Oh my God!!!

Firstly, about my view on religion.

I'm not sure of what other people go through when they re-think religion after their teens, but I have been on both sides of the spectrum. During my early teens, I was against all forms of organised religion. Vehemently. However, as I've grown older, in the last few years I've noticed that not only have I developed a tolerance for other people's beliefs, but I've become curious about them as well.

Mostly, I find people look to religion to find meaning for their lives. I can never understand that. To me, my life has a meaning, and always will. Disaffection, and dissatisfaction are all part of life, though not continuously. So I have not (yet) turned to religion (or anything else to do with God) in an effort to escape some malady, or find something higher.

I see the perpectives of both orthodox believers and outspoken atheists, and find their arguments valid in themselves. And so too for the agnostics. However, I do not find that my thoughts on God and his plans for us all fall into any of these finely demarcated zones.

I follow what you might call a 'personal religion'. All acts are determined by my conscience. For I believe enough in my morality and ethics that I am convinced that any decision of right or wrong, that I take in line with my innnermost voice, will not be the wrong one, ever. It may not be the perfect one, but it will be the one that shall allow the most peace for my soul.

My conscience is not absolute, and to think so would be fallacious. And so, I keep learning from the world around me. When I read the biography of Swami Vivekananda, I found a good many things that so moved me, that I adopted them into my very way of thinking. (And that is pretty hard, I assure you. Ask anyone who tries to quit smoking how difficult it is to change one's nature, even if you try actively).

My father is a member of the ISKON, and at an age of 13, I read an article in one of their magazines (Back to Godhead) that struck me as phenomenal. And ever since I have given a lot of importance to my conscience.

I read the Gospels according to Luke and Mathew, and parts of the Bible (especially the Book of Revelations), and found a few things to change my thinking.

I read parts of the Qu'uran, and there were a few verses, that moved me intensely.

I read an abridged translation of the Torah, and found it very similar to our Rigveda.

The Samveda and the Yajurveda, the Gita, the Ramayan, and the works of Swami Vivekanada are some of the works of Hindu dharma and thought that I've read in the last 4 years or so.

The main point of listing out all these, is that I do not hold any of them to be sacred. The combination of their contributions to my way of thinking, is why I value them so much, and hold that all of the above are really pieces of wonder (not as in being very well written, but as in their power to move and change different types of people).

That is my present view on religion.

As for rituals, I do not practise any, unless I know the reason behind each one. Those that are purely symbolic, I skip as well, for I have no use of ornamental abstractions of concepts. Those with significance to a particular thought system i value and follow conscientiously.

For example, while i do not follow most (superstitional) prejudices about not getting a haircut on tuesday or buying new things on a saturday, I do follow pujas and havans rigourously, sticking to the exact procedure, as I understand it, not as someone tries to force on me.

This is about all I have to say for now on this subject. The next time, I'll probably get to talking about my views on the Vedic religion and all that has corrupted it in modern times.

On intangibiliy

If everything is absolute, it ought to have become apparent to atleast a few of us by now, no? We humans have been on this planet for a long, long time, and yet this is one of the most fundamental question before us all today.

All conceptions of 'destiny' and 'fate' stem primarily from the ideal of a religion in our lives. How many have come up with the idea of determinism without the help of atleast one religious influence.

If everything is pre-determined, why exist? There has to be a reason it is pre-determined. Nature has a way of simplifying processes. If the state of the universe were to only go from point A to point B, maybe that would be a natural transition, or simultaneous. Why didn't we go from the Big Bang to the Big Crunch directly( or cold whimper, or heat death, whichever theory you prefer.)

Personally, the pulsating theory of the universe is fascinating, and perhaps enticing to the human psyche, for it doesn't make you face up with finalities. We are not geared up to handle those very well. That is why religion is the biggest source of solace to us whenever there is a great tragedy in our lives.

I'm not saying that Religion is the Opiate of the Masses, but then I'm not saying its not. It could be. And it just could be, that it is, in actuality, in the right, over science, and at the same time, serves its task of being the opiate....

We will never be able to quantify God, or fate, or destiny. For those are pure abstract concepts that we have dreamt up. If there is God, He sure as hell doesn't have to conform to our concept of Him, right? And all religious philosophy is formed by people, not divinity. So, to believe that what some council of priests decided centuries back is holy writ, would be an injustice to religion itself, not just stupid.

On tangibility

If change is the only absolute, then it is an absolute, and thus negating the hypothesis that there are no absolutes. It is a verbal paradox.

Things change over time, as do our perceptions of them. So, a question that may be asked is, Do we feel that nothing is constant, only because our perceptions of the world are ever-changing, owing to our mental development?

Maybe, things are essentially absolute, all that changes is our view of these absolutes. Like a shadow, the length and breadth of what we see, changes with time, the object itself remaining absolute.

