The Atheist - Rejected by Heaven & Hell

Last week was quite painful for me. My best friend died a slow death which was painful to bear. I knew my friend for the past 3years, used to be always by my side wherever I went, from the bakery next door till the long trips I have been. My friend managed to make me smile & helped me get some sleep during all those long journeys. My friend, my T430 Transcend mp3 player. Ok, jokes aside, come to think of it my mp3 player was really like a friend to me. I have read that these days with the invent of interactive computer systems, we have started considering electronic gadgets to living entities. So yes, I did feel a sense of pain when my mp3 player's sound output started faltering. Maybe I didn't shed a tear, but I still didn't feel like throwing it away even after I got a replacement.

While talking about replacing electronic gadgets, it is common for many of us to replace our laptops, mobile phones quite frequently these days. Though we love & adore our gadgets during their term of use & safeguard them, we do not often give much time to think while replacing them with another. It makes me think, will we also be replaced or forgotten by the ones around us. Even more scarier, do we have the same fate as a broken mp3 player or mobile phone. Lets accept it, the universal law applies for everyone & everything. If born one day, you definitely have to die one day as well. But do we also just "switch off" or slowly rumble on & die like one of our machines.

Now, the theists have their different versions of "paths" after death. Despite the religious differences all these paths can be summed up as either "Heaven" or "Hell". Like they say in most SMS jokes, the doors to either is guarded by somebody by the name of St Peter who has a log of your deeds while on planet earth. Now, I don't want to go into the details & point out the various absurdness they have, as I always do. To tell about "Heaven" & "Hell" there are quite a lot. For some its a place where angels float around among the clouds, usually your grandparents are there (I never understood why !!) , they have good food & everybody is dressed in white. For some others Heaven has virgins (not sure male or female) inhabitants for company. Hell is usually where the infidels, the cruel, the lawyers & "evil-doers" (borrowing the word from Jr Bush) are punished to go. The place is said to be extremely hot, with boiling cauldrons & you have Mr Devil staying there as well, who will whip you for no apparent reason.

But what happens to the atheist? I know for sure that the theist's heaven nor hell would let us in. So without heaven or hell, our lives (& path) would end like turning off a switch. "Puff" & gone? Gone in 1 second? Is that it? Though this does scare me, I am able to see the good side to it as well. We atheists needn't worry about our deeds during our mortal life. We do not have a hell & you can't possibly push us into a molten cauldron once we die. I can only pity for the poor theists. We can lie, cheat, break rules & we just have to go "puff" when our time is up. Its nice, though it makes me feel no different from a machine. Both machines & human go through their repair cycle whenever the time is near & then it reaches a point repair cant help much. That's when we are given up on.
While writing this, it is being more clear to me on the million possibilities just opened up ahead of me. When you are free from the consequences of your actions, the concept of freedom & thoughts become clearer to you. You can do whatever you want, not fearing about the eyes in the sky. You do not have to do the "right thing" or as per "god's will" but what you feel is right. After all you are Heaven's & Hell's reject.

Note: The author does not advocate "lying, cheating or breaking rules". Consequences of your actions while still alive is very much a reality.

to all those animal welfare activists

Decided to write this piece after a discussion with a colleague over lunch. My colleague is a vegan & cannot stand the thought of a non-vegetarian dish. Today, he was giving me the reasoning behind his decision to not consume meat. According to him ( & many others, I am sure) it is not "right" to kill an animal & consume its flesh. Just because they cannot respond back, doesn't mean we have right to kill & eat them. Well, he was almost echoing the thoughts of the animal right activists who are presently protesting against killing of animals for consumption. Earlier these protests were mainly for cruelty towards animals & their killing for recreation/product manufacture. But as per the newspaper, new rounds of protests are against consumption as well.

Surprisingly most of these protests are against the killing of cows. There has been no mention about killing of chicken, duck, pig or even fishing. Evidently our nation's dear animal activists do not care about the pigs, goats & chicken, though they are being butchered & consumed in much larger numbers. In spite of cows being butchered in very less numbers for food in the country, focus is primarily on them. Makes me think, is there a hidden religious agenda behind this "animal welfare". I always knew that people are distinguished always on basis of their religion, caste, creed color. But did they start a caste system in animals as well? Interesting.

And an even interesting was an article which I read in the newspaper yesterday morning. I had to do some googling to get a web article of the same. I wanted to get the attention of our dear animal welfare activists on this particular piece of news. It seems thousands of rams & bulls were sacrificed in a temple in Kushtagi, a village 6hours away from Bangalore - the silicon valley of India. Villagers say that children were made to stay indoors, so that they dont see the gory scene as rivers of blood flowed through the temple grounds. While I read through the article, I wonder "where were the animal activists doing on that Sunday morning?". This was not a surprise party which the villagers decided to throw, but a practice which have been followed for years. But then, like I mentioned before, our activists are only worried about the cows & not surprisingly no cow was harmed in the sacrifice !

