Reactions on my Atheism !!

Much like in many other cultures, religion was force-fed to me and my brothers by my devout Hindu parents and all our relatives. Praying everyday was highly encouraged, and most festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi, Krishna Janmashtami, and Navratri, were celebrated with a fair dose of reciting shlokas in the morning after taking bath, where the entire family would sit with hands firmly clasped in prayer, as all of us would recite Sanskrit verses that we never understood the meanings for. Somehow, we were made to believe that reciting those shlokas would win the favour of the numerous deities whose images in framed pictures were hung on the wall before us in a room called the 'Puja Room' (a room whose sole purpose is to hold pictures of gods). 

 And then I started reading. And more reading. And then, internet happened ... in a big way. I began to view things rationally and to not take things for granted, merely because they were incorporated into my life by my parents, family, and the vociferously vocal, theist society around me. I read and heard likes of Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, watched several documentaries, debates, discussions and finally science made the most sense to me for the worldview. Its methods and validations were the most reliable and sensible. And even though it's difficult to pin it down to a specific date, I became an atheist and shunned all belief in the several supernatural deities and associated rituals.

Here is a testimony of how everyone around me reacted or is reacting on this  ---



Mum and Dad

  


Society, they say, begins at your home. So, it's only fair I write about their reactions first. My mum, till date, doesn't understand where I drew my 'misguided' inspirations from, and probably believes that much like many other people in India, I believed in atheism for the wrong reasons, which includes 'being cool'. According to her, I am just an ill-informed rebellious kid. Even yesterday, she wanted me to organize a pooja at home for welcoming her grand-daughter. In short, my mum lives in a state of delusion, where she completely ignores my atheism. My Dad couldn't comprehend the very concept of "Atheism" as he don't believe in the existence of any 'human being' who don't believe in the existence of 'The Supreme Lord' who had created and now maintains this world.
  



Brothers

Being the youngest one, my brother/s strongly believes that I am an immature infant or I'm just trying to be a rebel or cool. They think that my 'atheism' is just a  passing fad which will go away with my deeper indulgence in my family life, and hence don't give much heed to my views and arguments. They are not a hardcore ritualistic people, but at the same time they don't shy away from celebrating all Indian festivals and its associated rituals (with all its absurdities).  They will listen to my arguments, show their acceptance in my point of view and then end the discussion with - "All is Fine. But don't say 'no' to mom and dad for praying or for any rituals they ask you to perform. That will hurt them !! There is no harm folding your hands just to pay respect to your parents."

Well, all I could respond to that is -- "This is how it all starts !! " Plus, I have many more avenues to resort on in order to pay respect to my parents other than accompanying them in their delusion !!



Wife

My wife is an agnostic. Although I love to get into debates with my wife on the veracity of religions and the existence of God(s) and she agrees with me in most of my rational point of views, but she just don't want me to get indulge in any arguments with anyone on this topic (when this topic comes, even she considers discussions as arguments).

I have a sneaking suspicion that she would like to believe in some God to find out why on Earth she married me !!




Friends
 
As an atheist with differing opinions about many issues related belief in God, I occasionally get into discussions and arguments with my friends (if not them, who else?). Few take it pretty personally some times, and sometimes get annoyed that something they hold so preciously doesn't find a taker in me.

Some of my friends are pretty strong with fundamentals of religion and its intricacies (I have not even read Bhagwat-Geeta or any other scripture for the matter of fact).
I have had some arguments with these fundamentalists and my opinions were so blasphemous (but convincing) that it ended like this -

Some of my friends have another way of looking at life. They preach - Just dont think about anything. Just live your life. Just don't think of how this world operates. Just worry how your life operates.  Just enjoy your life. Don't try to draw connection between our ignorance and surrounding atrocities. Close your eyes for what's going on around you. If you question anything, I mean 'anything', you are just 'overthinking'. Period !!

