The 'Miracle of Mahim' and other myths

The "miracle" water was poisonous, containing up to 400 times more impurities than Mumbai's poor-quality tap water -- which people have to purify by boiling or filtering.

Analysis showed that the Mahim water contains 770 to 1740 ppm (parts per million) of solids, much higher than the World Health Organisation norm of 0-500. The chloride content is 600 to 6,500 ppm (WHO norm, 0-250, tap water 1-12).

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The water is full of heavy metals, cancer-causing chemicals and bacteria, too. Mahim Creek receives one billion litres of raw sewage daily. It contains human faeces and 100,000 bacteria per 100 ml -- and is liable to cause severe health disorders.

Even as the "Mahim Miracle" hysteria continued, Durga and Shiva idols started "drinking milk" in Bareilly. Much like the "Ganesha-drinking-milk" phenomenon of 1995, the myth swept through scores of cities. Devotees went to temples carrying milk, believing that offering it to the Gods would earn them "merit" or material benefits.

Many people attributed the Mahim "miracle" to the karamat of Baba Maqdoom Saheb, a 14th century Sufi saint buried nearby. Others saw their own God in it -- Hindu, Christian, or Parsi.

In reality, there was no miracle in Mahim. Sea-water turns less salty in the monsoon season and during low tide. Heavy rains in Mumbai caused Vihar Lake to overflow into the Mithi river which meets the sea at Mahim. This unusual flooding combined with a release of freshwater due to rock displacement or cracking. The lighter freshwater rose to the surface.

Similarly, the phenomenon of idols "consuming" milk is caused by surface tension and suction due to capillary action. This is why "divine idols", almost any rigid object with a pointed end, can suck up a fluid from a shallow dish.

In 1995, a cobbler even demonstrated that he could make his humble shoe-mending tripod "drink" milk.

It's ludicrous to attribute natural, scientifically explainable, phenomena to supernatural factors. That only devalues genuine faith, as distinct from superstition, which is blind and based on dogma.

Superstition is a sign of the disorientation many Indians experience because they don't understand the insecurities produced by social, economic, and political processes. At work is the helplessness of the people in the face of unemployment, displacement and economic distress. At the upper end of the spectrum is stress produced by the corporate rat-race.

Superstition offers a convenient escape from thinking. It makes the connections between cause and effect invisible and unnecessary. You can attribute ill-health to invisible spirits or to the stars.

You can blame your karma for everything, and stop acting as your own agent and as a rational being. You don't have to take responsibility for your actions.

Superstition isn't unique to India. But what makes India special is that superstition is growing even among the affluent and educated. Second, it has a collective, mass character. Just about every cult and sect in the world has a presence here, from Vedic astrology to Tantric rituals.

It's not just the illiterate and poor who fall prey to superstition. Superstition has sunk deep roots among privileged professionals, too.

Someone as modern and self-confident as Sachin Tendulkar performed a yagna to recover his cricketing form.

Many South Asian ministers have personal astrologers with "divine" powers, whose advice they follow on Cabinet appointments, swearing-in ceremonies, even the spelling of their names. For instance, Jayalalithaa added an "a" to her name because that's numerologically favourable.

At the lower end, impoverished and illiterate people marry their daughters to dogs to ward off the "evil eye."

The collective character of superstition in South Asia takes the form of periodic waves -- like the Ganesha-drinking-milk episode. Psychologists call this sociogenic illness, or socially produced hysteria. It's usually driven by the search for solace.

In recent years, India witnessed the "Monkey Man" scare, the "Chapati Jesus" (an image etched on a roti), and the "Onion Witches" myth. According to rumour, these women would visit homes and demand onions. As they cut the onions in half, blood would ooze out. Soon, someone in the family would die.

Many other societies, too, have witnessed outbursts of superstition, leading to panic, fear, and often, violence -- for instance, the Salem witch-hunts in 17th century United States.

Keith Thomas, in his masterpiece "Religion and the Decline of Magic," has analysed superstition and black magic in 16th and 17th century England. Thomas shows how the rise of organised religion, and more importantly, modernisation and industrialisation, have marginalised and delegitimised superstition.

This doesn't argue that individuals in the West don't hold superstitious beliefs. Just two years ago well-known British scientist Percy Seymour published "The Scientific Proof of Astrology." It now stands discredited.

Similarly, pop singer Madonna recently joined the Jewish cult Kabbalah. She wants Kabbalah's "magic" fluid to be used to clean up radioactive waste in Britain!

One reason why such weird fads acquire a mass character in societies like India's is the patronage superstition receives from the top. Under the Bharatiya Janata Party, for instance, India came close to teaching astrology at universities. Many Indian information technology professionals remain as devoted to obscurantist cults as to computer software.

This is a sign of how far India stands from a developing a critical, rational approach to life. Scientific knowledge is objective, impersonal, and potentially accessible to all. Above all, it is falsifiable.

Science is not a closed system. Astrology is. For instance, the recent changes in the list of planets in the solar system mark a major change in astronomy. But they won't affect astrology because it is impervious to facts.

Every society must generate its own Renaissance or Enlightenment based on reason. But is India ready for this yet?

Praful Bidwai is an eminent Indian columnist.