It doesn't require a lot of intellect to understand the "animal welfare" in the country is driven more by religious sentiments rather than actual love for the animal. Killing for the sake of consumption/nutrition is being banned while the law looks the other way when mass sacrifices are being made. With the large number of activists fueled by religious sentiments to their godly animals, the future of tasty food looks bleak for the minority non-vegetarians. For the time being I will have to survive on chicken in a land where, Lion is not the King, the Cow is !

an Athiest at the God's Gate

"I pity the fool" - Mr T's famous quote from Rocky III, came to my mind several times in the past few weeks. I had made a trip to the northern half of the country in the previous weeks & my journey included places of worship of different faiths. Few of them, were considered the most important pilgrimage points for different faiths. The journey was quite different for me, not only because of the new places I was seeing, but also because I had kept away from all religious places for the past 3 & half years. So it was a good experience, talking to different kinds of people, watching people from different places & different belief system. I got to meet the believers who had an extremist attachment to their belief system & also the ones who kept their beliefs as a private thing. So when I met these people, read and watched millions of others on TV & other medium, there has been only one feeling which comes into me. Its not anger, its not rage, its not happiness nor joy, but its pity. Pity for your ignorance. Pity that you are unable to see the bigger picture. Pity that you are being manipulated so easily with something which does not even exist.

Why pity? Well, I shall explain with the help of a story I recently heard through a friend. My friend belongs to a far off village where they have very limited access to electricity, newspapers, media & most things which we take for granted. The place where they live a simple life. But every time when election approaches, the regional political parties come up banners, posters to spread the word of the party. In most of these posters it was a common practice to put the pictures of the important leaders, which included few of them who had died in the late 80's. But for the people of the village, these posters were the only way to see all their leaders & to this day they believe that all of them are still alive. As much as 50% of the village's population, majority of whom are uneducated believe that their Prime Minister (who was killed in early 80's) is still alive & competing for elections. Feel like laughing at their ignorance? Village idiots, right? Hold on, what would you do if I tell you that there is a huge number of people who believe & trust a person whom they haven't even seen. In fact they haven't even seen his pictures, only sketches of the person. Yet they believe this person has the solution to all their problems & would go to any lengths to please him. None of these people have never spoken or heard this person, but have only "felt" his person. Yeah, you know where I am going with this. Blind faith & it only deserves pity.

But to be honest, I wish there was a God. No, I haven't turned into a believer, but for the sake of the millions of people who live around me. I wish there was a God so that all the prayers will not go for waste. I wish there was a God, so that he could acknowledge the billions people spend on making places of worship rather than trying to wipe off poverty or hunger. I wish there was a God who could forgive all those who killed & burned down property in the name of the almighty. I wish there was a God who could show heaven to all those martyrs who blow themselves up to reach Elysium. I wish there was a God who took note of the sacrifices & offerings made to him which amount to trillions. But more than everything I wish there was a God, for all the ones I pity, because fictitious though you may be, you are a source & inspiration to them. For the ones who do not believe in themselves, you are the only one they could trust. When everything around goes down in flames, you are the one they believe has a plan & its all well taken care of.

So while returning from the God's gate, this was the silent wish I had. I knew I cannot change the beliefs of the people around me, nor enlighten them with the truth. I controlled the urge to tell them that all those phenomena which you had named as God is now detailed in the science textbooks of school kids as facts. But I understood that knowing nothing & being ignorant can be more comforting at times. After all everybody has the right to follow his own faith.

Living a dream

Its been a while since I blogged & thought of putting down about what I had been up to. I got some serious feedback about my last write from a friend & this time I hope to bore you (if anybody is reading). Its almost the end of the year & looking back it feels I have achieved all the things I had set out to achieve. Almost. In December of last year, I penned down 4 resolutions which I planned on abiding in the coming year. Now a year back I had followed 3 of the 4 resolutions religiously. The one I didn't stick to, was no longer relevant, so lets strike that out.

So as per my resolution to travel, I set out to the Great North Indian trip. Now I dont want to write down all the small intricate details about the trip and bore anyone (the earlier feedback), so I will just stick to the highlights. The trip was mainly to attend a friend's brother's marriage, but that was after all just an excuse to visit the northern half of the majestic country. The trip lasted 11days & covered 6 States & 1 Union Territory. It started from the Delhi Airport --> Uttar Pradesh <--> Uttarakhand <--> Chandigarh <--> Punjab <--> Himachal Pradesh <--> Haryana--> Delhi. It was one of the most amazing journeys I have ever went. But there were few which stood out & it would be injustice not to mention them.