Society

On the whole, I try not to deliberately flout practices that'll land me in trouble. Wearing sandals to temple, having loud conversations when somebody's praying, frowning when a colleague mentions that he's recently gone to a temple, having theist vs atheist debates at work ... you get the idea. I try not to be condescending of their beliefs, as delusionary as they may seem to me, and I notice that nobody goes out of their way to force their beliefs on me.
 
When it comes to other sections of society like uncles, aunts, family doctors etc., as of now nobody knows about it, but I know how their reaction would be like if they discover it somehow -
"Aaj kal ladko ka kuch nahi ho sakta hai ... 2-4 kitaab kya padh lete hai apne ko bhagwaan se uppar samjne lagte hai"

On the whole, the urban society that I live in lets me be, as long as I let them be.

However, you're constantly aware that people think you'd be finer if you were a theist, instead of being an arrogant, ill-informed atheist.


Atheist vs New Atheist

In western world, New Atheism is in rise. What is New Atheism ?
Its nothing but atheists coming out of their closet and openly accepting and declaring their new religion i.e. Atheism. They no more want to keep this fact with themselves and keep passing the falsehood about God and Religion to next generation. Some generation has to stop all these absurdities, then why not ours !!

Why I have chosen to be part of "New Atheism" and not "Atheism" ?
As I strongly believe, that existence of God is a man-made concept invented some thousands of years ago, and spread through word of mouth, generation after generation, and made this falsehood appear so real by making everybody around believe in it.

Hence I believe that this falsehood can be reversed by the same process in opposite direction, to convey the truth to next generation so that generation after generation the word is spread and maybe after few hundred generations, this falsehood is completely curbed and people again start living and stop relying.

I just want my generation in my family to be the last generation to grow up with "The God Delusion" !!

Why I am an atheist !!

It is a matter of debate whether my lack of belief in the existence of an Omnipresent, Omniscient (अंतर्यामी) God is due to my arrogant pride and vanity (दिखावा).  It never occurred to me that sometime in the future I would be involved in polemics (तर्कपूर्ण लेखन) of this kind. As a result of some discussions with my friends, (if my claim to friendship is not uncalled for) I have realized that after having known me for a little time only, some of them have reached a kind of hasty conclusion about me that my atheism is my foolishness and that it is the outcome of my vanity. 

I do not boast of being above these human follies (मूर्खता). I am, after all, a human being and nothing more. And no one can claim to be more than that. I have a weakness in my personality, for pride is one of the human traits that I do possess. I am known as a boaster among my friends. Some have always been complaining that I am bossy and I force others to accept my opinion. Yes, it is true to some extent. I do not deny this charge.

As far as the contemptible (घृणित), obsolete (अप्रचलित), rotten (सड़ा हुआ) values of our society are concerned, I am an extreme sceptic (अविश्वासी) and I am proud of my ideas, my thoughts. It cannot be called empty pride. Pride, or you may use the word, vanity, both are an exaggerated assessment of one’s personality. Is my atheism because of unnecessary pride, or have I ceased believing in God after thinking long and deep on the matter? I wish to put my ideas before you.

As far as the first question is concerned, I think I have made it clear that I did not turn atheist because of vanity, coz turning atheist out of pride or vanity hold no grounds. Only my readers, not I, can decide whether my arguments carry weight.  I am a realistic man. I want to overpower this tendency in me with the help of Reason. I am not always successful in such attempts. But it is man’s duty to try and make efforts.


Now we come to the second question: if it is not vanity, there ought to be some sound reason for rejection of age-old belief in God. I think that any man who has some reasoning power always tries to understand the life and people around him with the help of this faculty. 

Where concrete proofs are lacking, philosophy creeps in. Our ancestors had the leisure to solve the mysteries of the world, its past, its present and its future, its whys and its wherefores, but having been terribly short of direct proofs, every one of them tried to solve the problem in his own way. And to convince masses to accept what they believe, they took help of philosophy. Hence we find wide differences in the fundamentals of various religious creeds (धर्म मत/स्वीकृत मत).


Like, my mother has hardly any reasonable argument for any of my queries related to religion or faith. All our arguments ends with her rattled response - "Don't question God, else he'll be upset." Really? Is God so fragile (नाज़ुक) ?

