The two tools!!!

It is said that a resolute mind in action is the most troublesome enemy that one can face in their lifetime. And if you add a dangerous spark to it, then this could result in an explosive mold by itself...something that will not stop at anything to achieve what it wants...even if it results in its own destruction!!! So if such a bug mainfests within our own psyche, then 'bhagwaan bachaaye' will also not help to rid yourself of it!!! And in India we have 2 such cancers developing...people who have hijacked the propaganda tools of the Maoists and poorer sections of the society to their own cause (mostly of fame and recognition) and those who have hijacked the initial noble cause of Maoists (and i say the cause, not the means of achieving the cause) and their pro-poor ideals!!! For me, these 2 elements are more dangerous than any other danger that has befallen India till now, or is expected in the foreseeable future!!!

And why is it so? Why should someone highlighting the subdued voices of the tribals alarm me to make such strong statements? Isnt it naive of myself to be worried about this? Or am I joining the ranks of these same individuals per se? Am I really? Is it not that apparent to ourself? Have we forgotten the old adage that the pen is mightier than the sword? And here we have both these tools fighting together!!!

Is there anything else left to say???

Scientific Scepticism!!!

Much of the scientific thought that prevails today started back then as pseudo science. Science as we know it, is based on roots that are as yet shaky to a limit. Every scientific evolution has been based on a complex idea of theories...and as far as i know, theories are not facts. These are all mathematical calculations built around some number known as a 'constant'. So it could happen one day that Theory of Relativity or the Gravitational Theory could be replaced by some other theory which is more potent and more satisfying to the prevalent scientific temper. After all, that's what has been happening over the ages, isnt it? Lets not get rid of new Galileo's just because we cannot get rid of our old ideas. Or else, the sun would still have been rotating around the earth!!!

But then we do need to apply our logical minds when we discuss stuff like teleportation, telekinesis and other paranormal ideas. I can understand that the belief in such 'other' ideas can be strong as these are very intriguing ideas that appeal to the mind. Does our logical mind allow us to believe in miracles done by 'fakirs' and 'babas? We may pray at temples, but how many of us still believe that God's stay in these edifices? Can we quote a single non-controversial example of of the above 'tele' things apart from legends, and what others have told us that they have heard from someone else and so on? These are things we dont understand, and unless we are very sure of their working mechanisms, its better to be sceptics.

Being skeptic doesnt mean holding onto something even when you know that the new idea maybe better...it just means not giving urself unto something just for the sake of being with the new breed unless logic allows you to do so. A rational mind may hold you back from holding a fire in your hands, but the same sane rational mind will prepare you to do so when the time is right!!!

The idea of talking to someone thousands of miles away using something called a 'phone' would surely seem too far fetched even 200 years back, but a scientifically tempered mind would have looked the possibilities of doing so even then. Ask Leonardo da Vinci who had designs of a helicopter in his manuals!!! Granted he was no ordinary being, but logical and scientific thinking need not be the realms of geniuses only!!! But the ideas of 'tele' are not new...these ideas have been omnipresent in all civilisations - old and new - since men started using their imaginations!!! And the progress to implement these ideas have been zilch since then, while new ideas have come forth and have been visualised, designed and developed many many times. Imagination is never a bad idea (after all its the beginning of an idea), but in this realistic world (about what we hardly know anything), skepticism is the only tool that we have to prevent us from ends like that of Icarus!!!

As for me, I dont believe in something that doesn't sound logical to me, just like I dont believe in the principle of God, and surely not in 33 crores of them!!! It doesnt mean I am a fanatic in my beliefs, and will never change my thoughts in the future. But I believe in my own thoughts more than what others feed into my mind. I think there is a small Galileo present somewhere deep in the recesses of my cerebrum and cerebellum, and I am very happy for whatever experiments he conducts over there!!! :-)