An open safe!

I had visited a small town called 'Shani Shinganapur' around 5 years back. Though the trip was made as a result of its proximity to Shirdi and I personally had no interest in making another long road trip, what struck me about this otherwise nondescript town was the fact the none of the houses had doors! If that isn't shocking enough, none of the shops had doors either! And I am not talking about mere paan shops, jewelry shops had open counters for anybody to barge in at anytime in the day.

A local policeman informed me that the rather obdurate custom started hundreds of years ago, when the temple of the Shani dev located here came into prominence. Like any other mythical small town in India, this one has its own myth- All thefts in this town have brought grave hardships (and death in some cases) to the culprit. So conveniently, the residents did away with any form of protection of their properties. This is probably one place where no Indian policeman would like to be posted at!

I came back bewildered at what I had seen, and the memories of Shani Shinganapur stayed with me for quite some time. And all of it came running back to my mind after I just read a press report about UCO bank opening a 'lockless' branch in the town. Imagine, an open safe! Bank officials have reportedly went against the central governments norms, relying heavily on the prevalent system of faith in the ire of God Shani. However, if you think of it and from what I recollect of my conversations with the locals, the real reason behind the calm here is that there is an inherent bonhomie in this small town. The locals trust each other more than anything, and this mutual feeling of 'everybody here is a good man' is probably the reason for the continuation of this custom. Of course, religious faith is the central idea behind the ethos of this community, but what if one of the many high profile gangs of India decide to rob this bank now that it is going to be in the newspapers? Taking decisions on faith alone rather than rational thinking seems quite abrupt and unnatural in this century. Be prepared to hear about this in press or on TV in the coming days (based on the fact that half of our news channels have exclusive time slots dedicated to religious fervor). But it can turn out to be a wonderful thing if nothing untoward happens! Let's just hope that this experiment serves as an example to the billions of our country, and we take positive steps in the direction of brotherhood and faith in each other's integrity.