Murders of free thinkers

I was shocked to read the horrible news about the murder of blogger Avijit Roy by a few Islamic fanatics in Bangladesh. Avijit was a writer and a blogger, what subjects he used to write or whether he was anti-Islamic or not is immaterial, the point here is he was killed for expressing his thoughts. This is another example of religious intolerance shown by fanatic groups. Such groups are present everywhere, they are part of every religion, culture, and country. In some places, they are more aggressive and active because of the political and social environment of that place and in some places, they are dormant as they don't have much support from the establishment and people, but the truth is that they are present everywhere. 

The Internet has given an open forum for many people like me to express our thoughts fearlessly. Avijit was one of many bloggers who used this forum every day to express their ideas and thoughts, without the internet it was difficult to share our thoughts so openly and with a large audience. One can disagree with these thoughts or argue against them but to physically harm a person is a sign of primitive and intolerant mindset. Such acts should not go unpunished otherwise we will see many Avijits getting killed on a regular basis. Asking questions is a basic right of any human in any civilized society. A society that doesn't encourage open questioning is not yet completely civilized according to me. Humans have differentiated ourselves from other animals on this planet not only because of our ability to imagine but also our ability to question things. Our ability to question is one of the major reasons for our continuous progress in every area. But this ability to question has come under attack many times, even today we suffer from intolerance. Religious intolerance is one of the major factors which results in such violent attacks and such murders are the result of such intolerance.

The recent murder of veteran communist leader Mr. Govind Pansare was another example of such intolerant attitude of some groups towards people who dare to speak against fanatics of any religion. It would be terribly wrong to assume that such fanatics are part of only selected religions, they are part of every culture and community. It is very difficult for many to understand that some people don't subscribe to any particular ideology, some people question everything, and they dare to take a stand and be very assertive about it without being aggressive. Such people believe in freedom of expression, what is wrong with it? Why such people are attacked regularly? I don't mind intellectual attacks or questions, but such physical threats and hostile social attitudes don't make things easy for such people. It is not easy for everyone to be fearless and express their thoughts when there is a danger of losing your life because of it. Very few are brave enough not to care about such threats and I really salute their courage and conviction. Dr. Dabholkar, Mr. Pansare, Mr. Roy, and others like them, they died while fighting for what they believed was right. They didn't hurt anyone physically and were fighting their ideological battles by using peaceful methods but people who don't believe in peace or dialogue murdered them. These cowards didn't like the courage of people like Dr. Dabholkar. These groups were scared of the power and conviction of these people and that's why they took the route of physical attacks. As they could not fight their ideas they resorted to cowardice acts of murder to eliminate such brave people.

Such cowardly acts are a blot on humanity no matter where they happen. Someone getting killed for expressing their thoughts shows the primitive level of thinking in that society. These things need to stop, we can not keep on saying every time that it is easy to kill a person but not easy to kill their thoughts. If these things keep on happening regularly, there will not be enough people to express such thoughts. But getting bullied by them is not an option. We all need to stand united against such barbaric acts then only such groups will be forced to abandon such ways. The only way to fight them is to keep on expressing our thoughts fearlessly on every forum. We have to stand united against such barbarism to eliminate it from our society.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Links:
1. Anti-Islamist US blogger hacked to death in Bangladesh
2. Kolhapur bids farewell to Pansare

Am I important?

At some point in our lives, we all get frustrated, feel dejected or depressed, and ask this question to ourselves, am I important to anyone? This question is then followed by many other related questions like, what is the purpose of my life? Why am I here? Why am I doing this? What's the purpose of doing all this hard work? Does anyone care about what I think or what I do? Is this all going to change anything? Questions like these are many but there is no single or easy answer to all these questions. Depending on the situation or phase of life one might think about any one of these questions more than others, but they all are somewhat related to each other. Once these questions dominate our minds, we start doubting ourselves, we question our abilities, we sometimes feel helpless, and we wonder why people don't understand us? Some people also feel dejected or depressed in such situations. Most of the time, these questions are the result of some not-so-favorable incidents happening around us. When our best efforts don't produce the desired results, we doubt our capabilities. When we face unwarranted personal criticism just for expressing our opinion, we doubt whether it is worth expressing them. Sometimes consistent personal attacks and inability to connect with others make people wonder about their self-worth. Such situations are not easy to handle for everyone, some people face so much trauma and agony that they take the extreme step like committing suicide because of such depressing feelings. Some could handle these feelings considering them as a part and parcel of daily life but for some, they get really serious and complicated, which is why it is necessary to address these questions seriously.

