Editor’s Note: Narendra Nayak will be writing a series of articles on Bhanamathi, a popular ‘black magic” superstition in the Hyderabad-Karnataka area. The following article, originally published in Mangalore Today, is a primer for the upcoming series.
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
I see hordes of modern and educated Indians succumb to numerous blind rituals and religious schemes in India with more vigor than ever before. More and more Indians, especially those coming from the upcoming middle-class families and have studied at the premier institutes of India, are turning to ritualistic religion and its superstitions, joining cults, and wearing their dogma proudly as a badge for everyone to see. I often wonder how come these globe-trotting, blackberry-typing, gadget-swinging Indians shut off all their mental faculties when it comes to certain superstitions and beliefs.
I recently came across an article about a gentleman named Naresh, who lost both his legs in an accident at a very young age, and later studied at IIT and now works at Google. The article, titled “From banks of Godavari to Google on wheel chair“, is a very inspiring story of the triumph of human spirit against several odds. Hats off to Naresh.
One of the things that struck me as odd about Naresh is his superstitious nature. The fact that he has made it into IIT is proof of his capacity for rational thinking and scientific background. I have personally met several scientific minded people who are very smart, yet they are superstitious. I’ve read statistics which say that around 95% of the top scientists are atheists, where as 95% of the general public are believers. I have always been bewildered by how scientific minded people can be superstitious. I think I have figured out one possible reason and would like to describe it in this article.
My two school going daughters are now learning more about Indian mythology — in their schools, comic books, TV shows and cartoon movies. The fresh perspective they bring in when they are learning Indian mythology is very interesting. I’d like to share some examples here.
Are we a nation of gullible people? This rhetorical question needs no answer. The month of August, 2008 was a period when gullibility ran riot. Thanks to a solar and a lunar eclipse and the magical date of 08/08/08! cc : Pandiyan
Nirmukta is looking for astrologers and astrology software to predict the year ahead for noted skeptics from around the world, as well as for the contributors at Nirmukta. If you are interested or have information that could help, please contact us using the form on the Contact Us page.
We are interested in having Chinese, Western and Vedic astrologers demonstrate and prove to us the validity of their claims.
Check out our Q & A sectionfor advice and information from ourpanel of contributors and resident skeptics. You may use the Contact Form or email your questions to info@nirmukta.com. Anonymity is guaranteed on request.
Nirmukta Shoutbox
Last Message
1 week, 1 day
ago
Siddharth Singh : Prove it, Guest_1770.
Guest_1770 : god is real
Ajita Kamal : Not a good format for serious conversation. Perfect for drive by shootings..
Siddharth Singh : Hey 3360.. glad to have you around. Maybe you can register for this site (see below) and we can have the conversation going. Cheers.
Guest_3360 : guess not...
Guest_3360 : helloooooo?
Guest_3360 : is anyone online right now??
Guest_3360 : wow a shout box! awesome!!!
Ajita Kamal : Sid, my faith in Cheesecake gives my life meaning... You cannot prove it, you must experience the holy Cheesecake
Siddharth Singh : Ajita, you blasphemer! Cheescake is a false god.
Ajita Kamal : Cheesecake is my god.
amit waghmode : gagangiri baba is my god
Guest_3120 : I meant, "the onus of proof".
Guest_3120 : Deepak, please do a google search for "Russell's Teapot". The onus of belief is always on the believer.
deepak : please answer this simple question.How can you prove God does not exist
deepak : just like if someone only keeps looking at crows and tells that there are no swans existing on this earth, his whole observation is completely wrong. there is no basis for it.
deepak : just by looking at some fake relegionists we cannot say there are no real ones.
deepak : you all have told you are a disbeliever in God
Ajita Kamal : OK, let's bring that up at one of our meetings.
Siddharth Singh : Ajita, I think he means we should have a form to discuss rationalist books. We have that on the cards.
Ajita Kamal : @Last commentator: What exactly do you mean? Please use contact page!
emailtoid.net/i/31 : Exchanging information about intersting rational books
emailtoid.net/i/31 : I am thinking rational books forum in this site.
Samrat : Great Work Ajitha..
Ajita Kamal : Check home page for Nirmukta organization proposal!
GuestX : Everyone set for the conference?
tate : great work guys !!! keep it up
Guest_2879 : 456513
Ajita Kamal : 6 panelists!
shobhitg : Wow we have a shoutbox !
Siddharth Singh : Chris, it is at January 23, 2010, at 16:00 GMT (21:30 New Delhi, 11:00 New York)