At the spiritual level all true believers, the devotees, follow two different methods for invocation of God, one with certain attributes (Sagunopasana) and the other without attributes (Nirgunop-asana). The less evolved Hindus, who form the majority, however, believe in a God with different forms, and hence they worship God in differentforms as sculptured in granite stones installed in their different temples. It is these that one writer calls `Graven images', which is only indicative of his ignorance of the spirit behind idol worship.

True faith does not mean `keeping faith' blindly as in the case of a recent incident when Kerala political leader, T.K. Hamza, in his characteristic style of speech in the state Assembly, made an inadvertently casual reference to the great Matha Amruthanandamai. What a hornet's nest this raised despite the Speaker's assurance that it would not find a place in the Assembly records, the Chief Minister's clarifications and Hamza's own unconditional apology!

All this should normally have been sufficient to assuage any tormented souls. But, not our devotees. They vied with one another to exhibit their hollow devotion and holier-than-thou ire. Several letters to the Editor in this newspaper condemned the incident in vituperative tones, one of the devotees even going to the extent of saying that Hamza's"language represents his upbringing''.

As a true devotee, a believer, and a disciple for over two decades of a world-renowned spiritual master whom I most painfully miss for the last five years, I find it quite unbecoming of true devotees to be so impudent. This is a typical case of `faith lost in keeping faith' or `faith lost in devotion'.

There has been yet another case in which a great son of Kerala is the posthumous victim of a witch-hunt. In the famous Malayalam poem Chandala Bikshuki of poet laureate N. Kumaran Asan, reprinted and published by the Calicut Unive-rsity as a text, there is an introductory teaching note by a reputed Malayalam professor of the same university. The note is a savage attack on Asan and his pious soul, and its aim is to tarnish the image of the literary genius as literally and virtually a sexual vagabond.

It is repeatedly asserted that Asan was even revelling in irresistible carnal pleasures, with "the most uncontrollable desire to enjoy the entire totality of sex". It isto be specially mentioned that the note comes immediately after a fervent tribute in a foreward by Ulloor, depicting the same Asan as a poet of rare gift and as the pride of Kerala. This, too, is faith lost in keeping faith.

This, in addition to use of slang expressions and grammatical mistakes even in simple sentences and a host of other glaring errors so carelessly committed and allowed to go undetected by any one of the editorial board comprising a special officer and other members who are doctorate-holders. This is betrayal of faith by those entrusted with education of our youth.