Our emotional state often plays a major role in what we see as 'good' or 'bad'. Our conscience is often subject to our feelings. And this is not hypocrisy, but merely human nature.

This is why being unbiased towards all is so very dificult.

Another question. If so many of us believe that there are no absolutes, why is it so hard for us to accept that what is written in our historical epics such as the Mahabharata and the Ramayana is actually true?

Maybe the things we find incredulous were not so extra-ordinary then. And since our perceptions often define what we see as 'real' and 'possible', maybe there really was a "Pushpa-wahan".

Also, maybe Jesus really did walk on water. Maybe Moses did part the Red Sea. Maybe Adam and Eve really were fortunate enough to have lived in the Garden of Eden. And maybe the Devil really is real.

But if we do not believe in these things, then they are not real to us. Then if we see David Blaine rising up in the air, we will think of hidden wires and high power magnets. But to the man who believes, the thousands of statues of Shri Ganesh drinking milk was real.

I saw that, and I was flabbergasted. I suppose because I didn't have my mind made up regarding God (and still don't), I didn't see it as a miracle. And yet since I was not (and continue not to be) an atheist, I did not automatically dismiss it as skuldeggery.

So I am still undecided about it. Things like these make you wonder. Just a thought.

India and Foreign Policy

Once, I published a little something somewhere, in response to an allegation that India was being trapped in 'it's foreign policy' (sic). Having views to the contrary at the time, I decided to rebutt with this:

I don't think India is being trapped into anything. We're not in a position to be bullied into towing anyone's line. India is one of the few nations in the world that managed to stay neutral during the Cold War, even starting the NAM for countries not wanting to be embroiled in a power-bloc race.

India is also one of the few countries that developed nuclear weapons, and after the sanctions imposed by the world's biggest economies following the Pokhran Tests, still managed to survive economically very well.

Not only that, we have survived most economic disasters in the last fifty years. This comes from an innate sense of self-sufficiency. How many of your chests swell with pride when you hear that Space program is making progress, or that our missiles have been tested successfully? HAL has come out with one of the best high-alt helis recently (saw it yesterday on the news) and a adv Jet Trainer as well.

All this, and more, inspite of vested interests (from many sources) trying to keep us to stick to a more moderate pace, if not completely stagnant.

Let us also not forget that our GDP is competing with that of China's. To really see the enormity of the fact, try comparing labour organization, industrial regulation, and manufacturing subsidies from both countries.

We both got independent at around the same time. Us in '47, them in '49 (if I remember correctly). They subsequently went under communism and dictatorship. We have followed democracy for most of our history (leaving aside the Emergency). There were (and still are) many who say that India would have better realised Her potential if Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose had had his way and imposed a firmer government on the country.

That could be, but remember this. Inspite of all the party-feuding, all the dissensions, all the CIA moles, all the terrorists, all the Naxals, all the infighting, all the Harshad Mehtas, all the Kargils, all the Tsunamis, all the Punjab Militancies, all the Manipurs, all the Ayodhyas, all the Mandal Commisions, all the Reservation, all the conflicts with our neighbors, all the LTTE debacles, all the efforts diverted towards peacekeeping missions throughout the world, all the Mumbai Blasts, all the Delhi Blasts, all the almost daily Kashmir Blasts, all the pain and all the suffering, we have emerged as one of the foremost countries of the world today.


India is a country one can no longer afford to ignore.

From being a vassal state under the Mughals, from being one of the colonies of the British, exploited mercilessly with no regard for the Indian future, we have forged ourselves an Indian future. One that caused evey one of us to wake up some day, look at the flag hanging from a public building somewhere, and be proud to belong here.

So, no, I do not believe that India is being trapped in anything of a foreign policy mesh.

If all of you have followed the WTO situation as closely as I have, you will see that India is not ready to give into the US's demand for allowing US agri products (highly subsidized) into the Indian Market freely. This is simply economic suicide.

And yet, one coud argue that India should have given in, seeing as how important the N-Deal is. The US might take off in a huff, and not go through on the N-deal, (which it may not even now; declarations from the Prez are meaningless, if not ratified by the Congress, unless in a state of War).

So, does that mean that India is stupid to not give in to the WTO agenda? Of course not. We re not being bullied, because we are not letting anyone bully us. Over Nuclear Reactors or anything else.


I would write more on the so-called landmark N-Deal, but this is hardly the place. Also, it is a long post as it is.

Never forget, People can bully you only if you let them.

A happy family to call....

Ah sun, the glorius sun,
The father of us all.
The mother earth, the human son,
A happy family to call.

But when the child grows up he,
Shall need playthings with which to spoil.
The soil of his mother's apron,
To squeeze her blood into black oil.

