HE BEATS HOLY MEN AT THEIR OWN GAME
Vidyadhar Gadgil
June 13th, 2008
HE BEATS HOLY MEN AT THEIR OWN GAME
by Jeevan Mathew Kurian
Kozhikode, June 13 (IANS) He walks barefoot over
glowing embers, conjures up sacred ash with a
wave of his hand or produces gold chains in the
twinkle of an eye. But Narendra Nayak is no holy
man professing magical powers - in fact he is
their nemesis. Nayak is the current president of
the Federation of Indian Rationalist
Associations. Once a professor of biochemistry,
he quit the job to devote his life to exorcising
superstition from society.
"I demonstrate to people that many of the acts by
holy men are just tricks and can be executed by
anyone," says Karnataka-based Nayak who was here
at the invitation of local rationalists. "It is a
sleight of hand," he explains, showing the trick
of producing a chain out of thin air.
Nayak, 58, a native of Mangalore, quit his job at
the Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, in 2006.
In the last 18 years, he has conducted around
3,000 demonstrations across the country to expose
witchcraft, black magic and fake godmen - the
term commonly used in India for holy men who woo
followers by doing the seemingly impossible.
His observations on "the relationship between
beliefs and happenings" led Nayak to rationalism.
It was his association with famous rationalist
Abraham T. Kovoor that gave him the first
experience of the rationalist movement in the
mid-1970s. Nayak has since travelled abroad
extensively, giving interviews and taking part in
talk shows.
"Superstition is there everywhere. Abroad it
comes out in more subtle forms like colour
therapy or numerology. You won't see a British
prime minister falling at the feet of a godman.
"But in India, it is blatant. They produce sacred
ash or a gold chain from thin air to fool people.
Some of them even get away with crimes like
murders," Nayak told IANS in an interview .
Nayak has been to villages where those accused of
black magic have been lynched.
"The victims are mostly women. The attackers
usually cut the victim's hair, break their teeth
and smear them with human faeces to weaken their
so-called magical powers. Sometimes the victims
are even killed and burned."
On many occasions, he has gone to villages at the
invitation of the police to enlighten people.
He says one of the reasons for superstition was
wrong education. "We give only literacy but no
education," he says.
"Nowadays, 21st century technology is being
imposed on a 16th century mental set-up. We now
have internet advertisements on 'ek mukhi
rudrakhsa' (sacred bead) or 'vaastu' (Indian
treatise on the construction of buildings)."
He says influential godmen are seemingly above
the law. To stop superstitions and godmen, laws
should be applied equally to all. "The country
also lacks comprehensive laws to control these
practices."
Before the Karnataka assembly elections last
month, Nayak offered Rs.200,000 each to five
people who could predict the results. The
challenge was mainly intended for astrologers.
"I got 200 entries. The contestants were to
answer 25 questions. To win the prize at least 21
of them had to be correct."
He even allowed a 10 percent margin of error on
the number of seats for political parties and
votes polled by important candidates.
"The maximum number of correct answers was nine.
That was done by a woman who is not an
astrologer. She said she used the results of
opinion polls to answer the questions. However,
the maximum scored by an astrologer was only
four," said Nayak.
He is happy that the tide of fortune has turned
against godmen in Kerala who face action from the
government.
On May 13, Santhosh Madhavan alias Swami
Amrithachaithanya was arrested in Kochi for
alleged rape and possession of narcotics and
pornographic films. After the incident,
complaints against godmen started pouring in from
various parts of the state, prompting the
government to initiate a statewide crackdown.
"The momentum of this drive should remain and
cleanse society of godmen as well as
superstitions," says Nayak.
--
Question everything -- Karl Marx