Gravity vs. God

A friend today floated a question on Facebook for all his pals. He simply asked, “Are you an atheist?”. The moment I read it, I asked myself, “Am I?” Pat came the answer from within, “If you’re not, why the speck of doubt?” And hence I was forced to think. But, how could I be an aethist? Isn’t aethist defined as “A person who disbelieves or lacks belief in the existence of God or gods” (Source: Oxford Dictionary) and I do go to temples, right?

Some days ago, I had read somewhere, “We live on a blue planet that circles around a ball of fire, next to a moon that moves the sea, and you don’t believe in God?” I remember thinking, “That’s Gravity!” My heart argued again, “Sure it is. Gravity keeps us grounded. But, isn’t that what God is also supposed to do?” And then I wondered whether God could be just another name for Gravity? More arguments follow here: Gravity is nothing but a superpower that ensures existence. But then so is God.

I do believe there's a superpower that ensures existence. Whether you call it a God or not, it's up to you. Whether you give him a face - any face - or not, it's up to you. I believe that the power is inside us, it is around us and some people call it Gravity and others call it God. They give it a face and carve it in stone.

I think we humans have a fear of the unknown and the unseen and they do this because it gives them protection against the fear. So, it's okay as long as it gives you peace of mind. What I don't believe in is discriminating each other on the basis of the face we have chosen for our belief. It's worse than kids fighting, “My doll is better and prettier than yours.”

As for the rituals, again they are okay as long as they don't become superstitions. I myself participate in poojas, fast on Navratris and all. But if for any reason, I am not able to do that for once (e.g. this Navratri I am not fasting), it's okay. The God, if he exists, would not judge us anyway.

Overheard and disgusted - high society match-making

Yesterday, I was visiting an eye specialist to get my eyes checked. It wasn't anything more than a routine check-up and I happened to be waiting for my eyes to be dilated that I overheard a lady talk on phone with someone. She seemed to be some kind of a match-maker dealing primarily with high society, big net-worth clients. Her style of speaking was very sophisticated, urbane and suave and yet I couldn't have been more disgusted with the conversation that I overheard.

This is what the one-sided conversation sounded like (# names changed to prevent privacy)

"Hello! Namaste ji, how are you?"

*pause*

"Arre, what are you saying? Aapko toh is waqt bahut khush hona chahiye. Maine itni sundar ladkiyan bhej rakhi hain aapko."

*pause*

"Nahin, itni badhiya ladkiyan hain aur aapko khaas pasand nahin aayi? Geetika# aur Aisha Kohli#. Vaise in dono se bhi sundar ek ladki aayi hai mere paas. She has come to me through a reference and she is very beautiful. Only thing is that she does not belong to Delhi or NCR. She is from Indore."

*pause*

"But, then toh agar aapko Delhi/NCR se hi chahiye toh yehi dono hi hain - Geetika and Aisha Kohli."

*pause*

"Haan, Geetika, I know, is just ok to look at, but paise-walon ki ladki hai. Uske papa se baat hui thi  meri, vo log shaadi mein 1.5 crore lagane ko ready hain. They will even give you an Audi worth 40 lacs. Aapko yehi toh chahiye tha."

*pause*

"Nahin, vo toh Aisha Kohli wale bhi itna hi karenge - 1.5 crore bhi Audi bhi."

*pause*

"Vaise toh dono ka financial status same hai. Both girls' fathers have same income, about 5 - 6 crores. Aur girls bhi dono hi sundar hain. Haan, Aisha Kohli comparatively, you are right, thodi better looking hai."

*pause*

"Yeh Geetika ki family ne abhi abhi 1 brand new kothi khareedi hai DLF mein 500 gaz ki. They will shift there in 2 months. Actually, her bhabhi is expecting so they are waiting."

*pause*

"Abhi Rajinder Nagar mein rehte hain. Ab vaise to Rajinder Nagar is also not a bad place. A lot of good and well-to-do families live there."

*pause*

"Nahin, Aisha Kohli ka bhi same hai. Unki Noida mein kothi hai 400 gaz ki."

*pause*

"Ab vo toh dekho ji, both girls are same to same, dono sundar hain, dono 1.5 crore lagayenge, dono Audi denge, dono ka financial status bhi same hai. Ab it's up to you."

By now, I was disgusted and sick of the conversation and was wondering whether I should look for another seat. It was nauseating to listen the girls being evaluated on such orthodox narcissistic and greedily monetary criteria. Not once during the 15 odd minutes conversation was the girls' educational background, career choices (I doubt they had any) or other qualities were discussed. Was it only me who had started to believe that thanks to the social media and public outcry the mindsets of people has started to change, especially the upper middle class and high class people who are active on social media etc. I had started to think that the girls in these families are not looked at as commodities anymore and are acknowledged and respected for their own achievements and qualities. I was jolted from my slumber by a simple one sided conversation to come back to reality that things have only changed in written and spoken words and families like mine where girl's education and empowerment have always been embraced are still largely outnumbered by the orthodox male child obsessed and male dominated families. Have I actually become too much of a feminist to feel largely disturbed by this seemingly normal conversation?

Meanwhile, while the phone conversation continued, and I was thinking all of this, luckily for me, there was a call for me to see the doctor and I was saved from overhearing the conversation any further.

I wonder what all my friends, both guys and girls, have to say about this.

The rape victim was 71 years old but why does it matter

I am getting increasingly irked by all the coverage of the Nun's rape. Fail to understand why so much focus is on the age of the Nun. A rape is a rape, be it an assault on a 71 year old or a 21 year old. Why the unnecessary hype on the age?

Everywhere - in the news, or even on social media - in the coverage that the incident is getting; there is excessive emphasis on the age of the nun who faced the sexual assault. And I ask myself whether the fact that the nun was well beyond her prime and probably the age of the assailants' grandmother makes the crime any more horrible than the other rapes that have happened in the past or keep happening every day in India? Was Suzette Jordan's rape any different from 'Nirbhaya' (thanks to BBC, we even know Nirbhaya's real name now - Jyoti Singh) incident just because she was the mother of teenage daughters? Even Aruna Shanbaug's case is a radical reminder that every rape, be it on a teenager or a women in her twenties, thirties, forties or even seventies as brutal as that of the nun, if not more.

Why then the unnecessary focus on the Nun's age?

I do understand when a child faces sexual assault, the age of the child becomes a highlight of the gruesome incident for two primary reasons: 1) the child does not even understand what he or she has been subjected to; and 2) his / her body is not even physically developed to handle what it has been inflicted to. Highlighting the young age of the victim in such cases is also only necessary to understand the psychological impact on the child victim which is very different from the psychological impact on an adult victim. But, again, even in such cases, the focus still remains on the criminal's alarming psychological need to overpower and dominate the other person, usually the female who is often highlighted in all these incidents as the weaker sex.

But, in any case, the age of the victim does not even matter in the rape. It is a brutal and barbaric crime no matter what.

P.S. For that matter, it is even irrelevant that the victim was a Nun. She was a 'women' who bore the brunt of savage male mentality.