By Biswaraj Pattnaik, August 15, 2015 :

Sarathi baba turned ‘prabhu’ one fine morning after satisfying himself that he had crossed the line of public suspicion. ‘Prabhu’ means Lord which his stupid followers believed he was. Sarathi is a street buffoon who had somehow picked the art of speaking persuasively.

Santosh Raul the real Sarathi fell in good time primarily because he was growing in magnitude on all fronts- boastfil talk, intimacy with the hated politicians and business-people whose presence gave him immense mileage. Excessive bluffing, fleecing and increasing exposure of his illicit relationship with human females caused his dramatically sudden fall.

Baba culture is not new to India. Hundreds have come and gone. The genuine ones have never put up 11-star facilities to attract the rich and the powerful. They have all gone deep into forests or atop steep mountain tops for getting connected with the almighty without hitch. But the imposters have invariably stayed back quite in the madding crowd to fleece and loot the gullible fools. ‘Sarathi Raul’ is just one of them.

The smarter ones are still in business because they don’t talk too much. They remain quiet and reticent; keep eyes half-closed and mumble one-sentence answers once after being asked a dozen times.
The Raul Sarathi is gone but other Sarathis are smiling with greater precautions.

The ‘baba business’ is fairly to run and reap heaps of currency notes only if the entrepreneur has only a little grey matter. The start-up cost is very small, minimal staff by way of two or three superbly talkative disciples who need to remain faithful and loyal only for a couple of years.

Most interestingly, the barber can’t eat a paisa from the promoter-founder for haircut and beard shaving are written off forever (lately younger ones like Sarathi of Odiaha and Nityananda of the South are clean-shaven though) ! Once the reputation is built by effort or fluke, these baba creatures begin to imagine law can never catch up with them no matter how heinous crimes they commit. The Hindus of Odisha by and large remain surrendered to Lord Jagannath. Yet babas keep emerging in sizeable numbers like everywhere because they ear and talk. Gullible listeners turn devotees and begin to follow the variously attired babas as if they were god incarnate.

All most all modern Gurus and their ‘ashrams’ are intriguing. Followers are myriad class and category. All the godmen and women primarily perform a psychological function to alleviate anxiety of the followers who are craving for solace in the stressful age. Ordinary people need a listener, an adviser, a Guru-guide for feeling elevated, which clever gurus do adeptly. No wonder, the ‘Guru’ thing is a hallowed tradition in India. The Godman provides home, haven, and refuge to suffering masses in a hostile world.

Santosh Raula called ‘Sarathi baba’ until caught with a young woman reigned supreme for a decade or so. He had even claimed that his son was created out of divine ash, not any biological activity, which his followers never disbelieved. Raula fellow does not require any introduction today. Media houses are revelling no end on his exposed sins.

The quarter-literate brag mastered oratory in a manner to captivate the youth madly. The young people became his brand ambassador to turn him legend in only a couple of years. He is gone, his outfits and establishments demolished for good. But then not many among the rational world devote time and energy to figure out how and why this Baba tribe thrives in an age of scientific query and disbelief when claims of supernatural powers are brazenly made. Seven much greater Babas have already bitten dust in time not because they fought wars but because they ran amuck and erred on the character front.

When super famous Guru Rampal’s ashram was raided, the Haryana police faced a demographic problem. There were thousands of followers inside,proudly content to side with Rampal whose career leapfrogged after attacking other Gurus, creating a robust turf for himself in Hisar. He is not yet as global as other Godman listing out branches and followers across the world. He is not as visible as Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, nor as entrenched as the Swami Narayan. But eventually, after causing mayhem, “Sant” Rampal landed in jail. Treason is the latest charge to be added to his already long list of sins which include murder. He had claimed to be the successor to the mystic saint Kabir which his followers even believed blindly. They are too willing to die for him for having been brainwashed into believing that their Guru is Kabir reborn.

Asaram Bapu claimed to have been influenced by Bhakti yoga, Gnana yoga and Karma yoga. He has been arrested for a case of sexual assault against a minor. His followers claim that Asaram has developed medicine from cow urine! He landed in jail where he cleared a potency test – at the age of 73 contrary to his claim that he is too old to indulge in wrong things with women.

His ashrams have a ‘divine experience’ facility where he used to solve women’s problems including those related to “Monthly Periods” with “the Power of Vedic Mantra”.

Clean-shaven Swami Nithyananda founded and managed the Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam ashram, until he was arrested for charges of raping his female followers. His followers had claimed for long to be able to levitate with his supernatural powers. He also was popular for giving life to inanimate objects.

Chandraswami is best known for being the spiritual adviser of erstwhile Prime Minister Narasimha Rao. He was arrested for swindling $100,000 from a London businessman, charged Rs. 9 crore for violating the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act and also held responsible for the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. He was known as a ‘Tantric’, godman, and astrologer with powers to read minds and cast spells.

Swami SadachariSwami, spiritual advisor and tantric for leading politicians of his day (including Indira Gandhi), was arrested for running a brothel. He claimed that he could light branches simply with the energy of his eyes. All this was debunked by famous rationalist Sanal Edamaruku in 1985, when Sanal demonstrated the same trick by using chemicals discretely placed under dry twigs.

Swami Premananda’s resemblance with Sathya Sai Baba could be the reason behind his popularity. He set up ashrams across 15 countries. He was found guilty of raping 13 girls and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences. devotees claimed he produced “vibhuti” (sacred ashes) from air and “lingams” of Lord Shiva from his abdomen.

Shreemurath Dwivedi, better known as Ichchadhari Sant Swami Bhimanand Maharaj Chitrakoot Wale, was a generic breed of godmen. He was arrested for running a prostitution racket from his ashram.Superpowers claimed : an ‘Ichchadhari’ Baba who can morph into a serpent at will.

Satish Gajbhiye the then Kendrapada SP is in dire trouble for having abused authority and force to insult people and demolish dignity of the agitators demanding Sarathi’s arrest. Gajbhiye says he was only trying to keep law and order to the best of his capability. The mob did things that enraged him so much as to use brutal force. The television channels never showed anything of the angry mob damaging or destroying public property or doing all that’s illegal and criminal. They kept showing repeatedly the reactive measures of the police force, which looked brutal and inhuman. They aired disturbing clips of Police having respectable adults do sit-ups and get beaten up black and blue.

People have become sure Gajbhiye is Sarathi’s buddy. The top cop is in inescapable trouble as the entire lawyers’ community of the state rose against him. Indisputable proof of disproportionate assets is being dug out to have Gajbhiye ousted from his exalted cadre. The IPS guy dared at first says he did everything after consulting the chief minister’s office [CMO]. But with evidence of his huge fish farms occupying even state and public property coming up, he has turned dumb.

The government has suspended him already. But people want him dismissed without knowing that an all India Service officer can’t just be thrown like employees are fired by private corporate employers. The process of having Gajbhiye dismissed would take time even if he is proven guilty on any count.

Thus the biggest damage has happened to the otherwise unconnected district top cop Satish Gajbhiye who didn’t do much to torture Raul baba so as to placate the angry masses. People imagine he behaved like Sarathi’s general.

Reports trickle in about the cop in trouble. He does not have an impressive track record nor has he kept colleagues happy with sweet talk or relationship.

Hopefully, truth would emerge soon to bring relief for Gajbhiye who can prove innocence and have his wife back at the fish farms near Gop to negotiate best prices for the harvest reaped.

(The writer is a core member of Transparency International, Odisha)