As I saw it

"Kada, adakkyar-ayilley? Enda mazhaya inn." "Onathinn naati ponniley?" "Potta?" Three simple questions in Malayalam. Without context they mean nothing much and can at best be courteous pleasantries between two people. But there's more to this given the context in which I heard those three questions. I believe that religions should not have any more status in our lives than the bus tickets we buy. The moment we allow them to define our identity, they separate us from others and create most of the problems in the world that we see today in addition to what history has been a witness to. I guess the best commentary on this subject is to be found in this song from the 1972 Malayalam movie 'Achhanum Baapayum' which says: "Man created religions Religions created Gods And then, man, religions and gods divided this earth and divided the hearts as well. We became, Hindus, Musalmans and Christians, we cannot be recognised any m...

Those who know me up close, know that I am not much of a religious person and that I usually avoid going to religious places of worship even as I love listening to bhajans, sufiana kalaams, Christian hymns, prayers and the like along with listening to Kabir amritvanis and other nirgun bhakti songs and spiritual music and that I have a good collection of both religious prayers and spiritual music. And yet, something interesting happened today. I was to meet someone whose story I wanted to listen for the next book I am writing. None of the restaurants had opened by that time for us to sit and discuss. And so he offered to meet at a temple and by that time the build-up inside me regarding why I wanted to write that book and share the stories of those people with the wider world out there had become such that as I stepped out of his car and had begun walking towards the temple, I found myself praying to the formless, sect-less, denomination-less, name-less, reli...

“My response to such people is that even if you give beggars a golden bowl, they’ll still beg.” As I started guffawing my daughter immediately clenched my hand and cautioned me not to get into a laugh attack in the auto that we were in a little while ago. But when something simple & profound hits you, one does have reactions like these. I had waited for some time for an auto to take my daughter to her paediatrician in Mayur Vihar Phase 2 and was already resigned to bargaining with the auto driver and my negotiation range was to be between 40 - 50 rupees even though I was prepared for some asking even for 70-80 rupees for a short 3 km ride. And yet as Babu stopped and heard of the landmark Neelam Mata Mandir, he said that he didn’t know of the place and that he’d still take us there if I directed him to the location. And even before I could say anything he started the meter. As soon as we reached the clinic I paid him a little more than the meter reading ...