One God for Everyone

On 21st August, 2006, Times of India gives an article ‘Gods who specialize’. Thirty kilometers off India famous IT hub Hydrabad is a God known to alter the minds of bored consulate officers all over the country. Also called Visa Balaji, the presiding deity of Venkateswara temple, is believed to clear visa applications of his devotees.
Faith has become a business in developing country. If at all, developing countries have to become developed, this trend has to reverse. Faith as a source of small and even many time huge entrepreneurships opportunities has to be unlearned to harness the growth of 21st century. Without this, most of the people of developing countries will remain backward. Small entrepreneurships based on telecom, IT, Call Centers and so on; have to take place of business based on faith. No country can become developed with more than even 20% backward people. It is an open challenge to all educated, semi educated and literate individuals to move towards a developed society.
Understanding God and applying that in our life is one of the most confused subjects of human development. There are so much drastic differences in the depth and following of religious traditions that these are difficult to categories. I have done an elaborate research on the existence of various Gods in emerging societies across the globe. The faith in God varies on various environmental factors like economy, social, education, challenges of life, religion, society and nations. Broadly, God can be categorized based on these factors for existing complexities in society.
1. Economy God,
2. Social God,
3. Education God,
4. Challenge God,
5. Religion God,
6. Society God,
7. Nation God, and
8. Modern God.

In this fast moving and drastically changing world, it is better to understand the kind of gods, we encounter on this earth.
1. Economy God – Depending upon the financial condition of the people, the type and style of worship varies. The depth of faith depends accordingly. The expectations from worshiping God vary. One of the biggest ironies of developing society is that the concept of God and worshiping method change with the economic conditions of the individual, family and society. This supplements sufficient confusion in the developing people. Mainly, depending upon the economic condition Gods can be divided as follows-
Lower Class God – God is a very powerful entity. God does not excuse anyone who commits a mistake. God has already punished the person for the misdeeds of the previous life. The lower class God keeps the follower low as long as they continue worshiping.
Lower Middle Class God - They are little more confident than lower class people. The followers of this class have a little confidence in themselves. They believe in their own hard work. They need to take lessons of unlearning on a priority basis to remove misunderstanding.
Upper Middle Class God – They have already earned the respect and reward from their God. They are not very fearful. They are ready to take some more chances. They are ready to try new things for better prosperity. They take new challenges in life. They unlearn old traditions accordingly to ensure their sustained growth.
Upper class God – God has taken care of them. God has made them rich because of their good behaviour and noble deeds in the previous life. They make the rules. Anything they do become the rules of society. They are the leaders. God helps them in their endeavour because they take decisions based on knowledgeable information.
Social God – Hindu religion has divided the community into four parts – Kshatriyas, Brahmins, Vaisya and Shudras. Kshatriyas are there to rule society and maintain the law and order. Brahmins are responsible to perform worship and rituals. Vaisyas like Sonars (goldsmiths), Lohars (blacksmiths), Carpenters, and others are workers. Shudras are there to do menial work. All these communities have perceived God differently. The social God is divided accordingly. With the passing of centuries, the philosophy of the four different communities has become so deep rooted in the minds of people that even in today’s knowledge world, the fears and aspirations from God and worship vary drastically. Over many generations, misinformation in different forms has been put into the minds of people, which have become like garbage. It is almost impossible to learn good things out of this garbage of information. There is only one way to overcome this traditional garbage for development of the individual and society and it is to unlearn whatever religious rigidity has been taught through our ancestors because of sheer ignorance and misinformation. We all need to unlearn those traditions, which appear to be a heinous crime to any knowledgeable person of civilized society.
Backward Class God – This God has a large following. The followers of this God belong to almost all the classes of people. Some are rich, some are poor. They worship God depending upon their knowledge and wisdom. If society has to develop, this God has to take the initiative and give additional courage to challenge the existing set-up of society. The time has come when these people have to leap and jump to achieve the dream of a developed society.
