Religion is flawed only because man is flawed.

I spent two of my best hours today watching 'Angels & Demons' ...the experience still giving me goose bumps as I write this...



The age-old debate of Science vs. Religion.

How do you explain the existence of one to another?

How to explain the co-existence of both? And for how long ??

As the mysteries of one century become the logic of the next - one may say it’s a losing battle for Religion but then look around you...the faith in the Faith is stronger than ever!!

Karl Marx wondered (and wondered aloud) if religion was opium of the masses...which may have led few of us to question the need for religion. Isn't the world a much simpler place to live? When all the phenomena stand perfectly rationalized? When the miracles of old world are nothing but scientific wonders waiting to be discovered? And then why do we need the religion to sedate us, delude us providing illusions of an existence that life certainly isn't! Isn't science just the perfect answer for the rationalists amongst us? Almost like an antidote for religion, isn't it?



But then how do you explain the faith? ..the belief that ran across the world for centuries in one form or other. Yes, blaming the Pope and his Vatican running like a smoothly functioning corporation selling us hope, faith, peace and respect towards that one Big Guy sitting up there; is a very tempting option. But then is religion nothing more than the biggest con job that mankind ever faced?



In the closing scene of ‘Angels & Demons’, Cardinal Saverio Mortati says something so profound that it almost explains the age-old fallacies of religion. Almost. He says, 'Religion is flawed only because man is flawed.'

Religion and Science. Yes, both are outcomes of Man's imagination and creativity. Both man-made; yet so different - one appeals to the heart and the other to the mind. It’s up to us to choose - heart over mind or mind over heart. Religion has made blunders in the past - the propagators of religion can almost share a bench with Hitler in hell for their atrocities and impositions. We still pay for it and would continue to do so for ages to come. But science functions no better. Its blunders are going to be the blunders of mankind in the future.



And may be..just may be..when man is tired of science one day - he will look back and seek solace in religion as we do now seeking solace in science from the misgivings of religion. Is this why they are meant to co-exist? To offer man some respite when he has had enough of the other? Well, who knows..Maybe.



When Karl Marx said, "Religion is the opium of masses," one might wonder if he was asking us wean ourselves from it. May be not! For a man who learnt from the sufferings of others - maybe he found the key to the existence and sustenance of religion. May be he found a reason for religion in man's life. In the full context his words were:

“Religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and the protest against real distress. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people. The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is required for their real happiness. The demand to give up the illusion about its condition is the demand to give up a condition which needs illusions.” (Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right.)

How difficult this mortal human life would be if not for the illusory happiness that Marx talks about! How would life be if all things stood perfectly well explained and rationalized! ‘The Logic’ would then be our God and we all devoid of any hope or fear. (On second thoughts – Why does mankind always need someone/something to look up to? We remove God and replace it by Logic but the truth remains we replace it. But then again, it’s a better place to be – the last time one race made the others look up to it – it nearly wiped out the ‘others’!)

So are we saying that a flawed religion is better than none at all? Of course, it would be same as a flawed science (we are moving towards it) better than none at all. And since the situation of perfect religion and perfect science (just like a perfect competition) almost never exists..man has to make do with one of them...leaving the choice either to himself or going with the flow as per the societal context of his time and place.

Phew! That’s a lot of unanswered questions! But may be the point is to question rather than a muted acceptance! And yes, like all man-made creations – religion and science included, one needs to accept their flaws instead of overlooking them.

To quote Karl Marx again – ‘Religion is the impotence of the human mind to deal with occurrences it cannot understand.’

Random rambling!

The room is a mess. So is the mind. I guess I will start cleaning the former.

Last page scribbling...

ज़ख्मों को कुरेदना मेरी आदत नहीं मजबूरी है
ज़िंदा होने को एहसास अब दर्द से जो होता है |

यादें अब अक्सर आँखों में नमी लाती है
पुरानी हसीं का एहसास अब आसुओं से जो होता है |

Maa kasam!

