Vinita
Deshmukh
Pune, November 17: Almost like the adage ‘Ring out the old and
ring in the new,’ the marble-floored and mosquito-net veiled the
Gautama, the Buddha Hall was deserted for the swanky and sprawling
Osho Auditorium next door, a fortnight back.
The canvas canopy and the largest mosquito net in the world, which
gave a translucent view of meditating and dancing sannyasins from
outside and had a sentimental attachment to the very international
Osho movement, since the spiritual guru held most of his
discourses here, was no-nonsensically ripped off.
While there was only sparse chest-beating in the wild by a handful
of old-time sannyasins, about retaining it because of its heritage
status (it being a landmark where Osho shared his dynamic and
unconventional philosophy with thousands of devotees across the
world), its very dismantling proved to be the proverbial last
straw and reflected the nadir to which the movement has reached
and one which manifests all over Koregaon Park.
Generally, the second week of November (the influx used to begin
from September lasting upto late February) should witness a wave
of maroon robes meandering through the sylvan lanes of
aristocratic Koregaon Park. Instead, you see them sparsely strewn
around, with their population depleting since 1995 and touching
the lowest ebb since the last year.
Most restaurants should have been studded with these firangi
patrons, for whom hygienic conditions used to be maintained by the
restaurateurs with great care.
Today, localites comprising students and families easily overrule
them. And in order to keep the business alive, localites who used
to be treated like second fiddles are receiving equal treatment
now by the restaurateurs who have shrugged off their garb of
arrogance.
Even at the newly opened Barista in Hotel Sunderbans, bang next to
the commune, less than 100 metres from the famous Buddha Hall the
local crowd easily overpowers that of the sannyasins. At the
German Bakery, the hot spot meeting point for most sannyasins, who
used to spill over on the footpath of the restaurant, the number
is considerably less.
Flats which used to be choc-a-bloc with these foreigners are now
being replaced by the student community. Roadside vendors selling
attractive maroon gowns, gemstones, flowers, coconut water et al
rue the downslide in business.
Just take a walk through the Osho Teerth, the majestic Japanese
styled garden, marvellously created by Shunnyo Foundation of the
Osho Commune and you will be surprised to find just a decimal of
the sannyasins. Since it is the wonder border of the Osho Commune,
in the 1990s copious number of sannyasins would stroll through in
the evenings. The security guards used to be extra strict and
vigilant with the local visitors and sannyasins were accused of
using the garden even during closure time.
Being a public garden, residents had protested against such
discrimination. But now, you see local couples enjoying the
sprawling park which has tall bamboos, huge trees and birds that
make it look like a botanical garden of international
standards.
The security guards are a friendly lot and suddenly amidst the
local crowd, when you find a sannyasin or two, it is they who look
odd now. What a parody!
While cynics had predicted doom for the Osho movement after the
death of Osho in 1991, the reverse took place as there was a surge
of devotees up to 1995, giving a shot in the arm to the Osho
management and in fact, making it turn into a stiff upper lip
tribe, looking at Puneites condescendingly.
The fat bubble burst in 1994 when this newspaper exposed the mass
drug orgies in the backyards of Koregaon Park, for which the Osho
Commune, citizens said, could not shrug off its vicarious
responsibility.
Under the garb of the sannyasin robe and the Osho Commune identity
cards, junkies from Goa would camouflage themselves in Koregaon
Park as sannyasins and by night indulge in trance dance
parties.
Thereafter, with strict police vigilance and stringent monitoring
by the commune, this menace died down.
Now, with the thinned population of sannyasins themselves, thanks
to increased commune entry charges and no-fun ambience thanks to
this newspaper, even the junkies are finding it difficult to
camouflage. The abysmal state of Osho network centres all over the
world also show the nosediving of this movement.
As Clive Crichley, a British sannyasin and moderator of
www.sannyasnews.com observes, ‘‘Firstly, Poona’s had it. By
most people’s book the regime has long been questionable and the
split between Indian and foreign sannyasins seems to have finally
broken the back of the Koregaon Park commune.
‘‘Whatever’s happening to sannyas in India may remain a
mystery - but the network centres and communes in the West is
unequivocally in chronic dis-array.’’
The eclipse, even if it be only temporary, of group based
psychotherapy has robbed organised sannyas both of its economy and
its cutting edge; and the White Robe Brotherhood has failed to
provide the central sacramental role, vital to an alive
community.
Many even welcome this, yet there is always that nagging doubt,
especially to those who experienced the full blown energy of Osho’s
Buddhafield, that much is missed by this fragmentation. ’’
And as Swami Vedant Bharati, an old time sannyasin disgustingly
stated that, ‘‘The dismantling of the canopy is just symbolic
of the deteriorating atmosphere in the commune. The very
energyfield that Osho had created is being steadily killed. It’s
like a disease that is getting worse.’’
In the meanwhile, Ma Yoga Neelam, rebel and who was secretary to
Osho for India, stated through a press release in Delhi that,
‘‘ Osho lovers and disciples must take all possible steps to
stop the insensitive destruction of the Buddha Hall where the
Enlightened Master delivered his discourses and many thousands had
their first glimpse of Osho. This is the worst sacrilege of the
lowest order.’’
