Temple...Huh!! What is that?

mom : Get ready, we shall be going to the temple today.
me : Why?
mom : What do you mean why? To pray and get blessings, plus today there is big pooja there.
me : Can't we just pray here?

I hate to put my mom in this kind of situations but now she is used to it. She chooses to ignore such questions, but me, I try to justify why our ancestors might have had this system in place which will give me a better understanding of the cycle of life. The very notion of having temples where GODs are supposed to show up and bless you, and wipe your slate of sins clean, is downright ridiculous and those preaching that they do are hypocrites. When they can claim that GOD is everywhere, then why can't we just stay at home in a quiet and serene place and pray? Why would GOD want people to idolize him/her? Then he would not be called GOD, he would be a HUMAN. Pah! If offering GOD coconuts, lots of food and decorating him would make him happy, then why the rich still have problems? Why aren’t the poor dead already?

They claim GOD to be the creator, the destroyer and the one who controls the entire universe. I personally cannot comprehend, how a person of that stature could design a system and ask the living creatures to worship and pray, and only then will they prosper. The concept would sound something equivalent to - Your company chairman asking you to worship him and only then you shall be paid. There are so many practices followed in the Hindu religion which make me laugh by just visualizing GOD instructing people to do so, or GOD impressed by their deeds.

I, being an agnostic, try to justify, that if there was some superior being in control of the entire universe then what would impress him/her will be how we live our life and our relationships with our fellow beings and with the nature. It does not matter how much money we have dropped in the temple fund box, what matters is how much we have helped the needy. It does not matter if we prayed today and asked for blessings, what matters most is if we have been honest to ourselves today. Our ancestors are not be blamed but we ourselves for acquiescing without asking the million dollar question - "Why?”

So, the next time you stand in front of an idol or drop money in the temple, ask yourself, "Why?", and you will realize how stupid you thought GOD to be. :-)

Hi...I am superash....Who?

I use this nick of mine quite a few places over the internet and many have asked me almost like in unison - "Do you fantasize being a superhero?"

Don't we all? I mean not literally, but everyone wants to be famous and rich. The goal/aim drilled into every single childs mind from the time it was pulled out from the dungeon. Being a superhero and trying to protect the good from the evil is every kids dream. You just want to jump up and fly higher and higher, faster. But as you grow up these fantasies die down eventually and you become so called 'realist' and try to act like a more mature person. Deep down you still dream of transforming into someone many people will like and appreciate for what you are. You want to be noted and idolized. The downsides to that need not be mentioned as we are already aware of it(Britney and the Indian cricket team, if you were dormant in some cave all these years). But everyone ends up wearing masks and being someone they are not. Some say it is necessary to survive - It is important for one to go with the herd or else he/she will be a social outcast. My thoughts on it are : Go by your gut and always listen to your heart, they are more capable than your brain.

So, why have I nicknamed myself superash? Because I want to be the child I once was and don't want to be rich and famous. I know I sound ridiculous as only hermits talk like this. I want money, enough for me to sustain myself and my immediate family. I want to be famous, among the people I care for. And yeah, going by the theme of this blog, to keep asking questions...:-)

~If you feel dizzy, sit down somewhere, breathe slowly and then drink a bottle of water. Everthing should be fine. I did the same after writing this. :-)

Why?

The world in itself is a mysterious place, and to add to that the dogmatic beliefs which are forced onto me as a child, adulterating my mind with ambiguous explanations about the world around me. I don't blame my parents for this because any parent faced with a question as to why is the sky blue will answer in the same way. :roll:

But the problem with this approach by my parents reflected on my approach to life as a student. Instead of questioning why is it x and not y? I started accepting things as they are and mugging them. Why is it x? Because my teacher said so. And I knew from the beginning that I am very bad at remembering things. So, the outcome was a mediocre score in Class10, and to add to the misery, countless enquiries from relatives and friends. I guess they just love to hear it again and again from you that you were not among the best. Gives them some kind of satisfaction, when they find out that not many are perfect and I am one of them. Recovering from that was an uphill task and I finally got respectable score in my 10+2 and a job as an S/W engineer after my B.E. and I guess I'm doing ok. And I have learnt it the hard way, always ask "Why?". :-)

I want to point out that the question 'why?' is one of the most important questions that everyone should ask everywhere to everyone and to themselves. Someone once said "Adroit is the one who can find many solutions when others can find only one". The only way you can achieve this is by asking more and more questions. Be it the meeting or a lecture. If not to the speaker, ask yourself and keep the answers to yourself. I know I am getting too philosophical, guess I should put an end to it.

I am myself bemused that I decided to create a blog, as I don't like others see what I do in my life and what I eat, where I go, whom do I meet etc. So, this blog will concentrate mainly on the 'Whys' that we all have in mind, but don’t want to find out the answers.