It was Zeitgeist that planted those initial seeds of curiosity in my mind regarding origin of religions. It was like someone giving you answers of a puzzle, you have been thinking for over 20 years, but is not sure whether the answer is correct or not. However, something is better than nothing.

Though Zeitgeist deals with many issues and tries to connect all the dots, now am curious only about the 'AGE' part of it. As it says, Jesus (in Christianity) was born around end of th e age of Aries (the ram or lamb - this may explain why he called himself the "lamb of God") and by the time Jesus began his ministry, it was the beginning of the age of Pisces (the fish, the Church age). According to Christian belief, Pisces age ends after around 2300 years and then the Aquarian (man with pitcher, Christ age) starts.

Now this gets very interesting when you peel off the religion/God part from it. Now all of it relates to only 'Sun'. It's appearance, disappearance and its equinox cycle (which is called as AGE). Debate continues whether astrology is true, science is right or whether religion was based on previous two. Let it go on.

However, lets look at how this is being treated with respect to Jesus and Christianity. The sign of the fish has special significance to Christianity because the sign of fish has been known throughout the millennia to be the sign of Christianity.

Jesus recruited "fishermen" as disciples to make them "fishers of men." He fed the masses with a miraculous draft of fishes. His followers were know in Latin as "pisciculi", the "little fishes." A commonly used icon in Christian churches is the "Vesica Piscis", which is Latin for "mouth of the fish". Its shape resembles a fish without a tail. It can be seen in the shape of stained glass windows in many churches and cathedrals. The Pope wears a ceremonial hat in the shape of a fish head.

Now is this all because it was Sun was in 'Piscean age' (Fish) ? Now in Hindu belief, you might want to connect how Lord Vishnu takes the incarnation of 'matsya' to save Manu. Again, the symbolism of fish.

This continues in bible, after the Piscean age world will enter the age of Aquarius (the Water-Bearer). It is obvious to Christians that the identity of this "Water-Bearer" is the one who (1) came from the waters of Galilee (2) baptized with water (3) changed water into wine (4) walked on the water (5) washed the feet of others with water (6) calmed the ocean waters (7) gives living water (8) says we must be born of water (9) drank the cup from the Father.

People all over predicts (According to Mayan calendar) that world is gonna end on December 21, 2012. Now what's the speciality of this date ? Ofcourse, you can find 1000's of reasons how everything coincides on this doomsday. But look at this, winter solstice begins on December 21 . It is the day of the year when the night is longest and the daytime shortest. This date is chosen as the 're-birth' of the sun by ancient Egyptians or rather on December 21st, 2012 Sun enters the 'Aquarian era'.

So guyz, nothing is gonna end...we are just being fortunate to be in a transitional period of 'age' that happens once in around 2000 years.

P.S: Am neither an expert on theology nor in astronomy. This is all half boiled information that I've read from different sources and tried to connect. Pls share your perspectives, wud love to hear.

• 1 comments »

Life sometimes end abruptly, perhaps that's what makes it so exotic. You can't predict the end. It can come today, tomorrow...one day for sure.

Yesterday before going to sleep, I saw a teaser of 2012 (which I was told that, is a pathetic movie), and may be that had a profound impact on the dreams I had last night, which were nightmarish. Yea, it was about a sudden end...an abrupt end to my life.  But that made me think, if I die tomorrow, what would be those 5 best memories in my life that I would cherish ?

here goes a small recollection of the same...as this is quick, I might have easily missed a few...however these were the first of those that came into my mind.

1) Best food I've ever had in my life

Sunday morning breakfast at our home is a more than just eating food. It is an event. After sunday church mass, we all sit together for breakfast. Mostly me, dad and bro will be doing shared reading of sunday special malayala manorama newspaper, while mom n sis prepares the food. Breakfast is very simple yet that taste reminds me of our beautiful family and remains as my favorite food.

Typically it is Kanji, Payar, Pappadam, unakkameen, naranga achar (Rice gruel, kidney beans curry, Pappad, dried fish, lemon pickle). For past 10 years this happens only once a year, as our entire family is now scattered across globe). This is one thing which I miss so much for not being in Kerala.

2) Best ride I've ever had in my life

Now the immediate thing that comes to my mind was the 'historic' ride I had with her once.  I've made numerous rides across the country on my bike, but none of them matches to this one...not because it was with a girl...not because it was raining hailstorm...not because the road was too good and take it, I was not even riding it. Still it remains as the best one.

It was a tuesday evening in April 2008, when suddenly hailstorms started showering all over Ahmedabad and our campus. Seeing this, the adventurer in her immediately proposed on going for a long ride in nearby highway. (we had a huge non-crowded highway a.k.a ring-road nearby which we used to frequent).

Iceballs were showering all over and the roads were extra slippery...not something which I would dare to do...however I agreed. After few kilometers into the ride, she immediately raised the most 'diffuclt' demand... I wanna ride 'Arjun' now. Now as it was just 2 months since I had first taught her how to change gears in a motorbike, it was not really song to my ears when I heard her demand. Over and above, she had to drive on a slippery road with iceballs showering all across....and after all I need to pillion on her. Definitely not a great idea. However, when you are in love logic takes a backseat.

Finally I succumbed. She drove the bike smoothly and luckily rain gods were on our side, thus we didn't crash. It was beautiful..something which I would fail to express in words even if I try. Though skeptical in beginning, I delegated my life to her hands and after the ride, I was glad that I did. For the first time in my life, I had so much confidence in another individual

3) Happiest day in life: November 16th, 2000

This one was tough. I've had a moreover a happy life throughout, and there are many competitors to snatch the happiest day title. But I guess, it would be the day I really felt ... This is it. Cant be any better.

During 98-2003, all I did was play basketball. Our school team were one of the best teams in Kerala in those days and annually we used to participate in atleast 10 major school tournaments, winning almost half of them. As life had it, I used to be the 3rd best player in the team (1st being Captain Dibumon who used to regularly captain Kerala school, youth, junior teams and a regular scoreboard topper). Those were the best days in my life and career. However, I never used to get 'Best Player of the tournament' award even after winning many such finals...its like when you become top scorer, team loses...and when team wins you score the least. My strength was always in 'Defence' and best player was always determined based on scores.

