The following is a mythological story based on a conversation between two Indian Gods, greatly venerated by the Hindu’s, who met each other in their celestial abode. They were both taking a sabbatical from their normal duties. Whilst they were strolling around the cold and lofty heavens they both took occasional glances down below on what was happening to the world below. Earlier the Gods had a much smaller area to look into which was limited to the area of the Asian subcontinent. However of late the population of Indians had spread alarmingly, and Indians had migrated to all parts of the world, from the Antarctic to the Tundra and from the Sahara deserts to Siberia.
It was said that – in the planet below every fifth person in the world was an Indian. So this spurt in the population of the Hindus resulted in an extra workload, and a larger area which had to be managed carefully by the celestial masters. The Gods in turn had to hear the prayers and dispensate blessings and boons , over a larger surface , wherever the Hindus were – whether it was the United States of America, South America or even China.
The two Gods were Shiva, the ruling God of the Himalayas , known as the ascetic God of destruction and the other being Krishna , the God of Brindavan , the God associated with the love of nature and dancing with the cowgirls and playing pranks. The following is a dialogue recorded to prepare the other Gods on the current scenario on Planet earth :-
Shiva: Hello Krishna , I haven’t seen you for a long time how have you been
Krishna : I have been busy trying to clear the rivers of the horrible plastic bags. Indians have a particularly nasty habit of throwing everything outside their houses. They have so little civic sense. Its only when they live in foreign countries that they conform to some extent to the civic rules prevailing in those cities.
Shiva: Yes I have heard that this is a very acute problem. Thankfully the Ganges when she starts from my base in the Himalayas is crystal pure and clean. My big problem is that Global warming has caused the temperatures all over the world to rise and because of this, the glaciers around me have started melting. All the wonderful shrines in the Himalayas are now in grave jeopardy!
Shiva continues : Have you heard the latest Bhajans ( prayer songs) that are being sung to us today? They are based on disco themes and tunes. I don’t know where the piety and silence in religion has gone to. Right from the entrance to the temples when the devotees ring the bells , there is so much noise everywhere .
Krishna: Yes I know you are so right , devotees now have stopped reciting mantras and saying their prayers, they just play the tape recorders and CD players now. Frankly I don’t mind to much as long as people remember me, I don’t really mind whether they pray to me with their own voices or they do it electronically. I keep hearing a phrase I have never heard before called a “MP3.
Shiva : You must have gone deaf by now Krishna from hearing the velocity that the Indians play their devotional music. Sometimes I cannot make out the difference between the devotional songs and the disco music. It sounds all the same to me !