"Babadom"

I watched the "Holy Smoke". Its a movie which depicts the religious life in India (with familiar pictures from Delhi, Rajasthan and Dharmashala) and rise of cult culture. The Gurus are coming up and leading a varieties of people in their search for spirituality and happiness in life. This has acquired a comfortable space in the middle class social life. Some may call it worshipping false Gods, but others find meaning in it. Despite these contradictory perceptions and ideologies, a certain cultural consensus has emerged among the middle class and elite sections of Indians on the norms of religious practice in modern life. These norms made it possible for the leading groups in society to make distinctions between acceptable ritual behaviour or doctrinal belief and unaccetable superstition and irrationality. As a result these new groups have become more popular religious communities often by delegitimising their counterpart aborigins.

The movie does not make much sense though; the protagonist (Kate Winslet) has still not been able to find an answer. Her search for truth, her quest for happiness and meaning in life, and her journey to unravel the mystery behind the 'babadom' continues to go on......