Religion

Dan Brown, I know the moment I take this name the whole lot of controversies come to the fore. He is a great author of fiction in my view, especially if you talk about his creations like Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons. Great mystery novel they are though I don't rate them high on the factual correctness. Reading his novels (Angels and Demons being my latest read) raises some questions in one's mind about God and the Religion. So it did with me and here I am ready with my laptop to pen my thinking down.

God, defined variably by religions across the world and as if the number is not sufficient, everyone keeps trying to define his / her own God. Some think about Him from heart and some from head. Some believe Him as omniscient and omnipotent and yet some believe him to be able to make mistakes like human. Now, defining God is definitely not something I want to discuss here. My subject is Religion. The God has long been kidnapped by religion. Every religion defines it's own God and wants us to believe it is The reality. Then every religion goes beyond defining God and tries to define the way one should live. Again the same story, every religion wants us to believe that it's is the way to live and any other is wrong.

Every religion also, claims that it's sacred text is The truth and contains everything what is to be know for human.

Every religion to some extent has used the force to put it's points across. It may be Christianity trying to force Galileo to accept that the earth is flat and is in deed the center of universe, it may be Islam trying to force convert people and more recently Hindus destroying a structure. Few of religions which did not or could not wield the force either have become extinct or on the verge of it.

If the religions have already uncovered the mysteries of the universe, if they know what life is and beyond, if they know the God, then why the texts contradict each other? Why every God and Sons of Gods are different? And is it right to use force to make people follow "right" path?

Another question which troubles me is the antipathy most religions have towards Science. Science or "New Knowledge" has always been opposed by most religions and their leaders. Now, at least we know that science's is a cardinal truth proved beyond any doubt, though not complete at the moment.

Is religion then only a way to keep people in a state of belief where they fear God and trade the directed path by sacred text? Only a way to keep the masses controlled. Is the faith only a way to keep people going in case of troubles by making them believe that the troubles will be sorted out for their is a God beyond? Is this some kind of Opiate as Marx called it?

Finally Crowned

So finally I got crowned!!!! Whoa man it feels so great to be crowned after a long struggle of more than 5 years!!

The struggle saw lot of blood-bath. It was also very very expensive. Lot of arms and instruments were required to be used before I could have been crowned.. Yes the daggers, the hammers and a lot of other instruments..
However there was paid support available to help in the battles of crowning me.... and yes here I am finally crowned...

It was my third tooth from extreme left where the crown sits today 5 years after i completed my root canal sittings... :)

Digitized will béon thy World

We all have big or small strands of addiction towards social sites like Facebook, Orkut , Linked-in etc etc. We spend considerable time browsing through other people’s profiles, commenting on them or putting updates on our status.

I wonder if something like Facebook will really replace the real world someday and we would all be doing all activities except sheer physical activities of course online (not that now a days we really do any physical activities apart from very basic ones).

If this happens our world will be our computer screen. Our manager will send the work as a message with "comment" option disabled and auto response as "like" (the company will decide who can play with options depending on the hirarchy).

The wife will post on her wall that the food is ready and you would immediately press the like button (you bet, whether you like it or not). She would comment on your wall "what time are you logging out the “office Facebook", mind you there will be no real offices. And you would reply with a message lest the boss sees it, "my boss is online and i can't move, I am fed up with this chap now!!".

Guess what, the teachers will put all their board works on their walls. Schools will have secure facebook and the authority to see the pages will be given only to those who have paid the “school fee”. If you miss the payment date you will automatically be taken to school gate- (-way for payment). The late comers for a lecture will be kept out of class and they will not be shown content for that lecture.

Kids will run bicycle (application), will play in the garden (application) and will write “cry” on their mother's wall. My imagination does not go further. I don't know if the mother will still have to hold the baby to sooth her, will still have to feed her or there would be an application developed for that!!

Are we moving towards a digitization overdose??

Is it Temple, is it Bridge or what??

Mumbai mirror today gives accounts of few interviews of some youngsters on on-going land dispute at Ayodhya.

One person says, on asking what was demolished at the site in Ayodhya, "I think its a bridge which was demolished”. There were other questions as well and the answers were equally hilarious. One person claims that Lal Krishna Advani was a prime minister when the demolition happened. Another says it was Manmohan Singh.

Supposedly, the article (mind you, it is on today’s cover page in Mumbai mirror), was trying to reflect that the youngsters do not care about temple / mosque dispute anymore. But what it really exposed was a horrible lack of general knowledge among youngsters in this country in general and in Mumbai in particular. I was stumped seeing those answers on the front page.

Now, not caring for this dispute or having a point of view that it's all useless to fight for a temple or a mosque in today's world is all fine. But there is a subtle difference between ignorance and "I don't care attitude". Will our youngsters be a little more informed please? Or are we to take it that youngsters do not have any sense of involvement with what's happening in the country and society. If we are so ignorant about the recent history then what to expect when it comes to pre independence history (which paved the way for modern India).

Temple Vs Mosque

So we are at it again. We will not let a mosque to be built; we will see that there is a bloodbath if there is a temple built; we will do this ... we will do that... endless threats.

