Mumbai: a miracle factory

Sweetened seas and thirsty idols have Mumbai talking about the extraordinary. People debate miracles and our tendency to magnify the ordinary.

No one wants to be a non-believer

The hearsay effect is still prevalent in Mumbai. If you notice, the people who believed and drank the Mahim phenomenon weren't from the educated classes. Add to that, mob mentality hinders rational thinking. You see your neighbours and relatives trying to feed milk to an idol and you want to do the same. Here again, the fear factor comes in to play. You think that if you fail to comply, you might be punished.

About 10 per cent of the population might not believe the so-called miracles but try it out of curiosity. Social acceptance is also another reason to disregard logic. No one wants to be branded a non-believer. A line of thought goes that if miracles have happened in the past, they can happen again.

Mumbai is still tending to its blast wounds. At a time like this, such an incident reinforces the faith that was being questioned.— Urmi Singh. Psychologist

We are taught to believe in miracles

Faith ingrained in people makes them want to believe miracles, and that's why such so-called miracles occur. The problem is that people are always on the lookout for such miracles. They latch on to any incident out of the ordinary.

Our upbringing is such that we are taught to believe in miracles from a very young age. The misconception that God and miracles are the same is taught through stories and
epics and people tend to interpret these incidents as miracles to feel secure and reaffirm their faith in god. Even the great saints, who in their teachings have criticised miracles, have a miracle or a two to their name. Such is the pervasive nature of our need to believe in miracles.

All these miracles, including the ‘seawater turning sweet’ have been tested and found to have no substance by the members of Akhilbharatiya Andha Shraddha Nirmoolan
Samiti. It is just our blind faith and our need to emphasise the existence of God that makes us gullible and prone to believe in miracles.” — Shyam Manav, Founder Organiser, Akhilbharatiya Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti

I believe in them

I would be lying if I say I don't believe in miracles.  But I still don’t consider seawater turning sweet at Mahim dargah as a miracle. I have no specific reason to say so but somehow, my mind doesn't accept it. ‘It's all rubbish’ was my first reaction to this news. I have complete faith in God and I don’t think one needs miracles to believe in his existence. I haven’t experienced any miracle yet, though I know for sure, miracles do happen. — Sunil Rao. Chembur

My granny came back from the dead

I believe in miracles but I don’t understand why people get overexcited. Even if seawater turning sweet is a miracle, why should anyone drink it? It doesn’t mean that it’s good for you. Nevertheless, miracles do strengthen your faith in God. I experienced one a long time ago when my grandmother was declared dead by doctors. My father broke down and started chanting prayers. After a few minutes, the doctor came and said that my grandmother was breathing. We were shocked and but it was true. — Surabhi Bhatia. Thane

God’s making his presence felt

How can seawater turn sweet? It is a miracle for sure. I was surprised when I heard about it. I spoke to a few of my friends who stay nearby and they all said that they had tasted that water. I think this is God’s way of making his presence felt. Miracles happen everyday. Isn’t birth a miracle by itself? — Unni Madhavan. Kurla

It’s a natural phenomenon

It’s foolish to believe in miracles. Every phenomenon is backed by a scientific theory. What happened at Mahim was nothing unnatural; this phenomenon has been reported earlier in other countries too. I have complete faith in God but I don’t think He will resort to such things to show his presence. — Sanjay Rajdhan. Vasai

Miracle? Not for me

It is absurd to believe that seawater turning sweet was a result of miracle. My faith in God is not at the mercy of miracles. I believe in Him unconditionally. I have not
experienced any miracle as yet and don’t even wish to. — Sanjay Menon. Bandra

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