SCHOOLS
in the state were in the news for the wrong reasons. A government-run
Angadi school near a nondescript town, Mudigere, basked in media glare
when four of its students were ‘possessed’ by foul-mouthed evil
spirits. The drop-out rate in another school near Ullal skyrocketed
when ‘ghost-sightings’ confirmed the worst fears of locals on the
school being haunted. Though media attention has died down, the rationalist
in Prof Narendra Nayak, president of the Federation of Indian Rationalists
Associations (FIRA), is keen to get to the bottom of it. “Fact-finding
teams have visited these two schools and the truth behind these manifestations
will be known soon,” he declares.
Loathed
for his tenacity to expose paranormal, debunking superstitions, he was
the target of many physical attacks. “Now, I have grown too. big to
be attacked,” chuckles Prof Nayak, who quit a regular job recently
to continue fulltime on developing scientific temper and humanism in
India.
In four
decades, he has conducted 2,000 demonstrations all over India as well
as in Australia, England and Greece. He spoke to Harsha
of The New Indian Express about paranormal, scientific temperament
and other issues.
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I
offer to hand over my entire property to the astrologer who answers
a set of 13 questions. I have
listed the genders, date of birth and other details of ten persons
and an astrologer has only to list how
many among them are dead and how many are still alive. |
Prof
Narendra Nayak |
“Unfortunately,
parents, instead of taking a rational approach, tend to repose faith
in exorcism and poojas. Because of their deep-rooted beliefs,
they don’t like people taking a rational approach.” |
Excerpts:
What
is the motive behind such manifestations, which border on paranormal?
Based on our experiences, there are many motives.
It may be attention-seeking behaviour or rivalry between classmates,
siblings or a rebellion against sexual exploitation. A decade ago, four
girls in a school at Karvase near Karkala were ‘possessed’ by spirits.
Our investigations revealed that the manifestations were actually an
expression against sexual-abuse by a male teacher. Now the girls are
happily married and have kids.
But
why do these repressed feelings usually take the form of spirit manifestations?
These
are culturally expressed pathways for expression of suppressed feelings.
The blame is passed on to the unknown. Unfortunately, parents, instead
of taking a rational approach, tend to repose faith in exorcism and
poojas. In fact, because of their deep-rooted beliefs, they don’t
like people taking a rational approach.
Why is this
phenomenon more common in rural schools?
These
manifestations have been reported in urban schools too. But they are
more common in rural schools. The manifestation of hysteria in urban
schools is culturally more refined. We had reports of girls being possessed
by angels. All manifestations, whether in Hyderabad- Karnataka region
or Orissa, are the same. According to a report, such spirit: manifestations
also exist in South African countries.
Can you
elaborate on this proposal?
The International
Humanist and
Ethical Union, to
which we are affiliated, has forwarded a proposal to us on setting up
a Pan-Asian Training centre in Mumbai to train activists from South
African countries to tackle such spiritual manifestation. We have a
set of basic principles to expose the paranormal. Under this project,
a batch of activists will visit India to learn the basic principles
which help them to demonstrate immunity to pain with the help of chemicals.
How
can we encourage children to express their frustration in more acceptable
ways?
In fact,
our demonstrations, awareness programmes conducted in schools,
children’s festivals, etc demystify these culturally accepted steps.
Recently, I conducted such a programme at a school in Madhya near Suratkal
which has more students from Koraga community. We create a scientific
temper among children by making them walk on a bed of red-hot coals
and conjure up ash and currency notes from thin air.
We also
staged street plays in Bidar and Gulbarga to dispel superstitions among
children. Some of these programmes were also broadcast on National Geography
and BBC Radio, among others. A recent documentary on quacks cheating
the gullible ‘Medicine Man’, will be telecast in February on Channel
4 and Discovery.
With
elections round the corner, will you renew your challenge to offer a
cash prize of Rs 1 lakh to the astrologer who comes out with the right
prediction?
I will
renew my challenge when the elections are announced. I have also offered
to hand over my entire property to the astrologer who answers a set
of 13 questions. One such exercise is I have listed the genders, date
of birth and other details of ten persons and an astrologer has only
to list how many among them are dead and how many are still alive. All
astrologers who took up the challenge earlier failed miserably.
What
are the other objectives of your Federation?
Our federation
has 65 member-associations and we organise training camps for trainers.
I am the
resource person for such training camps being organised in Chirala
(Andhra Pradesh), Gorakhpur and Lucknow (January 21). We will be conducting
advanced training sessions in July. We also conduct inter-religious
marriages.
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