This reminds me an old but good story.
One day this man (don't remember the character’s name and it’s not important anyways like the names of all the ordinary people), was going to temple with his little kid, all of four years, to the Shiva temple. On the way they passed through an array of small hutments. The kid keenly observed the huts and the people leaving there with their torn and patched cloths, blackened utensils, smoke and TB filled chests (did you notice that he could see all of that because everything is out in the open for the poor... only one it misses the sight from is the government). Anyways, so our two characters of the story were almost on the steps of the magnificent temple of Lord Shiva. The kid now was amazed to see the large temple structure with white marbles and a golden dome. Ironically the sight of huts was giving him a feeling of being a bit superior but here he was finding himself too small, dirty and insignificant, although he could not explain the feelings in so many words. They went in and gave a bow to the Lignum and suddenly kid asks his father - "Father, why is the god leaving in such a magnificent house, and has left his devotees to live in huts?" The father didn't know what to answer but the kid was insistent on having an answer from him. He would not take the silence for answer. Finally the father said – “ask only the God , I don't know".

The kid pure at heart prays to the Lord and asks him this question and says till you give me the answer I am not going anywhere from your temple. Now the God had to relent and come out in person in front of the kid. Kid repeats the question. Now the God says "kid, you are right. But know what? I don't stay here. It does good for their own satisfaction that human have built these temples. I am, but everywhere around the world, and don't need a temple to stay in".

I wonder if our religious leaders from both sides have heard this story and wonder what God must be thinking on this issue. If he at all wishes to stay at the disputed side the biggest question for him must be, whether he will have to take the shape of Rama or the Allah!!! Would Supreme Court be able to decide it??

Can real Sagar please stand up....

As if it is not enough to have the common problems of a simply led life, sometimes incidences thrown on one stumps him or her (one needs to be gender neutral - of course not necessarily the reverse)...

So it was one of those days when you get such experiences. My mobile shouts in its dreaded ringtone (now, mobile ring is one of the scariest thing for me which rings at all wrong times) and I pick it up as it's not landline so it might not be from a person who wants to sell a card or insurance or mutual fund. The voice says "Hey Sagar how are you? you forgot about me dude, I am so and so". Looking at the confidence in his voice and my habit of forgetting names I go "Of-course dude, how are you" (though not recognizing the name). "I have deposited the money for you and after that you don't even pick my call - I got this number from your wife" the voice goes on. I am stumped, but secretly hoping he turns out to be an old forgotten borrower. I ask him to elaborate. He goes on "you forgot your promise man". Huh.. Promise!??! For one I don't remember his name and now he talks about promise! I am sufficiently confused now and demand him to give a context clearly as to what are we talking about.

Now he slowly but surely comes to the point " Err.. it’s like this.. that i paid you.. some, you know .. for a service... I mean err... the escort, you know".. “Whhhaaattt.... what the f.... are.. re..re you talking about", now it was my turn to stammer. I am not able to connect now.. Escort? Depositing money in bank? And he is addressing me by my name... I am making lot of theories in my mind.. is it a case of identity theft? or may be a case of deliberate character assassination? or this?? or that??
Then finally my sense prevails and I ask him for the mobile number he has got from "Sagar" and he tells me the number, which has all first six digits same as my wife's number last 4 digits have only little variation.. so now i get to the root of all confusion. The guy dialed my wife's number by mistake in place of the original number and asked for "Sagar" and by the strange co-incidence her husband, me, is also Sagar. My wife's genuine act of courtesy of giving mobile number to a "friend" of "Sagar" with the combination of coincidences results into this hilarious and traumatic experience at the same time..

Bereft of Minds ???

BREAKING NEWS: The cricketer (who has been banned for a year for suspected match fixing) is marrying a tenis ace (who has never won a big tourny) in Dubai...
BREAKING NEWS: The cricketer (with all acolades as above), has been charged by a fat girl that he is already married to her (so what?)
BREAKING NEWS: The cricketer refuses that he married her... err.. he accepts he married her because he was just 20 then (the eyes were not matured enought to see the fatness) ... OMG.. he also just remembered that he did not even meet her and instead was shown just a photo and that too of another girl
BREAKING NEWS: The girl who claimed that she married the cricketer submitted cloths with semen mark of the cricketer (straight from her first night!!).. Cricketer divorces the girl (oh so they got married on phone and spent the first night on phone... see what tenchnlology can do for you - heights of distant relationships!!)
Ofcourse after this there was no more breaking new on this topic (accept for one corner news that the cricketer finally got married to the tenis ace(?)) and the matter is now shifted to page 3.
BREAKING NEWS : 70 odd CRPF men got killed in an ambush with Naxals..
BREAKING NEWS: Sachin scored 89 against RR
BREAKING NEWS: Modi raises questions on anonymous investor
BREAKING NEWS: The anonymous investor is close to Foreign MoS
BREAKING NEWS: The anonymous investor is a beautiful leady and a beautician herself
BREAKING NEWS: What is the exact relationship between the lady and the MoS??

Phew!!! CAN YOU TELL THE MOST IMPORTANT NEWS ABOVE?? IT'S DIFFICULT TO TRACE THEM IN THE MIDST OF CACOPHONY OF NONSENSE NEWS..