Sunday, August 03, 2008

Naina devi stampede

There are some gruesome pics on NDTV showing just how terrible the tragedy was?

150 dead within a few minutes
. Notice the bodies - most are women and children. Just heartbreaking and plain wrong!!

What price negligence? Our places of worship are blemished by poor ventilation, lack of hygiene and cleanliness(except the santum sanctorum), complete disrepect for the devotees and absence of any crowd control plan. Something like this is just waiting to happen.

I have been in one or two places like this, and after standing in the queue for about 2-3 hours, when I am closer to the darshan of the God/ess, I am filled with dread. The jostling, the shouting due to the complete absence of crowd management could result in a situation any time. I don't want to be crushed under the fat pujari. I do a quick namaskar, and get the hell out of there. With such chaos out there, how does anyone get a chance to be one with the Almighty?

Compare our temples with other places of worship. There is peace, order and discipline invariably in a church. Even when it is crowded, it is NEVER noisy. The whole aura of the place makes you want to talk in hushed tones. I haven't been to too many gurudwaras, but judging from the few I have been to, I feel it is always sane, and orderly there. Even though they serve free food, there is no pushing and shoving around.

We are the oldest religion in the world. When will we learn?

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