Even the most learned person I've met fails to reason the ongoing beliefs. To state some-

1 - "We should wash our feet after urinating." 

Why? Why did our ancestors made any such rule. Lets look at the reasoning. Reason was - Due to improper sanitation facilities, legs used to get wet by the urine while urinating. With the invent of modern sanitation facilities, the reason no longer exists. But, the ritual persists. And we are following it without understanding the need.

2 - "Woman should not perform daily activities, can't enter the kitchen while in mensuration."

Now why such a rule was imposed? Is it because woman was considered dirty during this period? Not at all. Our ancestors were not that inhumane !! Actually, due to improper facilities for woman in ancient times, they were bound to go into the fields during mensuration to perform the needs of the period. Since it was so tiring period for woman, they were exhausted to come back to homes and repeat all these up and forth for 3-4 days. Hence, in the wake of their comfort, wise men of the rule-makers of those times, made a rule for woman to stay in the fields for those 3-4 days and no need to travel to and fro to their homes to avoid tiredness. In the process, they are automatically freed to daily household chores. Now, with the advent of proper home facilities for woman, the requirement to continue with the need of abstaining woman from household chores no longer exists. But, again, requirement vanishes, ritual haven't. Societies, without understanding the real need to such a ritual, interpreted it wrong and made it a rule and expect woman to abstain from certain activities during mensuration. 

3 - "We should touch the feet of our elders"

I asked this question to my mother, again, now since she had understood that I am a rebellious  (विद्रोही) kid and will not go away without some proper reasonable answer. After various unreasonable attempts, she answered something which I can't out-rightly discard. "This is to see if your body is flexible enough to bend and touch the ground." Hmm. Good one. But then why are we asked to touch the feet of tens/hundreds of elders in a marriage or a party. Doesn't touching one's feet ensures that we are still flexible. Reason Discarded.

She tried again. This time she brought science into the game. "Everything that is in motion, produces energy. Hence, we touch the feet to get some energy from others." Well tried. But, does that mean that in the wake of this argument, elder who is bedridden is disqualified from this 'self made' respect giving act?

'Respect' and 'Regard' are two different things, which is often used interchangeably. But they are, different. Regard is more of 'rule based' and Respect is more of  'feeling based'. We are bound to regard our elders, our seniors et al (और अन्य) to maintain a societal decorum (सामाजिक मर्यादा). But respect comes for choosen few, whom we get inspired from, whose success path we intend to follow,  who teaches us some valuable lessons of life, whose principles and behaviour we try to imitate, et al. They may be your parents, your teacher, a writer or anyone irrespective of his/her age.

When I say a person should be respected only based on what he achieves, what he says and what he does, that includes parents as well. But 'Parents', by default, qualifies the 'Respect' criteria, as per our  societal norms, which I disagree. Now, some of my emotional friends may condemn me for this thought, but I stand by my opinion. Even parents can fall under the either category of Regard or Respect.

And now coming back to the ritual of touching feet, I feel, 'touch the feet' whom we regard and 'talk at length'  to whom we respect. Coz, "talking an hour with a genius is worth more than reading book for a month."


4 - "Don't touch anything by foot, its considered dis-respectful"
Then why do we touch mother Earth by feet. Doesn't she deserve our respect?
Touching someone's feet is respectful, and touching someone by foot is dis-respectful -- What a classic hypocroisy (दोगलापन) !!




5. "In our Indian culture, its recommended to eat by hand"
Why? Does food taste better when eaten by hand? Maybe? Some may strongly put this point forward. But was it the reason it was recommended by our fore-fathers. No !! When we eat by hand, we are bound to wash our hands. And when we wash our hands, out of reflex, we tend to gargle our mouth. And gargling mouth after every meal is very much required to avoid tooth-decay. Whereas, if we eat by cutlery, we miss the opportunity to gargle as washing hands after meal is on discretion of the individual then. Make sense !! Right? But are we following this ritual due to the reason for which this recommendation was made?




