HOW RATIONAL ARE OUR RATIONALISTS?

Come any eclipse – solar or lunar; or come the fish medicine season in June, rationalists rise to the occasion in different ‘avatars’. The recent annular solar eclipse was no exception. A programme was organised by Manava Vikasa Vedika near Saroornagar lake in the city to demonstrate that you can eat, drink and make merry during the eclipse. Pregnant women were also brought to prove a point. It is a different story that the event took a communal turn when the local residents protested that the rationalists were targeting only a particular community. We will deal with it later in this column.

What is relevant for discussion is the scientific angle. Scientists as well as rationalists tell us repeatedly that eclipse is purely a planetary phenomenon which occurs in the normal course and there is nothing abnormal about it as eclipse does not create any physical change in different spheres of the earth.

Our scientific temper makes us to believe this. But then, on the same day, ISRO launched a series of Rohini Sounding Rockets to study the effects of the annular solar eclipse from the Thumba equatorial Rocket Launching Station. Besides, scientists parked themselves at different vantage locations to study the impact of eclipse and to study the yet-to-be known phenomena of the Sun which is worshipped as the primordial energy source of the Universe and as a life-sustaining force. If eclipse is just a natural phenomenon, why do we send rockets to study the impact?
ISRO’s efforts to study the impact of eclipse only prove that there are some more mysteries yet to be unravelled and science has not reached a stage where there is nothing more left to untie the mysterious knots of nature.

Moreover, even before the West could specialise itself on astronomy, India had a lesson or two to offer to the West. If our desi composers of lunar calendars could predict the occurrence of eclipse with 100% accuracy for thousands of years, it is not that we were unaware of Physics and astronomy. Jarasandha’s fate was sealed because of solar eclipse in Mahabharata and of course, it was attributed to Lord Krishna’s miracles. That was our style to attribute every mystery of nature to the Divine forces because we saw divinity in all manifestations of nature including the five elements of nature which constitute this Universe.

Since we are yet to fully comprehend the secrets of nature it may be premature to dismiss certain beliefs as myths or superstitions. True, those who attended the luncheon party hosted by the rationalists during the peak of recent solar eclipse might not have developed any health problem. But, that doesn’t prove anything. All those who eat food at various restaurants (hygienic or unhygienic) do not contract amoebiasis, but only some develop this problem because of individual constitution of the body. But doctors give us a blanket advice “Avoid eating at unhygienic places”. Consumption of polluted water may cause jaundice, we are told. Can we say that we have been able to provide safe drinking water to every citizen of this country? But do all of them suffer from jaundice? All those who smoke do not land up in cancer wards. That should not drive us to tell people that “smoking is NOT injurious to health”. Individuals react differently to different situations. If our ancestors were able to study the planetary system with perfection much before the West, we should be modest enough to grant them the scientific knowledge to unravel certain micro-level changes that take place on earth and on individuals during the eclipse.
Interestingly, the very expression “solar eclipse” is a misnomer. Nothing happens to the Sun. Only his rays which sustain the earth do not reach the earth because Moon comes in the way. In a way, eclipse is for the earth and not the Sun. Sun being the life-sustaining force on the earth, it is the life energy on the earth that is affected when Sun rays do not reach partially or fully. Why are we told not to look at the Sun with naked eyes? Because during the eclipse, we could see the Sun without much strain on the eyes, but the rays are nevertheless harmful. There were no filters during those days and our ancestors used to see the eclipsed Sun in the reflection of water bodies or on a cup of water. Same reasoning applies to the body as well and that could be the reason for not exposing your body to the Sun during the eclipse. Yes, nothing happens to those who expose themselves. It is like saying that excessive exposure to the normal Sun does not cause cancer while scientists hold a different view.

There could be another non-scientific explanation for fasting and bathing. Sun-worshippers of this country perhaps express their solidarity with the Sun God when he has difficulties in reaching them and one such expression is fasting as it is considered a purifying ritual in all religions. Why should there by objection to bathing, as we are told, in the aftermath of swine flu epidemic, to wash our hands as frequently as possible.

Coming to the communal angle, Saroornagar residents are not entirely wrong when they see communal overtones in our rationalists. Every year they make a big noise when Bathini brothers distribute herbal medicine for asthma patients from all over the country. The only problem with the Bathini family is that all of them sport Hindu religious marks and attire. So, it must be quackery. If the same herbal medicine were to be distributed by the Church or in the Mosque, rationalists would have looked the other way as they are doing whenever Christian evangelists conduct mass miracle cures. A paraplegic would stand up and walk, a dumb would speak, a blind would see the world around him. Are they natural phenomena? Do the rationalists criticise or hold demos before such evangelical exercises as they do before Sathya Sai Baba?

Fire walk is another Hindu custom that our rationalists have taken up cudgels against. This was in practice for thousands of years not only in India but in different cultures across the world in the context of emotional, physical and spiritual healing. Now that the West has started believing that Fire walk is a wonderful example of the mind-body connection at work and how our thoughts impact everything else in our lives and that thoughts change brain chemistry and body function, there should be a re-think for our Hetuvadis. David Willey of the US who conducted a scientific study of fire walk says “This is not to deny that one may feel empowered by having walked on fire, nor is it to dispute that it may improve self-confidence. I do believe that firewalking is understandable in terms of basic physics and is not supernatural nor paranormal. In India every aspect of daily life – eating, bathing, music, dance, fine arts, sculpture – was given a Divine dimension and hence fire walk was also turned into a ritual. That does not deprive it of its real impact on mind over matter.

Can there be a greater rationalist than Charavaka and a greater rational philosophy than the Lokayata school of thought? Let’s not forget that both are part of our great epic Mahabharata.