So it finally rained in the lands of Modi!
and yes, motherhood beckons!

Before you raise your hairy eyebrows..lemme explain.
At MICA, we have this tradition that the junior who occupies your 1st year's room, becomes your Room-Beta/Beti which effectively makes the senior his/her Room Baap/Maa. Its an unsaid, unspoken version of Mentor-mentee but yes, much more fun than the formal protocol.

So for every tuccha (senior) there is a faccha (junior) who is his/her baccha! :D

This new on-campus relation is very sweet. During the notorious 'culturization', Room-parents take their kiddos' unlimited case and the kiddo has to run around the campus deciphering his new-found family tree. So if I have a brother on campus he becomes the Room Mama and a boyfriend - then the Room Baap. My best friend - the torturous Room Maasi and so on and so forth...

On the surface this may seem a lil' frivolous, even childish. But it isnt either. A junie - say a fresher, first time away from home, away from friends and family in a faraway place can get easily lost in the crowds. First year brings with it a wave of insecurities and self-doubt. In such times, it feels nice to have someone keeping an eye on you. The assignments, groupisms, grade-cuts and occasional incidents of being thrown out of class can get to you. The insane company rankings (they never matter!), summer placements and wrath of professors can drive anyone to the verge of insanity. Add to this, that we stay on a campus far away from civilisation and see the same 300 people every single day!! Phew!

So you do need someone...apart from your batchmates - whom you can crib and complain about the workload, bitch about your batchmates and go running for notes one night before the exams.

My room-ma was the non-interefering kind. A sweet soul who always inquired how things were with me. I wish I had known her better but yeah, she was known to be a bit of a loner.
I hope I am good to my room beti. I have already ragged the poor thing during the 'interaction' and made her run all over the campus during the Treasure Hunt, but she took the whole thing so sportingly! It felt nice that she tagged along with me introducing me as her Room ma..it just felt so nice that Parijat Paanch is now in safe hands. I hope that place showers her with same love, warmth and homeliness that I got from it...moreso, wonderful memories to last a lifetime and a legacy to pass on to someonelse...

I cant put it any better than this - (which btw, was written on the ceiling of Chandni Chaar - my favourite senior Bhatter's room)

They were the worst of times;
They were the best of times.

Mi majh harpun basle ga...

Has it ever happened to you that you have one of the most depressing afternoons of your life and short nap later you wake up to a cheerful evening?
Today I 'decidedly' tried to be happy and you know what? I didn't take much of an effort:) No chats or phone calls - I decided, seeking out others to make myself feel good temporarily isn't an option. 'Nirmal Anand' is the way to nirvana :D

मराठी गाणी ऐकायचा mood झाला. Youtube गाठलं आणी पहिल्या गाण्यातंच घरची आठावण आली. Not the teary-eyed one; the one which leaves a smile on the face. बाबांनी सुधीर भटांच्या एखाद्या कवितेचा अर्थ समजवला होता ती संध्याकाळ - किंवा एकत्र बसून 'Nakshtranche Dene' बघितलेला रविवार, पटकन डोळ्यासमोर आला . आमच्या घरात संगीताला फार फार जपतात अणि जोपासतात. आई-बाबा दोघांनाही आवड आहे. अगदी शास्त्रीय संगीत ते भावगीत, भक्ति गीत, सुगम संगीत काहीही असो. बाबांना नाट्य संगीत आणी ग़ज़ल वर अधिक प्रेम. कुमार गन्धर्व, बाळ गन्धर्व, मास्टर दीनानाथ, पु ला, गा दी माँ, पंडित वसंतराव देशपांडे, सुधीर फडके ही सगळी मंडली आमच्या घरात वरचेवर स्मरली जातात.