All these, and many more questions were always there, but since our parents haven't asked their parents and elders about the reasoning of why to do what they are asked to do out of Acquiescence (बिना विरोध के स्वीकार करना), have left our queries unanswered and left us in darkness.


It is necessary for every person who stands for progress to criticize every tenet (सिद्धान्त) of old beliefs. Item by item he has to challenge the efficacy (प्रभाविता) of old faith. He has to analyze and understand all the details. If after rigorous reasoning, one is led to believe in any theory of philosophy, his faith is appreciated. His reasoning may be mistaken and even fallacious (भ्रम में डालने वाला). But there is chance that he will be corrected because Reason is the guiding principle of his life. But belief, I should say 'blind belief' is disastrous. It deprives a man of his understanding power and makes him reactionary.


If faith cannot withstand the onslaught of reason, it collapses. 


My friends, it is not my vanity; it is my mode of thinking that has made me an atheist. I don’t think that by strengthening my belief in God and by offering prayers to Him every day, I can bring improvement in my situation, nor can I further deteriorate it.

Spider, one of the most maverick (अपरंपरागत) species I consider, gives genuinty to my maverick thoughts. Why do spiders build their own web to walk even when there are man-made walls, racks and many more ladders that he can use to cross the bridge. Is it because he has this, undying spirit to look and feel different by discarding man-made walls? No, I guess. Its just that, by its make, its not comfortable to walk on any thing other than his own web. Its just compatibility issue !! Non-compatibility of my thoughts & my way of life with the prevalent ways and norms of society is my compatibility issue.


Pray, don’t say it is His law. If He is bound by any law, He is not Omnipotent (सर्व शक्ति मान).

Let us see how steadfast (कट्टर) I am. One of my friends asked me to pray. When informed of my atheism, he said, “When your last days come, you will begin to believe.” I said, “No, dear sir, Never shall it happen. I consider it to be an act of degradation and demoralisation. For such petty selfish motives, I shall never pray.” Reader and friends, is it vanity? If it is, I stand for it.

The Shekhar

                                                                                                                                                
-- inspired by the writings of Bhagat Singh (an atheist), APJ Abdul Kalam (an atheist),  Marx (an atheist),  Lenin (an atheist) on similar topic !!

"Freedom to choose" - BANNED !!

Consider you go to a shopping mall and go to the soap section and you find soaps from only 'one' brand on sale. You have no other option to choose from because 'some people' think that since you live in India, this is the only soap you should be using. All other brands will make your skin peel. So they have banned all other soaps. Can you live with it ?? Is that justified that someone else should decide what option you should choose - by banning all other options ??

Same goes with entertainment. We all were once fans of SRK for whatever he used to do onscreen. Then few audiences changed their taste of entertainment and couldn't derive the same pleasure from the open arms of SRK as earlier and started finding pleasure in the likes of Irrfan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui.


Now, all of these artists can co-exist and keep producing their stuff,  and serve their respective audiences. This is how audiences as a whole - gets diversification in the offerings to fulfill their entertainment needs.


Now, SRK for movies (in India) is what Kapil Sharma is for stand-up comedy (in India) and what Chetan Bhagat is for books (in India). They have their own audiences to serve. And, they are doing it perfectly.

Now imagine, its imposed on your face that every friday only SRK's movie will be released and book-stalls willl only sell Chetan Bhagat's book and you are bound to laugh only on Kapil Sharma's jokes.  All other artists are banned because you live in India and you are not allowed to get exposed to any other stuff. Entertain yourself with what these 3 gentlemen are serving to you. 

Why?

Because all other artists are not following traditional guidelines, producing taboo stuff and by watching them you will learn the cuss words, which we assume you are not at all exposed to till now, and you never use them in your day-to-day life. So, every other stuff - "Banned" !!

Now, majority of the population will not be bothered by this ban as they were anyways busy watching "Comedy nights with Kapil Sharma" and are pretty much getting all that they want from a comedy show.

