Wednesday, September 23, 2015

A Quest For God

I think the purpose of all religious books has forever been just one:
To implant in the minds of the followers / believers, the fear of God.
And hence one finds inscribed in there, a punishment from God Almighty for every wrong-doing.

And so instead of loving The Creator, The Almighty God, the believers (irrespective of the religion they follow) are actually always frightened of the "punishment" that may befall them.
(Ironically, for "rewards" the believers are asked by the preachers of the faith to "fight" for "pious and sacred" causes, which are of course defined by these religious leaders)

In reality however, this fear factor ensures that the followers actually remain glued to worldly customs and rituals without even realizing the essence of the divine message.

Like God comes in many forms, so does His "punishments" and one such "punishment" concerns the political environment of a place and people.
It says that God will impose cruel ruthless rulers over the sinners.
One does not hear much of this "punishment" in any constructive context.
It is either forgotten by the preachers or is being missed out deliberately.
Or still worse, it is being misinterpreted into further frightening an already wretched lot.

Also, since the Holy Texts are open to varied interpretations depending on the understanding of the interpreter, a single verse may be quoted differently in different contexts.
Hence an all-encompassing definition of who a sinner is cannot be given.

But one can assume with some certainty that as soon as the word "sinner" is mentioned one inevitably thinks of people who are not praying as per the set norms of the community they belong to, not visiting Mandir-Masjid-Church-Gurudwara, not feeding the cow, crow etc or not performing the "qurbaani" as in slaughtering animals "to please God" and so on.
In essence these so called "sinners" are those individuals who do not follow the worldly rituals associated with that divine religion.

It is taken for granted that following "religious" rituals makes a person a good human being.
Therefore when one talks of "good human beings", one never thinks of ...

the man who buys good quality soaps and distributes them among poor children so that they may also have a fragrant and clean bath.

Or
that man with limited means of livelihood who gave away his small ancestral property to his lesser privileged relatives because he thought they needed it more than him.

Or
that middle class man who feels the hunger of others and feeds the poor on the streets from his own earnings.

Or
the woman who, in spite of an already over-burdened routine, runs a tiffin service to supplement her husband's income.

Or
those very few parents / teachers who are working diligently to give their children / students a humane mindset in this world inflicted and infected with every possible kind of barbarism.

God never ceases to insist that He comes to us in infinite forms.
Do the followers not believe that "kann-Kann mein Bhagwaan bastey hain"  and "Zarre-Zarre mein Khuda ka noor nazar ataa hai..." ?
So what is stopping us from seeing the beautiful image of God and feeling His sacred presence in His infinite Creations?
The past week ushered in a unique period of religious activity happening across India as we celebrated the birth of Mother Mary, the arrival of Lord Ganesha and also the arrival of the month of Hajj.

In an astonishing paradox however, staunchly orthodox followers across religions have found "loopholes" in their respective religious texts and scriptures to justify, endorse and encourage violence, rape, war and more such damning threats to peace while emphatically defending and affirming their religion as "an ideal way of life" and "a message of peace, aman and shaanti for the entire world".

The more I think, the more I am convinced that NO Religion has ever stated that war and violence is wrong .... Yes! I am amused to note that religions across the world have actually been very diplomatic on this issue.
They have gone a step ahead... and given their followers a cruel luxury called "Rules for War".
Go By The Rule Book And Kill People ...
How "convenient, comforting and rewarding" that indeed is for the believers ... !!!!
And armed with a divine hand book of rules, these so called preachers of peace are tearing apart every little thread of hope.

But thankfully there have been and still are God's lesser known messengers who don't live by violence .. They are silent, yet firm in their endeavor... Their reach may not be as vast, but their goodness is immensely impressive and enduring ....and the lives that they touch become truly blessed ....
And to realize this one needs to read and listen to the likes of Amir Khusro, Mandela, Gandhi....
And Amrita, Lennon and Sahir too ...

Also from the more contemporary, we have among us, Dr.Badri Raina and Mr.Mickey Nivelli...
These are the people who have been and who still are tirelessly interpreting God's Message better and better with each passing day ....

Time to seek some enlightenment perhaps....
Eid Mubarak to all

Friday, September 4, 2015

Happy Teachers Day

Who is a teacher ?
Before one gives a specific definition, I would like to mention that just like a mother can only be good, a Teacher can also be only good.

Anyone who can urge others to overcome their shortcomings and become a better person is a teacher.
This is how I identify a Teacher from among  the spilling multitude of humanity.

And saying so I can't help but remember  Mummy
She was a graduate in English Literature and loved Urdu poetry.
She was a passionate and intense reader of books in both languages.
And she was a natural teacher.
"Natural" I say because anyone who has been in touch with her has learned something good from her because she preached through practice ....

By a fortunate chance she got an opportunity to teach in the school where we siblings used to study.
Instead of teaching English, she chose to be a teacher of Moral Science.
Yeah! Back then, in the good old days there used to be a subject called "Moral Science"...

Trying to keep pace with the ever-changing Time, and being nothing but another rat in the race of life one never realised when, but surely quite a  long time ago Moral Scinece books vanished from school bags ...
Now one hears that in the days to come  schools will replace character certificates with aptitude certificates ...

Sometimes in a glittering world of insatiable materialism, it becomes difficult to find morals ...

However some of the Teachers are now better paid.

Happy Teacher's Day