The Visitor to Alanchy
The four friends – Johnson called Johnny, Krishnan called Krish, Nasser and Anand- gathered at Alanchy Junction to conduct the monthly dialogue on pre-planned issues at Lal Poly Bureau – a social platform promoted by them two years back. It was merely a chance or coincidence that they belonged to diverse religions and caste communities. But they share a common concern for social justice and freedom.
While they were about to proceed towards the one room office of Lal poly Bureau located just ahead of the Alanchy Junction in the Karungal road, they came across a sage like man coming from Kurumbani road towards Alanchy Junction. His long bearded and uncombed overgrown curly hairs and the bony face radiated peace and serenity that attract any stranger for a moment. While watching him proceeding towards the junction, a speedy motor bike, probably driven by a drunken teen ager, roared from Midalam road to Colachel crossing the Alanchy Junction where four roads to four townships converge – Midalam, Karungal, Colachel and Kurumbani.
“Hey old man bike” a cry thundered from the throat of Johnny and in a flash of a second, he dragged th-e old man to a safer zone. But the old man exhibited no sign of nervousness or agitation over the near death escape. He flashed out a serene smile and said” Thank You”
Anand asked out of curiosity “where are you going sir?”
“Anywhere” came the short reply.
Astonished, Nasser asked politely” May we know your name sir?”
”A visitor” came another short reply.
Usually, the four youth arrange a resource person for the issue they plan to conduct a dialogue. Unfortunately, Professor John Rose who promised to be the resource person on that day could not honour his word due to family engagement.
Krish whispered to Johnny” why not we invite this old man as resource person for today?”
The suggestion was acceptable to everybody and Johnny proposed the idea to the visitor (hereafter he shall be called the as visitor) who immediately accepted the offer.
They entered the one room office cum meeting room of Lal Poly Bureau. They visitor read the banner and murmured “Lal means beloved or precious, Poly means multi or various, Bureau means a place of knowledge. It is really a wonderful name. This is really a beloved place for knowledge”
The four were once again astonished and at the same time felt happy that they invited the right person as the name of Lal Poly Bureau was suggested by a biblical theologian from the Kottar Catholic Diocese with the same explanation.
They sat around the table sipping the tea. Krish presided over the meeting, welcomed the visitor and announced the theme for the dialogue. It was “Relevance of Gandhi, the Father of Indian Independence, in the context of 21st century Globalization” and invited the visitor to start the dialogue.
Still maintaining his serenity and peace, the visitor spoke with a steely voice.
“Who told you that Gandhi was the Father of India’s Independence? It is a historical nonsense. Can you substantiate this with evidence from history and explain it within the framework of Evolution of God Theory”.
The four friends, who considered them as the intellectuals and elite in Alanchy, fell flat with this question.
Finally, Nasser recovered from the shock and asked in a low voice” Then who brought Independence to India sir?”
The visitor replied “Have you heard about the Hegelian Triad of Thesis, Anti Thesis and Synthesis. He used it only once I think. But it is still a useful tool to explain the evolution of god”. All the four remained speechless and listened attentively to the visitor.
“I will explain with simple example. The inhuman and cruel system of slavery was recognised all over the world before Christian Empire came into being. The Roman Empire institutionalized slavery with Death arenas and Gladiator schools. This was a Thesis. Always remember that the Thesis is impregnated with Anti Thesis. The Anti-Thesis was Jesus Christ and his Kingdom of God which destroyed the system of slavery and a new synthesis evolved – Holy Roman Empire and Feudalism”
Johnny was thrilled at the new insight and mustered courage to continue the dialogue. “Why did not the Anti-Thesis or the Kingdom of God evolve after the destruction of the system of slavery?”
The visitor replied” The capitalist elements in the Thesis always creep into the Anti-Thesis like the HIV that enters into the blood stream unnoticed. In other words, capitalism always co-opts any form of Anti Thesis. Frederick Nietzsche rightly observed that the reform dies with the reformer and then mankind corrupts the reform. Yes he is right. The capitalist elements in the Roman Empire crept cunningly into early Christianity after the conversion of Emperor Constantine and the result was Feudalism. But the Industrial Revolution reacted as Anti Thesis against Feudalism and brought about the collapse of Feudalism. Once again the Feudal landlords became industrialists and a new Synthesis merged. The industrial economy decayed to develop into a worst form of Thesis called Colonialism to satisfy the markets for Industrialization. Miniscule European powers, particularly Great Britain, plundered the wealth of the third world countries.
