Nirmukta Videos

Journalist Publisher S.Anand talks about how the caste system plays itself out primarily by its control of women and their sexuality. The talk fuses ideas from the recent work of radical anthropologist David Graeber with those of Ambedkar and tries to examine why and how gender injustice in india is intrinsically linked to persistence of caste.

Science & Philosophy

  • Let’s Aim For a Post-theistic Society

    This article has become more relevant because of growing religious intolerance exemplified by the mindless killing of Dr. Dabholkar.

  • India’s Problem with Child AbuseSeptember 7, 20139

    India’s Problem with Child Abuse

    A majority of people growing up in India would have, like I did, experienced child abuse to some degree, ranging from being beaten for perceived transgressions to emotional abuse including being isolated, dehumanized, constantly belittled and being told one will never be good enough. Many of my own experiences only constitute anecdata, and are backed up to a limited degree by the experiences of others I know that I’ve seen firsthand, but the evidence does go beyond.There is a substantial [...]

  • Deductive (and Inductive) Reasoning in the Game of CluedoJuly 28, 20130

    Deductive (and Inductive) Reasoning in the Game of Cluedo

    The aim of this post is to explain deductive reasoning in an easy to understand manner, by using the example of the popular board game, Cluedo. It touches upon inductive reasoning also. It assumes some familiarity with the concept of validity of an argument. The primer How to Argue Online offers a quick explanation of this. Some good further reading for this is Coursera’s enormously popular course Think Again: How to Reason and Argue, and the book Understanding Arguments: An [...]

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Pseudoscience & Religion

  • A Report on Mumbai Freethinkers’ MeetDecember 3, 20138

    A Report on Mumbai Freethinkers’ Meet

    Nita, Pritesh, Ankit, Hraday, Javed and I met at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Bandra. We introduced ourselves and started talking about what started us on the path towards atheism. We found there was a comfort level in sharing our personal stories with each other, rather unlike it would be with other people we meet for the first time and interact with. Pritesh said both he and his wife, as atheists and to-be parents had been pondering over whether [...]

  • A Report on the Bengaluru Freethinkers’ MeetOctober 14, 20130

    A Report on the Bengaluru Freethinkers’ Meet

    The meetup on October 2nd happened at Café Coffee Day Square on Vittal Mallya Road. It was special on a lot of counts: It wasn’t admin initiated. A member put up a request, along with a date and an explanation as to why it would be feasible to meet on a public holiday. There was a lot of member interest. Even at the incredibly short notice of a day’s time, about 12 people turned up. The group laid out concrete [...]

  • Report on the 26th Chennai Freethinkers’ MeetOctober 9, 20132

    Report on the 26th Chennai Freethinkers’ Meet

    The 26th Chennai Freethinkers meet took place on 29th September 2013 in a park – Semmozhi Poonga.  Ten participants attended the meet including first timers Rukshana and her brother Naseef Mahamood.  Naseef is an architect and Rukshana is studying Genetics.  Being raised in a pretty much secular family, they gave up their faith quite soon.  Naseef recounted how some of his friends and relatives, upon realizing he is non-religious would try to talk to him and get him on the “right path”. 

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Freethought Activism

  • A Report on Delhi Freethinkers’ MeetDecember 6, 20130

    A Report on Delhi Freethinkers’ Meet

    Report by Mayank Prakash The latest DFT meet was held at Eatopia, India Habitat center on 2nd Dec (Sunday). There were 5 of us – Lalit, Anil, Mayank, Kumar Ujwal and a guest from Chennai Freethinkers, Surya. The place was relatively quiet so it was easy to talk. Surya was telling us how frequently the CFT group met and that the participation has also been going up. He talked about the gender ratio also improving there. We got to ordering [...]

  • Bangalore Pride Walk 2013November 30, 20132

    Bangalore Pride Walk 2013

    Nirmukta’s Bangalore chapter, the Bengaluru Freethinkers, participated in this year’s Bangalore Pride Walk on Sunday, 24th November. The Pride Walk was the culmination of the three week-long Karnataka Queer Habba, which included events like protests against the Hassan arrests, a transgender day of remembrance, film screenings, theatre performances, a marathon and a diversity fair. This was the sixth pride march in the city, and saw attendees not just from Karnataka but other states as well – this news report puts [...]

  • A Report on the 27th Chennai Freethinkers’ MeetNovember 9, 20131

    A Report on the 27th Chennai Freethinkers’ Meet

    When Ajita Kamal started Nirmukta in 2008, one of his aims was to build a community of Freethinkers. Religion with its institutions and rituals serves as a good support system which atheists in India sorely lack. We have been meeting for nearly 3 years now and the first meet is still fresh in my memory. What brought the fifteen of us together then was a search for a community where we could share, talk, exchange ideas, learn etc., This has been [...]

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Humor & Creative Arts

  • Thoughts From A Secular HumanistApril 20, 201228

    Thoughts From A Secular Humanist

    I have no invisible authority I am not mentally enslaved, I am not an unworthy sinner Who is waiting to be saved. My actions are my own Responsibility for which I will take, Credit for the good and penalty for the bad The payment for my deeds only I can make. I’m not the innocent, confused child; ‘Humble’ messengers try to find, I’m a skeptic with adult reasoning Who has left Faith behind. The answers gifted by logic and reason [...]

  • A Debate between GenerationsMarch 5, 201227

    A Debate between Generations

    The year is 2032 CE and I have perhaps kicked the bucket much earlier. Ananya, my eight year old grand-daughter currently, has since become a Rocket scientist and she likes to discuss philosophical issues with her grandmother, my wife, whom she calls as “Avva” meaning Grandma in our mother tongue Telugu.

  • We’re free to share cards and flowers if we wishFebruary 14, 20125

    We’re free to share cards and flowers if we wish

    Our love’s more alive than any dead saint, But some Valentine’s cheer why not relish? These jolly rose hues won’t our culture taint! We’re free to share cards and flowers if we wish! Grown women and men don’t need to be taught, Their close relationships how to cherish! Why is this simple freedom so hard-fought? We’re free to share cards and flowers if we wish! Some faithful in whose eyes such fun is sin, Should first from their midst hatred banish! Sweet nothings sound better than hate-filled din. We’re free [...]

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