India’s VIPs and VVIPs had a bit of a brain explosion last week when news emerged that the former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam had been frisked by staff of Continental Airlines.
In today’s Times of India, Innaiah Narisetti, president of the Indian chapter of the Centre for Inquiry and author of the new book Forced into Faith, argues that leaders like Kalam set a bad example not by subjecting themselves to security checks, but by other acts they do.
“Children accept without question whatever the parents dictate. They carry that habit into their adulthood. Leaders practising superstitions set a bad example.
“It was sad that somebody like Abdul Kalam, when he was president, thought it fit to touch the feet of Sathya Sai Baba. That to my mind was more outrageous than his being frisked at an airport for security reasons despite his former office.”
Keen observers of photographs will doubtless notice the size, style and height of Kalam’s chair—the commander-in-chief of the armed forces!—vis-a-vis the hirsute Baba’s.
Keen observers of news will also have doubtless noticed that while Baba Ramdev was first off the blocks among godmen in opposing the decriminalisation of homosexual sex between consenting adults, there has been a studied silence in the spiritual corridor linking Kanakapura Road with Anantapur.
Read the full article: ‘Parents impose their belief system on children’
Also read: Should a President rub shoulders with godmen?
churumuri 
So parents dictate? I suppose parents are rotten because they don’t leave their kids on the streets to grow ‘free’ in mind and spirit.
I’d like to hear this fella make a case for child freedom. Idiot.
And what about Kalam and Sai Baba? Does he have to listen to Narisetti’s mindless di(c)ktats instead?
Leave it to ‘commune’ ists like Narisetti to destroy our families and traditions.
Excellent that such ‘ration’alists are down in the dumps in our country at least. Useless fellow.
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Frisking VIP’s is completely Fair. We have seen many of the VIP doing wrong things. We have seen cases like Human trafficing, gold smuggling etc. Which are done by the elite class.
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Lot many people we can learn from, and is more illegal than diving to the Godmen’s feet(BTW Kalam held his hand, not dived in to the feet, I guess):
Salman Khan for poaching, drunken driving
Sanjay Dutt for illegal weapons.
Shiney Ahuja for you know what for!
Many sports persons for Drug abuse
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…but he is only holding his hands…
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I have seen the articles of Innaiah in other news papers etc., and he falls in the category of a frustrated journalist trying to get some attention. That is my personal opinion though.
He always tried to relate between two unrelated topics, and bring in some weird relation and try to justify a point.
Same here as well.
One is a personal belief as a person, and other relates to the position of the office of the President. Yes, there is a person in a post, but please understand that a person has beliefs and should have a personal life, but at the same time, the incident of frisking relates to what a rule says and how it was violated.
So called rationalists, can never apply rationale on genuine topics, and they always look only with a negative thought, or “through a red glass” as some one once said about them.
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Good that Mr.Narisetti(he’s Narisetti Raju’s father!) says it is a sad thing and does not argue it as wrong.
Are you out of mind? Why would sri sri sri^n and other modern gurus speak against homosexuality and lose
customersfollowers!? Especially the foreign ones!LikeLike
@Watching..well said sir ! I quite enjoyed reading your sharp response..Innaih asked for it !
Here is my two bit:
” Children accept without question whatever the parents dictate”.
Whats wrong with this ? As far as i can remember my parents dint teach me anything that ruined my life..and as a parent i dont intend to tell / teach anything to my kids that may harm them or mar their confidence or intelligence.
Inniah’s comment sounds idiotic…may be he dint listen to his parents well enough !
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I would never bow down to any godmen or baba but I will defend any one’s right to bow down to anyone or anything.
Kalam again is not bowing down to Sly Baba. He is just holding his hands which is normal mode of affectionate greeting. I do not see anything rational or irrational a
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This is a absolute piece of nonsense… how does it matter if Kalam falls on the feet of Sai Baba, it his personal belief.. and moreso how is it connected with VIP frisking???
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I never bow down to any swami or baba but I will defend one’s right to bow down to anyone or anything. Kalam again is not bowing down to ‘Sly Baba’. He is just holding his hands in an all too common and typical gesture of affectionate greeting. There is nothing rational or irrational about his.
