An open letter to Aamir Khan

Dear Aamir,

I wish to congratulate you on the wonderful effort at trying to repay your debt to the society. Your effort is much appreciated, and I was your biggest fan. Please note, "was" your biggest fan. The first few episodes of the show Satyamev Jayate were a massive hit, causing a million people to shed tears. Off-late, your episodes are almost leaning towards taking sides rather than becoming a platform for voicing peoples' opinions. I was thinking as to why this tendancy was not noticed in the initial few episodes? And I seem to have found the answer. 

The first few episodes were about issues such as dowry, woman abuse and female infanticide. These are issues which cannot possibly have two sides, at least going by your show. You show us a video of a woman whose nose was bitten off; there is no human being who can take your opposite side. Therefore, we all agreed with you and your opinions. Then there was a story of a woman whose kids were thrown off the stairs. Again, nobody can disagree. But will you show the store of a man whose life was ruined becasue his wife and her family filed false cases using the Dowry Act? No, you won't and we all know the reason. That won't capture the audiences' attention I guess. I was a huge fan and I have also shed many a tear hearing stories on your TV show. But all thse negative thoughts never came into my head until I saw the last few episodes, especially the one about "Effects of Pesticide".

The Kasargod incident was aired about 5years ago on news channels and is heart warming. The lack of planning in the spraying of pesticides is despicable and no punishment is enough for those responsible. There are NGOs fighting this and people who have given up their lives for this cause. This was aired on CNN-IBN a few years ago. Now my question is: What are you trying to achieve through your show? Is it like a show on Discovery Channel where you give us information that these issues exist in your country? Or is it like a forum where you urge people to take action? I am totally confused now.

You are almost taking on the role of one who has already taken sides and made up his mind before entering an argument. The way the MD of the India Phosphorous Ltd., Mr. Shroff, was made fun of was absolutely unacceptable. What are you trying to achieve? Are you challenging him with your repeated questioning on the alternatives of farming? What did you expect? That he would say: "Thank you for enlightening me Aamir. I now close down my company". It is a friggin 8000 crore rupees turnover company. You make a sarcastic comment and the crowd laughs and this is like a jester leading his monkey on. I noticed one lady who was nodding her head for every comment, both for and against. Who are all these people to laugh at him? If you really thought that by you calling big names and insulting them on stage, you have made your point; you could not have been more wrong. If you are challenging him with an alternaltive, you are asking him to say:"yes we don't need any more pesticides". And assuming that in your utopia, the pesticide industry is closed. Will you employ those people who are emplyed there? They are more than a lakh in number. By stopping pesticides, the productivity will go down. There is no denying it. Who will suppost their sustenance during the transition to Organic Farming?

I don't believe it. This is like a set of 10 people handing out Panacea to the whole world. 

Dear Mr. Aamir Khan, the world is not so black-and-white as you think. I appreciate your effort, and I am fully for the fact that we need a better India and a better society. Let us all work together. But just becasue we follow the show does not in any way put you in a position to take sides and propogate the same via the show. Please give different sides of the story, and let people decide who is wrong and who is wrong. At the beginning of the show you say:"Please use your intelligence to make a decision". And then you have 60% of the show talking about one side of the story and the other 40% insulting the poerson of the other side. Please correct this, else you will lose more fans like me.

Even I conducted a research and it shows that watching TV can cause damage to the eyes. I am sorry, I need to switch off your show as of now. 

Your fan,

Abhiram Kramadhati

Where is God?

I have read books, heard arguments and seen shows on how we can prove God exists or does not exist. I have thought about it a number of times as well. I don't know why, but I never seem to arrive at a conclusion. Maybe I was too lazy to think it through. On a warm Sunday morning, I am suddenly in the mood to think about this. The human mind is an amazing thing. It can generate thoughts so profound, that you begin to question yourself and the source of these thoughts. Like in the movie Inception, it is impossible to figure out the "origin" of a thought; all you realize all of a sudden is that you are thinking! You don't know how and when it started. In the same way, I have a thought and I need to pen it down. I just have to.

Does God exist? I don't know. What is God? Who is God? I have argued a number of times with numerous people on this issue, and the general consensus is that the fact the most people confuse God with "worship". "I don't believe in God, do you seriously want me to skip food for one whole day!". OK, you are confused that "not eating food for a day" is a form of worship/devotion to God. This defies logic, and thus you don't believe in God. This is just a ritual, and this is also the biggest lie humanity has believed in and still continues to do so. The lie is Ritual=Religion. Assuming there is God, do you seriously think he will be angry if one person somewhere in the corner of the world sat down in the wrong direction? One really does not expect the younger generation to believe in this. This misguided belief is something which is making people move away from Religion. Believe me, being religious does not mean you are to be ritualistic. You can consume alcohol and still be religious. The sooner we see through this mist of confusion, the better it is for us. But this is argument is for another day!

When you see people who are driven to believing in living-Gods like Nirmal Baba etc. , don't laugh at them. It is our system which has driven them there. In this whole system of prayers/rituals, one is so immersed in those activities that one stops seeing God and starts seeing idols/temples.

I am always intrigued by this question. "What was there at the beginning at Universe?". I still get goosebumps when I think about the edge of the Universe. What is beyond it? Just think about it. What lies beyond the edge of the Universe. Within what is the Universe contained? These are mind boggling questions that Science is trying to answer. But coming to think of it, science has always waged a battle against God. The fact that all phenomenon earlier attributed to God are finding explanations in Science, has fueled this battle further. But I have read this and makes a lot of sense:

"Science can explain what the Universe was and how it was as long ago as when time(t) is almost 0. In mathematical term: 'as limit t-->0'. But till now, there is no explanation of what was there when t=0".And this ladies and gentlemen, is the biggest advantage Religion holds over Science. As long as t=0 is not explained, the concept of God has to be in the picture logically. Until then, believers and non-believers will be at loggerheads over the existence of God.

