment of the people in that community.
Maybe they should make the clinics and other centers beautiful too and it would attract tourists and wealthy residents. Then the donation box monies would go to those who really need it, as opposed to some dead guy's remains...
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