Delusion, Dilemma & Diktat

Did we ever think of asking the question “Is there a God?” Either we were handed down the belief by our fiercely religious ancestors and willingly accepted it; have lived with the atheist belief as long as we have known ourselves; or, consciously taken the route to be either a believer/non-believer. But have we gone beyond and asked ‘the question’? Do we know we have the option to question?
Have we ever questioned our religious or cultural identity? Reflecting on the existence of God is a much farther concern, one I will ponder over in my subsequent posts. It requires tremendous clarity in thought and I am not sure I am quite ready yet, to put it all down, though I do know where I stand on the issue.

I’ll tell you just where all this is coming from. I have been in the middle of some sort of a personal battle. (I prefer the word battle over crisis because the former gives me the hope that it can be fought, as against the dim, discouraging nature of the word ‘crisis’).

Now, at what I thought would be the defining day, I saw myself faced with a critical situation that would pretty much set the tone for my future – immediate if not permanent. Through all this, I was counselled by my well-wishers to keep my faith in God and ‘leave it to Him’. Well I couldn’t. Believer or non-believer, I am sure what is least expected of us is to manage our own businesses. Even God would tell us that. I did take help though. Spoke to people whose words comforted me and readied myself. When friends were busy, I did other things. Music. It is almost like a religion to me. If religion is meant to give us strength, show us the way, and keep us grounded - music it is for me.

Anyway, coming back to the point. The moot question here is of identity. A lot of what we are, how we are and most importantly, how we face tough situations in life, flows out of a certain distinctive quality we are made of. It IS convenient (I am not suggesting wrong, just convenient) to hold on to God as a crutch, but it can never replace the role of consciousness. God is a part of my life, but in a very different way. He is someone I sit before in a temple because the experience is healing; He is someone I sing songs in praise of, because there is so much philosophy in them. It’s a humbling feeling to know there is a force out of our control that is operating. He is an experience that is part of my everyday being.

These beautiful lines from the book I am currently reading – The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins, are worth mentioning at this point.

In this, the author quotes Einstein:
“To sense that behind anything that can be experienced, there is something that our mind cannot grasp and whose beauty and sublimity reaches us only indirectly and as a feeble reflection, this is religiousness. In this sense I am religious.”

It’s beautiful and so true isn’t it?
So it is not about religion really. Unless, you will grant me that religion is an amalgam of experiences that we acquire as we move along in life. In that sense religion is a growing phenomenon. It is of course based on firm grounding and roots, which widen and grow as we grow & age with time. This is why my argument for a cultural identity is important. It gives us all a starting point. Have an identity is all I am saying. Our parents’ beliefs need not be ours. I remember wanting to be different - not knowing if I had the choice to change, tossing the thought in my mind and rebelling against norms. Finally, I found my peace. Now, I like my Tamil roots and metropolitan upbringing. The rituals have different meaning for me; devotion has an almost liberating effect on me!

Music currently listeing to - Old recording of all cousins singing bhajans
Current frame - Deeply philosophical

Let’s work on the scare

Off late I have been hearing of so many cases of people afflicted with cancer, I am beginning to wonder if this ‘devil’ has taken the form of some sort of an epidemic. ‘Coz this was something of a rarity earlier and although it shocked me to hear about it everytime, there was always a reasoning that followed – “must have been a heavy smoker”, “must be the age” or simply, ‘the genetic mutation’ factor, which obviously affected only a few!

Knowing me and the way my head makes connections between two isolated instances and snowballs the whole thing into a matter of behemoth-ic magnitude, I avoided thinking about it. I have this uncanny feeling everytime I talk of unpleasant happenings, that it’s just right outside the door waiting to pay me a visit! I know the idea is preposterous, but that’s how I am.

So I mustered up the courage to give this some thought. It just triggered off so many random thoughts, all of which seem to come together when viewed in a particular context. This demands serious concern. We cannot feel helpless and resign ourselves to fate so easily! Well, for believers of fate (like myself), one can’t work against the deific forces, but we can still be in the ‘know’ of things.

A little reading up or googling on Cancer and other problems caused due to sedentary lifestyles would tell you that a lot of what happens is a direct or indirect impact of the environment we live in. No, that needs a correction –‘the environment we create for ourselves to live in’.

From packaged food, fizzy colas, microwave cooking, chemicals in cosmetics to the cell phone explosion and the onslaught of gadgets that shamelessly help you do ridiculously inconsequential tasks – we are trapped in this quagmire of technology & chemical revolution!

This is progress - the power we are wielding with our money, proving our rightful place in this booming economy of high disposable incomes!

While technology and its growth might be a turning point for humans, it also spells doom for many of us.

Take notice of this.

1. Everyday personal care products such as shampoos, soaps, deodorant and make-up contain chemicals that are directly linked to cancer.
2. Our skin and hair soak up over 60% of a body product applied/used, which then enters our blood stream.
3. Monosodium glutamate (commonly known as ajino-moto) is banned in most parts of the world, but we in India still use it in our ‘Desi’ Chinese dishes.
4. Most perfumes have an undesirable mix of chemicals which when applied too frequently, have harmful effects on our body and the environment.
5. While microwave cooking is a boon to many households, it comes with its fair share of hazards. Read this to learn tips on safe microwave cooking. Also see WHO.
6. Plastics. So many environment-friendly groups have tried explaining to the generally thick-headed mass of public to ‘Say No To Plastics’, only to see it (live and) die its own death as a fad that a lot of teens enjoyed being a part of for a short span. It was cool then, it isn’t cool now.
7. Smoking and chewing tobacco. I am not even starting on giving any statistic on this. We all know what we should be doing, let us please get our act together.

Most of us think that only things we directly use or do affect us. We couldn't be more ignorant and complacent. Every single thing of what is mentioned above and so much more, impacts us in more ways than one! No one is saying we should stop using soaps, shampoos or investing in looking good. But we sure need to watch out for what we are putting inside us and what we are throwing back at the environment – abusing it the way we do every single day! And then, sit helplessly outside the OPD, with a pained expression (sans make-up now), clinging to reports covering every single part of our body and wait feverishly to hear the doctor’s judgement.

From today - LESS Maggi, NO plastics and MORE exercise!

Music currently listening to - 'Sonnalum' - brilliant A.R Rahman stuff from the movie 'Kadal Virus'

Current frame - Urge to break-free