The North Indian marriage should be the one which generated the maximum amount of curiosity. Attended a marriage which started in night & went on till the early hours in morning. The lights, the color, the energy was electrifying. Got an opportunity to dance as part of the "Baarath" or the groom's procession till the wedding hall. The groom arrived at the wedding hall in the traditional horse driven chariot. The menu for dinner was limitless, starting from the Dosa of the south to well made Parrattas of the North. The ceremonies which I was not very fond off did go on for long & after a really tiring day, I dozed off in the wedding hall :)

The second place worth mentioning was Amritsar. The Golden Temple is a symbol of shear beauty. Though we had to go through an overnight train journey in chilling weather, the view of the Golden Temple, made the journey worth it. Even at 10 in the morning, the area was covered with mist but the air had a spiritual feel to it. Later in the evening had an opportunity to catch the parade at the Waga border. For all those people who are not huge patriots, the patriotism at the Waga is infectious. I never knew that I could scream out slogans like "Vande Matharam" & "Jai Hind" so loudly. The spirit & energy of the soldiers on both sides was amazing to watch.

I would call myself a non-believer, but which I was there I didn't mind checking out Haridwar & Hrishikesh, 2 of the important places of Hindu pilgrimage. Set at the banks of the so-called "holy" river Ganges, the place could easily get your liking. Though I was traveling only at the beginning of the winter, the water was still freezing cold. I could only envy the adventurous once who took a dip in the river which I had to limit myself to just washing my feet. The "Aarthi" performed in the evening at the banks of the river, was one spectacle which would remain in my mind for years to come. The students of the traditional school all dressed in yellow & red recited the prayers in such unison to an audience of close to 100. Even I was motivated to shut my camera & sit down to listen to them.

Last but certainly not the least was the visit to Delhi, the capital city of India. Everything about the place was a treat to my eyes. From the modern Metro transport, the Parliament house, the India Gate & the Qutab Minar. I can almost still taste the "Chilly Stuffed Paratta" & "Rabri Paratta" which we had in the "Paratta Wale Galli" in Chandi Chowk. Since we were running short of time, we had hurry through Delhi to see all the places, but every minute spend was worth it. Everything about Delhi is simply beautiful & I mean everything.

Those were only the highlights of the 11 day North Indian trip, but there was endless number of memories from the journey. The glimpses of the trip still comes to my mind, the cycle rickshaw rides, the delicious "alloo tikki", the early 5pm sunsets, the view of the Himalayas, the softest Paneer, beautiful faces in Delhi, the gardens of Panjore, the Gun Hill at Mussorie. So finally went the year closes I feel I have so many new places & met lot many people in this year than all my years combined.

Chasing a rainbow

I had never planned on writing a travelogue, but after the last trip I think owe the place one. At the beginning of the year, I had made 5 resolution, one of them was Traveling. After almost 10months into the year, I can safely say that I can definitely strike off one of the resolutions as complete. Managed to visit most of the cities in the southern part of the country. Planning to cover the northern half in the remaining 2months. So why write a travelogue now? Well, like I said before firstly I owe it to the place, secondly I wanted to help out anybody who is planning a trip there. So, here we go..

The idea for the trip came, when I saw the pictures of a trip my colleague went to. The instant I saw it, I knew I have to check it out. The pictures looked amazing & it turned out that the place wasn't that far out : 8hours. So planning for the "Shimoga - Sagara - Jog Falls Trip" began. Now, Jog Falls is a part of Sagara but I kind off put it separately because the place deserves its due importance. With the power of Google & Wikipedia we made a list of places to cover. It wasn't much difficult to get a list thanks to hundreds of websites which pulled up in Google's search list. All boasted about the different scenic beauties in & around Shimoga, the sanctuaries, the dam & the rivers. Made a 2page long list for the 2days, took some cash, tickets & set off.

We were supposed to go to Sagara for a day, visit four places including Jog Falls, stay in Sagara for the night. Next day travel down to Shimoga, visit 2 wildlife sanctuaries & a sunset view atop Agumbe. Five of us reached Sagara 7 in the morning. The place seemed smaller than expected, little bit bigger than a village but smaller than a town. We hadn't booked accommodation so had to search for a place. After some bit of walking around we realized that the place has only 2 lodges & decided to find the nearest one. I can safely say that my room at home was much neater & less messy than the room we got in our lodge in Sagara. I wouldn't have been surprised if I found a dead animal in the room, really !! But, we didn't want to make any judgments yet about the place, so freshened up & set out to cover the places.

First up, we decided to go to "Sikhandooru". The place is an island which could be reached only by a ferry. We rented a van for the day and fixed the price at 1000. A l0km long path which was more potholes than road took us to the ferry. The ferry was one of the most beautiful that I had ever been to. Small islands dotted the entire lake/river ( I really don't know). Though the ride took an hour, including the long wait for the ferry, I would say that it was completely worth it. Though the journey was fun, our destination was a disappointment. It seems "Sikhandooru" is famous for a temple which is of no architectural significance except for its diety. So dissapointed we turned to our next 2 destinations.

