Veteran journalist VIDYADHAR DATE, who confesses that he has his own reservations about organised religions, is surprised to discover that much of the social service by priests and nuns in Mumbai is done silently, perhaps in keeping with Jesus Christ’s teaching, “when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing”
I like to visit the Title Waves bookshop at St Paul’s media complex in Bandra, as it is convenient for me; it is spacious and a favourite venue for book launches. When I read about the Mumbai Archbishop John Rodrigues’ meeting on the third floor of the building a few days ago I went there out of curiosity, thinking it was a meeting on inter-religious harmony or something similar.
To my surprise, it turned out to be a discussion on the social work outreach programmes conducted by various bodies in the Mumbai region. The meeting was attended by nuns in saris, instead of habits and priests, mostly in plain clothes, not the traditional cassocks.
It was, indeed, very educative to know so much work was being done in children’s homes for orphans, and social service in slums and prisons, as well as programmes on environment, ecology, labour issues, student causes and so on. The priests, nuns and other activists were well informed.
I was baffled to learn that much of their work is not known to the outside world.
Even the editor of the Catholic news weekly The Examiner, Father Joshan Rodrigues, who was present, was surprised about this absence of awareness. He said, “many people were not aware of so much work, and there was clearly need for these social service groups to communicate more about their activities.”
But some volunteers, he said, brushed away this silence about the good work being done, and quoted the Bible, specifically Matthew 6:3, which says, “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing”. This verse is part of a larger passage about giving to the needy in secret to avoid seeking praise from others
The main promoter of the idea of social service in the church in Mumbai is Bishop Allwyn D’silva, who has worked in slums for several years.
It was particularly interesting to listen to work done in prisons and on labour issues. Jesus had emphasised visits to prisons as a demonstration of compassion. It was revealed that some women prisoners were in jail for years. Their little children were brought for occasional visits to them. A group had started running an informal school for them.
One of the speakers said that amendments to labour legislation in Maharashtra resulted in workers being deprived of protection of laws, which favoured the cause of managements.
Hire and fire was now the order of the day, and workers get little relief in
labour courts. Incidentally this also brings us to the extremely dubious writing by ex sociology professor Dipankar Gupta in supporting pro-corporate reforms.
About environment protection, it was pointed out several measures could be taken. One could carry one’s own cup to work so as to avoid use of paper cups for tea.
Speakers felt the Indian church could play a substantial role in preventing air pollution on the lines of the church in some parts of the West, by suggesting lower use of private vehicles, and promoting public transport.
Incidentally, Mumbai Mirror recently featured an article on ‘The Examiner’s 175 years of faith in print,’ published by the Archdiocese of Mumbai.
The anniversary of The Examiner reminds one of the Marathi Christian journal Dnyanodaya (rise of knowledge), which began in 1842. Way back in the nineteenth century, it carried an article by Mukta Salve, a school girl, on the plight of the Mahar and Maang castes.
Suvarta, the Catholic weekly in Marathi, brought out from Vasai, used to publish articles by non-Catholic liberals some years ago. The publication gave us a real flavour of the simple, rural lifestyle of the Christian community in the area. One occasionally still gets a glimpse these days of the life then from the photographs of some folks in their traditional attire and ornaments.
The RSS, known to be a staunch opponent of the Church, needs to do a lot of introspection in its centenary year, and should learn from dissenters from inside like Prof S H Deshpande, who had sought reforms more than 50 years ago. For years, the leadership made acquiring of modern ideas a taboo for its followers, which has resulted in stunting the intellectual growth of entire generations.
Dr Sanjeev Kelkar, in his book Lost Years of the RSS, has written about this issue. Sub titles like The anti-intellectual RSS Psyche and Enshrining Mediocrity are highly suggestive.
Dr Sanjeev Kelkar has done medical relief work for many years in the Northeast and is the son of Keshav Kelkar, noted Marathi writer and Doordarshan executive, whose excellent work in the early years of television in India is fondly remembered to this day.
By the way, I have my own reservations about organised religions. That, of course, is another matter.
Vidyadhar Date is a veteran journalist and author of a book seeking democratisation of urban life.
Some images are AI generated