But it changed one day and perhaps that's the only time it has changed in school tournament history there. That was Nov. 16, 2000. It was some state school tournament in Pala (Kottayam district, Kerala) where we won the finals and I was announced the best player of the tournament, with a special mentioning for my defence play. I literally cried.

Over and above, by late night I got a call from mom saying that my sister delivered a babygirl the same day. Yea, Michelle thus came into our life and I became an uncle. Can't be any more better.

4) Proud moment: Saving life of a motorist who almost bled to death in Delhi

This one is special not because I happened to save life of another human, but rather it gave 'me' a new life.

It happened during one of my college days in Delhi when I was riding back to home on my bike. When I reached S. Delhi near Apollo Hospitals flyover, saw this huge block on Mathura road. Seeing 3 blueline buses in the front, I could obviously sense what has happened. There he was, a guy in his 40's lying on the road, covered head to toe with blood and hysterically hitting his legs on the road. Clearly a head injury. Bus driver, conductor were discussing their action plan to fled and 'onlookers' busy discussing how bad the drivers of blueline buses were. None bothered to take the guy to nearby hospital (which was hardly 1 km from the spot). As I parked the bike, I saw a good samaritan who tried to lift this guy up. I joined hands with him and lifted the guy to near by footpath.

Moment we lifted him, the entire entourage left the spot. As the road is now cleared, all buses left, with 'onlookers' getting busy with their life...leaving 2 of us with a dying guy on footpath. He was an autodriver, and with him driving the auto and me with the guy on the backseat we managed to take him to Apollo Hospitals. All throughout I could see 'blood literally gushing from the open wounds on his head'. None of my efforts to stop the bleeding worked, though fortunately we reached hospital before he bled to death. Apollo guys took good care of him and was admitted to ICU and then we left.

But what if we reached hospital 30 minutes later ? He would have simply bled to death. This question that I had in mind, is what gave me a new life. 3 months later, I joined NirmaLabs for entrepreneurship course and when it came a moment to select a feasible project, I selected this. A solution for this  unsolved pain-point. How to stop uncontrolled external bleeding ?. Project was selected, funded, completed and now am running a company which is trying to sell the product that we developed, which does just that.

Stops bleeding. Saves Lives.

5) Biggest accomplishment in my life

Now this too took me a while to finalize. What would be that biggest accomplishment I've done in my life ? There could be quite a few of them. But I believe, in the last 24 years of my existence in this world, the most important accomplishment I've had would be: My best friends.

Am lucky, and extremely fortunate to have met them. Yea they starts with CeeVeeS a.k.a cheenja vittukal (a group of 8 whom I know for past 16 years), and around 7 more other people I've met in different places, different times and now it has finally reached few of my twitter friends whom I consider in the 'best friends' group.

Now this may sound so cheesy, that I say my friends are the biggest accomplishment. But infact it is true to its literal sense. These are the people who don't keep any prejudice about me, who are ready to listen when i want to speak, who don't expect anything in return, to whom I can speak without thinking for a second, who won't ever hesitate to criticize something I've done bad, and someone who has held me tightly when going through rough patches. Nothing in life could I claim more than this that I have accomplished.

Family is never a choice, it is given to you. But friends are chosen. Am glad I was given the right ones and also have chosen the right ones.

Guess, thats it. 5 is sufficient enough to cherish before u Die. :D .

So what would be your best 5 memories ? Would love to listen.

Thanks for reading.

• 2 comments »

Here am trying to make some sense of a phenomenon I've been experiencing for years together. Am sure each one of you would have gone through it too. I call it 'Slipping into auto-mode'. It's amazing how your brain functions involuntarily and the potential to do such things really surprises me. Let me explain through few examples.

Scenario no. 1:

Riding a vehicle.

You want to go from A to B through a 'familiar' C route. You think of destination B, visualize the route C and start driving your car/bike. 2-3 minutes into the journey you start thinking about an upcoming meeting, or an incomplete work or that pretty chic in office...but you still drive, stop at signals, chat with co-passenger....and manage to reach destination B after an hour. Then when you think back, you have no clue how you reached B or the route you took or what you saw during the trip. This is what I call 'slipping into auto-mode'.

Now this seems perfectly fine if it happens once in a while. But with me this happens 99% of the time. It usually is harmless, but sometimes while going from A to B through C route... I wanted to stop at an ATM between...but I never stops, it always gets missed. Thus I've to return from B and finish off the work in intermediate stop and then go back. Waste of time, money, effort.

Many friends of mine have confirmed that they also experience the same in limited numbers though. While doing long distance rides, auto mode becomes very long and prominent. I would say, to a great extent I love rides to experience this auto-mode for a continuous period. It definitely is a great stress buster and thought molder.

Scenario no. 2:

Conversations

A, B, C and D meets after long. A starts talking and she goes on talking. B shows his apparent frustration. C gets into sleepy mode. D looks as if he is listening enthusiastically. But actually D is thinking of the same stuff given in scenario 1. He has slipped into auto-mode already. During the conversations he gives those occasional huh's, oh-oh's. At the end A gets a feeling that D is disinterested...she asks, Were you really listening to this whole thing ?.... Now the surprise. D asks A, a very smart question related to the whole conversation. A is satisfied and happy at the same time.

In reality, D never listened to the whole conversation.... he just picked up the most important bits and pieces of the content and asked a context based question which completely took A by surprise.

Auto-mode during conversations are very common. I've seen people doing it all the time when 'chatter' goes on and on and on gossiping. This particular piece was triggered by a discussion with @nithinkd regarding the same. He seems a master in it :P.

So have you ever experienced such slips ?...why do you think it functions that way ?

Would love to hear your views..

