I had posted a blog on December 21, 2008, on a news item about an individual building a temple for M.S.Dhoni. I had merely said that we Indians have misplaced priorities and that I would have been happier if that individual had tried to emulate Dhoni’s characteristics, such as his tenacity and perseverance which have brought him where he is today, rather than build a temple for him.

In response to this post I received three comments of which one had entirely misunderstood my post and the other was down right derogatory and thereby only proved the point I was trying to convey through that post. I once again wish to clearly state that this was the intention of my post but instead of understanding my point these two readers have completely twisted the message in my point out of context and have tried to make inflammatory comments.

There is a proverb in my mother tongue Tamil that says “ Thumbai vittutu vallai pidikurathu” which means “ leaving the trunk and grasping the tail”. I’m quoting this proverb here for it aptly describes what these two readers have done. Instead of grasping the trunk of my message they have grabbed the inconsequential tail, just as the builder of a temple for Dhoni has done.

I thank these two readers who have helped me prove exactly what I had set out to convey and I’m thankful to them for the same. Mr. Subramaniam whose comment I would like to address first has mentioned that this kind of temple building for mere mortals happens in other countries as well and I am eagerly waiting to hear from him as to which countries have temples built for persons who are still alive and if so the names of any specific persons for whom such temples have been constructed in those countries. Even if such temples are being built for living mortals, they may be merely stray cases and not as many as found in our beloved country.

Mr. Subramaniam wants to know if I’m implying a failure of Hinduism for permitting a multitude of Gods. I don’t know what made him think so for in no sentence of my post have I implied this. I am one of those who has fully understood the underlying principles behind the pantheon of Gods as found in the Hindu faith - the subject of a later post, that I plan to write - and would therefore never even dare to make such a statement. His comment is deliberately provocative and I wonder what his motives were in deliberately inflaming communal passions when I had never made any comment about Hinduism and have the greatest respect for the pantheon of Gods as found in our country.

My only question to him is whether he thinks it is right to make a God out of Dhoni. I would be the first to appreciate the construction of a temple for a self enlightened soul (living or otherwise) of any caste or creed, but to build a temple for a sportsman whose career and achievements are as short lived as the life of a fire fly, is really the last straw.

The next comment that I would dwell upon is one made by a young lad by the name of Vivek Gupta who is still wet behind the ears and whose insolent remarks also go to prove what I had been trying to convey. I would like to clarify here that I never blamed India. I only blamed the people of India who behave in the manner of Mr. Jithendra Kumar Singh & Gupta himself. The very fact that this young boy has cast aspersions on the patriotism of my family without even knowing anything about my family is also another of the ills affecting Indian society. I refuse to go down to his level and cast mud on his family for then there would be no difference between him and me.

However, I must tell this young feller that I have contributed my bit for this country in many ways during my career which has spanned nearly a quarter of a century. I once again emphasise that it is indeed my true love for this beloved country that makes me blog mostly on the ills affecting our society in the hope that I can spread awareness about such ills and make this country a better place than what it already is. Being critical does not mean I’m being unpatriotic but exactly the opposite. Only when you love someone or something dearly will you point out their or its flaws in the hope that it will help that person or object to become better.

Vivek Gupta is sadly a product of this society which has no respect for elders and whose only claim to fame is their rude and aggressive behaviour. All that I can tell him is “Grow up, young Man” for indeed he is only as old as my entire professional career and has certainly just started contributing to this country and his lack of civilised politeness only reveals the lack of importance that is being attached to values by the educational system today.

How can this boy have respect for this country when he does not even have respect for others let alone elders as is evident from his comments about my family. This boy has a great career ahead in Indian politics if he ever desires to enter the same. However, I can only pity google and the personnel there for his profile conveys that it is his ambition to google his way through life for his attitude does not reveal patriotism nor mental slavery but pure mental retardation.

These kind of people too can be found only in India.