The problem with commies and so called rationalists (Indian Rationalists, westerners are many times true to their values; In India – rationalists + Marxism gets mixed up) is that they are too intrusive into other people’s affairs. They would want to dictate, control and engineer our social interactions and behavior. This is a typical commie trait which when taken to the extreme leads to fascism and genocide. We have enough historical proof for this. Commies are more dangerous to human freedom than ‘sly babas’ and ‘she shes’. Commies ideology which strives for centralized control inevitably results into military dictatorship and concentration camps and they are much more dreadful compared to worshiping gurus and harmless miracle mongering.
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Godmen and god women proliferate in our country and all of them grow stinking rich over night. (I even suspect Mr. Bill Gates fortunes did not grow as fast as these ‘godmen’s) Sad, if not disgusting. It is no wonder then that the disciples scream when their god(wo)men are showed in bad light. The shooting of boys in the ‘ashram’ and the allegations of child molestation by the foreign disciple are all shoved under the carpet silently and efficiently…. That is called magic……the advantages of having the high and mighty as ones disciple!!!
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ade piTeel. kaeLi kaeLi kivi sorthide man. hogli enadru interesting critique-a illa. same old mayyi kayyi parchkoLing and ganTlu hariyo varegu archkoLing. basic strategy seems to be to bore the readers into submission.
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If it was any other person, one can think about it. But here it is Dr. Kalam. When a person of his stature and credentials is seen with any godman, I don’t think we should attribute it to anything else, except his choice and wisdom. Secondly, he is not falling into the feet but holding the hands. How many people including the VVIPs, celebrities are seen holding the hands of Baba and looking into his eyes. Thirdly, believing Baba as God is one’s own belief. But look at the social work he has done. Now, how many godmen have done visible social work, except establishing money-minting educational institutions.
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The Puttaparthi miracle man is still alive and kicking? There must be something to him if he could number V. K. Gokak among his followers.
Let AJP meet anybody he wants. That’s none of our business, but airline security patting down everybody down, VIP or unimportant person, before allowing that person to board a plane is a perfectly acceptable practice.
As somebody pointed out, leaders are not gods. Does anybody remember the MP who tried to smuggle a woman into Canada and got caught?
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touch the feet of Sathya Sai Baba. That to my mind was more outrageous than his being frisked at an airport for security reasons despite his former office
Completely agree. Nothing is disgusting than touching the feet of fraudster.
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“Godman” is a beautiful word coined by Peter Ludwig Brent in the early 1970s as a euphemism for India’s most intriguing ascetics, some of whom were particularly meditative/introspective sadhus, but others, unkempt losers addicted to the chillum.
Of late, i think journalists have overused the term to describe the second category, even though the famous Sai Baba of Puttaparthi may well deserve to be accorded a category of his own.
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I have always wondered about the secret behind Sai baba’s jet black hair which has remained the same ever since my childhood. Would he not make a great model for some hair oil/shampoo brands ;)
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M Peshva,
This Godmen is a derogatory term only used for hindu swami’s and saints and never for the holy popes or unholy imams
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‘Caeser’s wife must be above suspicion’. But what about caeser? People who hold high offices should try not to be seen as the disciples and ‘chelas’ these ‘tainted godmen’ at least. The so called ‘social work’ has been in vogue for some time as the perfect shield for all other ‘works’.
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Talking of homosexual sex – wonder what magic Sai Baba has to do or say about pedophilia. And wonder what Baba Ramdev’s take is on it.
BBC program investigating some of the sai baba’s darker secrets including his undue interest in young boys:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/this_world/3791921.stm
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3767740320034777862
http://www.rfjvds.dds.nl/ex-baba/engels/thesecretswami/thesecretswami.wmv
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/this_world/3813469.stm
TS,
Neevu yaake mai parcholthaiddhira? Bardhre barili bidi.
Nimige idhu boring irabahudhu, but people like me who have lesser insight into the inner workings of godmen, middlemen, pujaris, padris and maulvis are interested to read such articles.
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I like AG’s habit of bringing in “padris and maulvis”. It’s called special effects.
You think it’s happening but it’s not. You think he’s saying it but he’s not.
