Pricing Priceless Gifts!

Pricing something ‘priceless’ is essentially an aesthetic and spiritual exercise in which the base value (price) is not taken at face value. A total of 2,772 gift items received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi were put under the hammer from September 14, 2019 for a greater cause. The auction concluded on October 3, 2019. Each of the 2,772 items, as usual, had a base price and an unpredictable asking price. The collection of goods on display for sale at the auction had a variety of items like idols of Hanuman and Lord Ganesha to shawls and pagris (turbans).

Aesthetic and spiritual pricing is a different ball game. A pagri which the Prime Minister got as a gift is worth not only the cost of the fabric it is made of but also the cost of the labour an artisan has put to in it, the degree of articulation achieved by the artisan in his creative work among other factors. Unlike most other pagris of the same fabric, the same cost of labour and the same degree of articulation, this particular pagri is a value-laden one. Where does the value come from? Apart from the artistry, the worth of a crown also depends on the value of the head it is put on. In the instant auction, each and every item is value-laden. The intrinsic values have been added to each of the items in the form of love, respect, glory, honour, and dignity of labour. The material value of the crown, on the contrary, can be determined with modern metrology that fails to gauge its intrinsic value. In the first such auction of gifts which the Prime Minister had offered in January this year a statue of Gautam Buddha, a value-laden piece with a base price of only Rs 4,000, fetched Rs 7 lakh. Does it mean that the statue of Gautam Buddha is worth Rs 7 lakh? Certainly not!

In fact, the real worth of no value-laden items which the Prime Minister has got as gifts can be measured in rupees or any other currencies. All such items are priceless. The price at which an item was sold at the auction of the gift items received by the Prime Minister is just a token of honour the item deserves. If this is so, what’s this auction in the aid of? What might have driven the Prime Minister to offer such priceless goods (gifts) for auction? One may clutter one’s head with trivia – an unending chain of questions. Swami Vivekananda went on record saying – Jibe prem kore jei jon, sei jon sebiche Ishwar (the person who loves life is the one who serves God). Such a realization can help rescue a cluttered mind in ascertaining the very aim of the auction that ended on October 3, 2019. The proceeds from the auction will be used in the ‘Namami Gange’ project. It is a stark reality that the Ganga, polluted with toxic waste from factories dotting either of its banks, is fast turning into a threat to life – the biodiversity. What else can be more sacred than bestowing Her lost glory on the Ganga (considered sacred in Hinduism)? Protecting the Earth from pollution is a direct service to mankind and all living beings. Protecting all ‘creatures’ from pollutants is certainly being at the service of the ‘Creator’. The contribution may be meagre, but the willpower is much bigger. This, certainly, what an Indian ethos exactly is.

Thus, the ‘Namami Gange’ project is one of the pragmatic manifestations of transparent thoughts that keep the environment – spiritually, physically and mentally – clean and evergreen. Considering the Ganga and the Brahmaputra (meaning: the son of Lord Brahma) sacred, in essence, is no different from the myth of Sacred Groves in Meghalaya that helps keep the environment green. Tree felling is considered forbidden in the Sacred Groves which are locally known as ‘Law Lyngdoh’, ‘Law Niam’ and ‘Law Kyntang’. As many as 105 sacred groves have been documented in the State. The people believe that these sacred groves are the abode of Ryngkew, Basa, Labasa and some other deities to whom these groves are dedicated. The local people believe that that the Sylvan deities would be offended if trees are cut and twigs, flowers, fruits, etc. are plucked in these Sacred Groves. This practice helps the State keep its environment green to a large extent. Why should not the rest of India and the world borrow such a sacred concept from Meghalaya?

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