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Monday, March 24th, 2008
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2008-03-24-08:58 - Breaking news: Magic still doesn't work
Near the end of his life Gandhi was asked about the gurus that were beginning to crop up in America. He responded by saying, "I hope they aren't all fakes. There are a lot of fake gurus in India." I'm not sure if this story is true, I could not find a good reference to it in my requisite 5 minutes on Google[1]. But it is an urban legend in the classic sense that it if not true it ought to be.
But while India is full of charlatans, it has some rational people too. And they aren't afraid to call out the woo.On 3 March 2008, in a popular TV show, Sanal Edamaruku, the president of Rationalist International, challenged India’s most “powerful” tantrik (black magician) to demonstrate his powers on him. That was the beginning of an unprecedented experiment. After all his chanting of mantra (magic words) and ceremonies of tantra failed, the tantrik decided to kill Sanal Edamaruku with the “ultimate destruction ceremony” on live TV. Sanal Edamaruku agreed and sat in the altar of the black magic ritual. India TV observed skyrocketing viewership rates. Guess what happened.The tantrik tried. He chanted his mantras (magic words): “Om lingalingalinalinga, kilikili….” But his efforts did not show any impact on Sanal – not after three minutes, and not after five. The time was extended and extended again. The original discussion program should have ended here, but the “breaking news” of the ongoing great tantra challenge was overrunning all program schedules.
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After nearly two hours, the anchor declared the tantrik’s failure. The tantrik, unwilling to admit defeat, tried the excuse that a very strong god whom Sanal might be worshiping obviously protected him. “No, I am an atheist,” said Sanal Edamaruku. [link]
[1] PS. If anyone can find a reference to what Gandhi said or have an idea what I might be misremembering please post it.
5 comments | >>let me tell you this about that!
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