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Abudhabi Temple Musings – A Question is not a Bad thing unless you get hurt by it :)

By vinodnarayan on August 25, 2015 • ( 0 )

So people are cross with me because I asked why a Temple in Abudhabi is more important for news than the plight of the many who live in bad working and living conditions in the Gulf. Modi visited the Labor camp but news is on the temple and I felt that quite bad. But when I asked that a few were not happy…. Here are some of the arguments by my Facebook friends made, and not all of them were angry, some were genuine debates…. collating some of them for the blog

“There are people living in worse situation than that in India…” Dude really? Is that how we solve issues in a place…. then we should all equalize ourself with the worst place in the world to live and be happy that we have achieved something…
“You live in US, we will take care of things in UAE….” Is it?… sorry boss you cannot ask people to shut up because of where they live
“You do not know UAE…” Wrong again… I grew up there as a kid in early 80s and unlike today’s layered unconnected society I interacted and heard stories from every aspect of the Indian diaspora… then I worked there for 2 years a time when I saw first hand the gap that was created between people in various strata of the Indian community.
“You are always against Modi….” Wrong twice.. This is not about Modi… it is about You…. And if it is about Modi what I said was it is commendable that after 35 years for a PM to step on that soil in which countless Indian citizens toil.
“You are an Atheist…” Correct.. 1 point for you… but that has nothing to do about the temple, I think even a mosque is or any such place is not for me… but I am a humanist and believe that everyone should have their right to believe or worship and that way a temple is good, some of these people especially the saudis need to be given a piece of mind.. This is a good message and I applaud that
” You are blaming that Rulers have hidden agenda in this temple land donation”… OK you kind of got me there… I don’t really know that… but hey.. if you say god exists and temples really solve the problems of people and cannot prove it, don’t you think what I said is more probable than what you believe.. But benefit of doubt I will strike that point out of my mind… Happy?
“The Govt does not hold passports like you mentioned…” True, but the companies do and they even say that we can give you the passport if you give us another guy’s passport as collateral… Is that kind of insane? How do I know? Oh someone requested me once.. I worked in a company that did not hold on to the passports
“The temple is a landmark feat for the Indians…..” NO… first it is not a landmark feat.. Sheikh Rashid of Dubai who was one of the most liberal and benevolent of rulers had allowed temple long ago… and second it is not for Indians it is for Indian Hindus who go to temple… But I agree it is a big thing for Abudhabi rulers because they are for the first time breaking a tag of intolerance they had compared to Dubai, it took a long time though…
“You are bringing up Babri Masjid and convoluting the issue….” No I am not…. because a few scoundrels in my country demolished a mosque stating a story that happened few generations ago and is tied to another story that goes a few thousand years ago which is more myth than history. Trying to change the present based on the past that we have no clarity of is insane and stupid. And when the leader of the party that did it Thanks for a temple, I guess it is a comedy…. Thank, but do it after saying SORRY…. A BIG SORRY….
“This is about Hope…” I agree that hope is important and did not think of that point before and thank my friend for pointing that… but I wonder what hope a temple gives to the people who are having hardships in their work and life and mind you these are not just hindus but all others… Even muslims have gone through these issues in spite of having dime a dozen mosques… So one thing is clear Mosque did not make a difference to peoples life and temple is not going to make it either, people will have another avenue to lose money in the name of Hope.
“I am a pessimistic communist pig”…. No I am not… but you are free to call me anything because it is your mind not mine….. I denounce every kind of totalitarian regime and I think that is what you had in Russia and other places…. I think there are more human rights violations in china because of its closed communist regime… I denounce anything that causes harm to people and take away the basic rights and act as a cult or religion or as ‘the only supreme truth’… So I am not… but you can say anything….

We have a few choices in life and the way we look at the world around is important. You can call me what ever you want but the fact remains… You can join the bandwagon and wag your tail or you can stand out and bark… In the end we are all dogs in one way just need to decide what to do…. I meant dog in a good sense and don’t stop wagging and come bark and bite me….. it hurts…. You get humor right….?