Immortal Missioners

At first glance, this priest may look like a clown, and so his words, but no one can deny that he has great admiration for a late priest, who died on his lap, some 22 years ago, and today he goes around talking about the sanctity of this senior priest, who died of food poisoning at the age of 73. The senior priest was a Jesuit, and he was a pioneer in a remote underdeveloped area of the state, and he was known as a great savior in the area, because he doled out a lot of money to help the otherwise unemployed men and women of the area. He was popular, some say, not because of his goodness and sanctity, but because of his money.

This is one of the major complaints about missionaries, that they made the natives beggars; with all good intentions, they brought money from their nations, and helped people to live a dignified life; but unfortunately it was the more influential and powerful who made use of this foreign money to make the best out of the innocent missionaries. Most often the locals had great regard for the missionaries who doled out a lot of money for them, provided free education for their children, and gave money to them whenever they asked for, and never refused to feed them when they were hungry, and even gave money for their health bills. There are many missionaries, who with all their simplicity, made the local people mere recipients of their generosity.

Today if many of the local priests are having problem with the people, it is because the latter are not in a position to dole out money; many of the facilities, most of them free, provided by the missionaries are to be paid for today, and the people who are used to free services, find something fishy in the administration of the local clergy, who struggle to run the schools and boardings with deficit each month. But the people may not buy their arguments. If the foreign missionaries could do, so can you too, is their arguments. Therefore no wonder that the local people often would prefer a foreign missionary to a local one, and this situation may continue until the locals understand the inner operations.

It is not difficult to win the hearts of the people; many of the political parties in the country make use of money and muscle to win people. If one is able to dole out money, then one can win any number of people for you, and from the very next day people would flock to you, calling you as savior or guide and companion. Many of the people who have benefited out of the free services of missionaries, do acknowledge what they had received, and do join hands with the existing institutions to reach out to the needy people today. The old boys/girls associations therefore are means of great tradition, which can immortalize some memorable men and women.

In the modern times, I had noticed that not all people go after money and muscle. There are many, especially those from the interior countryside of the state, who go beyond these two, and try to look at people for what they are; in other words, these people look at the hearts of the people who come to them to serve. Authenticity and transparency are two great virtues that any one can easily see through; people who live a life which is contrary to what they preach, may soon lose even the few people they might have bought for a price. But the people who had great and large hearts for the people, may remain forever enshrined in their hearts.

Objectionable Obsessions

We all of us have our own obsessions, some good and some bad. There is no one on earth who can claim that he or she is a free from any kind of obsessions. There are certain objections which are considered socially objectionable, and when the person goes against the set norms of the society that person is often referred to as a rebel. But it would be wrong to imagine or think that all rebels are against the society, or its set patterns. It is next to impossible to define where we draw the line. There are certain rebels, who with all their good intentions, desire the good of all. The Marxists and the Maoists in West Bengal can be considered as belonging to such a group.

Each one of us has our own obsessions and preoccupations. There are some of us, who are voracious readers, and they love to read night and day; and there are others who like sitting in front of the idiot box round-the-clock; and there are some others who love to loiter around aimlessly. But our obsessions are limited not only to our external behaviors, they are also seen in our thinking patterns. I too have my own obsessions and preoccupations, some known to me and others, and some known only to me, and I try to guard them as a secretly guarded treasure, and they may die with me, without anyone knowing about it.

Some years ago, while visiting one of our schools, I had to stay with our Jesuit community, and I was given a guest room to stay the night. That was the first time I was going to stay in that community. Next to the room I was given to stay, was a room with painting boards, canvass, incomplete paintings; the place looked like a professional studio of an artist, and I was wondering who might be doing the paintings. It came as a surprise that one of the Fathers was doing the paintings in his leisure hours, and he had a lot of time to spend on it, but I had known him for over twenty years, and yet I had not known him as a painter or artist. Later I heard that painting was one of his passions.

But what is dangerous about obsessions is to cultivate a secret set of them, which may separate me from the rest of the society. When obsessions go overboard, then we may be called eccentric or pervert. It is not that they are bad elements, but the problem with them is that they had not known where to draw the line between what is personal interest and what is societal. But each one of us has an obsession, which may complement in a social setting. Most of us are incorrigible in some way or the other: some in their behavior, some in their thinking, and some in relating to others. We love to live in our own worlds, which may give us an identity and sense of being.

I am incapable of overcoming some of the obsessions, which may be in my blood, and some became part of myself during the upbringing, and over which I may not have much control. Most of my obsessions may come in conflict with those of others, and there might be times when I might feel left out in a social setting because of my eccentrics. It is possible I may not be able to overcome them, but it might be necessary for me to be conscious of my grey areas, so that when I am confronted, I am not taken aback. If there is a possibility for bringing my obsessions under control, it would enhance my personality and life in general. But that is a life-long mission, and I may be no before I realize a different ‘me’.