Latest reports from Tirupati once again confirm that religion can be made more profitable than opium trade even if it is not the pure opium of man. One new business opportunity the shrine affords to religious entrepreneurs is in the area of blade production and distribution. The estimated annual demand for disposable shaving blades in Tirupati is about 10 million pieces with over 70 lakh devotees turning up for tonsuring. There are about 600 barbers in the temple town who have been waiting for upgradation of their tool, the old knife. Neither they nor their clients can wait any longer. For AIDS surveillance centres have warned against the possibility of the virus giving the knife a more dangerous new edge. The shrine managers are moving WHO for subsidy for distribution of disposable blades.

Besides the blade business, there are various lucrative avenues thrown open by shrines. The scope for factories which can make appropriate use of the biggest by-product of the devotion business is enormous. The by-product is, obviously, human hair which is shaven off in millions of yards in Tirupati.

For vending the deity's sacraments, there are already a few viable ventures but it has not yet struck the manufacturers and the traders of prasadam and teertham that what is sold as mineral water brings much more money, even more than milk. There is no reason why one litre of gangajal, when packed religiously, cannot fetch as much return on investment as a pint of cheap rum. Clarified butter is a great sacrament and its business potential was proved when it turned literally dirty some years ago, unleashing what every worthwhile business should do: a scam.

Let there be no misgiving that this is all being said in jest. Any business venture becomes viable depending on two factors. Either there must be an abundance of raw materials or a vibrant market which can absorb any quantity of the finished product. The raw materials required for the production of prasadam is never in short supply in this country. What is more reassuring is that the shrines, if not exactly the deities, proliferate by the day with a corresponding expansion of the religious market. Religion can therefore be India's best industry. Which is why some capitalist-roaders among communists have begun to encourage pilgrimage tourism. Opium is bad, not its money.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.