But what about the rights of others who want options in entertainment. What about the rights of the artists who want to innovate and provide unconventional stuff by pushing the envelope in any field ?

When you set a boundary for the entire society to live in a certain limits with pre-defined options, you are actually hampering the growth of the society overall. As well as you are killing an innovative idea in the mind of the artist itself fearing what would be its consequences if he pens it down. He would be banned ! He would be FIR'd ! What more ? He would be killed ? Hail Democracy !!

It should be audience's discretion to watch or not-to-watch certain content based on their known allergies. Even if its on TV, you have an option to change the channel if you don't like it. Forget about Internet where it requires an instrument, an internet connection and most importantly a will to click on a certain stuff. Don't click if you don't wanna watch it. Don't have an internet connection if you are okay with television laid stuff. Nobody is pushing you for anything.

Its like you go to a restaurant and gets pissed off by them serving fish to the customers just because you are a vegetarian. On top of that, you force the restaurant owner to stop serving the fish to others as well because you are allergic to fishes. Wow !! Man, you have option to step out of the restaurant and eat somewhere where it suits your needs and likes. Its as simple as that !!

Finally, I think the people who are against the AIB video and worked so hard to pull it down are no better than the terrorists who attacked Charlie Hebdo. Freedom of speech is fundamentally violated in both the cases. 

#NoCountryForFunnyMen
#AIBKnockout

Resolution 2010 : 6 Pack Abs

“When you want something very genuinely, the whole world conspires for you to achieve it.” When I first heared this proverb, I didn’t really understood the context of it.
Off Lately, I realized and inculcated the customized version of it, which says “ When u want something very genuinely, you meet those people who helps you in the conspiracy to achieve it.”
I too am an emboldened victim of one such conspiracy where I wanted something very badly and I met someone who showed the right way to achieve the same.
Fitness (Six Pack abs, to be very specific) was what I was craving for very badly.
People like me (Marwaris), who have malicious sweet tooth - in their genes, huge bellies - their pride, Samosa – their National Food, aspiring for Six Pack Abs is like swimming against the tide and to achieve Greatness.
But when the going gets tough, the Tough get going. And to achieve Greatness, we must dream, as well as Act.
When acted, I realized that - Earnestness for Target, Energy to achieve it and Perseverance to continue till I get it, I possess all these mantras for success. But the “Right way” to achieve it was one important ingredient that was missing and holding me to achieve the target.
It was March 2009 when I went to London for few months.
In terms of Fitness, i have always found two categories of men in this world. One, who buy new trousers with the increase in their waistline. Another, who inspite of changing their trouser, put effort to keep their waistline intact and fit into their old trousers forever.
Prafulla Rawal (a.k.a. Diva’s Dad), whom i met in London and got highly inspired by his thoughts (about everything, not just fitness) and his inquisitiveness for information, is the one who belongs to the latter group, along with me.
He is the one who helped me into the conspiracy of Fitness. He introduced me to the real and huge world of Fitness. He gave me some very vital lessons on fitness and many more avenues of life.
Krishna Bhagavatula, another burly personality i admire, whom i met in Bangalore, taught me some very vital lessons of exercising.
If you perform an exercise in an incorrect posture, you might grow and develop muscle, but that will be very prone to injury.
Educational Institution is the place where you "Go and Learn". Whereas, Fitness Gym is the place where you should "Learn and Go".

My Resolution for Year 2010 was to attain 6 Pack Abs.
Albeit, i have not achieved the target in entirety, but i am glad, i got the feel of that rugged abs, which enthused me to attain that insanity.






The intent of this post is to pay tribute to my two mentors - Prafulla and Krishna, without education and guidance of whom i would not had been able to attain - not the 6 pack abs, but the right path to the insanity, which i am determined to follow religiously in the coming years, because Fitness is not something which we achieve, its something which we live with forever.

To end up the story, let me resolute for the New Year 2011.

6 Pack abs is the fad of the past. I now aspire for 8 pack abs in 2011.

Resolution 2011 - 8 Pack Abs.

----The Shekhar
31st Dec 2010