What is this for? asked the man looking at a metal bracelet with sceptical curiosity, at first. It balances energy, drawled the American in answer, betraying what sounded like a hint of a doubt. But that answer prompted the man to hurriedly gather six of the bracelets in both his hands and pay the American. The man seemed divinely content to have such a valuable purchase at RM7 each.

Amma , meaning mother, had come to Malaysia and it was big news within the Indian community. The bracelets were among the paraphernalia peddled in her name. The American was her devotee. Why? To them and millions around the world she is as a living saint. She is known as Her Holiness Mata Amritanandamayi Devi. Her status, that of a goddess. Her organisation, Mata Amritanandamayi Math, runs countless charities, hospitals and orphanages in India.

The organisation has constructed houses and schools for the poor, launched pension schemes for ten of thousands of people, set up medical dispensaries, eye treatment camps, hospitals and hospices. There is an Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre in India, inaugurated by Prime Minister A V Vajpayee. The Amrita Institute of Technology and Science provides vocational training for youths. Then there is Amrita Institute of Management, Amrita Institute for Advanced Computing, Amrita Institute for Computer Technology, the list goes on.

Adding to her credentials as an exemplary human being, Amma has spoken at the United Nations Millennium World Peace Conference in 2000. The press statement says that she had been invited by UN secretary-general Kofi Annan to address the UN General Assembly. In 1995, Amma was invited to an interfaith conference at the 50th anniversary celebrations of the UN in New York.

Her organisation runs temples in India. It also intends to set up a hospital for AIDS patients in the near future. How will they achieve this? Its evident  through Amma merchandising.

But Amma claims to be neither god, healer, mystic, sage nor saint. These titles have been heaped on her by her followers. However, on the posters and postcards put up for sale, Amma is decked in crown and garland  in the image of a goddess.

Religion today is big business. But it if helps run charities and assists the needy, then by all means buy more bracelets.

Overwhelming crowds

Thousands had gathered in Cheras and Petaling Jaya, on March 25 and 26 respectively, to seek Ammas blessing in the form of her infamous hugs. Yes, her loving embrace is said to exude the essence of pure love. It has been said to cure the sick and heal the broken-hearted.

The promise of such salvation works better than the niftiest public relations campaign. No need for Hill and Knowlton or Burson Marstellar, a miracle will suffice. And Ammas popularity stems from a miraculous event many years ago  she turned water to milk to pudding.

The 39-year-old holy lady had come to Malaysia on her inaugural visit. She was invited by the Malaysian Hindu Samgam. She had been to Singapore 16 times. After Malaysia she is off to Australia.

The congregation that came to see her at the NUPW hall in Kuala Lumpur, easily numbered 10,000. They came from all walks of life  the English-speaking upper middle class professionals, businessmen, to the ordinary wage earner. People had left their homes as early as 6am only to be caught in a jam as traffic came to a standstill along the area.

The queue outside the gates was long. The queue within the buildings compound snaked up and down to accommodate the unexpected crowd. The lower hall of the building was packed with people. The upper hall was filled with devotees. Had these queues been laid out end to end, it would have been kilometres long.

Mothers cradling babies, Malayalees in trademark white and gold cotton sarees, elderly folk, girls in glittering salwar kameez (traditional Indian costume), fathers and husbands braved the scorching afternoon heat queuing for hours, to catch a glimpse of this holy-lady.

Very few complained. They were subdued by the anticipation of the all-healing embraces of Amma  their god on earth.

Unceremonious meeting

Having queued from 9.30am to 1.30pm, this writer was witness to Amma volunteers shuffling around straightening queues and chastising those jumping queue. They distributed numbered  darshan (blessing) coupons. Only with these coupon are one allowed to see Amma. This writer would not be able to see Amma for the next two hours after receiving the coupon.

Upon meeting, Amma held the writer by the head and had it unceremoniously shoved into her bosom, and yanked off again as rudely, this time by volunteers and committee running the whole shebang. One could hardly glimpse into the womans face, let alone experience her soothing voice and calming caress.

The writer went to see Amma as a sceptic and came out of it cynical of those who manage her organisation and run her life. Only minutes earlier an infant screamed out as she was shoved along with her mother into Ammas healing hugs.

The mother was unsurprisingly oblivious to this mistreatment as it was overshadowed by the joy of having glimpsed a goddess.

Blind devotion

Many others shared the young mothers faith. A newly wed, who had been standing in the queue for six hours justified the waiting by saying reverently, It is not easy to see Amma.

No matter how long the wait, it would have been worth her while. Millions of others, like her, share this sentiment.

Where is the dignity in all this? Is the huge crowd, into whose hands were shoved a plastic packet of holy ash, red powder and a sweet (?), to blame. What does one expect when bandying a goddess in the face of a world gone horribly wrong.

The event that was meant to be a spiritually enlightening experience to bring out the inner peace, turned out to be a farce. There are thousands more waiting, you see. Quickly, quickly, the volunteers said as if in a refugee camp handing out free bread.

Million of adults may choose blind devotion, but an infant cannot lie. The shrill cry the little baby girl let out shook this writer out of her momentary stupor. Remember the clothesless Emperor who realised his folly when a child cried out, but he is naked.

Though many may gasp at the audacity of this criticism aimed at such a noble soul  H H Mata Amritanandamayi Devi  it is this kind of blind faith that led to the Guyana and Heavens Gate tragedies of the world. Will we ever learn?

Granted, this living saint is a charitable soul, and she means well. Scores of charitable organisation have spawned from her goodness. But what about the Bill Gates fund charitable organisations? They have not elevated him to such divine status.

A simple village girl

Amma claims herself to be a simple village girl. She was born in a poor fishing village in Kerala, India, in 1953. Her name given at birth is Sudhamani. Because she is dark-skinned, she is said to have been abused by her family. She was not allowed to finish school and was given away as a servant. But her faith in Krishna had her performing miracles at age 21.

Prevented from visiting a temple, her sadist brother broke the temples oil lamp. She told her devotees to get some shells from the sea and fill them with water and place wicks in them. She then asked them to light the wick. Her biography, Amma: A living saint by Judith Cornell says, Then the impossible happened: the wicks stayed lit and burned through the night.

Sudhamani is a sincere human being on a mission to spread inner peace. But is this womans goodness being manipulated to cater to the multifaceted needs of those who harbour her?

The writer sincerely hopes that the funds collected go to charitable causes. Admittedly, it is easier to solicit funds using Ammas popularity for funders come to you. Any other way, you have to beg for charity.

In the tent outside the NUPW building there was a donation box meant to collect funds for the building of an Amma ashram. Paper flowers, fresh flowers, jasmine garlands and even puli inji (a popular Malayalee Indian spicy dish made of ginger), were on sale to help fund the charity. Selling them were many volunteer aunties. In return they will be attended to by Amma.

By the way, Amma and her entourage arrived in a Mercedes Benz and a BMW along with several Caucasian boys and girls in saffron robes or white kurtas . So did Bhagwan Sri Ragnesh, for those who remember that shenanigan. So whats new?

Long live charity in its varied avatars!

Ponder over this scathing review of the book, Amma: A living saint , in the magazine India Today (Feb 11, 2002): India is awash with gurus, godmen and godwomen of all sorts, with ten of millions of followers. They all claimed to be divinely inspired with miraculous powers of healing. We (India) should be wreathed in beatific spirituality, good health, love and goodness. Instead, disease and ill-health is rampant, and we have become more corrupt and violent than ever before. In the most honest and well-run countries  the Scandinavian nations, for instance  there is little organised religion and few godmen. Does that say something?