Scheduled Caste God – Scheduled caste people have been convinced from centuries that they are the curse of society. God has given them life to show the privileged classes, the kind of curse God can give human beings. In spite of the tremendous changes in social and governmental policies, Schedule Caste God has maintained his image in the minds of the people belonging to those castes. Unfortunately, the leaderships of the past has failed. By making ‘reservations’, they have reserved the underprivileged status of the schedule castes in the society. They have ensured that they will never be able to come out of their situations to face the challenges of life.
Scheduled Tribes God – This God has not taken care of the scheduled tribes. While other people in society have become fairer, they are still dark. God has not forgiven them. With meagre preaching and bribing, the followers of this God are ready to change their religion and their God. This God is not able to command these people.
Upper Classes God – God has made them upper classes because they have better genome. The people belonging to this class are intelligent. This God is very liberal. He never punishes his followers. God has no binding on these people.
Education God - Education is a very peculiar and relatively new asset with general people. It changes almost every aspect of human life. Today humans are thinking of development because of widespread education. With education, the concept of God changes so drastically that a person of one generation gets puzzled and confused to hear, see and witness the liberal approach of the person of the next generation. The previous generation find them unbelievable. The same God appears different. The same religion appears liberal. The same worship appears not so fearful but open and broad. The conservativeness, defeating attitude, sacrificial tendencies and giving-up attitudes vanishes. A sense of confidence arises.
Illiterate God – Any suspicious object is considered to be a form of illiterate God. Illiterate people have no inhibitions to worship anything. They worship trees, plants, stones, sun, moon, any elevated place, animals, birds and so on. They agree to accept any kind of method for pleasing GodOn the slightest hint and coercion, they are ready to change their faith, face and belief.
Literate God – This God is not very strict. He takes care of the individual but demands continuous worshiping. A literate person considers God as a source of inspiration till she is being educated. Once education ends, the level of understanding of God gets stagnant. In the later part of the life, God remains the same or gets stricter. Sometimes, the people of the next generation move towards the educated God but otherwise they maintain the same level of understanding.
Educated God – Educated God remain very dynamic. Today, it is felt that there should be democracy in the world; the educated people of the developing world change their thinking accordingly. They remain liberal and accept the changes through which human beings are passing through. They are convinced and ready to contribute so that every human are provided basic amenities.
Tapasvi God – God made the Tapasvi whose greatest joy is in service to Him. This God is very demanding. The individual has to leave everything in her life and work for the service of God. She cannot marry. She cannot have sex. However, the Tapasvi has also different classes – illiterate, literate, educated or learned. They all live, work and contribute to society accordingly as per their knowledge.
Challenge God – Challenges force us to believe in God. Challenges in life are risky, frustrating and unpredictable. The concept of God depends upon the challenges, we face in society. Irrespective of religion, during every challenge, we remember Challenge God. The followers of this God are very clear in life. They remain busy with other activities like study, job, adventure, sports, fun and enjoyment. They feel God has given them two hands, two legs, one brain and so on; there is no reason to keep remembering God. God is there to be remembered only during challenges like exams, competitions, natural calamities, terminal diseases, disasters, accidents and so on. They have tremendous confidence in themselves. Such people are generally misguided atheists.
Simple life God – There is hardly any challenge in life. Life is merry in its own place. God is simple and does not interfere in life on a day-to-day basis. By praying to God daily or occasional, God is happy with them. These people do not take any risk. They are not ready to take on challenges in general. However, whenever the challenge appears, God is remembered and worshipped additionally by visiting places of worship.
Complicated God – God needs continuous bribing if you want Him to be with you. As life is complicated with many ups or downs, so the concept of God changes accordingly. When one encounters a difficult situation, one remembers God.
Adventurous God – Adventurous people have success and failure on a continuous basis. The concept of God revolves around that. With every adventurous occasion, God comes to mind. God is remembered to bring success. Adventurous God remains neutral to the hard work and effort put in by the individual.
Religion God – Religion plays the most significant role in forming the beliefs and faith in God. The people like Muslims, Christians, etc have a clear concept of God but not the Hindus. Religion God has to be understood in relation to service to humanity. The liberty, privileges, basic amenities, respectable lives are the basic needs of human being. God should be considered in that perspective.