But just think about it, is this the kind of God we would like to believe in? Think about this as well, "Why do you want to prove/disprove the existence of God?". By doing this, aren't you reducing the powerful entity to a mere object whose existence stands at the mercy of your validity? I would like to believe that the idea of God gives us a chance to believe, not just pray. I don't know if he exists. Also, my world will not change if suddenly there is a scientific theory proving/disproving his existence. For me, I see God around me in small things. You can too, you just don't look hard enough. Every morning I look at my family, I see God. Every day I play with my dog, I see God. I laugh my heart out with my friends on a little stupid joke, I see God. You see God in people around you, things around you and you be in a good place in life. Sometimes, you are so skeptical and bent upon the idea of non-existence of God that you fail to see the beauty around you. Would you really care if there is an explanation or not for the beautiful rainbow? for the aurora-borealis? Yes, it is scientifically explained. Yes, it is a known phenomenon. But don't fail to see the beauty behind this, believe that there is still joy and happiness in the world. You just have to look around.

I recently read "It's not about the bike", the story of Lance Armstrong's battle against cancer. He asked his doctors "Will I make it? What are my chances?". His doctor replied, "50-50". Armstrong was bombarded with series of chemotherapy, so much so that his body became a toxic-house. After an arduous struggle, he made it. He came back and won the Tour de France, the toughest sports competition out there. He won it many a time. Later in one of the casual conversations, he asked his doctor "What was my real chance?Be honest". "Less than 10%. You were one of the worst cases I have seen", his doctor replied. Lance Armstrong goes on to write that he did not and does not believe in God. But he worships people like his doctor who have spent countless years in research so that somewhere someone could live on to see his/her children grow up (his doctor was part of the team which developed the treatment for that form of cancer). You see God in such people. The doctor gave Lance a chance to believe, that is an act of God.

You are reading this article and probably listening to music on the internet. Think about all the people who spent years developing the technology. I see God in them.

I am agnostic. I spent sometime trying to figure out if God exists or not. Now, I don't want to find out. I may not worship idols, I may not have verses at the tip of my tongue and I may not even know the proper names of deities; but I know where to look for God. The next time somebody asks me "Do you know if God exists?". My answer will be "I don't want to know. I know where to look for my God".

What the IPL means to me

120 seconds was all it took to change the power balance in the city of Manchester, England. Fans went nuts in Italy, Juventus had won the league in Italy. The streets of Madrid transformed into a carnival, the La Liga was finally back in Real Madrid. These were just few of the events in the past few days which indicate the emotional attachment a football fan has towards his club. In Argentina, apparently one of the major reasons for divorces is football-rivalry. The rivalry between Boca Juniors and River Plate in Argentina is legendary, and it has been documented that many couples have parted ways after a Boca-River Plate clash. When the plane carrying players went down, a part of Manchester died with them.

This all seems a bit too extreme, but I have always wondered what drives this madness. Is it money? Stardom? Celebrities? Believe me, I have thought about this. The answer lies in the history. These football clubs were started by ordinary people. People who look like any other ordinary mortal, people who earned just a little more than what their families needed, people who wanted a chance to escape from the world they lived in. When the world was going through a dark phase with waves of unemployment, poverty and hunger; people came together to start something that would bring the whole city together. This provided a chance for people of all classes, all religions to come together. When the club goes into a match, it is like going into war. It is like your brother on the pitch. You pray, you hope, you laugh, you cry, you celebrate and you live. The city lives. You might have worked 12hours a day on the docks and earned just enough to feed you and your family; but on saturday, you pray for Portsmouth. No matter how rich you are, no matter who you are; you cheer for your team. You cheer for your city. From Arsenal's website: "In late 1886, a gaggle of workers from the Woolwich Arsenal Armament Factory decided to form a football team." Coming to think of it: when a club plays football; it is not just any football game, it is a club which your great grandfather built or a club which gave you something to cheer for during your darkest hour. That does seem to be a strong enough reason to cheer for, isn't it? This also explains why even the 3rd division clubs have their stadiums full. The world of football is not about the Manchesters and the Real Madrids, it is about the fans. it is about the spirit of football, and how it influences the culture. If you think football is a sport, you are wrong. It is a culture, and it has no boundaries, no barriers. 

I always wished I could feel for a team as my own. Although I love Manchester United, I never feel as if I am a part of the club. It just does not seem to be mine. I always wanted a team to be "my team". And then RCB happened. The skeptics say "IPL is all about money", "IPL is only about profit". So what? Nobody told that it would be a charity event. I atleast have a team which I can call it my own. The IPL may mean so many things to people. Glamour, money, cricket, evil. But for me, I can finally support my city. On the match day, just for a little while; the city is united. A business executive sits with an auto driver and watches the match, a elite school student asks the paper-boy on the road "is RCB batting?". This is what sport can do to people, this is also what sport can do to the spirit of a city. Just for those 4hrs you forget the differences, the wrong-doings and all the short-comings of people around you. You just live the game. It also teaches you that you can love a West-Indian as much as you love an Indian, that you can love a Sri Lankan just as much as you can love a New Zelander. I am a romantic and a fantasist; I believe it teaches you the way life is supposed to lived.

Maybe it can never build a culture as deep as that of football; since our teams are built by liquor barons. But that does not matter, what matters is that you live the life the way you are supposed to. You love people for who they are rather than judging them because of what the founder of his country did.

Go on. Give your heart to sport. Be it a football team, a cricket team or a tennis player; just give your heart and mind to sport once in a while. It just might teach you how to live.