• 7 comments »

Was expecting this Diwali to be passed off as just another holiday, and there comes @nithinkd from Delhi who totally changed the whole equation. Result, one of the best weekend + Diwali in my life. Nithin is a long distance rider with many years of biking experience in Hand ( has gone to Leh twice in his Enfield a.k.a Goddess), a mobile encyclopedia of automobiles and a virtual GPS. As Ahmedabad offers very little as a place to explore, Mt. Abu came as a quick option to be considered. I had done the same route with Arjun (my pulsar 150) 2 months back and was quite familiar with the route. Thus we set off for the trip on sunday morning and reach back same night. Clocked 510 km in 20 hours (10 hours of riding and another 10 hours of breaks)

Nithin has captured the entire trip in a beautiful travelogue and guess, it has left nothing more to add to it. So read on about an eventful journey to Mount Abu in his own words.

• 1 comments »

Oh, cant believe it's been already an year since am dating her.

Exactly an year back she came into my life. That day is so vivid in my memory. How I met her and immediately fell for her. What attracted me the most ? I dont know. May be her looks, may be her smartness, may be her intelligence.... however, she stood different from her other smart friends. It was love at first sight, though it sound so cliqued.

I was already in a relation, when I first met her. But that couldn't resist me from going after her. She was slim, sexy, smart, modern and classy. For past one year, we have been together throughout. I never left her alone anywhere, it was almost unimaginable. We travelled together, rode together, ate together, slept together. When I was bored, she sang for me. When I wanted to talk, she listened to me. When I wanted to listen, she spoke to me. When I was struggling to remember things, she reminded me. She never complained even when I interrupted her in between. She was so good in conversations that I grew my friends network through her. In fact she even introduced her smarter, more beautiful elder sister to me. Though I was definitely infatuated, that didn't change my loyalty from her.

As in any other relationship, there were also days when tension arose between us. I remember how on a rainy day, when she was all drenched and how my efforts to get her warmed-up went awfully wrong. She was so angry that she didn't speak to me for almost a day. But they were all minor issues compared to the relationship we shared. On our 6 month anniversary I surprised her by gifting a black gown, and you should have seen how beautiful she was in it.

An year passed so quickly and it has been worthwhile having her. Thanks to you sweetheart, You have become an inseparable part of my life. T

Thank you my beloved Nokia E51.

P.S: Girl friends are like mobile phones, just that mobile phones come with a red button.

• 4 comments »

A random conversation with #nishkus and esp. @kuttyedathi today reminded me of Vararuchi and Parayi petta panthirukulam. It's an old mythical story which always fascinated me. I think this is one of those intelligent stories which make you think beyond the superficial story layer.

Outline of story goes like this :

Vararuchi, one of the nine wise men of King Vikramaditya’s court married a girl from Paraya caste which is one of the lowest castes among the society of Kerala. They started a pilgrimage and on the way one-after-another, they had 12 children. Each time upon delivery, Vararuchi asked her if the baby had mouth. If she said ‘yes’, he would say, “If God has given mouth, it will feed his mouth too” and would ask her to leave the child there and then proceed. Grieved by these, when the 12th child was born, she lied and said the baby did not have a mouth, upon which he permitted her to take the child along. But when she was about to breast-feed it, the mouth was actually not there!! Vararuchi then consecrated the child on a hill, which is called “Vaayillaakkunnilappan”

The children left out in the forest were subsequently found, adopted and raised by families belonging to different communities, recognised one another as they grew up, and used to get-together at the illam (residence) of the eldest son, Mezhathol Agnihothri, on their father Vararuchi’s death anniversary (Sraadham) - so goes the story or myth. Each of these 12 tribes / families still exists in Kerala and they used to get-together too.

These twelve children are:

1. Mezhathol Agnihothri (Brahmanan),
2. Paakkanaar (Parayan, a very low caste),
3. Rajakan (Dhobi),
4. Naaraanathu Bhraanthan (Elayathu, a lower class Brahmanan),
5. Kaarakkal Maatha (high caste Nair, only girl born to the couple),
6. Akavoor Chaathan (Vysyan),
7. Vaduthala Nair (Nair Soldier),
8. Vallon (Thiruvalluvar of Tamil Nadu),
9. Uppukottan (Muslim),
10. Paananaar (Paanan, a very low caste of country musicians),
11. Perumthachan (carpenter),
12. Vaayillaakkunnilappan (deity)

Each of these 12 had very intriguing stories and trust me it will enthrall you like anything when you read through. My favorites are Paakkanar, Naaranathu Bhraanthan and Paananar.

It even inspired a very famous poem in malayalam:

" Panthrandu makkale pettoramme
Ninte makkalil njananu bhrandhan
Panthrandu rashiyum neettumamme
Ninte makkalil njanan anaadhan
Ente sirayil nuraykkum puzhukkalilla
Kannil Iravinte pashana thimiramilla "

There's a very interesting history to Vararuchi's marriage to the paraya girl and his leaving kids behind is also associated to it. Whether it seems justified or not, his reasons for justification remains sticky. 'If god has given mouth, it will feed him too' (Vaa keeriya bhagawan annam kodutholum). To me it doesn't relate to the god part of it, but more to the confidence a person has on a human.

In this era of spoon feeding children with everything and finally helplessly watching those efforts go in drain.... i guess it is also pertinent to know that humans are capable of growing to their right ability, if at all there were given the freedom to do so.

Read more about Panthirukulam:

• 5 comments »

It's been 6 months since I've gone to my hometown, Kerala. miss every single thing of it....amma, sis, nephew, niece, their new doggie...incessant, rhythmic rains accompanied by thunderous blasts, friends who are waiting with mugs of beer...dry fried prawns and cutlets made by mom...driving in between farms splashing water to both sides....never missed our place so much....may be this is what you call a long distance relationship... yearn to live there, but have to live here to get work done.

Last 3 months have been pretty eventful on both work end and personal side. Bike rides, treks, investment meets, regulatory meets and finally a week long trip to Manali with mom. All productive in its own way although a demanding hectic period.

