Martyrdom for Being a Christian - St. Josaphat and the Unity-Uniformity Struggles in Syro-Malabar Church

The last 3 years of mudslinging and washing linen in public on account of purely internal issues - geo-political (read, power related), economic and ritualistic - have made a vibrant church (vibrant as seen in church attendance, organisational cohesion and number of full-time members dedicated for church ministry) a vessel of contempt and a scandal for people of other faiths. 

When the church (Latin) celebrates the martyr St. Josaphat, I am inspired and consoled. Consoled,  because, his story reaffirms that the church, in spite of its idealistic spiritual orientation, in reality, carries with it all the limitations of human beings in time and space. This had been so before - with ups and downs in the spiritual quotient - and continues to be so. 

In the 16th century, we find Josaphat at the centre of an effort at unity through a unification process involving the Catholic church and the Orthodox church of Ukraine. In 1595 Ruthenian Church which was part of the Byzantine church, became reunited with the Catholic church. Josephat, born into the Orthodox church, became part of the Roman church.  He joined the first monastery of the order of St. Basil to be united to the Catholic Church, and was later made the bishop of Polotsk.  Some of the rulers of that region could not relish this, as it threatened their control of the ecclesiastical benefices.  And plotting with the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, who visited Ukraine in 1621, they stirred up trouble which led to Josaphat being murdered while on a pastoral visit to Vitebsk in the year 1623. 

This befits a Christian bishop, though not the Christians who executed this. Our Syro-Malabar church,  increasingly tending towards zero-Jesus church, appears to have similar situations and machinations taking place within. The Chaldean* plotters and the ecclesiastical political power-brokers fearing the loss of their benefices or striving to hide their wrongs/errors in managing such benefices are an all-out effort to murder the truth.  However, here there appears hardly any potential martyr bishop - because, the wary bishops are wielding the political protective power using the police. While there is hardly any physical threat to these ecclesiastics, they are indeed fearful of such eventualities, and would rather prefer police protection, than martyrdom. 

Inspiration - I hope the model of St. Josaphat inspires them to be pastoral, rather than politically manipulative, and welcome martyrdom, if that comes their way, in that course! 

St. Josephat, pray for us! Pray for our bishops. 

*Never born or introduced to it as a Christian, now I am condemned to be a Chaldean, a Catholic casteism! 

Picture of St Josaphat's Martyrdom: https://thecatholicheroes.com/history-biographies/st-josaphat-the-martyr-of-ecumenism-a-life-of-devotion-and-sacrifice/

Happiness Dispensary - Lulu Lucknow

November 6, 2024. Happiness: In the Yogic Ten Commandments, we come across the principle of 'santosha' (happiness) as the 7th one (2nd yama principle).  It would relate to contentment and one's decision to be happy circumstances notwithstanding. 

Lulu Lucknow - World of Happiness: I was happy and unhappy with my visit to the 'Lulu Lucknow - world of happiness'.   It is not 'a world of happiness', nor 'the world of happiness' - Lulu apparently is not making exclusive claims - it's just 'world of happiness'. Perhaps it is an aspiration for the present world to be happy, not necessarily a reference to the mall aligning with the age-old cultural aspiration of sarve bhavantu sukhinah! 

For me it was perhaps a 'luck now' thanks to the I.V. of the computer science department - I chose to accompany as an exception. Or else, most likely, it would have been never there at Lulu, Lucknow. 

The fluttering multi-coloured flags (orange, green, sky blue, pink and azure - venerable Yusuf Ali has not stuck to the rainbow pattern) announcing 'world of happiness' create a sense of happiness. The Lulu emblem is not clear as to its symbolism, but it is also multicoloured, presenting hues of joy. The approximately 300 m long building in the East-West direction with a tarred access road of its own leaves more than 10 ft wide walkway for people to walk to the four entrances to this world of happiness. The road itself is about 30 ft wide. A buffer zone of green almost as wide as the road is provided. Then there is a public road, where parking is banned, but as normal Indians of UP state,  people park, saving Rs 30 (bikes) to Rs 50 (cars). To me the parking fee reduces the happiness in this world of happiness. I feel this is extortion and it should have been free of cost for at least those who have made any purchases at the mall. 