Hindu God – He is very liberal God. There are no restrictions in attending worship as a Hindu. If you feel like going to the temple, you go; otherwise you can send your servants. There is no day fixed for them. There are a few famous Hindu Gods like Ganesh, Shiv, Shankar, Vishnu, Brahma and goddesses like Sarswati, Durga, Kali and so on. Each play a specific role in human life. Some are too religious to do anything in life while some are almost like atheist.
Sikh God – The Guru Granth Sahib consists of all the powers of the creator. They accept a few basic disciplines in their followers like pagri, kara and kirpan. The followers of this religion worship the holy book. That is how they have changed the name of the Golden Temple. Sikh God gives wealth to followers because of their sacrifices and hard work.
Buddha God – Buddhists have disappeared from their place of origination. The Japanese found Buddha God very attractive. Ashoka was the founder of Budhist religion. Magadh, where Ashoka achieved enlightenments, is still trapped in secularism of modern world with poverty, lawlessness, illiteracy, unemployment and other human viruses. Buddha God is very strong and surviving in all odds.
Muslims God – God came to Muhammad, who was illiterate, at the age of 40. In the name of Lord, the creator, Muhammad spoke to the people, and a committee, which was formed, wrote in the form of Suras or choppers of the Koran. The book became holy and a torchbearer for the civilization to come. People were taught the Koran from an early ageand it continues even today. By the time the child gains other education, the Koran occupies a significant part of the brain due to regular coaching. This God is very demanding. He demands that anybody who works against his wishes and preaching should be punished. This God is struggling to provide basic amenities to his large followers, even in this almost developed age of civilization.
Christians God – The powerful people and rulers of the world were those who followed Christian God. They have a worldwide presence. They are showing humanity the path to a better life through their noble work and dedication. Can we ever forget the contribution of Mother Teresa for the underprivileged of society? Pope John Paul II, before his death in March 2005 has shown a new path and power to the followers of this God to the whole world. This God is also very demanding. Every week, the followers have to attend church for prayer.
Society God – For an individual in the fastest changing civilization of human history, it is important to learn and understand this God. Every society has some or other prevelant God, and that is society God. As an individual keeps moving from one place to another, the God and its concept move along. The changes are so much that even a normal literate person is not able to resolve and face the traumas of life. Earlier, these changes were slow; people have taken generations to move from village to town, city, and apartment and to other countries, but today, all these changes are achieved in less than a generation’s time. This God puzzles us. It has become the biggest obstacles in enjoying and exploiting the basic amenities of life that God has bestowed on every individual and family. It not only creates problems for the individual but creates havoc for growing society. In the days to come, people need to understand this God so that they can utilize their lives more purposefully.

Village God - The Village God is available in every house in a different form. He depicts lot of conservativetism. This God mainly rely on illiteracy, poverty, unemployment and old traditions. The traditions and customs had been moving from one generation to the next without any change or thought. Village God will take a new shape in the time to come.
Town/city God – India is a land of Gods. Every town/city has a God. The people living in town/city get attached and obliged to this God. The people who live permanently in the town become the owner and protector of the God. In the name of saving the culture, they preserve God. The people migrating due to social and economic compulsions always find uncomfortable with such peculiar existence of God. The ‘Ganesh’ of Baripada and the ‘Ganesh’ of Bangalore have their own different identity. They never match with the ‘Ganesh’ of a village of Maharastra or in metro like Mumbai.
Apartment God – With the introduction of a new setup, there are large or medium sized apartments. The apartment God is evolved depending upon the majority or controlling committee.
Metro God – Metro in the developing world is taking a peculiar shape as far as the worshiping trends and beliefs are concerned. Metro God has many faces. The ‘Ganesh’ of Mumbai or ‘Durga’ of Kolkatta are the typical examples.
Global God – The time is not very far when it would be very common for people to move from one city to another across the globe in search of a better profession, dignified life and systematic progress. The Global God concept is prevailing among highly conscious personalities. Global god is the need of the 21st century.
Nation God – India is a secular country. Secularism is the need of hour in the world. The nation growth can be achieved through secular framework of national policies. The nation must concentrate on various other aspects of human personalities. The nation must welcome people for its own growth. The definition of nation God must emerge for the better prosperity of the nation. In the existing scenario, Gods are defined on the inclination of the nation toward development.
