Confessions of an Atheist

People often visit temples and other sacred places.Some believe in the powers of the almighty,some look for peace, some for architectural brilliance and some just accompany theirs kins.But we all do visit temples.And most of us do not know anything about the temple we go to.We just say our prayers, put something in the box,take the prassad and rush out.But that is of no use.I used to go to temples before just to find peace.Nowadays even that is not possible with the kind of population we have.Anyways, I never believed in the concept of praying to God.Well if God exists, would he really want us to pray to him.That would be a trait of a dictator.I certainly do not question the existence of a higher power, but cannot accept his greatness for it being a dictator.

Well let us not drift away into a debate on the existence of God which is like a black hole.Lets talk temples.Recently when I visited Nasik, literally a city of temples , I realized that I never bothered about the stories that resulted in those sculpture.But this time when I heard all the stories answering why that particular temple is standing there and why that is shaped this way and what is it's significance.I was surprised that each pillar & each corner had a story to tell and all made sense.May be all this is not enough to transform an atheist like me but I surely know that there is always something to learn for these places of religious importance which you can relate to present times.And sometimes you also find those answers you have been looking for.

Amidst the grandeur of the Ram Kund , there was a neglected small temple of Ardhanareswara
with a deity half man half woman.That was so to depict that half of the power of a man lies in his woman.A fact that makes men uncomfortable but is damn true.All wise men would not deny.I was amazed at the simplicity of that deity and the colossal truth that it asserted.One might wonder if these deities and the temples were created just to pass messages for the coming generations from the learning's of our ancestors and not for any religious compulsions.

There are many other such instances from that trip, but I would say the best way is to go there and feel it yourself. I am not preaching here.Just making a point that if you go to such places, try to know the history behind.Because History is not boring.Not always.

Rageshree !

She wants to be an artist.A designer rather.When you see her work, you would say that she is gifted.Many people are.But it takes some guts to follow your instincts and showing your finger to that stereotype lifestyle that majority of us end up with.

There is something about her.A spark may be or an aura.You feel different when she is around.It's not like she is an ET or something but there is something unearthly about her.A couple of years back no one would have guessed what she actually was.It was like she was in a shell.A temporary abode for deception.And then the real her came out.Confident,graceful,beautiful and amazingly cute.She is full of life,that undying zest and that million dollar smile.

To me, she is one of those people to whom you need not make an effort to open up.It goes utterly butterly smooth when we two chit-chat.To me, she is a picture of confidence,hope and beauty.To me, she is one of those whom i would turn to when down. To me, she is the sister i never had.

I am confident that she will make it big one day. She will make all her dreams real and all her well wishers proud.And little sis, I wish you all the happiness in this world.I will be just two steps behind if you need me.Go girl, rock the world!

Legend of RMR

'Raja' Ram Mohan Roy was a great visionary, thinker and the greatest socio-religious reformer of modern India.Ergo popularly referred to as the 'Father of Modern India'.He was the central figure who organised the religious reform in the early years of 19th century. He was a pioneer of several activities in India.He started political agitation against the Britishers for the first time.A much needed step in those desperate times of slavery.He also started the religious reform movements against the super-stitious rituals and practices of various religions practiced in India.

In 1814, he established 'Atmiya Sabha' as a religious organization to propagate his ideas regarding monotheism.To support his say he wrote the book 'Gift to Monotheists'.He was a firm believer that all religions lead to the same God, the only God.Further in 1829, he established 'Brahma Samaj' to purify the Hindu religion.

For the upliftment of higher education, he with the support of the Dutch 'David Hare' established 'Hindu College' at Calcutta.He was also instrumental in the establishment of 'Vedant College' to impart modern and scientific education to the youth of Bengal.He is also referred to as the 'Father of Modern Journalism' in India as he was a scholar of many Indian languages and himself wrote books like 'The Percepts of Jesus' & 'Gift to Monotheists'.He also started agitation for social reform in India and persuaded the British authority to declare the custom of Sati as illegal.

One man, so many influential works and contributions that too in a period when Indians where suppressed at every step by the British.It's ironical that today when we have a democracy in place and are given Fundamental Rights, we do not have even a single leader or visionary like RMR.To uplift this golden bird from the still existing social taboos and evils, and from poverty and colossal inequality, we need a handful of people like RMR in the billion plus population.

Raja Rammohan Roy , this Nation will never forget what you gave her.

Respect.

To Phalke !

We all love movies, we all have a thing for the stars and although we may pretend to read only 'The Hindu' but never do we forget to pick the latest 'Filmfare' from the stands.Bollywood today is the largest film industry the whole world employing over 3 million people and producing over 900 movies every year in several languages.Have you ever thought of it's inception ? Dundiraj Govind Phalke(aka Dadasaheb Phalke) was a born entrepreneur and experimented with lots of things before getting his hands on the camera.He was involved with the printing press which he left following some disputes with his partners and assured them that he would not compete with them in the printing business.And even though his financial status trembled like Fukushima, he did not compete with his old partners.People started calling him 'Harishchandra' for keeping his words.

And them in the year 1911, he accidentally ran into a fair where the Britishers where showing some motion pictures in a tent.Phalke was mesmerised after watching the film and at that moment itself decided to establish this industry in India.After numerous requests the operator of the tent agreed to teach him how all that stuff worked.Given that he had no money, he started selling the furniture of his house so that he can have the money needed to study this virgin phenomenon.For weeks he drowned himself in the reels of pictures trying to figure out the beautiful puzzle of movie-making.Unfortunately he lost his sight temporarily due to overdoing it and ultimately straining his eyes.His friends and kins tried their level best to stop him from risking everything for something totally new to India and it's people.They even tried to admit him into a mental hospital.But he didn't stop and was heavily supported by his wife with her immense faith.

He then arranged finance by mortgaging his securities so that he could go to London to learn the art and get the required equipments.After coming back, the first thing he needed was to arrange for the finance.People were afraid to invest in something which was totally new to India and sadly there were no Venture Capital firms at that time.Then something came to his mind.

"Chamatkara sivay namaskar nahi !(Everybody salutes a miracle!) "

Then he created a short film depicting a seed growing into a plant.Something which was never done before.People were totally mesmerised with magical creation of Phalke and some of them agreed to provide finance for his first production.He then hired actors and decided to tell the famous tale of Raja Harishchandra.At that time women hadn't come out of the purdas and he couldn't manage to get a woman to play Rani Taramati.So adamant was he about a woman playing Taramati and not a man dressed as woman that he even went to the red light areas of Bombay in search of his Taramati.A place he thought one could find the bold and the beautiful.But it didn't work out and ultimately he had to settle with a man.

For shooting some of the sequences they decided to go to a near by village.There whole troop dressed as saints and royal men with swords and trishuls apparently looked like a gang of bandits.All of them where arrested by the local police for suspicion.Somehow they managed to convince the police that they were just going to shoot for the film.While shooting Plalke's son got injured as he fell upon the rocks and everyone suggested that they should go back at once.But Phalke noticing the minor injury asked everyone to complete the stint first as the sun was approaching the horizon and it was not possible for them to come back for shooting the remaining scenes.Some dedication!

The film was completed and released in 1913 at the coronation theatre.The experiment was a super success and laid the founding stone of Bollywood.Then came other films like 'Bhusmasure Mohini' & 'Satyavan Savitri'.Phalke went on to make more than 100 films.He is an example of dedication,passion and of believing in what you dream.I remember few of his words during his long struggle for making the first motion picture of India.

"Bedhun taakin saari gagne! ( I will tear apart the sky!)"

Lets remember him in our hearts and Let raise the toast to Phalke & the magic that followed!