Today the tourist bus of ITDC crossed my car in Western Express Highway and I could read from my mirror the banner of ITDC as Athithi Devo Bhava. In other words, the guests are Gods to us. Do we really accept the guests as Gods as defined in Hindu culture and tradition and Hindu mythology? Whether the translation of Athithi as God is proper and correct - I had a self introspection. In Western countries, the guests are welcome only with prior appointment. In other words, we get ready to welcome the guests with proper outfit and food who come on prior intimation. If somebody comes to our house without intimation, we feel uncomfortable because our day to-day schedule gets distorted and our TV watching schedule as well as internet browsing gets postponed. We get disturbed because the study schedule of our children gets disturbed. In other words, we do not want to sacrifice our comfort level because of the arrival of the guests. We do make complimentary arrangement so that our share of comfort, resources and utilities are not further shared.

What and who is Athithi ? Athithi means A-thithi or the person who arrives at our house without a thithi or an appointment. In other words, guest is not the exact translation of athithi which has been followed in Hindu culture and tradition from time immemorial. Let us take the example of Karna who sacrificed his son Biswak Sen to satisfy the hunger of Vishnu who was in disguise of a Brahmin. Let us take the example of Harishchandra or Bali Maharaj who sacrificed everything of their life including wife, son and themselves in order to satisfy the athithi. Meaning thereby Athithi who comes to our place without an appointment is to be worshipped at the cost of our comfort, whatever may be the circumstances.

Therefore, I agree to disagree to accept the guest word as equivalent of Athithi because the guests can not be Gods which the Athithis are.