Meanwhile, I was observing this part of my life from a different perspective. About freedom. Guess never ever in my life, I have enjoyed so much freedom at work or as a person. Living life according to own terms, this certainly could be the best it could get. Though I still dont know if commitment is actually good or bad or a necessary evil...but as of now am happy to be single again. Last 16 months has been a living proof of it. It gives immense amount of flexibility which opens up numerous possibilities to live life to the max. This is something which am thoroughly enjoying. Not bound by a person, or faith or work. No more waiting for confirmatory call, no more thinking twice before packing bags and going for ride....no more pressure to be back coz someone's is 'waiting'...meeting new people for conversations and not for tangibility.... It's just you and the world. Every minute now comes with a new insight...

Just wish to be like this forever.... enjoying freedom tht is invaluable....and jus being... Life is serious fun. :)

Within a month or two, company will step into its next stage and am sure this freedom is going to be a little restricted. But guess its going to be worth it ;).. Used to laugh at people who say, entrepreneurship is a lonely journey....now I understand why.

Anyways, more on it later..

(p.s: this is an ongoing effort to record my thoughts as live journal....wanna revisit after years to see how much of it actually changed ;) ..a social experiment)

• 0 comments »

Just got back from my first ever meeting with Caferati Ahmedabad. Was too overwhelmed by it that I wanted to record my thoughts instantly, hence this post.

Though I had heard about this community, never really paid heed to its activities, until I saw a post by fellow CSer Nitesh about its monthly meeting where they planned to showcase a 'malayalam documentary' namely 'Kanavu' (dream). Malayalam & Movie, my first and second love.. what else should I ask for ? :P

Meeting was a fresh experience. Gr8 to hear a set of people reciting their amateur literary works without inhibition to fellow 'Caferatis'. Though not a writer myself, I luv listening to poems. One of the best way to know a person is to read his/her poems.. thus you get to know the trail of thoughts... enchanting experience they could be. (for eg: Yday I got to hear the letters exchanged between Mahatma Gandhi and Sarojini Naidu from 1914 to 48. It was enacted by Tom Alter and Mrinalini Sarabhai. Though not an admirer of Gandhiji, I was amazed to see the funny side of him. Awesome sense of humour he exhibited through those private letters.)

After regular Caferati meet, there was this show. Kanavu was played. Its about an alternative education model being practiced in a remote village of north Kerala, near Wayanad. Was a well made documentary showcasing every aspects of their education and life. A microcosm of life, I would say. Have been hearing various alternate models of education, but nothing was as intriguing as this. Sad, I heard about it so late... better late than never. At Kanavu, they don't have distinction between curriculum and co-curricular activities. In fact both goes hand in hand. They are taught the life lessons and are not just being groomed to be part of the rat race. Rather they are chiseled to face the world on their own by being close to nature and learning lessons from it at the same time. They sing, they dance, they play, they do pottery, learn martial arts, farming, cooking, cleaning....whatever it takes for a sustainable living. To make the kanavu(dreams) a reality..

All current models are designed in such a way to change them by 'helping the set called tribals'. But only a few give them sustainable models and also consider them as one of us. May be this could be one such model? That's what Kanavu does. It triggers some interesting questions. Is it high time that we seriously look at such alternate models and apply them to mainstream ? Are they really sustainable and as glossy as they see in films ? Are we getting more and more rutted with current education system and is a change inevitable ? I dont have answers now...

Remember few years back when my sister was planning to put my niece into ICSE stream, how I raised objection and asked her to keep her in state or CBSE syllabus. Though I firmly believed, its not the curriculum that's going to determine her success or failure.... I didnt had a convincing alternate model then, to show my sister. Neither I could find it until now. More and more efforts like Kanavu, and who knows...may be one day I will have a convincing answer.

So, anyways... a gud evening to remember. Thx Nitesh for keeping my updated about the event and Thanks Nirali for introducing this documentary to us and for sharing your thoughts on the same.

• 0 comments »

It rang. Gal_Ur_Mesmerizing, always a pleasure hearing this beautiful ringtone. Green button and here comes a sweet, polite voice. Introduces self, explanation starts. Soft, rational way marketing. Voice was sweet, my work was reading hence I started listening. Plastic card it was, money on credit, fee was nil and she needed a customer. Product was introduced, features explained, rates conveyed, terms informed....she's going on and on and on and on. I listened giving occasional those not-so-yes or not-so-no huh's. Longer the conversation, higher the expectation. That's what call centres teach when you join. Attract, Explain, Bang - target in. She's almost done. All the information she had on screen has been conveyed. But what to do, customer is yet to be satiated. Conversation has to go on. She started asking questions, customer has no answers. All he want is to listen. He shows inquisition. Woah, she's all words again. Now its the turn of benefits. Cashless she says, I wonder what else it does. Additional protection she says, I wonder if it has inbuilt condom too. I listen wen am bored. Now her voice has this slight tinge of joy, wicked happiness of having nailed a prey, a customer. She is now light, not so formal but very personal. All she want from me now is a confirmation - am in baby, thats it. And when she continue spilling her sweet, soft voice... there comes the red button. How sachin feels wen he gets out on 99 ? Random abruptness. Tht's my sheer joy of sadistic pleasure. :D

• 3 comments »

CouchSurfers Ahmedabad has made it again. A quickie weekend getaway trip on sunday. Me, Bhavesh, Math and Anirudh made this memorable trip to Jambughoda wildlife sanctuary and historical Champaner fort near Halol (Baroda). Trip was very refreshing and enjoyed every single moment of it. See the pics above :)

Tips for travellers:

Route taken: Ahmedabad --> Baroda (express highway) --> take left turn from Anand and head towards Savli through State highway --> Pavagadh --> Jambughoda --> Champaner --> Halol --> Baroda --> Ahmedabad

Advisable route: Head straight to Baroda in express highway and then to Halol in state highway. Roads are amazing in both stretch and you can reach Jambughoda in less than 3 hours.

Trek: Jambughoda has many small hills which are trekkable. Most are thick forests and steep. You will find less of rocks and more of trees there and so stay away if its raining. Trek could be way difficult in rain. It was pretty humid when we trekked and we did the mistake of not carrying water with us. Overall it's a nice short trek but thoroughly enjoyable. Try other side of hill while coming down.

