Isha Mahashivratri Celebrations — Should they be paid for to attend?
Every year one or the other APGs (read on to know what it means) share a picture like this and cry that Isha is charging money from ‘poor’ people for attending its Mahashivratri celebrations. This post is dedicated to such people.
Interesting Conversations Isha Volunteers Have
This happened when a volunteer from the Isha Foundation went to invite some people for attending the Mahashivratri festivities in Coimbatore.
Old Person: My knees ache. I will not be able to sit on the ground
Volunteer: No problem Ma’am. You will have chairs to sit through the night.
Old Person: I can’t stay without food for too long. Should I bring my dinner?
Volunteer: No Ma’am. Annadanam happens through the night. Freshly prepared vegetarian food is served for all.
Old Person: But I have to come in my car as I cannot walk.
Volunteer: That is fine. You will have parking facilities near the venue.
Old Person: What about drinking water and toilets?
Volunteer: Ma’am, every year many thousands of people attend the event. We take care of drinking water, food, toilets, and also emergency medical facilities for all of them. Do not worry, you will be safe there.
Old Person: (Sheepishly) I am not used to staying awake through the night.
Volunteer: (Joyously) Don’t worry Ma’am. We will take care of that. There will be intense meditations with Sadhguru along with cultural events like songs and dance performances through the night to help you stay awake.
Old Person: (Having run out of excuses) OK. I will come for sure.
<< Here comes our APG …>>
Atheist Party Guy — APG: (Has been listening to this conversation) Oh, but you guys charge money for attending the Mahashivratri celebrations.
Volunteer: (Amused) Sir, who are you?
APG: I am her cousin. I am an atheist party guy.
Volunteer: Good to know that being an atheist, you are still interested in knowing about Mahashivratri.
APG: Yes, I am a liberal, but I would not attend these archaic cultural festivals like Mahashivratri.
Volunteer: OK Sir, what is your specific objection?
APG: That you guys charge money for attending.
Volunteer: Sir, if you can afford to pay, please register by paying.
If you cannot afford to pay, that is also fine. There is free seating also available. But because there will be many people who would want free seating, there may be crowd. You will have to come in early to the Mahashivratri grounds to get your place.
If you cannot even afford to come in person, you could watch it online or on TV also.
But attending in person is a great experience and that is why we see the crowds going up by every year!
APG: If there is free seating, why are you asking for money?
Volunteer: Sir, it is actually simple. Because there are a few who can afford to pay and register, we are able to offer the same kind of facilities and thousands of free seats to people who cannot afford to pay.
APG: But how is that justified? Why can’t Isha Foundation pay for all the expenses? 200 years ago, nobody was charging any money in our temples.
Volunteer: But sir, 200 years ago, people were voluntarily giving donations to temples. Also, Kings and landlords were supporting temple festivities. But such systems are not there these days.
APG: I do not know about all that. You should not ask for money.
Volunteer: (Completely bemused) Sir, if you don’t mind, may I ask what you do?
APG: (Proudly) I am a project lead in **** (a top software company).
Volunteer: Did your company make any money during Corona? Were you paid a salary?
APG: (Angrily) Those buggers paid us less because they did not make enough money.
Volunteer: Did you support the farmer protests recently?
APG: Yes, of course. I even sponsored online for it (Proudly).
Volunteer: So, you do realize that to conduct an event or even a protest, money is needed to take care of the basic facilities at the event site.
As I was just explaining to Ma’am, there are chairs to be placed, event venue has to be prepared, food has to be served for the lakhs of devotees who attend that night, drinking water has to be managed, toilet facilities have to be provided, emergency medical teams should be kept ready and all this takes a good amount of money.
And during the pandemic period, Isha also did not have any yoga programs going. So, obviously, without any revenue whatsoever, how do you think they will be able to conduct the event for free?
APG: I do not know all that. You guys should make it free. மோடி ஒழிக!
Volunteer: 😳
Old Person — Mind voice: (Has been listening patiently so far) You fool of an APG! You spent 600 rupees just like that on a pizza the other day. Last week you went to a movie with your friends spending 2000 rupees in a single day. Now, you are not even registering and you are cribbing so much about me registering for a spiritual event 🤦🏻♂️
Old Person — To Volunteer: You go, sir. I will register today itself and will attend the event surely.
Such things keep happening every year. Even last year, some vested interests tried to float false news that poor people were not allowed to attend Mahashivratri. Here is the post busting those lies …
As you can see clearly, there were so many bays last year for people to attend without paying any money and simply registering for a free pass.
When it is time for the Mahashivratri celebrations at Isha, suddenly our dear atheist and communist friends in Tamilnadu become interested in spirituality. You will see some messages like this:
- Mahashivratri is not a Tamil festival (Shiva is a Tamil God but his festival is not Tamil!)
- Attend Mahashivratri festivities in your nearby temples (as if any temple is left that celebrates the event on a grand scale with HR&CE squeezing the life out of them already)
Some such folks are just lazy, being used to the freebies culture that Dravidian politicians have made a norm in the state.
The others actually have no real concern for poor people. They just do not want a revival in the Sanatana Dharma at all. They will not question one Mr. Paul Dinakaran (his institution is fairly close to Isha) hiding or spending crores of rupees of money & occupying an entire village, but will mindlessly question anything that Isha does & does not.
The simple reason is that Isha’s Mahashivratri celebrations are a threat to their very existence because the crowds keep growing year on year implying that more people are being pulled towards spirituality. They cannot stand all this cultural revival but Isha is large enough to provide free seating for such ‘friendly enemies’ too if they wish to attend 😇
