Atheists or escapists?

-





Hello everybody,
                      This time the subject that will be written about is a bit strong, and maybe, argumentative. But, nevertheless, I am going to put my thoughts. What provoked me to write this? As I was reading today's newspaper, I came across an interview with a celebrity. He was asked about his religious views and in reply to that, he proudly proclaimed himself to be an atheist. This set me thinking. We have heard this section of people called atheists who reject the existence of deities and do not believe in religious rituals. I have no problem with their way of thinking. Religious beliefs are not to be imposed, and if a person is not convinced with the customs and practices of a certain religion, he is free to deny that.
                                          But again, is there a gender factor in all these? If my observation is correct, time and again I have found that more of men belong to this group. One famous celebrity atheist is the actor Kamal Hassan. Even otherwise, we know some relative or friend(mostly male) who proclaims himself as a atheist. But, how many women belong to this group? Women's roles are still totally different from that of men. Women are supposed to be the carriers of culture, tradition, and rituals of a family, right? Can a woman proclaim herself to be an atheist and not do the poojas, say prayers, or neglect the various festivals? Next question that will automatically arise is what her children will learn from her. Even though many women may have different thoughts, they silently follow the rituals of the family fearing the wrath. It may not be enjoyable and may be a little bit pressurizing, but women do all these for the sake of the family. Atheists(men) can still sit in the arm chair and be free from taking part in all these arduous religious customs and write tons about atheism. Those religious  customs and rituals belong to women, right? I can go on writing endlessly about this topic, but I will stop here for now. You are welcome to bring in your thoughts whatever they are.

Take care,
Deepa.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Two songs of Ilyaraja in Kalyani Raaga-In the same boat, yet so different!!

-
Image
Hi friends,                 The month of June is supposed to bring the southwest monsoons synonymous with the school reopening. But, if anybody is following anything, they can see that the rain gods are failing to shower us liberally up to now. If there are no rains, water problem is going to be acute, more power shortages, agricultural crises etc. Oh, Tans en, please bring back those rain showers with your magical voice in megh malhar raag. We are all starved for those cloudy, gloomy, hot pakoda-tea days.                       We do not require a Tansen to tell us that music of any form has profound effect on our lives. Music transcends boundaries, languages, and acts as a therapy for the troubled souls and physical aches. As one who has learnt carnatic music from my childhood, (a common practice for tamil girls to learn carnatic music in our community) I have grown up to appreciate music of almost all the forms, irrespective of language and the genre it belongs to. From my persona
Read more

25 years since 'Shanti-Ek Aurat ki kahaani'

-
Image
Hi folks,                        Anybody out there remember probably the first mega serial aired by Doordarshan (Hindi) named Shanti in the year 1994? Iam sure many of the previous generations will still remember the first ever, iconic daily soap opera, which was broadcast in DD (Doordarshan) every afternoon on week days thus setting a trend. Before that, the Hindi serials used to be aired on a weekly basis. Serials like Hum Log, Buniyaad, Nukkad, Ramaayan, Mahabhaarat, Fauji, Circus( Fauji and Circus were serials which marked the acting career of Shah Rukh Khan before becoming the big-screen king), Byomkesh Bakshi, Shakthimaan, Bikram-Betaal, Kacche Dhoop, are just a few to name those once-a-week episode stories. One can understand how impatiently  viewers need to wait for one week to watch the next episode every time, which looks inconceivable at  the present. Barring the mythological and crime series, the story line or the plots were simple and of course family-oriented and there
Read more

From the present to the past

-
 Hi,             "In a world where you can be anything, Be kind."                                                    Unknown.         The months of January and February are seasons of weddings, especially in South India. Recently, we attended a wedding of one of our nephews. The celebrations and rituals lasted for 3 days in a resort and there was lot of fun and frolic, catching up with extended family members after a long time. After the traditional nischayathartham (betrothal) in the morning, we expected that the bride will take hours to dress up for the reception. But voila!! Here she enters in a simple saree devoid of heavy makeup, very minimal ornaments making the whole evening look like more of a casual affair. The 'performances' for the evening included bride's father giving a speech about his daughter's qualities, the same from the groom's dad, speeches by the wedding couple on how happy they are to be the part of each others' families, friends
Read more