Eateries: Not many good ones near Jambughoda or Chamapner. However there is a Jambughoda Palace which is very near to sanctuary. The king still lives there and they do serve outsiders with food and accomodation. Prior booking is mandatory for food.

Overall a very good location for a one day trip from Ahmedabad. Perfect for a weekend getaway with family.

• 1 comments »

continued from Part two

This post is going to be excerpts from what OSHO has said about religion and Zen. I think he has articulated my thoughts so well, that it would be futile if I tried to put in my own words. OSHO is one of the most misinterpreted personalities ever existed. Majority of people know him only as sex-guru, and probably has read only that part of what he has said. In reality, he was a truly enlightened person and One of the very few who knew exactly what he was saying and he spoke sense.

Here OSHO speaks about dangers of religions and how Zen stands as a viable alternative to practice.

Religions are always postponing life: they are giving you beautiful illusions about life somewhere in the future, far away, beyond death. That is a strategy to divert and distract you from the realities of life. That is pure cowardice. It is also a rationalization so that you can be consoled: ’If life is miserable today there is nothing to be worried about, tomorrow everything is going to be well. In fact, to suffer life today is a preparation for enjoying life tomorrow, so the more you suffer the better.

There is no reason to complain, no reason to rebel, no reason to revolt against all those things which are causing misery.’ Religion protects the establishment and the vested interests. It is a very subtle strategy – so subtle that for thousands of years man has lived under its weight without ever becoming aware of what is being done to him. Karl Marx is almost right: that religion is nothing but opium for the people. It keeps you drugged, it keeps you hoping, waiting – and the tomorrow never comes. Desiring, fantasizing about life after death is a sheer waste of time, energy, and also it keeps you stupid.

Life is here now – there is no other life. Life knows no past, no future, it knows only the present.

Zen

• Zen is living life in its totality, here, now.
• It is one of the fundamental revolution.
• It cuts the very roots of the so-called religious structure of the mind.
• It is not religion, it is pure religiousness.
• It is not oriented in the past, it is not inspired by the past – it has no goal in the future either
• It is living your life passionately, intensely, ecstatically this very moment.
• It is a jump into the very thick of life. And life surrounds you within and without. Don’t wait for the next moment, live it now.
• It is the greatest flowering of human consciousness yet achieved.

Zen is not a religion, not an ideology, it is not a philosophy, it is living in an existential way, not in an intellectual way.

Source:

Zen: Zest, Zip, Zap and Zing - OSHO

Talks given from 27/12/80 am to 10/01/81,  English Discourse series

• 0 comments »

Couchsurfers, Ahmedabad embarked on a 2 days bike trip to Mount Abu which is around 230km from Ahmedabad. Group consisted of Alex (from US), Mathieu (France), Bhavesh (Ahd.), Ujjwal (Ahd.), Sreejith (Kerala, nw in Ahd.), Jidhin (Kerala, nw in Ahd.), Leo (Kerala, nw in Ahd.) and Anil (Ahd.). Alex's friend Sarah too joined us till Abu.

We had an awesome time biking, camping at a forest camp site and then going for 2 amazing treks in small hills out there. Looking out for more such journeys with fellow CSers. You guyz rock :-)

 

Useful Information for travellers:

Onward Route we used: Ahmedabad --> Mehsana (thru highway) --> Modhera (Sun temple visit, thru inner roads) --> Patan (Stepwell visit, thru inner roads) --> Sidhipur (thru inner roads) --> Palanpur (thru highway) --> Abu road --> Mt. Abu.

 

On the way back: Mt. Abu --> Palanpur ---> Ahmedabad (Straight highway, heavenly roads. Possible to complete in 4 hours at a stretch with short snack breaks)

 

Stay at: We erected tarps/tents at Official forest camp site (5km from town) and used sleeping bags to protect from rain. Got sleeping bags and other accessories from Forest officer, Mt. Abu (office near Sunset point).

Would advise to try out this than a hotel. Experience is mindblowing.

 

Trek : There is a small but amazing trek route trail near camp site. Just goto top of that hill and you will be welcomed by a beautiful lake. Take a dip there and just enjoy with few drinks. Awesome it is.

 

Also there is a beautiful trek route in the 'crocodile lake' point. Just head over to mountain on right side, assure you to have a good rocky trek trail.

 

Drinks: Mt. Abu is not really a drinker's paradise contrary to perception. It is not so cheap compared to other states. Stock up drinks before you enter Mt. Abu city to get a comparatively cheap deal. Also do note that all shops are officially closed by 8pm. After that you will have to shell out 30% to get them from behind the doors.

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continued from Part one...

In this post am trying to articulate how I got fed up of organized religion and why finally I turned agnostic. This is a bit tricky as I never attempted before to stitch those bits and pieces together to trace a logical path to this whole thing.

Let me start with sharing some hypothesis' which I always deliberated in my mind about 'Why religion' & 'Why God' ?. Am sure some of you would also have thought about this in similar fashion.

1) When you try to think or examine the root of all religions, you will reach at same starting point. Most were started as an off shoot of 1 person who by all means was powerful and was god send. Entire foundation is then built over this one holy concept. Now for time-being am going to assume that this concept is man-made. Then what happens ? Immediately your 'religious identity' will be wiped off. Coz you were told that you were born to  X & Y, who belonged to an XY religion whose forefathers belonged to an XY religion which originated from an AB person. The moment first person (here AB) becomes non-existent, the entire lineage loses its identity. Then the implication would be that, a 'human' is born to X & Y as opposed to 'a hindu or 'a christian' is born. Who will then be the victims of these identity crisis ? It can't be us. We will still be identifiable with our skillset or nature of work or something else. But a sect will become identity-less immediately. They are the custodians of these concepts, the so called Priests / Pujaris in each religion. It is in their best interest that 'GOD' should exist, else 'Religions' cant exist and subsequently they themselves can't exist. Best way to protect this from not happening is to package it in such by which it instills fear in everyone's mind and hence every unknown facts were attributed to an unknown entity and called it God.