Anyway. ठरवून नविन गाणी ऐकायचा तसा ज़रा कठिणंच असतं. नेमका कोणतं निवडावं - आणी एक संपला की दूसरा कुठला शोधावं! जुनी मराठी गाणी आठवता आठवत न्हवती - शेवटी Sa Re Ga Ma Pa च्या episodes मधून गाणी घेतली त्यांच्ये original videos शोडून काढले. भन्नाट मज्जा आली!! जुनी गाणी झाली अणि मध्येच आपल्या संदीप खरे ची आठावण आली! माझ्या बाबांना अगदी recently त्याचा शोध लागला अणि झालं!! एका patient च्या recommendation वर त्याच्या गाण्याची CD घरात आली अणि दिवस रात्र आम्ही खरेमय झालो. बाबांनी शाळेतल्या मुलाला एखादा नविन विषय पटकन आवडून जावा ह्या उत्साहाने एका diary मध्ये सगळया गाण्यांचे lyrics लिहून काढले. ती process पण फार गमतीदार होती - आधी ते गाणं अक्खं ऐकायचं - मग appreciate वगैरे करूँ जाला की diary आणि pen घेउन बसायचा आणि ते परत लावायचं. गाणं सुरु झालं की realisation व्हायचा की pen चालत नाहीये - पण गाणं असं मध्ये थांबवणं बरं नाही ह्या विचाराने or rather CD player वर expertise establish न झाल्या मुळे ते पुन्हा तसच संपूर्ण वाजू द्यायचं. अत्ता नविन पेनाच्या तयारी ने ते तीस्र्यंदा लावायचं अणि word to word लिहून काढायचं! ऑनलाइन lyrics मिळतात आणि printouts काढता येतात ह्या टुक्कार गोष्टिन्कडे माझे बाबा फारसे लक्ष देत नाहीत. ते त्यांनी मनावर घेतला तर माझी पंचैत होइल हे नक्की! :D

So finally संदीप खरे ची गाणी ऐकली - अगदी साध्य सोप्प्या भाषेतले त्याचे मार्मिक observations खूप appealing असतात. Highly recommended!
Special mention - मी मोर्चा नेला नाही हे गाणं कुणाच्या अध्यात-न-मध्यात, सरळ आयुष्य जगणार्या typical middle-class मराठी मेंटालिटी च एक fantastic depiction आहे!!

Phew! Removing marathi typos is sucha pain!! Wanted to try it out for sometime but this is probably my first and last attempt at it. One more reason to not like Google! :D
So. Aata hya pudhe majha marathi asa vachava lagnaar!

I thought I would end this post by sharing my playlist - if you guys find some of your favourites here, do let me know. And any recommendations are welcome too :)
So here it is:-

शुरा आम्ही वंदिले
मागे उभा मंगेश, पुढे उभा मंगेश
लख लख चंदेरी
भय इथले संपत नाही
त्या फुलांच्या गंधकोशी
ऐरणीच्या देवा तुला
ती गेली तेंव्हा
रुणुझुणु रुणुझुणु दे भ्रमरा
कौसल्येचा राम
झाला महार पंधरिनाथ
तू तेंव्हा तशी

Ek sundar sandhyakal record karnyacha prayatna. Majhya saathi hi pahilich vel hoti. Assignments ani case studies madhye haravnyaadhi ghalavlela ek chamatkarik vel. Kadachit hyat navin asa konala vatla nasel...youtube var videos akkha jag baghta pan aajchya saarkha jagavegla anand mala aadhi nahi milala :)

I need to stop searching my happiness in others; I shall find it in me :)

Sunday Lunch

This was probably my last Sunday at home before I start for MICA and PGP2. Probably the last academic year of my life, awaits me there. I wanted to make this day special for the family, and hence what was only a common discussion topic finally happened...I prepared a full-fledged Sunday meal for everyone, and boy! Did it turn out well? :)

Sundays at our place, are for indulgence and heavy lunches are a given. The menu was decided a day in advance and after the lot of contemplation over my limited cooking skills and family’s limited endurance, the dishes chosen were:
- Tandoori Chicken
- Grilled vegetables
- Salad
- Chicken curry
- Rotis
- Jeera Rice
- Ice-cream