State God – Indian States as per the constitution have their own languages. Besides this, states have their own God. The Golden Temple in Punjab, Dandiya on Vijaya Dashami in Gujarat, Durga Puja /Kali Puja in West Bengal, Chhat in Bihar, Pongal of Kerala, Bihu of Assam etc have become so synonymous that it would not be wrong if I term them as State Gods. People have to resolve the question of state God for their peaceful and prosperous lives.
Country God – The culture we associate with a particular country relies on religious attachments. In the civilized world, we have to redefine and elaborate the country God for the betterment of its citizens. The country brand companies and establishments have done these. Others have to emulate them. The concept of democracy and secularism needs to be redefined forprogressive growth.
Region God – Eastern, western, southern are very synonymous to different regions. The God could be broadly categorized accordingly. The people of region feel so attached that sometime it becomes an emotional challenge to maintain the balance. Ayyappa in south or Swami Ramakrishna Paramhans in east are regionally divided concepts of God. They have to be critically resolved for smooth growth of individuals.
Modern God – Understanding modern God may be a herculean task for the scholar of this civilization. In current times, I have personally observed, the contribution by Swami Vivekananada through his eight volumes has given a better picture of religion and its perspective. In his preachings, Vivekananada considers, ‘Idleness is the biggest curse for modern man’. A person must be in a position to keep good health even if they have to eat fish. Today when Ramdev puts up a poster of Swami Vivekananada on the dais and says that people should be vegetarian, it does not make sense. Rather, it generates doubts and ambiguities. Modern God has to be liberal, rational and democratic in nature. Like the open economy, modern God remains open in nature where individual should have liberty to choose and freedom to follow. The God would be able to achieve desired prosperity for all its creation through its own modern ways.
Universal God – Bill Gates, the richest man on earth, would accept the God who helps him build a better Windows and Office so that all humanity could be benefited. The universal God is not bothered about any specific bonding. They are concerned about the freedom, liberty, prosperity and happiness of human beings. The concept of this God evolves with the universal excellence of individuals. This God helps to achieve universal goal through a few individuals.
Develop god – Today when the large population will move towards development, God will also become develop. Develop God will be in a position to provide peace and tranquility to every hard working individual irrespective of their cast, creed, region or religion. God may be just a superpower who comes for creation irrespective of belief.
With all those kinds of God available to a human being, it is a terrific challenge for all educated and wealthy persons to define the boundary and scope of God. God is there for the creation of humanity. God, who has created human life on earth, could never be so selfish to ask his creation to look after Him? With time, the concepts of God have changed based on the suitability of a few powerful and knowledgeable people. The people in the past have utilized their wisdom not to spread happiness and prosperity to civilization, but they have spread animosity, conservativeism and blind following for their selfish motives. These motives have been so tricky that a normal person could never be able to decipher the tactics. These tactics in new and fresh forms are still available and active furiously in most part of the developing world. They are spreading their evil through meetings, preachings, coachings, institutions or many other modes.
As there was no widespread communication medium in earlier period; the self-centered and self-proclaimed godlike people could misguide a large chunk of the population in the name of religion and God. Whoever had the courage to move from one place to another, could influence people to join their group. The existence of the backward caste, schedule caste and schedule tribes in Indian society is the extreme example of this selfish attitude of the leaders of society. They have fabricated and spread knowledge as per the convenience of a small group of people.
Even the people from the upper caste suffer from these self-defeating traditions in society. Among them also, only a few have the courage and wisdom to change. But there is an inherent problem of the human being. Once the trend and knowledge is set in the minds of people, it takes generations for them to change. Visa Balaji has emerged accordingly and certainly lot of people will gather at such place to get blessings. There are the reporters who will report such thing. There are the bloggers like me who will blog. However, such trend has to reverse. These trends create discriminations. It is barbaric even today that society faces this kind of discrimination. It is the biggest challenge to literate and educated society to understand this anomaly. There is a need for entrepreneur mind-shift. Entrepreneur mind set should revolve with some social obligations. This has to be taken seriously not for the benefit of the underprivileged people but for the benefit of the privileged lot as well. Old entrepreneur mindset will never show you the growth you intend to achieve in life in 21st century.