Every other day we read in the news about how yet another of those Babas and Matas have been caught for their scams.

If the luck of the nation is good, it is just a conman trying to loot the people but in a lot of severe cases (read: Asaram, Ram Rahim) they turn out to be the worst nightmare of humanity by murdering and raping in the name of God.

Why is it necessary for people to follow these godmen and god-women in the first place? It could be because people search for a link between God and humanity and these humans give them more faith to reach God than through their own spiritual enlightenment.

This way is a shortcut to them. It could also be that they find it easier to be devoted to a human form than to imagine and follow the word of the deity whom they have not seen. Both way, these humans are a link to their Gods in heaven and they consider that a faith in them is equivalent to their faith in God himself.

This tradition is not even restricted to certain sections of the society – be it the poor and illiterate or the rich and educated, all have succumbed to these baseless practices alike. Offerings for worship and some kind of monetary aid seems to buy the faith for the rich, bring hope to the poor that they are ‘investing’ in the right places, lure in the illiterate who may be blindly be believing in these people, and then comes the educated who realize how monstrous the society has become and yet wish to indulge themselves in such activities, perhaps hoping that there will be another Ramakrishna Paramhansa or Swami Vivekananda amongst these self-declared God’s people?

It is the sense of purpose that people run after in life behind. It is the sense of belonging to a particular ‘dera’ or cult that gives them that satisfaction in life.

What they need to help them through their anxiety, loneliness and want to do better in life is someone wise to guide them or some psychologist with whom they can share their mind and attain peace through self-enlightenment!