How would Jesus Christ have fared amongst contemporary Indian godmen?
The first time I heard the term ‘ Yeshu baba ’ was in Tihar jail. I was not a prisoner – I was visiting along with a group of school-children who were performing a Christmas programme for about a thousand women inmates in Jail No. 6, Central Prison. The children sang Christmas carols and the prisoners sang along. Afterwards, one of the inmates came up to the microphone and thanked the kids for their programme on the birth of ‘ Yeshu Baba ’. The name struck me and stuck with me. I had heard Jesus Christ referred to as ‘Isa Masih’ or ‘Ishu Masih’ in Hindi before, of course. ‘Yeshu Baba’ sounded a lot more human and definitely a lot more familiar. If you were to put a picture of (a non-crucified) Jesus next to one of a contemporary Indian baba, like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar or Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, a casual observer might see little or no difference (except in height, in the case of Sri Sri, and hair colour in the case of Jaggi Vasudev.) Read More Business Standard