After going through the latest updates on Shiney Ahuja’s case and BMC’s plans to protect Mumbai from monsoons, I entered the kitchen. The mum teasingly asked if my plans for the BIG SUNDAY MEAL are still on or if I wanted any help from her. An emphatic no and with a dirty look for doubting me was enough to silence her :P

Anyway, then came the toughest part...you know the one where one needs to actually PERFORM to silence those critics and all. Our Sachin Tendulkar does such a fine job at that, but now it was my turn to prove me mettle! I started confidently, making the marinate for the chicken and the veggies. Since I hate following recipes to the tee (How can I trust someone who measures ginger in centimetres?) I decided to go on with my intuition and what would suit ‘swad anusar’. (Years of watching Khaana Khazana was now coming to some use.)

Once the chicken and veggies were left to marinate, I moved on to the curry. We Shindes love our curry in the same typical style that has been passed on from generation to generation. Ofcorz, no one makes it like my grandmom – she is the family authority on chicken curry and sabudanyachi khichdi!! U better her rendition and I would gladly give away half of my jaidaaat to you.

It was then that my mom who was banished from her own kitchen, could take it no more. Women are like that...very giving and generous; unless it comes to their paithanis and control over the kitchen. Then you have had it, even the meekest of the lot fires up to become a modern-day Hirkani :D Anyway, since the lady of the house started feeling a tad bit insecure, I decided to delegate the chicken curry to her and yes, she did a good job at it too, under my able guidance, if I may add so ;)

Meanwhile I got the dining table ready – a special meal requires a special ambience! The curtains were pulled down and dim lights were put on. A lacy tablecloth, table-mats were pulled out and bone-china crockery was laid. (Much to my mum’s chagrin, understandably, since the maid is on leave)

Then comes the toughest part – where one has to bribe the sistah to go get the icecream. Yes, there is screaming involved – from both the parties. One tries requesting, cajoling, coaxing, emotionally blackmailing and finally, when all is tried and failed – moving the matter to the High Command – the father. The trick is to sound like you are the aggrieved party in the whole deal and how insensitive the opposition is being – to all the effort you are putting in – adding just the right touch of emotions – that all the toiling in the kitchen since past 2 hours is after all, for the family! And then the case is won!! Of course this doesn’t always work – and then one is left with no option but to use the ultimate weapon - *Sniff! Sob! And sob some more* But beware coz this can be a double edged sword! One needs to grab the First Mover’s Advantage! And yes the performance must be sympathy-grabbing! Turn it into a wail and the High Command loses his composure unleashing his wrath. (Have some respect for the poor man’s nerves – he bears 3 women in his life, all by himself!)

So once the ‘get-the-ice cream-ok-as-you-say-for-the-last-time-ever!’ was done with, I turned my attention back to my chicken and veggies. The microwave was warmed and in went the chicken to be tandoored. Yes, I said my morning prayers then. After excruciating 15 minutes, I opened the microwave and let out some seriously mouth-watering wafts of chicken tandoori. (And men say women don’t understand how it feels pacing outside the delivery rooms! ;)) It looked purrfect!! The colour, texture and smell – all seemed so fabulous, all but the final test of taste remained!

The family was finally invited at the dining table; never mind that the sistah appeared to be suddenly overtly interested in Geography lessons and claimed not to be hungry (Well a little firing from the High Command is known to result in temporary loss of appetite :P) But finally the sight of roasted tender chicken was enough to melt her anger. The rice was put in the microwave just when the starters began at the table (What impeccable timing I tell you!)