2) Next is about thinking religion as 'Founded by God'. This is under the impression that God is a Megalomaniac. She is the one, the omnipresent and she created the universe. She also created some creatures called them humans so that she can enjoy seeing them living, making love, kicking,  fighting and killing each other. If they dont kill each other, she is gonna weed them out anyways as she likes variety in life and no repetition of faces. Being a Megalomaniac, she wants everyone to worship her. Wants to remember her name every day/hour/minute/second. If those creatures fall into trouble she want them to call her name so loud and so continuous that 'if' she happens to hear it, their needs will be met. If not they live and die, she wont give a damn. May be she will give a damn and punish them for not remembering her. Thts wht the scripture says after all... On the judgement day, frying the left sided people in a hot oil pan.

Now dont you think this is the nastiest a God could get ?. I mean, if I were God, I would leave heaven and runaway to some remote jungle. Imagine, you make people call your name 24x7 just coz you wanna feel good and those poor souls are doing that as they are shit scared of you. Cant be worst.

3) Last is the most common justification given by people who dont wanna sound superstitious and want a logic for everything. i.e Organized religion makes humans disciplined. So according to them, seeing the immoral, unethical, unorganized life of our fore forefathers a genius devised a tool called religion and attributed its power to a non-existent entity called God. Some smart people might have devised it to scare people off doing crimes, to bring some order into their lives. Sounds good and logical. To an extent I believe this too. But if it is so, how come they allow some sect of people to exploit this. How did such a noble concept got slipped into wrong hands and it started creating different castes, barriers, superstitious rituals in the society ?. There should have been someone who knew this whole idea and who would have tried to stop it ?

But all said and done, I believe organized religion has many benefits. I am not so naive to think that entire world will become enlightened enough to behave normally without the fear-factor. So definitely it works for a majority, but there is also a minority who behave morally, ethically and lead a disciplined life devoid of fearing the omnipresent. At least I believe so. Morality based on fear seems a crude concept to me.

Truth remains that none has a clue. All are hypothesis and none are validated. To our misfortune, none has come back from heaven/hell to tell about the story there. So lets stay ignorant.

I absolutely have no qualms with any of these concepts. If I consider religion as a legal commercial activity or a business and if people are confidently willing to invest both time and money in that business looking at prospective substantial returns, a person like me should not have any problem with that.

As in case with most businesses only people who run the show has any actual idea about its working and all other shareholders out there are only interested in its returns and nothing more. Fair enough. But my problem starts when that 'business' is being exploited as a platform for selfish motives, just coz it provides a good camouflage. 

I wouldn't have had any problem with religions if they had functioned fairly to everyone.

I wouldn't have had any problem with religions if it were not used for vote bank politics.

I wouldn't have had any problem with religions if it were not used to amass insane amounts of money. (and not used 'just' for the needed)

I wouldn't have had any problem with religions if people hadn't use it to kill others to attain power.

I wouldn't have had any problem with religions if its authorities had expelled the wrong doers amongst themselves with immediate effect.

I wouldn't have had any problem with religions if they hadn't allowed a sect of people to use its name as a reason for killing people from other religions.

I wouldn't have had any problem with religions if they acted more like an NGO and less like an 'Inc.'

To a great extent all religions goofed up. They screwed up life on earth in a big way. On whatever noble concept where they founded, as  of now organized religion is doing more harm than good. On one hand they proclaim themselves pro-life and on other hand they give freedom to some fanatics insiders to take non-believer's lives. On one hand they proclaim they are the custodians of chastity and on other hand they themselves pry on little kids & women to quench their pervert repressed thirst. On one hand they say stop war, dont kill and on other hand they will do anything to protect 'their brand', and if it takes some lives, they will call them martyrs.

Now many people justify this by saying, 'an act of a single person cant be taken as representative of the entire community'. Humans remains as humans and we cant expect them to behave ideally every time. But let me ask, will a snowflake in an avalanche ever be responsible ? This is precisely how it is being exploited. People who are nothing when they are alone, create groups so that they can do whatever they want to in the name of that group.

I was not sure if I were doing the right thing, but I wanted to get out of this madness and look at it as an outsider. That's what am doing right now. Observing it as an outsider, jumping in whenever I think I can make a contribution, criticizing without bias whenever I feel things are not moving in right direction. It feels great, surprisingly light and freedom to be on your own. No more reporting to clouds or thanking the unknown.

Atheism is equally fanatic and it is dangerous. People who proclaim there is no god will never be able to prove it. It is about proving 0 is actually 0, you cant do that. In pursuit of doing it, they unknowingly become fanatic. I dont want to be part of it, hence I stay agnostic. It's a beautiful word, a - gnostic (knowledge), unaware of knowledge. You declare you are unaware of anything and just live your life. The advantage of this approach is that you are never blind 'to faith' or 'against faith'. You keep your eyes & ears open for others to convince you that you were wrong.

Am waiting for that day, just like that :)

I purposefully haven't touched the topics of 'Zen, Osho and Zeitgeist'. This itself got into many pages and hence am stopping here.

Will share in coming posts about how the vacuum created by non-belief was filled in by Zen.

Thanks for taking the pain to read. Appreciate it.

P.S: Using She instead of He, is coz am just bored of people addressing God as He. Why cant 'it' be She ?... She= Creation, He=Destruction..ryt ?

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This is an attempt to record my own thought process on faith at this point of my life. Posting it as a blog to get some more clarity from you, readers.

In the matter of faith, I always used to be in extremes. Upto 18 years, I never even had an iota of doubt about the existence of the omnipresent. Yes, there were conflicts in my mind, there were things which I never got answer for, but it was all after taking that one point as 'implied'. As any church going christian I also used to have a rosary on my neck and I always kissed it, prayed to Mother Mary before embarking on any important work.

