by MUKUL DUBE
Yesterday I was involved in a heated but never impolite debate on the use of the titles “Baba” and “Swami”. I now wish to say that they are no longer honorifics. They have become identifiers of occupation. As advocates place “Adv.” before their names, as engineers place “Engr.” before their names, so the vendors of “holy” gobbledegook are called “Baba” and “Swami”.
Here is a parallel. “Pandit” was and still sometimes is an appellation
indicating respect for learning. For a priest at a temple, though, it
tells us only that the man looks after the idols and performs the
rituals — and that he is a Brahmin by birth.
As politics is a vocation, carrying with it the title “Netaji”, so is
the vending of religious bull. In different ways, this is true of all
religions. The cadre as a whole is The Bureaucracy of God. Employment in the service brings tax-free monetary benefits.
Mukul Dube can be reached at uthappam@gmail.com