Our next destinations were again holy places (Yeah I know, an Atheist in a holy place) one being Ikkeri & other Varadhahalli. The visit to Ikkeri was worth it. The place had excellent architecture & carvings of stone. The place was really scenic & peaceful. It has lush green grass around the temple where you could relax & statues of elephants. Varadhahalli on the other hand was the biggest disappointment of the day. Neither was the journey fun, nor was the place scenic. I wondered why this place made it into a tourist location. My driver told me that he believed it was because they give free lunch :)

Last place of the day, was the Jog Falls. A long drive but the bets part of the entire trip. The Jog Falls is majestic & it stands tall. Our timing was not all that great since there wasn't much water, yet the place was mind lowing. We trekked the 1400 steps down the side to see the beauty up close. The water as white as milk falls from a height of 830ft. Tired & exhausted from the day we head back to our suffocating hotel room for a good night sleep.

Ok, its not that fun to write a travelogue as I had thought it would be. So let me fast forward through our second & less eventful day of the trip. Shimoga is a much bigger Sagara & can be called as a bigger town. The cab chargers are high & chances of getting fooled are close to 80% & we fell into that 80%. So in Shimoga we visited the "Thavarekoppe" sanctuary which had 2 lions & 3 tigers, the Gajanur Dam which didn't have water (& didn't allow photography) & a bird sanctuary which had 6 crows. Dissapointed & cheated (by our new cab driver). We turned towards our final destination for the trip, Agumbe famous for its sunsets. The place is a 100km long drive from Shimoga & can be extremely tiring because of the bad roads. We reached the place well ahead of time to see an amazing sunset. Though it wasn't the typical sunset we were hoping for, it was a different & fun filled experienced. We turned back to Shimoga from where we would return home in the late night bus. Overall, another rocking trip !!!

For my ol' pal..

From now,

coming home wouldn't be the same, without you waiting by the door;

my shoes wouldn't be the same, without you chewing on its sole;

breakfast at home wouldn't be the same, without you sleeping near our feet;

playing ball wouldn't be as much fun, without you running behind it;

the crumbled blanket wouldn't be the same, without you sprawled over it;

getting mail wouldn't be the same, without you chasing away the mailman;

pillow fights wouldn't be the same, without you fighting over it;

thunder showers wouldn't be the same, without

you hiding under the couch;

Life wouldn't be the same, without you in it..

You were the best, you were my pal.

You always listened, you never complained, you never judged.

You would stick by my side for all the mischiefs.

You would even do tricks as long as you got your chewy snack.

Will miss you my friend, will miss you Jimmy

A sad life; but happy at death

Whenever a person dies, the people around him remember the person for his goodness & share the sweet memories they have. It is the moment when people forget the negative qualities of the person & remember him for all the goodness he had. This implies for anybody no matter if he is a dictator, movie star, a politician or even a dacoit. People forget their differences to mourn at the death of the person. Many at times we do see a lot of contrast between the emotions of people towards a person before & after death. But there can be no match to the contrast in emotions of people to what they had towards MJ, before & after his death.

Michael Jackson, popularly known as MJ died on June 25 2009. The shock expressed by the world can only be preceded by what was observed at the death of Princess Diana. Millions around the world joined in prayer & mourned the death of Michael Jackson, supposedly the “King Of Pop”. Even in India thousands of fans paid their respect to the star. The visual & printed media ran 24hours broadcast about the star’s life & the incidents which lead to his death. For weeks television hosts discussed about the possible cause of death & the various medication he was undergoing. The Internet blogging community praised the life of MJ & declared that there couldn’t be a better pop star. But where were these millions of fans & supporters when he was alive?

If he was indeed the “King” of pop why did he lead a lonely secluded life? Why didn’t his family who rushed to get a spot on media after his death, support him while he was alive? Where were all those people who now want the doctors to be prosecuted who administered him wrong drugs? Why didn’t they try to stop these doctors while his life could have been saved? Why do we have to only realize the value of a person only once its too late?

It is no secret that the “king” of pop in spite of his riches & fame, lived a lonely life. He was the character who was mocked by television channels around the world. He was ridiculed for his lifestyle, the way he looked & his personal likes & dislikes. He lived his life in the middle of controversies when the world around him truly despised him. While he was alive, people around the world called him a pedophile & a “weirdo”. The very same internet groups which mourns his death earlier depicted him as a beast. We would never know whether these allegations were true or not, they would remain a mystery like MJ himself.

But if MJ has shown us something, it is that people don’t value you in life but would rather mourn for you in death.