There is nothing wrong with these questions or feelings but none of this should result in chronic negativity, depression, or self-doubt. Many of us face this problem of self-worth sometime in our lives. Whatever work we do, no matter how small or big, it has some relevance and meaning. We all contribute towards our society in some way and every contribution is meaningful and important. When we realize that we all may not be the same, but we all are equal, then we learn to respect each other, and once we respect others, we also receive respect in return. None of us have answers to all the questions, therefore we all are here to learn from each other, and we should understand and acknowledge this fact. Accepting that we could be wrong helps us to listen to others. Once we start listening, we realize that there are many like us who face similar problems and doubts and we can help each other. Any problem we try to solve alone might look impossible to solve, but collectively we may be able to find some answers. Polarization and intolerance towards each other are major concerns today. When they cross certain limits, they take the form of racism, communal riots, wars, genocides, or some other form of violence. Our mind can be our best friend or worst enemy. It is not always possible to control or avoid negative feelings altogether, they are bound to come in some form, and we need to deal with them. We don't need anyone's validation to prove our self-worth, our own belief in ourselves is enough.

According to me, the correct answer to the question "Am I important" is; yes, I am important and I am significant and so is everyone else. We all are important so none of us should underestimate our powers and the significance of our role in this world. Sometimes we see the results of our efforts immediately and sometimes it takes time to see them. There are examples of many great people from history where their efforts showed desired results much later after their death but this didn't stop them from giving their best towards their goal. Things like self-respect, the ability to honor others, listen to other's views, and kindness automatically come to us once we realize that we all are equally important. The question "Am I important" doesn't intend to display the feeling that others are not important, rather this question arises in mind when we somehow start feeling that we are less important than others. So, it may not be easy to avoid such questions coming to our mind but we can try not to get affected negatively by it. This blog is just a small effort to provide a simple answer to this complicated question.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Is it necessary to know GOOD English?

I came across this discussion with Indian author Chetan Bhagat on NDTV. One of the topics they discussed was whether is it necessary to know English or good English to make a mark in your professional and personal life? English an important language in India for decades. This might be mainly because of our colonial history, but English commands a special status in Indian society. A person able to speak and write English fluently is often considered a scholar and intelligent. Many people from India assume an English-speaking person is an intellectual. I learned to speak and write English very late in my life, my entire primary education was in Marathi, and even though in college the medium of instruction was English no one really spoke in English. I was first exposed to spoken English when I joined for my PhD at the National Chemical Laboratory where people from all over India were there so Marathi was not an option as a language of communication with everyone, and from there onward I am constantly surrounded by people speaking in English. One can easily understand by reading my blog posts, comments, tweets, or Facebook posts that English is not my native language, but I am very comfortable with communicating in English as it allows me to connect with people all over the world. At the same time, I am also aware that my English skills are not that GOOD in a conventional sense, but the question is, is it necessary to know GOOD English?

