Each time I answer a test, I recite a prayer to God-" Save me one last time, next time onwards I will do it myself". Right from the time when I was very young( I am still very young, I meant when getting good marks was the most important thing in my life, when I topped in class; seems like ages ago). The regularity with which I answer exams now (and pray), I almost qualify to be a priest. I tried to recall, could think of only few occasions when I actually pray to God. My birthday, Deewali, Holi, and other very important days( which, in teens, are invariably exam days).
My parents pray everyday, for long hours( the same time if devoted to fitness, they would be young forever), and I take it for granted that they must be praying for me only, so it compensates for me not praying.
I always thought of spiritualism and religion as an asylum that people take when they don't have anything significant to do in life. First time I realized it was more important than that was when I met a Pakistani boy, my age ( 14-15 that time), in Lucknow. In Pakistan, Islamic studies is a compulsory subject( he was from an International School, there also they were compulsory). So this guy knew a lot about religions, Islam in particular. My knowledge was zero. He kept talking about how Islam was superior to Christianity, how Christianity and Islam were same once and how they got separated.( I don't exactly remember, but he spoke on such lines for sure) He asked me about Hinduism. I told him I know nothing.
"Don't you feel hollow without religion. "( These were the exact words).
" No "
"I feel like religion completes me".
" I feel complete even without religion" ( I had to argue, after all I was representing my country in an Ind-Pak encounter).
I told him I am a secular person!!( I must have picked it up from some political speech, always evergreen, I had to win the duel).
He asked me to read Quran. I said I don't know Urdu. He told me he would gift me an English or Hindi version of Quran. It wasn't available immediately at the bookstore. Any longer, and this guy would have had me converted.( btw, his email id was quite horny, for a religious fellow).
Of course, I knew about the impact of religion, political and social. But not how it 'completed' men, its divine nature. I still don't know. Why eating non-veg on Tuesday(pick your day as you like, it varies) is irreligious, and on other days, its Ok. Being an atheist is in fashion. It sounds so odd, so hatke. But give it a thought, why should one believe in some God, that you are never likely to see or hear( Not all of us are lucky as Lalu Yadav; he has seen Lord Shiva!). It's completely logical.
I am not an atheist, just passive about religion. I know I will never see or hear God, so what, I am cool about it. God is to be to felt, the mullahs, pandits and pope would have us beleive. I feel the God within me, in my spirits. Naah!! (I don't lie on my blog). I have never ever felt God,( c'mon, how do you feel God, sounds so fraudulent, I guess the only way is to fake it).Still for me, God exists. I don't have any logic, just this belief.
Religion still doesn't interest me. I never felt like wanting to know more about it. If at all, Islam interests me a bit, for it's various interpretations. Afganistan Government has legalized raping one's own wife(google it if you dont beleive, here's one -click) , as it was permitted under Shariah Law, which can't be possibly true. It has to be false, but there must be enough ambiguity in the text to allow such obvious misinterpretations.
If, it can be justified, it's science, if not, then it's religion-Anonymous
