Everyday Musings > Ram Ke Bhoot?

Early Saturday morning, an American Expresso in hand, I snuggled into the corner couch at this tiny little Barista in Oshiwara, when my friend Sha mentioned that she was teaching her son 'Ram Ke Bhooth?' (God or Devil). And Pat and Jen nodded their heads. I was quite lost. What is that? They said it was something they learnt when they were young. If you dropped some food on the floor and if you wanted to throw it away (since food is revered), you look at it, say Bhoot (Devil) and throw it away. If you want to eat it, say Ram (God), and eat it. Chocolates and sweets being the ones that these girls said Ram to all the time.

I found the concept intriguing. Not just as childhood trivia but because it was so much like how we live our daily lives, except that we don't have a juicy enough term for it. I found that Ram Ke Bhoot explained our relationship, as human beings, with desire, temptation and guilt. It was the birth of justification.

We thrive on justifications. They've grown old on the tip of our tongue and bare their fangs whenever we're faced with questions - But, I thought, Because, if not for etc etc. We are masters at it, and find a reason to or not to, be, do, experience or not experience things in our lives.

There's an unending list of what we can justify. We've justified how good we are, why we had to be bad, justified not taking care of our body, not making it to the gym, not making time for family or friends, not finding joy in small things, justified not having enough money or opportunity, not falling in love, falling in love, not voting, not standing up to injustice, killing people in the name of religion, poverty and hunger, not taking care of our planet, not being aware of every breath we take. Ram Ke Bhoot. God or Devil. We play it so well. Inventing justifications that make us win our tiny insignificant games again and again.

My mother called me this morning and said she wanted me to meet someone, a nice mallu boy. I froze at the thought of an arranged match. And gulped and said I'll think about it. I could invent as many Rams for arranged marriage as I could Bhoots. What I chose to say or do was entirely up to me. If I said Ram, I could smile and meet up and check this person out, if I said Bhoot, I could ditch the concept of arranged marriage and trash it.

There's no guilt in Ram Ke Bhoot – the justification makes us righteous, like we have the upper hand. Because being guilty and feeling guilty is not the same thing. But all it is, is a game. And the only ones we're fooling perhaps, are ourselves. We scramble for reasons to hold onto. Because if we didn't have them, it would mean we have to be responsible for the choices we make.

Eve probably knew this. She took responsibility for biting into the apple. And gracefully accepted the curse of shame and mortality. Maybe if she'd played Ram ke Bhoot, the world would still be the Garden of Eden and ironically, maybe there would be no righteous concept of sin.