Having a command of any language is great, I really admire everyone who has an impressive command of any language. This skill gives that person the power to put their thoughts in a very articulative way, they become masters in the craft of playing with words. Reading wonderfully worded articles and books is an amazing experience. A beautiful combination of words mesmerizes us, it leaves a deep impact on our minds. That is why there are not many successful professional writers. But is it necessary to know good English or any other language to express your thoughts in that language? I personally don't think so, we need some medium to express our ideas and thoughts, and language is one of those mediums. The purpose of any language is to allow us to express our thoughts in a manner that others can understand. If we can do that, then we all are smart and effective users of that language. I admire the talent of people who are masters of expressing their thoughts in beautiful manure, I will keep on trying to learn that craft but not being a master in that shouldn't stop me from sharing my views. As it is not only the right of people with a great voice to sing a song, it is not a rule that only people with good command of that language should write in it. We all can express our thoughts in whatever language we feel comfortable with. I see many people hesitate to communicate with others just because they think their language skills are not good enough, I always encourage them to at least give it a try and see how easy it is to express and connect with people, you just have to get over that hesitation and be honest with your expression. Just get over that initial hesitation and start communicating in whatever language you are comfortable with, after all, thoughts and ideas matter not the language in which they are communicated. If you want to say something, say it, the language doesn't matter, people will relate to it if the thought is genuine. Good luck.  

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Links:
1. Dialogues with Chetan Bhagat

Mr. Prime Minister please don't mess it up this time

When the BJP won a decisive majority on its own in the general elections of 2014, I was a little surprised. I wasn't surprised that NDA won the elections, it was quite clear that the government of that time had no chance to come back to power, but many didn't expect a clear majority for BJP as a single party. They won 282 seats on their own (with ~31% vote share) and NDA in total won 339 seats with ~39% vote share. Actually, it was good to see that a single party won the majority so the excuse of coalition dharma to justify any decision or lack of decision must disappear now. Many governments from 1989 suffered decision paralysis because of this coalition politics. There was one person largely responsible for BJP's impressive success, it was Mr. Narendra Modi. His presence made all the difference as other parties did not have anyone to counter the challenge posed by him, he rode on a wave of his popularity with enormous resources at his disposal to execute a very well-planned campaign to secure an absolute majority for his party. It must be noted that this has happened for the first time since 1984. In the 1984-85 general elections Congress won the election with an absolute majority under the leadership of the Late Mr. Rajiv Gandhi. It was a landslide victory, they won 414 seats with ~49% of the vote share, it was the biggest victory margin for any party to date. I don't think that record is easy to break in the near future. Mr. Rajiv Gandhi had the majority which no one enjoyed ever in the Indian parliament, many expected that he would bring much-needed changes in the style and functioning of Indian politics. But sadly, it didn't happen, a golden opportunity was missed. Mr. Rajiv Gandhi started on a very positive note and made very impressive speeches about bringing changes at the beginning of his tenure but somehow lost his way somewhere in between and ended his tenure with corruption charges (Bofors scandal), the Shah Bano case disaster, and Ram mandir issue. Rather than Rajiv changing Indian politics, Indian politics changed him. This was really sad, I really feel bad whenever I look back to this part of Indian history, it is not that his government didn't do any good work but the expectations that people had were not fulfilled. The defeat of the Congress party in the 1989 general elections started a new era of coalition politics, which resulted in many weak and unstable governments. So, after 30 years now we have another prime minister and party with an absolute majority in parliament. Like Rajiv, Modi also started his tenure on a very positive note, his speeches include all the right things, and people have a lot of expectations from him and his government. I hope he is serious about changing the ways politics and political parties work in India. I believe he wants to create a bipartisan style of political decision-making, bring more transparency to political funding, and reduce corruption.

Mr. Modi has a very unique opportunity in his hands, the same opportunity that Mr. Rajiv Gandhi had and missed 30 years ago. Indians have waited almost three decades to get a government with decisive mandate. Hopefully, he remembers whatever promises he made during his election campaign. One thing that I am looking forward this government to implementing is a uniform civil code (not a Hindu civil code which RSS wants). India calls itself a secular country but there is a very complicated system of personal laws. Each religion has its own set of personal laws, especially in cases of marriage, divorce, and adoption. BJP has been talking about a uniform civil code for a long, and I think it is time now for them to implement it. I am sure the youth of the country across the party lines will support this. Mr. Modi has the majority on his side at least in one house of parliament and it is just a matter of time his party gets the majority in the other house as well. He should initiate this process to show his commitment to his party's promises. This one change can initiate a big social change. This is also a unique opportunity to change the long tradition of politicization of different institutions and government bodies. If the NDA or BJP keeps repeating the same mistakes that the UPA or Congress did in the past then what is the use of changing the government? If the current government behaves in the same way as previous governments then it is just a change of name not a change of governance style. Initial signs don't look that promising but may be they need some time to adjust and will get their acts together soon after initial hiccups.

