(Professor Narendra Nayak has been traveling into the rural areas of India, promoting rationalism on the ground for over 30 years. His rationalism tours include demonstrations and training sessions for young rationalists in schools and colleges across the country. He is the successor of Basava Premanand, the world famous skeptic and rationalist, in his role as the president of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations)
This is a brief account of some of my visits to the tribal areas of Madhya Pradesh. It is neither a chronicle of events, nor a comprehensive report of our work there. It is a write-up about some of the incidents that have taken place in the region, which I can recall. We have been working in this area for quite some time now.
Itarsi, a town in the state of Madhya Pradesh, is an important railway junction that connects the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western parts of India. During my train journeys I would take what are known as a ‘break journeys’ in this town, while on my way to other places by rail. The prominent Indian rationalist, Premanand and I have been there together quite a few times. Read the full story
Share on Facebook
Posted on 14 January 2010
Introduction:
The recent trend in some sections of the Indian visual media is the topic of rebirth and associated quackery. In one of the channels the show started with sessions of ‘hypnotism’, taking people back to their past births, and ‘treatment’ for many of their problems of the present birth which are allegedly caused by deeds in the past life! Read the full story
Share on Facebook
In this sequel to what I had written about my last trip to Uttarakhand, I am reporting on my latest visit to this state. This is my third visit to this area; the first was in 2006 when I had been to Kotdwar and Pithoragarh and the second was in April,2009 when I had been to Uttarakashi and Hardwar.
Like the previous two this visit is also to train youngsters in developing scientific temper in connection with what we call as our “Miracle Exposure Program“. We have been conducting hundreds of these in collaboration with various organizations, mainly the National Council for Science and Technology Communications, popularly called the NCSTC. This organization had started supporting our mentor Premanand in his training programs and had already published a book called “Seeing is not Believing” in Hindi and English. They had also made a kit for presenting the same, and have been engaged in such activities for nearly three decades. Read the full story
Share on Facebook
For the last few weeks Humanists, Rationalists and Human Rights activists have been waging a huge battle against the forces of fundamentalism in Andhra Pradesh. This is a battle that involves all sections of society, and in which the media, the police, the justice system, aggressive fundamentalists, the Dalai Lama as well as the Humanists and Rationalists.. It is a battle that is being watched with keen interest by millions of homes as it unfolds on live TV and through public discussions, newspaper articles and also in homes.
The campaign started publicly with a complaint made by Babu Gogineni in the name of IHEU along with a dozen collaboratoring intellectuals and organisations with the Andhra Pradesh Human Rights Commission. The campaign’s slogan Sambhavi Gudilona Badilona? has now become the byword for TV programs, for newspaper articles and also discussions as all citizens are challenged to take a stand whether Sambhavi, a child of 7, who it is claimed is a reincarnation of a Buddhist goddess should be in school or remain in the temple. This is also a story which has catapulted Humanists and Rationalists into the limelight as superstition, religious privilege and human rights clash publicly in Andhra Pradesh state which is home to 90 million Telugu speaking people - the second largest language group in India. Read the full story
Share on Facebook
These challenges were released to the Nepal press on the occasion of a press conference at Kathmandu on the 25th of October and the same are applicable to those in India too! Read the full story
Share on Facebook
Posted on 31 October 2009
Tags: numerology
Just like Astrology, this Numerology or the bogus idea of changing the first letter of your name, number of letters in your name, adding new letters to your name (or names of your new venture, movie, TV serial etc) to bring ‘good luck’ has gained popularity in the last few years in India. It includes car numbers, house or telephone numbers and so on…
For example — the name of your new serial is going to be ‘Pagal’ (means ‘mad’ or eccentric). Your numerologist tells you your lucky number is 6. How do you make it? You change the name into ‘Ppagal’ or ‘Paggal’ . Isn’t it interesting? Now you are not just mad, you’re quite mad!
This practice caters to people’s craving to know, influence or improve their future. Soothsayers, horoscopewallahs of all kinds thrive because of this human weakness. In fact our lives are influenced or molded by so many myriads of factors –things, people and happenings– that there cannot be and there has never been any way of knowing, leave alone changing, one’s future. There can be no magic.
It would be wonderful if the Numerologists themselves explained how exactly their thing works. How anyone’s name can possibly affect the future, or the total of the digits of their dates of birth have anything to do with their good fortune? In fact, it is the claimant’s duty to explain and establish their claim. But they will not do so. On this ground anybody can claim anything. For example - I can say ‘God sent me a message that you would do better if you …’ or ‘I had a dream that you should name your child Gobardhan’. Who can stop me? I do not have to explain! Read the full story
Share on Facebook
This event was organized by the Orissa Rationalist Association in Rourkela on 10 and 11 October, 2009.
Prabir Ghosh, General Secretary of Science & Rationalist Association of India was invited as the chief guest to handover the certificates and mementos to the winners of the inter-school competition on scientific outlook being arranged by the Orissa Rationalist Association for the last 10 years. Read the full story
Share on Facebook
Editor’s Note: Narendra Nayak will be writing a series of articles on Bhanamathi, a popular ‘black magic” superstition in Andhra Pradesh. The following article, originally published in Mangalore Today, is a primer for the upcoming series.
Share on Facebook
If you think that sin and the Indian Railways have nothing in common, please stand corrected. The most recent entrants into the field of sinning are 
our railways! While Indian Railways is not exactly known for it’s secular image, of recent, it has been advocating a Hindutva line which could put many of our saffron brotherhood to shame. While we have the typical things like people wanting to enter Puttaparthi have to pass below the pictures of the “lotus feet” of the local thug turned prestidigitator turned god-man who goes by the name of Satya Sai Baba, people visiting the Bangalore railway station have to put up with the pearls of wisdom of one Pt. Sri Rama Sharma Acharya who has an affinity for sin that could put a Roman Catholic priest to shame. He says that sin brings along disease, grief and down fall too! All the science text books and those of medicine have to be thrown into the nearest dustbin as we have a brand new theory for the cause of disease- sin!! Read the full story
Share on Facebook
On 22 July 2009 part of India is going to witness a total Solar Eclipse. Scientists from India and abroad have already started arriving at various places lying in the path of the total eclipse with their equipments to study this celestial spectacle. Scientifically aware common people are also waiting for this moment with their eclipse-viewing glasses, pinhole cameras, and reflectors including ordinary mirrors. It is indeed a spectacle to be witnessed and experienced.
At the same time in India we have the largest number of superstitious masses, fear-mongering astrologers, and religious preachers who treat this beautiful natural phenomenon as a bad omen. Hiding inside their homes, they stop eating and drinking anything during this period. The pregnant women fear to venture out. The really religious ones throw away the cooked food, as the eclipse would make them inedible! They conduct pujas at their homes and in temples and take a dip in their ‘holy’ rivers and ponds to cleanse themselves of the ‘evil’ effects of the eclipse, when their pet god is being swallowed by the demons! Read the full story
Share on Facebook