It’s like wanting to comment about Maino’s speaking and staring skills when one knows very well there’s no way she’s gonna blow her cover :)Not that she’s been provoked by her minions.
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What I see in the picture are two different perspectives.
1. A Muslim celebrity bachelor meeting another Hindu one.
2. A enlightened humble scientist (they say humility comes with true knowledge) extending both hands when the religious preacher extends only one in return.
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Kalam is better. I saw a photograph of PVN sitting at his feet once, its a common occurrence. Shameless people.
Agree with Narisetti. Childhood indoctrination is dangerous.
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Wait, it’s wrong to stay silent on decriminalizing homosexuality?
One may or may not believe in Sai Baba’s innocence, but to try to suggest something just because he doesn’t oppose homosexuality reminds me of one of those Live India stings. A schoolteacher was accused of selling girls to prostitution and was allegedly caught on camera. After a couple of months, it turned out everyone in the video were actors. The CEO defended his heinous act, saying “It is our job to provide a viewpoint, and educate viewers about possibilities.”
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This is a secular country and every citizen has a right to follow what he consides best for himself. Prostrating to a senior person or a spiritual leader is that individual’s belief who considers what he is doing is right, as long as it is not affecting the other person’s faith or belief. Kodagu people have a good tradition. When any one comes across an elderly person, he touches his feet never minding where he is meeting him, even if it is in public place or in a street. Reverence to an elderly person is not against Indian traditions; not to respect an elderly is not what Indian values have not taught.
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aha M saar,
so you are saying rationalists suffer from god complex, and they will let no one, including god ITself, play god?
a wise brit once said, the stupid are super confident, and the smartones full of doubt. i am unsure about if this is true or not ;)
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It is indeed a shame to note our PMs and Presidents bowing and falling on the feet of one of India’s biggest magician, confirmed pedophile and billionaire fraudster.
None other than the BBC and innumerous journalists have revealed the truth. Among the most shocking is the following documentary
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3767740320034777862
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Once you go beyond the ego, you are not different from God. That is the idea behind the term God-Man.
If it is not God, it is a delusion – this is the Hindu belief. True knowledge it to see this Oneness, which is the absolute and eternal. Advaita Darshanam Jnaanam.
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Actually there is another story: The Truth About Vir Sanghvi & Sathya Sai Baba. I would also like to see the original reference where Kalam was alleged to have touched Sathya Sai Baba’s feet. Kalam has made namaskar with his hands but there are simply no known independent stories or pictures stating or showing Kalam touching Baba’s feet. Innaiah Narisetti is a fanatic rationalist who has refused to answer past questions from me about his claims against Sathya Sai Baba. Perhaps you will have more success. If you are going to be rational, follow through and document your claims with credible sources. Thank you.
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To meet swamijis itself is a mistake.
Our farmer President is always attending religious function. Help them indirectly to exploit others.
Our ex-president should stop this and engage with childern. share his ideas.
Swamijis are curse to India
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vasanth,
I doubt if we can judge all swamijis by the gold standard of Sai Baba.
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sathyasaibaba – Who the hell are you to question rationalists??!
You don’t question them. They question you! Don’t ever forget the natural order of things!!
Next time you feel any such urge, just remember that all the evidence is there somewhere in some link in some article written by some other such unquestionable rationalist.
But yeah, you’ve got to love their rear guard action not to look like utter fools. They control each other’s searing rationalist pace so beautifully.
Padris and maulvis can be bad too and now swamijis can be good?? Saku! Saku! Can’t take all this goodness in couple of days!
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SHOULD A LIVING MAHARAJA PIPA FALL ON THE HOLY FEET OF GODMAN SANT RAVIDAS OR SHOULD A LIVING PRINCESS MIRA BAI FALL AT THE HOLY FEET OF HER GURU GODMAN SANT RAVI DAS OR SHOULD A MAHARAJA SHIV NABH FALL AT THE HOLY FEET OF GODMAN GURU NANAK-ONLY DUMB ONES LIKE YOU PEOPLE CAN RAISE SUCH IDIOTIC QUESTIONS-NO SANE MAN IN HIS RIGHT MIND WILL EVER DO THAT-gframesch
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