Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations begin the festive season, with Durga Puja and Diwali ahead. But scientists and doctors are warning of a third wave of Covid and this time it may be nastier variants. The spirit of devotion is running high but in socially distant times rather than participate in crowded physical festival celebrations, it may be best to sign up for god dotcom. We could upload our prayers and live-stream our consciousness. Many of us already chant Om Googleshwar Namah on a daily basis.
Last year, Durga Pujas took the lead in cyber ceremonies with video aartis and conch shell sounds transmitted via headphones. Metaphysically speaking, if the infinite is to be perceived by the human senses, what better way than tuning into cyberspace to experience cosmic waves? Artificial intelligence and supercomputers are in any case being hailed as the gods of the future. Instead of jostling in jam-packed temples, where coronavirus lies in wait, if the gods go online we may gain much better divine connectivity. Video gamers are already playing God games but for the truly pious, excellent broadband could provide high-speed blessings. A divine download could be the best way to clean up our hard disks. In times of Zoom rituals and Skype havans, many of us are karma yogis of the keyboard and when it comes to the steady flow of virtual devotion, we Indians don’t need a UPS. Quipped the internet wag: Computers already have in-built RAM.
The Maharashtra government had given instructions that citizens are permitted only online darshan during Ganesh Chaturthi this year. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi via a live streamed puja. Why not? Well-loved Ganesh has always been the god of the Indian workforce. If Ganesh images can be painted on taxis and trawlers, why can’t Ganpati Bappa come to life in our home computers? Ganesh is part of the software of our daily lives.
Websites like smartpuja dotcom show that to find the sacred we must increasingly be smart. In times of climate fragility, too many teeming pilgrimages to pristine locales could bring on unforeseen natural calamities. For planetary health, as well as spiritual succour, there could be nothing better than logging on to the Almighty. God is dead, proclaimed the philosopher Nietzsche. Not if you have good quality 4G, we could argue.
