In search of miracles

The Spectator

How profoundly we yearn for miracles in our lives — and to what lengths we go to make even the most ordinary every day occurrences miraculous.

In Mahim, hundreds of believers had gathered to drink from a sea that had mysteriously turned sweet, even as BMC and scientists cautioned that there were many logical explanations for this — not least of all that an excess of the city’s sewage had done the trick.

But who could stop those looking for the hand of god from grasping it when it was seemingly offered? There they were in vast numbers, diving in to the gray waters, collecting it in bottles, offering it to their children and aged parents quaffing it in vast quantities.

I am not a cynic but when I come across instances when people attribute ordinary events in their lives to extraordinary reasons, I find myself getting uneasy. I have been present at gatherings across the religious spectrum... Hindu, Christian, new age, cult— you name it— and I have noticed the propensity people have towards taking comfort in a superior intervention when they feel lost or beaten by life’s twists and turns.

When people are vulnerable they are most prone to looking for signs of Divine intervention. At these moments, even the most innocuous events, the ones that have the most obvious explanations are seized upon by those in the need of such reassurance that their faith works.

In Mumbai, there are more people in need of such assurance than ever before. We are a troubled, lost, needy people, ridden with problems, racked with fears, desperate for some healing — and consequently we turn to whatever order, religious group or fad for panacea.

Vastu, reiki, feng shui, gurus, chanting, born-again Christian church groups, self-help books, miracle tea, auto writing, numerology, astrology, crystal balancing… what has Mumbai not grappled to its bosom recently as a cure for its troubled soul?

In every building society, in every colony, in every chawl, in every mohalla, the faithful gather in groups, or pray alone, in the hope that their troubles will disappear. It is only in Mumbai that the same person will go on Friday to a mosque and Monday to a temple and Wednesday to a church in the hope that his prayers are heard.

Heartbreak, stagnant careers, alcoholism, failing health, bad marriages, bad luck and disease are just some of the reasons why Mumbai will pray, sing, chant, offer flowers, wear rings and taveez, propitiate its gods and gurus and sip sea water in the hope that miracles are at hand.