It is worthwhile to remember the words of Gandhi who commented that the wealth and prosperity of Great Britain was made possible by plundering the wealth of 75% the resources of the earth and at this rate if India wanted to achieve similar prosperity and wealth, then India had to discover seven new earths in the galaxy to plunder the resources.
Now we have arrived at the answer to the question posed by Nasser “ who brought Independence to India?”
The visitor realized that it was a dialogue and hence he asked for the comments of the four friends. But they were more interested in the wisdom of the visitor. Hence Krish asked the visitor to go ahead and explain Gandhi and Independence of India.
Continued the visitor” Let us assume that Gandhi got Independence for India. Then who brought Independence for scores of third world countries trapped in the vicious hold of the small European powers? There must have been at least many Gandhis in Africa and Asia. Nasser, please explain.”
Nasser remained speechless. It was a silent consent for the visitor to proceed.
Continued the visitor” Second World War was the Anti-Thesis to the inhuman Colonialism. Hitler made a statement in his Mein Kampf that Germany required colonies to find market for German industries. The Second World War was a war between European Colonialism and German Colonialism. The European Colonialism was razed to the ground by German war machine but the German colonial ambition was destroyed by the Red Army of Russia. However, after the Second World War, colonialism was extinct and all the colonized countries got freedom. Do you, Nasser, still believe that Gandhi brought Independence for India? Have you read the writings of Gandhi? He believed in his heart that colonialism would end and India would get Independence. But he admitted that he used Quit India Movement as a tool to mobilize the Indian population under a vast network of grass root level movement to launch social reform against social, economic and political discrimination practised by upper caste Hindus against the poor lower caste Indians.”
Krish now intervened” Then what is the relevance of Gandhi today?
Answered the visitor with a voice filled with authority. “Gandhi as an economist and a political reformer is still relevant in the context of globalization. The rationale of the Gandhian economics shall be summarised in his own words ‘the earth has everything to satisfy the needs of humanity but not its greed. Please underline this in your mind. The ethics of Gandhian economics is ethics of enough whereas the ethics of globalization is the ethics of not enough. The political ideology of Gandhi is also Grama Swaraj which means that each village must be a sovereign unit. It has full control over the resources of the village. The local governing body or Panchayat is the ultimate political power. Our Panchayat Raj system is the corruption and diluted version of Gandhian Panchayat system.”
Anand who has been remaining silent and observing the dialogue, now intervened with a request,” shall we have a tea break and continue?” The idea was acceptable to everyone. During the tea break, the four friends whispered among themselves and consented unanimously that the visitor should be a genius and they should enquire of his whereabouts in the end of the meeting and invite him regularly.
After the tea break, the dialogue continued. Johnny was an ardent Marxist and he was eager to know about the relevance of Marxism as an Anti-Thesis to Globalization. So he asked the visitor to comment on this.
The visitor replied, “Marxism or Communism was not invented by Karl Marx. It was an ancient concept of social justice. You shall find the genesis of communism in the Book of Exodus in the Old Testament. When Pharaoh released the Israelites from captivity and allowed them to leave Egypt, Jehovah, the God of Israel asked the Israelites to borrow the jewels of the Egyptian masters with a promise that they would go to the desert and offer a prayer to Jehovah. It was imperative that the prayer should be offered with jewels adoring the body. Not knowing the verdict of Pharaoh, the Egyptian women offered the jewels. Then the God of Israel asked them to go away to the Promised Land with the jewels. Now I have a question for Johnny. ‘Is it not a lie? Is it not cheating? Why the God of Israel asked his chosen people to do so?’
Johnny was just blinking. His knowledge of Bible was very much limited.
Answered the visitor” The Israelites were just slaves and their masters never paid them any salary. The jewels were the surplus labour of the Israelites. Jehovah might have thought that the end, if it had social justice, would justify the means. What about the Kingdom of God of Jesus Christ? Jesus said very clearly those who are eligible and qualified to enter into the Kingdom of God. Who are those fortunate persons? Can anybody tell me?