I don't expect these changes to happen overnight or even during the first year of this government, but they have enough time to prove themselves. This opportunity came after 30 long years and if it is missed this time then I don't know how many more years Indian people have to wait to see this happen again. Delhi assembly elections showed that voters don't have the patience to wait, they want results and I hope Mr. Modi doesn't mess up this unique opportunity that history has offered to him. They are not going to get 60 years like Congress. Congress has already done its work to establish a strong democratic foundation for India, let's see not how the BJP builds on it. India's secular fabric has always been weak and I hope the BJP remains careful about not destroying it, after all, progress without equality and equity is not progress at all. 

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Links:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_civil_code_of_India
2. Uniform civil code: will it work in India?

If it's not your cup of tea, then don't drink it

This tweet by Indian filmmaker Karan Johar grabbed my attention, he tweeted this in response to all tweets that criticized his participation in a controversial episode of AIB knockout roast. While I enjoy watching some stand-ups I am not a very big fan of them. I think most of them focus more on the negative aspects of life and use insults and vulgarity as major elements to create comedy. But these shows and such types of comedy are very popular and I recognize why it is so popular. These comedians also push the limit to the extent that it sounds sometimes offensive or derogatory but that's how it is. These shows are not part of any TV channels that are meant for family audiences and they give proper disclaimers before the show for people who don't know what are they getting into. This particular AIB roast also comes with a disclaimer about its adult content, so, people who are not comfortable with such things should not watch it, it is as simple as that. 

Everybody claims to have a sense of humor as it is a cool thing to have but very few actually have it. It is easy to laugh at others and pass comments about others but it is very difficult to laugh at yourself, very few people dare to do that. Comedy forms like satire and most stand-up shows are not for people who don't can't withstand ridicule and insult. In India, this form is relatively recent, it is not that we didn't have comedy shows but their format was different and the focus was always on so-called clean comedy, so, I am sure many will find it difficult to adjust to this new style of comedy. I was stumped when I saw the first stand-up on YouTube when I came to the US, I was surprised to see how people could tolerate and laugh at such racist, sexist, and insulting comments. But then I realized that this form of comedy is not everybody's cup of tea, I can't watch some of these shows as I don't enjoy the contents of them but that doesn't mean that I can stop others from watching them. 

I managed to watch this show when it was still there on YouTube. It is funny, I enjoyed most of it and yes, it is really vulgar and filthy at times but the show puts this warning right in the beginning so you know what to expect. I have no complaints about the contents of this show, I didn't like some things about it, but that's my problem. I can't demand an apology from participants for using abusive language towards each other, that will be the stupidest thing to do. There are many things that we see around or watch on TV or in movies that don't suit our taste, we are free to reject them and even to register our protest in the strongest possible words. But to question a person's right to express their thoughts is a sign of a regressive mindset. I hope this controversy is settled soon, this is such a waste of time. India has much bigger problems to deal with than worrying about the contents of some comedy roast. I even found some parts of a very popular comedy show from one of India's TV channels "Comedy Nights with Kapil" very sexiest and insulting to women, so I stopped watching it and if I watch it I do it at my own risk, I can't demand an apology and ban just because I don't like it. I hope adults learn to behave like adults and stop wasting time on such petty issues. Like Karan Johar tweeted, if it's not your cup of tea, then don't drink it. If you drink it by mistake, then don't cry foul or abuse the makers, just laugh at your own stupidity and move on and be careful next time.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Internet and religion

