9 Oct 2013

Earth calling Jupiter

For success, Dalits need to break free from Jupiter, not Earth. However in Jupiter even with that velocity the person will be dead. Unless he is in a space craft. Congress is in talks with ISRO.

8 Oct 2013

Where have all the drunkards gone ?

According to Gurgaon police, if earlier, one in five persons were found to be drunk driving now this has come down to one in 60. The constables are seeking a transfer.

7 Sept 2013

Defending God in the times of god men

Valson Thampu and Swami Agnivesh write in TOIThe antidote to blind faith is true faith. God and God alone can be the centre of true faith. This is an piece written at a time when more god men are appearing to be less than what they seemed. One cannot but question the intention of the article when two members of organized religion come together to attack god men in the name of God.

They begin with a quote from Gandhiji which I have not come across :

If i had a guru, and i am looking for one, i should surrender myself body and soul to him. But in this age of unbelief a true guru is hard to find. A substitute will be worse than useless, often positively harmful. I must therefore warn all against accepting imperfect ones as gurus...Has a man ever learnt swimming by tying a stone to his neck?

Any article which quotes Gandhiji assumes that the reader will agree with what follows. Let us examine the quotation itself since that form the spine of their argument. 

Full disclosure at this point. I am an atheist and that has served me well in this life. My attitude towards God is : 

Only God knows if He/She exists 

If there is God He/She must be really embarrassed with his last Creation

So the first line of the Gandhiji quote does not really work for me. I am not looking for a guru. No surrender of body and soul. God men are not an issue for me. They are frauds and liars and should be arrested the day they declare themselves as above other people, rape devotees or do not pay taxes for ten years.

The next line in the quotation is about the age of unbelief. This must have been said 80 years ago. If this 'age of unbelief' is continuing, it may be because people are disillusioned with religion. But in reality this is the age of belief. Large numbers profess or celebrate their beliefs today. Processions have got larger and festivals more garish. Jaagarans and temples compete to pull in more devotees. The writers are unable to explain this surge of public display of belief in the age of unbelief. 

Are they saying your belief is a blind belief. And their belief is true faith. What is the difference between blind belief and true faith ? Who is to decide what better - worshipping a tree, idol, god man, nature, yourself or nothing at all?

A substitute will be worse than useless, often positively harmful..

I agree. And everything I have come across in the name of organized religion has proved to be  harmful too.

I must therefore warn all against accepting imperfect ones as gurus..

Agreed. Most of us would admit we are imperfect. Even the Buddha. So no one can be my guru.

Has a man ever learnt swimming by tying a stone to his neck?

Agreed. It is impossible to do that. But this not a case of god men versus God. This is a case of how religion has misled people for centuries and in frustration people have turned to god men. The writers admit that. What they do not admit is that god men are just modern day echoes of what the religious men spoke two centuries ago.

Religion has failed us. The writers are trying to hide behind god men to defend their God.

4 Sept 2013

The treacherous climb

Casualty No. 34985236 on the climb to Prime Ministership.