I appreciate Yusuf bhai's skill - people have to drive away from their place, pay rather dearly for the goods and eats, and pay for parking their vehicles and yet feel happy about all that.  Perhaps, Lulu has branded itself among the aam Indians in such a way that the mere fact of their shopping there or being there appears to add to their happiness. 

I had no inclination,  to buy or eat anything. However, my companions, used to regular lunch hours wanted to have something, and I had no objection to giving them company by sipping a cup of coffee with them; however, seeing the pricelist with a cup of coffee priced lowest at Rs 115 (not really expensive for the airport or US standards), I didn't really feel inclined to drink coffee, and with that price tag, did not feel like that it was going  to add to my happiness. 

Yusuf bhai is definitely adding happiness to thousands of families especially poor Muslim families (no quarrel on that account, that he favours people from his community), by providing young men (mostly) jobs in his dozens of malls selling happiness and trying to ensure their welfare. In the small town of Doha itself, there were more than 2 dozen Lulu malls, and thousands of Malayalees working there. 

But it is not Yusuf Ali alone who is prompted to sell happiness. On the way back I find a Yamaha bike holding announcing happiness when you purchase a Yamaha motorbike.

However, unlike the typical American outlets where they are well trained to make people feel good even while preventing them from doing things they think would make them happy, here the hundreds of employees appeared still typically and crudely Indian while introducing the very many dont's typical of a mall - entry, exit, bags, scan etc., etc. No smile that announces the much-flaunted happiness of Yusuf bhai. They put people off - but with Indians, who are used to rebuff  every where, sab kuchh chalta hai!

112 - The Magic Number of UP Police for the Happiness of Citizens: My students return after the 150 minutes of the Lulu tour. For many of them, it's a first time. I found them more eager for this part of the program than the very enriching and informative visit to the UP Police Centre coordinating the emergency calls integrating all emergency services - accident, fire, illness, extortion, threat, woman or child in distress, managing lakhs of calls every day and providing response to them and with a feedback mechanism in place. We were not merely briefed, but also treated to samosa, sandwich and tea.  However, the FY students appeared happier for Yusuf bhai's Lulu attractions than this wonderful
exposure at the spacious UP 112 Bhavan of Police Emergency Management System, facilitated by our alumnus Mr Saurav Verma. But to my happiness, they did have quite a number of questions, though nothing about the complexities of the programming behind the fabulous service, which is expected to be their future domain. Salute to the Akhilesh Yadav government which initiated this service bringing happiness to people in distress free of cost, and the Yogi government which is building on it. 

But just outside the fabulous centre, we are confronted with the everyday UP reality - we had to really struggle to get to the access road to reach the centre in time.  However, the police wallah who was the sentry to the access point, would not let us go.  After 2 very constrained turnarounds, our faculty members with the driver met the policeman who said that there is a rule preventing entry of private vehicles before 11 am! Wow! What dutifulness! However, he asks the driver to remain and the faculty members to leave.  Then the driver is shown a tree across the road, and instructed to leave Rs. 500 there.  And the rule of law that prohibited the entry is bent so easily that the private bus could take a turn to the otherwise inaccessible stretch! Pliability at its height! Before reaching the centre, another sentried point is to be passed - there too, the rule was no longer applicable! What an effective communication system! This is how people make each other happy in UP - the policeman is made happy, and in turn, the driver and the bunch of students (unaware) are made happy! 

The mall displays an app to add to happiness - happiness app! Download that and use it for dining to receive great discounts to add to your happiness! Yusuf bhai's happiness platter beggars description! 

Can the future programmers think of a programme, an app that can generate happiness? Why not? They are the problem solvers for the Brave New World (Huxley) to come! 

Anyway, I am happy with the outing though the much-touted mall could not provide me a soda maker under its roof by which I thought of adding to the unseen happiness of the planet, addressing the need of my fellow dwellers for a fizzy drink, while not adding to plastic pollution. I ended up purchasing toffees sans wrappers for my desk, to encourage people who come there to share their achievements and frustrations - but that does not make me very happy. The boy manning the counter merrily announces the price as Rs. 200 something; my relief is momentary, as he mentions the quantity - for 100 grams. I am mortified - as per my non-mall Indian expectation, it would have been the price for a kilogram! Yet I get some 200 grams in a neat paper box. That is how Yusuf bhai and his ilk of entrepreneurs weave their web of happiness - making even the disinclined passer-by a (potential) customer/consumer irrespective of his 'utility' concerns!