And use the rock oil to make,
All things green and blue into brown.
Erode the loving lines of his mother's face,
Yet the smile changes not to a frown.

He shall carry forth in his madness,
And man shall delude himslef high.
Seeking to escape this scene of his crimes,
Yet the years shall rush on by.

Finding no ship to leave this globe,
He shall late realise his folly.
And the Father will weep onto a bare, open grave,
No oak, no pine, no wreath, no holly...

The Insensitive Man (From bed to verse)

Am going to sleep. While cleaning off the bed before i could manage to find enough space to fit my rather (modestly) largish frame in, I found this:


The Insensitive Man
_____________________________________

He didn't cry the day she left,
Or on that moonless night.
But the next morning seeing the sun,
He screamed with all his might.

He never ever saw her again,
Though he lived a good many years.
Yet every morning he remembered,
And dawn brought him only tears.

He'd loved her more than he thought,
Anyone could love in life.
But she left the day he'd sought
To ask her to be his wife.

The morning rays of the sun,
That give warmth to all things.
Yet when her warmth was gone,
All warmth was cold stings.

His bruised and battered heart,
Would nor heal nor give in.
And the man lived on though the world
Was all torture to live in.

Verse vs. worse

I read somewhere that poetry is often uplifting, pulling you out of the blues on occasion, not just ennui. I write poetry, though just to express myself - to myself. None of it is written to be read by others. It is not meant that way, that is.

However, I have decided to put up some over here. A friend of mine remarked (rather caustically, I thought at the time) that I hadn't put up anything new on my blog for a while. And I realised that it had been a while. So here is something I wrote, for you to read, Vg. You probably won't like it, but how is that any of my concern? (:-)

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Ballad of the soldier's Mother
(Or Courage)


Come hither, grandson of mine,
A story I must tell.
Of you mother when you were only two,
I shall tell you all that befell.

In those days, those heady days,
The world was drunk on power.
And to increase this might a big war grew,
Closer and closer by the hour.

Your ma was a cookery maid,
As I never told you before.
But all who know of that fateful day,
Know she was as a woman much more.

The lord and master of the house,
You'll find his namein the history books.
He was the only man sane,
Who saved this nation from the crooks.

Yet a week before he made that famous speech,
A great tragedy had occurred.
A heinious crime, a killing attempted,
Of which naught was ever heard.

A killer sneaked in from a window,
Let open to cool the stifling heat.
Your mother saw him 'n he grabbed her neck,
But she uttered not a bleat.

She was a strong-willed thing if not strong,
In the ways the killer was instead.
And though then she knew that she would die,
To save the lord, no tear was shed.

They scampered up to the study,
Her mouth closed by his hand.
And even with the barrel in her ribs,
Her eyes shone like a fiery brand.

And on the very brink of the shooting,
She bit his hand and gouged his eyes.
But though it was sudden, the killer was tough,
And a shot was hear amongst his cries.

The shock threw her onto the floor,
And her vitals began to bleed.
The killer turned to search his victim,
And finish his evil deed.

The woman though bleeding couldn't
let her life be given in vain.
She clutched the villain's feet 'n pulled
Down inspite of the deathly pain.

The black-clothed black-hearted man stumbled,
He was taken completely by surprise.
And by now the guards had come and lit,
The room as bright as sunrise.

The villain the caught and bound and tied,
But for her they could do naught.
Every one of those stoic hearts bled,
Till a physicial was brought.

The old gentleman of medicine,
He did his medicine-ly things.
But slowly a ghastly pallor spread,
The kind only arriving death brings.

She tried to push the Doctor away,
And asked to speak to the master.
And he knelt down by her side,
As she spoke all hearts beat faster.

"My lord, oh my saintly sir,
They sent this man to kill thee.
But more than you or me the sought,
To kill your peaceful philosophy."

"Do not let them succeed my lord,
Even to victors war brings misery.
Save this land, these humble simple people,
Guide them to happiness and prosperity."

"Do not cease in your efforts, you stalwart,
Thought tought times try to make you bow.
Do not forget that a son was orphaned,
Just as I go to leave you now..."

"The darkness is almost complete,
Send for a priest or preacher.
Or if none be found nearby,
Send for a pure-hearted creature...."

But those were her last words,
The priest arrived a minute too late.
Yet I believe a million times blessed,
She left for heaven that fateful date.

That statue you pass on Mother's Square everyday,
Is of hers, do you now guess.
It wasn't that lord, nor fate,
She alone got us out of that mess.

So tomorrow when you go to volunteer,
In the Army to try to be a man.
Remember that strength lies not in muscles,
Nor is endurance signaled by a deep tan.

Your ma, bless her soul, had neither of these,
But she was the stongest 'un I've even known.
Go, seek out your own destiny but never,
Forget the strength your blood has shown.