I Am A Rastaman

Tomorrow is Mahashivaratri, a night dedicated to Lord Shiva. Millions of pious Hindus will celebrate this day, particularly in Varanasi, Shiva’s city. Indeed, so numerous are the devotees here that the district administration has to make elaborate bandobast, the details of which are reported here.

The Lord Shiva, of course, is the god of cannabis. Tomorrow is Boom Shankar Night. But cannabis is illegal throughout India. Makes you think of political concepts such as State and civil society. In India, the criminalization of cannabis indicates a State than is out of sync with civil society. It is like beer being outlawed in Germany.

What about Hindoo politics? I visited LK Advani’s blog this morning, but found no mention of Boom Shankar on this holy day. Advani has been home minister, and this ministry, which controls the police, runs the illegal racket in cannabis. His boss, Atal Behari Vajpayee, has a holiday home in Manali, a district famous for its charas. Neither can be oblivious to the fact that the criminalization of cannabis hurts the farmer, hurts the smoker, and only benefits the police. Advani is still talking about a Ram temple in Ayodhya. But Ram was just a king; Shiva is Mahadev, the greatest god of the Hindus.

All this reminds me of a time, several years ago, when I was living in Delhi’s Chittaranjan Park, where the only temple is a Shiva temple. A group of young boys called upon me one morning asking for donations for this temple. I told them to bugger off. Why should I donate to a Shiva temple when I cannot get decent ganja legally?

Why can’t Varanasi, Haridwar, Rishikesh and Gangotri – all of which are cities dedicated to Shiva – not be like Amsterdam? Why should alcohol and tobacco be legal, while the holiest of herbs is criminal?

As a lover of cannabis, what I find particularly revolting about our current laws is that I, as a buyer, am made to feel like a criminal. I have to associate with criminals to get my stuff. And it is on record that I have had to endure ceaseless harassment from the police when doing so. So much so that I have almost dropped out of the cannabis scene. Tomorrow night, I will not be celebrating. No Boom Shankar for me. Not if it is criminal.

I despair for the Hindus. All pious, all cowardly.

And I have all respect for the Rastafarians. At least they champion ganja. And they demand respect for the smoker of this holy herb. The Hindoo could learn a lot from the Rastaman.

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