Every year I remember coming across news articles on infants born with rare abnormality. These articles reported incidents where a child is being worshipped as a divine child by the people.
Most of these articles ridiculed Indians for worshipping abnormal human being as a god.
A boy born with enlarged forehead and narrow eyes is respected in his village, villagers claim his birth brought prosperity, fortune and success to their village.
The same boy on his interview to daily mail said ” My friends don’t bully me at all as they believe I am Lord Ganesha. I am happy when people call me Ganesha Ji. It makes me happy. I want to be like this only. I am happy with my big head and face.”
Instead of labeling him as a side show freak, His culture reframed it as a blessing and elevated him beyond his circumstances where he would be respected.
This is a lesson western culture should learn when being critical of those who are different from the majority of others.
Parents of abnormal babies undergo so much of emotional trauma and pressure from the society. Parents are most likely deferred from treatment due to financial crunch. People usually contribute some money to these children which would help the parents to spend money for treatment.
Laxmi a girl born with 8 limbs, who was worshipped as goddess in her village had undergone surgery to remove excess limbs. The offerings and the financial assistance had helped the daughter of a daily wage laborer to regain her life. Now she is a perfectly normal kid who goes to school and plays with her friends.
A culture that respects abnormalities shouldn’t be ridiculed, It should be embraced. There is also a paramount concern as India ranks second with a large number infant born annually with birth defects. India should definitely focus its attention on strategies for control and prevention of abnormality in infants.
