“India’s future Nobel laureate“, Sri Ravishankar (who added an extra “Sri” to his name because of the apprehension that people would confuse him for the sitarist), has often been seen as a page 3 swami. In particular, the spiritual bent of mind of the bosswoman of an ill-fated media family is seen to be behind his rise and growth.

How ironic, therefore, that “guruji“, who should be advising ordinary mortals on how to behave in moments of stress, is now receiving advice through the columns of a newspaper on how he should have conducted himself after the alleged bid on his life, five minutes after “Mr Shankar” had left the spot before “positive energy” swept in?

After the “incident”, Ravishankar and his disciples seemed just too anxious to have it certified as an assassination attempt. Guruji noisily debunked the Karnataka police assertion that he was not the target of the bid as a ‘white lie‘, and his Art of Living foundation even issued a press release described home minister P. Chidambaram‘s claim that a dispute between disciples may have triggered the shooting, as “hasty and damaging”.

From an editorial in today’s Times of India:

“The guru’s statements after the recent shooting incident at his ashram seem to be quite out of character…. Ordinary mortals are entitled to engage with the authorities in a back-and-forth of this nature. But a spiritual teacher is expected to be more circumspect. He could have drawn inspiration from the Gita, which in shloka 17/15 advises austerity of speech, and said that Chidambaram may have been improperly briefed.”

Photograph: courtresy enemiga publica

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For one godman & his devotees, ignorance is bliss