In today’s world, there is only one religion. Can you guess it? Well, if you surmised it as ‘humanity,’ then you are absolutely wrong. There is something in this world that is much more than that – something bigger than humanity, or so it seems! And, that is something you and I very well know of, and without which, our survival and growth would seem almost next to impossible, if not impossible! The biggest religion in this world is (yes, I think you got it damn right now!) ‘Money.’

Money, money, money! It’s all about money, honey! Money is ruling the roost, worldwide. Money is the only master today that human beings know of. With money, human beings feel they can do anything and everything. Money can buy justice, create communal chaos at will, make dumb speak, make an honest person dishonest overnight, and take lives away against God’s will! What has made money so powerful? Has money gained prominence by itself, or is it we humans who have accorded it super-divine status by putting it on a pedestal? Why do we give so much importance to money even over God and humanity? There goes an adage, “Money can buy you only bed, but not sleep; money can buy you only books, but not knowledge; money can buy you only medicines, but not health; money can buy you only luxuries, but not happiness. But, even after knowing all this, people still feel that money can truly buy them happiness and peace, which only seems as illusory and deceptive as a mirage in a desert!

The recent bomb blasts in Hyderabad on August 25, 2007, at Lumbini Park (near Secretariat) and at Gokul Chat (near Koti) bears stark testimony to the fact that money is omnipotent and can breach all barriers – human or divine! Money can transcend even the highest of security, since everyone seems to be very vulnerable to money, including the very people who are expected to protect the country by rising above the greed for money. Today, money has become our biggest enemy internally, which we have to fight out first, before dealing with extraneous enemies like terrorists and naxalites.

Today, any Indian or foreigner can get RDX, or an Indian passport, or Indian voter identity card by just shelling big bucks to the powers that be, as was shown in television few months ago. We Indians seem to have mortgaged our souls, conscience, and hearts for this lucre, which has overpowered us like no other powerful weapon in this world! We have traded off our security for this moolah. We don’t seem to realize that, one day, the very thing that we all love (and worship) so much will prove to be Frankstein’s monster to us, and be the very reason for our downfall and destruction. And, when that realization will dawn upon us, it would have been too late. Now is the time to act and act firmly, without the slightest compromise. It’s now or never! 

August 26, 2007

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