Donkey's Feet

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In our Culture there is nothing wrong in prostrating and catching someone's feet (before pulling their legs) {;-}

In North India catching elders' feet is a routine ritual. In Bengal it was as widely prevalent as adda and kola-koli during my time; I don't know now.

In AP of Southern India in our childhood it was a symbolic sham-show of respect to Gurus and Gods of whom there is never any dearth. And in return they were supposed to bless us with pocketful of marbles, toffees and Pass-Marks.

But all over India it is the best way to propitiate a man or a woman for instant goodies like Lok Sabha Tickets and Ranji Trophy Chances.

And kicking them as soon as they are delivered, if they happen to be, say, Ph D Guides; although the latter can be spoilsports even after their retirement (if not death.. even Death can't us Part!)

I guess even in the icy chair-sitting West where there is no floor-sitting-prostrating Culture there ought to be equivalent forms of propitiation, Human Nature being what it is.

I don't know.

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I read that Ramakrishna Paramahamsa found the similarity in the Birth of Jesus and Lord Krishna, and the several miracles attributed to them so striking that he used to refer to Jesus Christ as: "Jesu Krishno"

King Herod ordered the execution of all young male children in the village of Bethlehem so as to avoid the loss of his throne to a newborn King of the Jews whose birth had been announced to him by the Magi.

Likewise King Kangsa, who inexplicably allowed his sister Devaki and her husband Vasudev to stay put in a single cell together, decreed that he be informed of any childbirth there so that he could visit the cell and kill their new-born baby gleefully.

When their eighth child Krishna was born however, Vasudev was ordered by a Voice from Above to smuggle the baby soonest in the dead of the night before Kangsa got to know.

And when he was preparing to obey the Orders from the Heavens, Vasudev discovered a Donkey preparing to bray his heart out at the dead of that night (for reasons best known to other Donkeys) and thereby risking waking up Kangsa (although he was not of the donkey clan to the best of my knowledge).

Legend has it that Vasudev fell prostrate on that Donkey's feet praying to him to press his Mute Button for the nonce till he and his baby boy had a head-start of a couple of miles.

I don't know if Josef had to face a similar ordeal.

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In our South Indian Brahmin tradition, the Brother of the Bride has to wash the feet of the Bridegroom in the Marriage rituals, ostensibly because the Bridegroom is cajoled into doing immense good to the Family in general and the B-i-L in particular by his audacious venture (which he would rue by and by when it is too late).

I had to wash half a dozen pair of feet willy-nilly (Supratim!)

I myself was embarrassed beyond measure when my wife's brother prepared to wash my tender corny feet in my own marriage. I couldn't protest too much since I was afraid they might find someone else more amenable and thus deprive me of my hard-earned Bride.

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Although I lived in Bengal all my Working Life, I didn't touch the feet of either HNB or SDM: one gave me undue promotions, and the other an equally undue Ph D apart from endless intellectual fun (and does so even now blogwise).

But last January when we revisited KGP after five years I and my wife touched the feet of Professor G S Sanyal (90) in his Office rather abruptly. He was taken aback.

This is because I have a peculiar sort of admiration for him.

Apart from being a Great Teacher, he took care of his students so well while they were at KGP that he won their hearts. I came to know of this first-hand when I was at IIT Delhi on an official visit and a famous Physicist and Bhatnagar Awardee whom I came to admire gave me a letter to be delivered in person to GSS saying: "GSS is God!".

Also Sri and Srimati Arjun Malhotra (of the 1965-70 ECE Batch) funded a thriving School of Telecommunications in the name of GSS at IIT KGP (rather than their own names) in 1996.

And decreed that they will bear the expense of housing GSS in the Campus in Qrs and Office as long as GSS wished.

I happened to be riding (parasitically) in GSS's car one of those days and I said honestly to GSS that it is a symbol of the greatest respect any student can show to his favorite Teacher.

Upon which GSS blushed and confessed that he avoids going anywhere near 'his' School since it embarrasses him so.

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Of all Investments, the one that gives unfailing returns is Investing in Love of one's students...it never obeys the Law of Diminishing Returns...

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