Anand, the son of an ex seminarian had some knowledge of Bible inherited from his father. He recited a lengthy statement from the Gospel of Kings James version Bible ” There will be people from east and west who will flock the doors of Kingdom of God but it will be closed to them. They will say’ Lord, in your name we prayed, in your name we performed miracles, then why do you close the doors? But I will reply; I was hungry and ye fed me not, I was sick ye attended me not-, I was in the prison, ye visited me not and I was without cloths, ye clothed me not’ Then they will ask ‘ Lord, when were ye hungry, when were ye without cloths, when were ye in prison and when were ye sick?’ I will tell them; have ye not seen the poor without food and clothes, the poor in prison and the poor in sickness. They were all me. So you all go to hell. Then there will be many people from east and west who will flock the gates of Kingdom of God. I will open the doors and welcome them with these words’ Come in, I was hungry and ye fed me, I was sick and ye attended me, I was without clothes and ye clothed me and I was in the prison and ye attended me’. They will reply ‘Lord we have never heard about you and have never seen you before. When you were hungry, when you were sick, when you were without clothes and when you were in prison? Then I will tell them ‘Have you not done these things to the poor. They are me. So the gates of Kingdom of God are open to you.’
The visitor applauded him with a huge clapping and said, “Well said, have you noticed Anand that the Christians are condemned to the eternal fire but people from other religions with love enter the Kingdom of God.”
“This is the content of communism or Marxism” said the visitor.
Alarmed at this seemingly outrageous reply, Johnny retorted back harshly “Do you mean to say that Marx advocated charity to beggars?. You have poor understanding of Karl Marx. First you study Marx and make judgements about him.” Anger was visible in his face.
The visitor exhibited no visible expression of discomfort or irritation but tried to clear the misunderstanding of Johnny. He replied “My dear Johnny, I am very sorry to say that you have very poor understanding of Jesus. You have totally missed the message. Jesus advocated for the right to food, right to clothes, political rights and right to health of the poor. These rights had been denied to the slaves and the poor during the Roman Empire. Hence Jesus championed the right to life and livelihood of the poor. Did not Marx also do this? Marx advocated for the poor through a brilliant socio – political and economic analysis. But Jesus and Marx converged on one point. It is social justice.”
Johnny was a bit destabilized and sank into a deep thought.
Krish, though hailing from an orthodox Hindu family, had concern for the poor and commitment to social justice. But he used to visit Hindu temple of Nagaraja every Friday with his family members. But he had his own doubts about the multiplicity of religions and various belief systems. He thought that he had identified the right person to clarify his doubts.
“Excuse me sir, please clarify certain doubts tormenting my heart. First, Marx said that religion is the opium of the masses. That means he is against the religion. But Jesus believed in religion. Now you say that both have common shared concern. How is it? Why do we need lot of religions? Which religion is, then the right one?” He posed his questions with a sense of humility and the visitor was moved by his sincerity in his inquiry.
“Dear Krish, I really appreciate your humility and honesty. Once again I say that your understanding of Marx and Jesus is inadequate. Though Marx rejected religion, he recognized the proactive role of religion in the harsh and terrible living conditions of the poor labour class or proletariat class. Their only consolation is that God will reward them in the afterlife. You must quote the entire text of any person including Marx. Now I recall his views of religion. I am not quoting him. He admitted that everywhere poor class are under chains of oppression. These oppressions are political, economic or social in nature. They are all iron chains. But one ring of the chain is made of flower. It is the -heart of the heartless world, emotion in the emotionless world. It is the sigh of the poor. Like opium that lessens the pain of a terminally ill patient, so religion soothes the pain of oppression. Hence it is the opium of the masses. See Krish, how positive is Marx of religion.
Regarding your second question, I do not believe in religions because all religions are communal. They divide people against people. So the Gods of religions are the first communal guys. But the founders of the religion are not communal. They were filled with love. Take the example of Jesus. Do you think that Jesus is a Christian?. Never. Jesus is not at all a Christian. He never mentioned about Christianity in the four Gospels. Christianity as a religion was established after the conversion of the Roman Emperor Constantine. The religion of Jesus was, is and will be love not rituals and concrete buildings. I believe in God because I love everybody.”
Now Johnny made a last attempt to defend Marxism and Marx. “OK sir. You say that you believe in God. Can you show him to me? I want to see the God.”