I stood at the table anticipating a fierce criticism from the miffed sistah and the always-difficult-to-please High Command (the dad), but surprise surprise!! With subtlety, the father conveyed that he likes the meal :) the sistah actually grabbed the camera phone and clicked pictures as a testament for the future time! The mum gushed over how much she loved the meal and I happily bloated with pride :)

It was one of those good days today – we didn’t not lock ourselves in different room, with dad busy with TV or my being stuck to my laptop, my mom wasn’t slogging it out in the kitchen for a change and sister wasn’t studying alone in the bedroom. We were together – not just physically, but emotionally as well. Without anyone having said it – we enjoyed that rare ‘We-are-family!’ moment.
I hope and pray that we have more of these :)

Lifting the Purple Haze!

For a person, who vehemently hated technology, having summers at Yahoo! served as a perfect antidote. Not that I am cured of my Technophobia (Yes, it is a word..go Yahoo! Search it ;)) but I have started respecting techie-toys with each passing day. But no such attitude change towards the techies though! I still think they are the laziest of bums who hate their coding jobs and refuse to admit it. Yes, and they copy the codes from the web too!
*****

The Yahoo! experience has been an awesome breakthrough so far. The learning was immense (and I am sounding like a typical MBA!!) Sales is a tough place to be in when the entire world is sinking in the storm of recession. Ad spends are few and far between and Internet (with its measly 5% penetration in India) is the last media to be considered for advertisements and the first to be thrown out in case of shrinking budgets. But the online media industry is optimistic and unlike print, the only way it is headed is skywards.

For the first few days..the processes, the jargon and everything about this corporate culture left me dumbstruck. I moved around like a zombie having an out-of-body experience (now whats the chances of having that!) But slowly, it all started seeping in; it soon became a way of life.

The people at my workplace are a really wonderful and talented bunch. Very young. Very humorous. And the best part, great foodies! Yay!! Atleast once every week, someone in the team would put their foot down and declare 'nishedh' for the canteen food. Reasons would range from 'Yaar! Aaj paneer nahi khaana' to 'Aaj sirf pizza ki bhook hai'. Never mind the fact that the rest of the team loved their paneer - they are staunch believers of 'All for one and one for all'. And so the purple people not only help run Yahoo! but also contribute immensely to the revenue generation at the nearby Dominoes and Subways. Not that I ever complained! ;)

But then my revelry just doesn't end there! Roaming around in South Mumbai - admiring the Gothic architecture and wishing I had time for the run-down cafes was always a distant dream. Sales helped me do both!! I just didn't admire the grandiose stone buildings, but had jaw-dropping experiences when I found them even more beautiful from inside. What did I do then? I promptly lifted my jaw, appeared to be all sophisticated and pretended to be not at all awe-struck by the grandeur and went on to have meetings with the CEOs/Marketing Heads. Ofcorz! I was no more important than a board-room fixture in many of those meetings. But the fact that I was there, getting to listen to all those successful and established men and women was the most fulfilling part of my internship.

Ofcorz coming to the food part of it - well my boss V is one heck of a foodie. The fact that he is a vegetarian gujju never hampered the my eating-out rendezvous. He took me to swanky places, regular, popular cafes and even run-down Irani hotels adding awesomeness to the experience. From 'Stadium Cafe' next to Churchgate Station to 'Cafe Crystal' at Girgaum Chowpatty. Not to forget that 'ugaach-asach bhook-nahi-tarihi' Shri Krishna's Vadapav, Kothimbir vadi and Sabudana vada. The Goan food at 'How Fishy!' and the birthday treats at Tunga Paradise. Yum!! These past 2 months were indeed a great gastronomic experience!

Now as I wrap up things at my workplace, I feel extremely proud to have spent time with the Yahoos. They have a way of life and they have fun living it! For a fresher like me, this corporate stint was the perfect start. I hope my next workplaces match up to the high standards of expectations I would always carry along post-Yahoo!

P.S: Tomorrow is the final presentation. Pray for me! The best part - my team is taking me and the other intern for an overnight picnic to Alibaug - as a farewell!! Ain't they sweet? the Yahoos!

Cheers - to new friends and good times ahead!
-Rutuja