There used to be time when I used to attend church holy masses on a daily basis and then one day (around 11 years) I joined the Altar boys at church. I used to believe, I was amongst the chosen ones and always did each work trusted upon me with due diligence and care. Always when the part in the holy mass came, where it says 'Now let your prayers raise upto God' , I used to think of the most important 'needs' (read prayers here) exactly at that minute imagining that those would actually raise upto God at that point in time. I was blind, totally succumbed to faith. I had so much belief in them. Never ever it crossed in my mind that there could be a chance of God being non-existent. It was next to impossible in my little mind. Being an altar boy made me closer to Bible. I easily covered a major part of new testament in those days and I found those narrations very vivid and interesting. During those days, dad also brought home colored books of Mahabharatha, Ramayana and Eliad. Got so hooked into those, that I read them over and over again. Now when I look back, I remember to having found striking similarities in the stories and narrations in between all these books. But somehow I never took them seriously and brushed aside as mere coincidences. Imagine the surprise I had when I saw those striking similarities being explained by Zeitgeist after so many years.

Unlike many other states in India, Kerala is a place where religions co-exist with harmony, literally. People dont stay in separate places based on their religious identity, neither there is any kind of discrimination based on that. May be that's why for about 18 years, I was blissfully ignorant about the whole issue of religions. Living in Delhi for few years and then in Ahmedabad for past 3 years, make me realize every passing day that am different here. Yea, there is no direct discrimination but it is not like how I used to feel back in Kerala.

This ignorance or purposeful carelessness about religions came crumbling to ground after attending a Jesus Youth retreat (my first and only retreat). It was a new experience and to say the least it was nice. I remember it so clearly coz on that fateful day Tsunami struck Kerala taking many lives. The very next day I got to hear many first hand testimonials from people who had miraculous escapes from clutches of death. Everyone praising God's plans and his secret selections. (wish there were some of the dead too, so that we could hear the other side of story :P). Same day I was given the option to attend a 'Grace counselling' (meeting with a divine person). He was a man in his late 40's who sat with a 'divine' look in his face. Without me uttering a single word, he narrated my entire family history, some of my personal problems (which I never shared) and asked me to open random pages to read random passages which he claimed would contain answers to my problems. To my surprise, some of them actually were bang on. I was impressed. But it didnt last long. I narrated my interests in sitting inside old temples (just coz I love the peacefulness out there), how I visited Guruvayoor temple twice and totally loved the experience.At Kerala, my home is near to a temple. For 19 years, I woke up in the morning listening to 'Gayatri Mantra'. I got used to it so much so that, waking up without hearing it used to make me restless. I just love it. But he was not amused hearing it. He told me not to visit temple again because 1) Temple is for Hindus and not for christians. (sad but true in Kerala as non-hindus are not allowed inside) 2) The salvation is only through Christ, need not enquire it anywhere else. I ignored 1st point, but got stuck with second. Hence I asked him, what about my best friend who is a hindu, does it mean, he would never get salvation ? I was being very naive, but he was smart. According to him, my best friend will find Jesus one day and attain salvation. To be frank I found it BullShit. It sounded bizarre to me.

I knew he was bluffing, so I left that day itself and had the same conversation with my uncle (who is a priest, a theologist and an amazing human being). He cleared my doubts saying, those are just tricks by so called 'retreat mongers' and never heed to it. Those are just 1 amongst thousands, and ignoring them is important.

That struck a chord with me, I started getting doubts about, Why so much confusion amongst authorities in religions ? Why so many different teachings ? Why so many conflicting interpretations ? Why people 'market' religion ? and finally the million dollar question, Is there a God or is it too a man-made concept ?

I left it there. Was too busy with my college that I hardly did any soul searching. But it had an impact on me. I started taking my religious life lightly. Missing a sunday mass was no more over-burdening. I was slowly moving away from being religious, still being spiritual. As someone said, was realizing that 'Religion is a bureaucracy between man and god which I didnt need'. It took me years to actually understand that 'Religions are driven by clear economical & political motives and there is no place for God in them'.

These thoughts were cemented by 3 types of speeches I got to encounter.

1) During my brief stint in Kochi, I used to live in some interior streets in dark pockets out there. My very first face-off with fanaticism started from there. Every friday evening a 'mullah' used to come and address the muslim brethren in that area, in the name of giving spiritual discourse. But it was more of spiritual bashing of other religions and less to do with God. Though people were very sensitive & careful about such 'mullahs' and never invited them again, but this used to continue still.

2) After a stand off between government and church in Kerala on some educational institute issue, every sunday masses in our locality were used as a platform to propagate church's stupid, illogical and insensitive ideologies to cover up their misproportions of funds. They were literally using their religious strength to muster and play vote bank politics. I got to face fanaticism from a different perspective.

3) Third was my daily encounters with various shades of fanaticism in Gujarat. Problem here is that it is taken for granted. Nobody really cares if Modi or someone from RSS makes a speech filled with inflammatory words. Religion is so ingrained to people's minds here that literally anybody can play with it and political parties just make use of it, be it BJP or Congress.

Inspite of losing confidence in religions, I continued praying. For me prayers were never a burden and I found solace in them after I was told that prayers are not about asking for your needs, but to have a conversation with God. That was the end of praying for 'getting more marks in exam' or 'asking for a car as gift' type prayers. Though it was more of a monologue with god and never a dialogue, I believed that one day heaven will open up and god will talk to me. (Oh yea, i actually thought :D ). Life went on without me crediting or debiting any of the happenings in my life with God. She remained as a 'feel-good' concept in my mind and I never bothered to tinker with it.

It stayed dormant in my mind and I took it in its stride. Coming to Ahmedabad made it active. Not because there is such a dis-harmony between religions exist here, but it made me think about why such an incident took place in an otherwise fantabulous place. Ahmedabad is truly one of the best places I've lived in my life and that is mostly to do with the people who resides here. They are smart, cooperative and very receptive to people from outside (unlike many other states). Yet 2002 riots happened here. For me its a matter of concern, and I wanted some convincing answers. Am not getting into those right now, as that is not topic of discussion today.

After coming here 2 things happened in my life. 1) I started reading more of OSHO (one of the most mis-interpreted genius in last century) compilations. 2) I happened to watch Zeitgeist. Both changed my view points forever and my perspectives became more wider. From being very religious to being only spiritual and then to stay as agnostic, it took many years.

Will share my experiences after that, in coming posts.