The visitor made his reply very sharply with cool mind. “Johnny, the disciples of Jesus also made this request to Jesus. Do you know the reply of Jesus? ‘Have you not seen me?’ That is all. The Pharisees also questioned his claim to Godhood. He replied to them’ you are also Gods. That is how written in Talmud.’ He even went to the extent of claiming that God was in him and when he left the world, he gave a gift to his disciples. Anand, can you recall that gift?”
Anand felt helpless this time. He made a feeble attempt to recollect from the Gospels. Then the visitor said” I give you the God and Holy Spirit to you. They will guide you. What does this mean Johnny? You can see God only if you close your eyes because HE resides within you. You must kill the God without to see the God within. As a Marxist, if you want scientific proof, please read ‘The Power of Your Subconscious Mind’ written by Dr. Joseph Murphy. He claims that God resides in your Subconscious Mind. Read it please”
Krish felt overwhelmed by the words of wisdom of the visitor. He declared loudly “ Sir, we have never before in our lives have met such an enlightened man as you are. We are looking forward to such a person as you to lead us.” Johnny shed his ego and seconded the praise of Krish along with others.
Anand made a final question. “Sir, you talk about Thesis, Anti Thesis and Synthesis. What about globalization? Is it a Thesis? When will it end and how will Kingdom of God Flower in this world?”
“Global Neighbourhood Parliament is the only solution to destabilize Globalization and ensure the Kingdom of God in the earth.” The visitor paused for a minute as if something disturbed his mind. Then he continued. “Jesus talked about the parable of Good Samaritan. Have you all heard of it? Good Samaritan is the perfect example of the neighbour. He is full of love. To begin with form a neighbourhood of 15 persons in Alanchy. This is the base unit of Global Neighbourhood Parliament. Then expand this unit. Go on expanding till you cover one Panchayat or the local governing body. Now you have a Neighbourhood Panchayat level Parliament. The Grama Sabha meeting Resolutions passed in the Panchayat binds the State and Central Government. The Supreme Court has issued verdict as precedence. Now all the natural resources becomes the common property of the Neighbourhood Panchayat. When all the Panchayats in India are governed by the neighbours, you have Indian Neighbourhood Parliament. India will be governed by neighbours and the Indian Constitution is replaced by the one word Constitution of LOVE. If the model is replicated all over the world, we have Global Neighbourhood Parliament. Marx said that the history of civilization is the constant struggle to take control of the resources of the world between the oppressive class and the oppressed. Now there is no more struggle. The resources of the earth are shared equally among the citizens of the earth.”
The visitor seemed restless as something bad was going to happen. So said good bye and was about to leave.
Anand asked about his name and native place. The visitor replied curtly but in a hurry. “ I am only a visitor. I was never born and I will never die. I simply visited this world. You asked about my village. Yes! Every village is my village”
Johnny murmured “ the epitaph of OSHO has similar sentence. He might have been a follower of OSHO.”
Anand made a last attempt to keep him in Alanchy. “Sir, we have an unoccupied house in Alanchy. Why don’t you stay with us?”
The visitor flashed a serene and loving smile and said” I have lot of works to do in this world. I will visit tomorrow”
With this departing words, he left the Lal Poly Bureau.
Johnny said “comrades, we have a wonderful leader to lead us. The wisest man in the world. Tomorrow we must convince him and force him to stay with us”
All the other three shouted their consent.
Their happiness and peace was shattered by the screeching sound of an ambulance that halted in front of Lal Poly Bureau. Persons with hospital uniform jumped out of the ambulance and rushed inside the room and asked. “Where is the mad fellow Michael? People at Alanchy Junction told us that he accompanied you. Tell us where the mad fellow is?”
Johnny got angry as usual and protested” Sir, be polite with your words. He is a genius. He is the wisest man we have ever met. How dare you call him mad?”
The warden of the government mental hospital retorted sharply “He is a mental patient in the mental hospital. He escaped yesterday night. We are searching him all day long. Do not waste our time. Tell us which direction he went or else we will call the police.”
The word police sent fear waves through their bodies. Anand pointed his finger towards the road leading to Karungal and said “That direction”
They all squeezed into the van. Before the van started, the warden cried out “ Hey boys, if he turns out here tomorrow, please make a call to us” He uttered a mobile number.
The van left. The four friends stood shell shocked.