[sadhuji]

In one of the forums where I interact, a gentleman is worried about the problems that persons of the profession of priesthood face in Bengal. I presume the person to be a male because that is what his name suggests but then on the net nobody discloses his real identity. Anyway, the subject came up on a topic related to Mahalaya. His contention is that so many crores of rupees are collected by the organizers of Durga pujas, but no one bothers to spare a thought for the poor priests who are the direct contact points with God. He has mentioned the old times when priesthood used to be a family profession – the devotees (jajmans) were bound to the priests by invisible bonds and the relationship was of a permanent nature between the respective families. Priests had major roles to play in not only performing regular pujas throughout the year but also in the case of births, deaths, marriages and other domestic programs. They depended on the generosity of their devotees (jajmans) and accepted whatever they got, it was a mutually acceptable system and there were no grievances. These were the norms of society in times where the divide between the rich and the poor was marked - the zamindar threw parties on the occasion of the marriage of his pet cat or squandered on kite flying competitions. And, the community turned up in large numbers to witness the events and praise the zamindar sky high – later they would sit down to partake of delicious meals.

However, a time gradually came when the zamindar lost ground, his friends melted into thin air and others who were associated with him in times of plenty vanished. The person who was a law unto himself had to search for a livelihood. The social fabric was torn apart and norms that were carried forward from generation to generation crumbled. People had to learn to fend for themselves. As a result, those who were proud of their identity as priests followed suit. Very few of them remained wedded to their ideologies – the majority selected to join the tide. They got employment that assured regular monthly incomes instead of being dependant on generous gestures of their devotees or jajmans.

A time has now arrived when people double up as priests – they hold regular employments and, as and when the occasion presents itself, they don the garb of the priest. They cannot be faulted because their next generation has already chosen other more lucrative streams of employments. In fact, the person who was the chief priest for the Durga pujas here was an Accounts Manager and his son has a roaring business in Homeopathy. When he retired from service, the person who took over his responsibilities was an employee, a technical hand who was equally adept when in the seat of the priest. This is the situation not only in remote parts of the country but in West Bengal and Kolkata. I should know because in the family of my in-laws in Kolkata, the regular priest is an employee of the Railways. One has to reconcile to the changed social structure and accept them instead of lamenting over what is history.