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Yet again another hooch tragedy in India, this time coming from a dry state and killing around 150 people, has triggered another controversial debate on 'whether prohibition of liquor' is the root cause for such human tragedies. Media has taken it as another battle and has been vociferously debating it ever since the tragedy took place. Just that everyone tends to ignore the fundamental issue by citing emotional reasons. Most who raise their voices against prohibition is not aware of the situation here or has not stayed to realize the freedom which we enjoy here.

Am just attempting to give a different perspective from my experience of living in a 'Liquor state' for 20 years and a dry state for past 3 years.

All through my childhood and youth I have lived in Kerala, a southern state in India which as per records has the highest per capita consumption of alcohol in the country (8.3 liters). By standards it even surpasses some of the European countries in per capita liquor consumption. It is also one of the highest revenue grossers for the state through sales worth around Rs. 25 billion per annum, where liquor is sold through KSBC (Kerala state beverages corp.) outlets. Every major festival in this state increases the liquor sales upto a   staggering 26%. Now here is a state which has a free liquor policy since decades. But even Kerala is not free of hooch tragedies. Perhaps frequency wise it had even more hooch tragedies than any other states.

Here am not trying to debate whether alcohol is good for health or not. I love drinking occasionally and I don't find anything ethically, morally or technically wrong with that. I believe alcohol is good, if taken in moderation. But let me point out some social issues caused by a 'free liquor policy' and which is often misused for excessive, irresponsible drinking.

72 percent of the 42,365 road accidents in Kerala- 2008 were because of drunken driving.

Now this may not be completely attributed to lack of prohibition, but a majority of those cases were a direct result of free availability of liquor. I work in the field of pre-hospital care and happen to interact with a lot of emergency care doctors. All of them unanimously confirm this by saying that a majority who reaches their hospital has caused accident under the influence of alcohol. 72% is not a joke. It is shocking.

Safety in public places

It is a non fact that in Kerala it is better to stay at home after 7.30pm, rather than venturing out alone, especially for women. Every nuke and corner, bus stands, railway stations, restaurants are crowded with drunk men. This too is fine if they behave normal after they drink. But that's not the case as it is far too dangerous for a woman to walk in the streets at night alone, thanks to our civilized drunken society.

Family issues

Mostly daily wage workers are the real victims of any tragedy. With or without prohibition, they get liquor and this eats into their overall income. Just that these figures are 10 times higher in Kerala. Naturally this initiates family abuses, attacks on women thus triggering a range of societal issues.

Advent of notorious gangs

Having lived in Cochin close to 2 years, I've got to see the notorious gangs operating out there. Even police wont tread into some of these territories, as they are completely under the control of some goons. I personally know one such place near Thripoonithara, which is a den for such activities. Am not attributing these directly to prohibition policy, but it has an indirect link which has the police-goon nexus as the root cause. Below, I will explain how 'prohibition' has helped Gujarat tackle this very fundamental issue.

It is said that, Gujarat laid down a prohibition policy way back in 1950's to follow Mahatma Gandhiji's call for making liquor inaccessible to people so as to keep the fabric of society in tact. I dont think that as a strong logical reason to create such a law. But all said and done, PROHIBITION IN GUJARAT has worked and has been successful till date. Now let us see why ?

Some known facts:

1. Prohibition in Gujarat doesnt mean liquor is not available. Unofficially it has one of the highest consumption rates in the country. Any type of Liquor is always available from bootleggers at a 20% 200% higher rate and they would home deliver it anytime, anywhere.
2. A majority of people in Gujarat drinks. But they drink peacefully inside their home or farmhouse and never ever venture out in public and cause nuisance.
3. Police and government indirectly support bootleggers.
4. No major law and order situation arises out due to liquor consumption in the state.

Now let us consider the above mentioned issues which a 'free liquor policy' state faces and how it is different in Gujarat.

Perhaps Gujarat is the only state in India where women can freely roam around in the streets 'alone' even at midnight without the fear of getting abused, assaulted, molested, kidnapped or even raped. Though its a strong claim, I stand by it. If someone asks me how Prohibition in Gujarat has helped Gujaratis, I would just say this one point. This is only because of 'lack of liquor availability publicly'. You wont find someone venturing out from bars or home getting drunk and causing nuisance to general public. It has worked here.

Drunken driving and related accidents are not so low in Gujarat, coz most of the truck drivers consume country liquor which are cheaper and easily accessible. But these figures are no way close to how it is in other states. So relatively drunken driving is lower.  This is a direct effect of prohibition policy, as the drivers are cautious about paying the hefty fine if got caught drunken. More over, rather than taking such chances people in Gujarat always cross to near by states during weekend to have a 'Spirited weekend'.

Now the last point to mention is how Prohibition has indirectly helped the police force and thus the Government. All over India, police force is underpaid. Their salaries are not sufficient to run a family and hence they resort to asking for bribes. It's pretty much known fact that you cant get even a petty work done from Police without paying them bribe. It is same in Gujarat too, except for the fact that bribe is being paid by bootleggers. Unlike in other states police here are friendly with local public. As they are getting paid by bootleggers, they usually dont have to ask bribe from public. Also as an aftereffect,  Police are well aware of all the bootleggers operating in the state. This indirectly means, that they know the troublemakers well. So, it is very difficult for a 'gang' to operate in Gujarat without getting noticed or known by police. To an extent this work for the benefit of people, and which is visible as the number of such notorious gangs in the state are negligibly low.

Hooch tragedies can't be attributed to prohibition. Even if there is no prohibition, the daily wage workers can't afford IMFL or our dear Mallya's KF beer. So the debates on lifting prohibition are just a farce and totally useless. It is almost impossible to enforce a 'Prohibition policy' in a free liquor state like Kerala. Coz people would go mad without alcohol, as they are so much used to it. At the same time, it is stupid to lift prohibition in a state  where it has worked for so many years.

I would request all these mongers to come and stay in Gujarat for atleast a month and then make a comment. Else, stay calm and drink in your territory. Let people in Gujarat make their own choices and live peacefully.

Best,

A well-wisher of Liquor and Peace.

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