Various religions ruled this world for many centuries unanimously and without any serious threat or challenge (apart from conflicts between each other). The empire of religion grew as it became more and more organized. As it became organized, it also became very powerful, it associated itself with rulers and legitimized its prosecuting powers. It became so powerful that it was very easy for them to crush any opposition in the name of blasphemy. It became a big enterprise, more like today's cell phone market. As everyone needed this gadget called religion different versions of it became available depending on the time and needs of that particular place. Some survived and some perished as they couldn't compete. Very few philosophies survived who dared to challenge the concept of religion and God. The empire of religion has ruled the world unanimously for so many centuries. But it seems there is one thing that is threatening the empire of religion like no one ever did before, it is not any organization or any new philosophy but it is an open and free information source called the "internet." The Internet is a recent discovery but in the last 20 years or so it has changed the way people collect information and the way they communicate with each other. It has changed the way information is generated and shared. This has provided access to a vast amount of information to almost anyone with an internet connection on any electronic device. Ignorance and lack of access to reliable and verifiable information were the major reasons for the stronghold of all religions on people's minds. People had many questions but no answers and religion easily filled that vacuum by providing them some explanations that people couldn't verify but believed as there was no other alternative.

Today people can get answers to most of their queries by using any search engine on the internet. They can find different views and opinions about any given topic. Readers can choose how much information they want, they are no longer limited to only one-sided views or arguments about any topic. This has challenged the propaganda run by different religions for centuries. Many people with open minds and a lot of questions use the internet as a more reliable source of information. Before it was very difficult to get hold of a book or a person who could provide some reliable information about many questions because of limited resources in many parts of the world but now it is not that difficult to access reliable and verifiable information. I can say these things based on my own personal experience. I started questioning religious practices and concept of god when I was in college, but no one bothered to answer those questions rather I was told that it was wrong and insulting to ask such bad questions. But fortunately, I had access to libraries and I started reading books based on such subjects during my college days. I was lucky to have access to the library and I am glad that I utilized that, but not everyone is that lucky. Those books challenged my beliefs, questioned my faith, and forced me to rethink, they forced me to raise questions even though no one was willing to answer them. I found some of the answers in those books and others during my journey as a scientist. The next level was attained when I came across the phenomenon called the "internet." It gave me access to a lot of information and connected with many individuals. I used to think I was the only one who found many problems with the way religion is practiced but I realized that many are raising these types of questions. The Internet helped me to educate myself without help from anyone. I was able to read a lot and collect a lot of information, some was useful and some wasn't but it was my choice what to accept and what to reject. That information cleared a lot of my doubts and also provided me a platform to share that information with others, this blog is a result of that effort. In this amazing journey on the internet, I also got connected with many people whom I would not have met otherwise. It was a really great experience to interact with them and get to know their views. It enriched my thinking.

I have no doubt that the internet is going to be a major force to challenge the authority of all religions. After realizing its potential and reach all religions are also using the internet as a tool to propagate their faith and many of them are doing it very effectively but at the same time, it has provided a platform to all who always faced threats and intimidation from powerful religious institutes. Religions can't execute people on the internet for blasphemy, and they can't intimidate them like they used to do in the past, this is still not a level playing field, but at least there is a field for others to challenge religion, such a field never existed before. Many people are getting more vocal and assertive with their views against bad customs and rituals from every religion which was not possible without risking their own life just a few decades ago. I am glad to see that slowly but steadily this alternate voice is forcing religion to change its attitude and modify its stance on many issues. I am sure this is just the beginning and we are going to see more tolerant forms of religion in the coming years. Destruction of faith or religion should not be a motto but to make it more tolerant and flexible should be the purpose of challenging it. Religion has to realize that it has to change its intolerant attitude or perish slowly. I am sure it will prefer to change rather than to perish, after all, who would like to destroy such a vast empire built over centuries at the cost of defending a few lines from some ancient books. Thank you internet, for giving us the space to raise our voices.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Links:
1. Why the Internet is slowly strangling religion