MAKE-BELIEVE MEDIA

What is the role played by the media during 2009? “South Asia Media Monitor 2009” has done a survey and it only confirms what every concerned citizen in the state has been complaining about the media – “hyper-commercialisation, monopolisation and excessive political clout”. What we have to add to this list, so far as Andhra Pradesh is concerned, is the absolutely unprofessional conduct of the channels both due to personal agenda of the owners and professional illiteracy of the operators. What is the result of this gross aberration in the media? The South Asia Media Commission (SAMC) says that this has chipped away at professional and ethical norms, most disturbingly in India and Pakistan. How true!

Keeping aside the sub-continent for a moment, let’s look at our own state. People of Andhra Pradesh do not need an analysis from SAMC to understand the media stink which became more unbearable after the pro-T or pro-U agitations were unleashed on them by self-centered politicians or family-oriented political outfits. The common man and the business class alike were of the view that if only the news channels were to be closed for a week, there will be no agitation. It is the most unhealthy competition among the Telugu channels that sustained the movements for and against Telangana. OB vans that are running like Maruti-800 around the state added to the problem with every provocative and abusive byte of ordinary workers going live. This is one example as to how technology can be a double-edged knife!

To whatever suffering the viewers of channels, growing like mushrooms, have been subjected to was given expression by the state High Court when it observed recently that the ”television news channels are turning irresponsible in their dissemination of news”. While warning television news channels against crossing the line, the court also directed the government to ensure that the channels follow the programme code as envisaged in the Cable Television Network Rules.

What did the state government, assuming there is one, do? It simply passed on the buck to the Centre. It urged the Central government to bring in a legislation to rein in private television channels from indulging in sensationalism.
What is the track record of the Centre in invoking the “reasonable restrictions” that the Constitution allows except issuing occasional notices to entertainment channels? Because of the nexus between the media and the political class, the all powerful national media has been blackmailing the government against any independent media monitor and instead insisting on a self-code? This has been going in for years and we are yet to see any code. Even if a self-code exists, with “hyper-commercialisation” being the basic drive engine of the media, will anyone stick to the code unless the government wields a stick? Yes, there are dangers in entrusting the government with a stick, but what is happening now is more dangerous. The stick is with the unscrupulous proprietors who use the channels for pursuing their political and business interests. This is very much true in Andhra Pradesh.
Press freedom makes sense only when the Press functions as it should in a non-partisan and objective manner with greater responsibility as it exemplified itself during the Freedom movement. Now, what we have is a partisan, subjective and irresponsible press with rare exceptions. What is worse, ownership is divided on party lines, especially in the states, funded by people with no commitment whatsoever to professional media. Should the privileges of a free press be applicable to these channels which are run like any other business listed in the stock market?

This is not a peculiar phenomenon to Andhra Pradesh alone. Let’s take the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu. Every political party has a dedicated channel. Atlast even the chief minister has a channel in his honorific name “Kalaignar” though one does not know the legal ownership pattern. Benami holdings are not something new to our politicians. Whatever be the legal ownership, the very title of the channel is enough to outbeat other channels in terms of commercials. Naturally! Which commercial organisation will not like to see its spots in the chief minister’s channel? Should such channels have the privileges of a free Press?
What are the privileges of free Press? If we go by the example set by TV5, NTV and Sakshi TV, no one can raise a finger at them even if they go seriously wrong throwing to winds all norms of journalistic fair play and ethics. They were brazen enough to justify their action when they lifted a report that was carried in a discredited Russian portal and were directly or indirectly responsible for the wanton destruction of private property in the state. Obviously this was done at the instance of some invisible hands.

Though the state government took half-hearted action against the channels, there was a hue and cry that there was an “assault” on the freedom of the Press. For nearly three days, TV5 was running the visuals of arrest of its editors and the “reaction” to such arrests as if nothing else was happening in the world. Viewers were made to believe that there was spontaneous outburst from the journalistic community by way of “rallies”, “dharnas” and “rasto rokhos”. Viewers were told that there were “rallies” in mandal-level places where there may hardly be a dozen stringers. “Effigies” burnt in front of a dozen people will be shot by the channel’s stringer and shown as if there were huge protests. In addition, there will be talk shows to justify their action. “What is wrong if we discuss the merits of a story carried in a Russian portal?” This was the central theme of the talk shows. It was disgusting to see these channels combining in themselves the dual role of news makers and presenters. They created “news” by way of made-to-order “rallies” and presented them. What sort of journalism is this? When the journos shouted slogans against the chief minister like street politicians, can the society expect them to be objective and behave with dignity that the profession demands? It was a sort of “Make Believe Media” that is in action in the state these days.

But to be fair to these johnys-come-lately, the “torch-bearer” for this pernicious trend in the profession is the Eenadu group. There was not even a thin line between its interests and state interests. Its interests were perceived to be in state interest. It started creating news through its stringer network whenever it took up a cause in its own interests and palmed it off as if in public interest. When the group launched a campaign for prohibition in the state two decades ago, it adopted the same “make-believe” technique that the present news channels are faithfully following today.

The Telangana agitation also exposed the intellectual bankruptcy of those who are manning the channels and there was no enlightened debate on the issue. Mandal level politicians were brought to talk shows and made to abuse each other aggravating the tension between the people of two regions besides provoking them for action. Talk shows were nothing but street-level fights enacted in the studios before the cameras with the hosts watching the fun as if they were enjoying cock fights that are common in the districts during Sankranti festival.

When the news channels have degenerated to this level and function as a mafia outfit, do they really need press freedom and the privileges that go with it?