The University and Religion Analogy

As a continuation of my previous post here, I wanted to draw an analogy which I have in mind.

The organization of Religion to me is analogous to a university where you take admission to learn. You take up a religion to learn about how to live your life.

University:Your end goal is to get a graduation degree.

Religion: Your end goal is to "reach" God and become "one" with God.

University: There are different departments at the university like Mechanical, Computer Sc, Automobile, etc

Religion: There are different religions in the world with different names like the Abrahamic religions of the West and Middle East or the religions of the far east.  

[Just like after school anyone can take a subject/department of his choice at the university due to liking or on recommendation of friends and family, similarly one can take up any religion based on choice or recommendations.]

University: There can be different uniforms for the different departments, different mode of teachings, different set of rules and regulations to follow in each department etc.

Religion: Each individual religion can also has its own set of rules, different methodology of teaching, different sense of dressing etc.

[Just like one religion say it is okay to eat meat and the other prohibits it. That does not mean one is better than the other. It should just be taken as a rule or condition keeping in focus the end goal to get the graduation degree. More often than not, people who take up religion keep fighting on such petty issues and forgetting the end goal.]

University: There can be different forms of test for each department.

Religion: There can be different set of tests for each individual religions.

[Just like the tests and exams for the mechanical department maybe on a Lathe machine and that of Computer Sc on a computer or laptop similarly one religion might test you by asking you to fast or another by asking you to give up worldly possessions or another by asking you some rituals etc. But the end goal is still to be with God.]

University: Once you end up with all the learning and going through all the tests taking your time you finally become a Graduate.

Religion: At the end of the complete process or even a lifetime you are finally one with God.

[Just like at the end of time you are recognized more as a Graduate with a particular specialization in a department, similarly at the end of your religious life once you are one with God it is not much important which path (religion) you took to reach Him. The end result is that you finally found Him.]

I know the above might sound very naive and unrealistic but still I feel if we allow others to follow what they want until it does not harm others in any way, things might be better in the world. No religion is above any other and should be considered as different paths to reach the same end goal. Because as a believe of faith I cannot believe or agree that "if" there is really a supreme power running this universe, then it distinguishes between someone eating meat or not eating meat, fasting or not fasting. I think HE would be more interested to see how you lead your own life and how well you treat others around you and how well you make you world a better place to live in.

But, till we realize what I said above, I also cannot deny the saying ... Misinterpretation is an easy stick to beat people with. I hope TIME prove me otherwise.
   

Don't ask, don't tell

After reading a post by a fellow blogger, there was a rush of thoughts that went in my head. I wanted to document them as a post. Though a bit late but still, I wanted to keep my word of writing my own post on the same topic. The topic of Religion.

This post is not meant to offend any one or any thought process but merely reflects my opinion on the topic. I strongly feel that religion is a very, very private concept which should be kept personal. It should be your own personal duty to explore religion and understand it rather than blindly following it by imposing your own ideas and concepts on others. 

Usually, I don not even talk on this topic openly. A friend of my father once gave me a great advise. It was when I was going on my first individual trip away from home all alone for a trekking adventure. I have great respect for him so went to meet him before my trip to take some tips. One of the tips which still stand firm in my head is related to this topic. He told me that if you are alone and away from home and suddenly you find yourself sitting with a group talking and chatting and out of the blue, the topic of religion comes up, stand up and walk away from that group at that very moment. At that time I hardly understood what he meant. But slowly with time I realized its true meaning and importance. I experienced over time that - Misinterpretation is an easy stick to beat people with. This is the reason I said before that this should be very personal and private. Thoughts and ideas can sometimes conflict and cause problems leading to severe consequences specially on this topic. Events mentioned by the fellow blogger are a good proof of this.

It is an open fact that in history there is more blood spilled on the name of Religion than for anything else. Wars have been fought. People have been slain. Generations have been wiped out. It comes as no wonder that even learned and famous people have spoken against it since ages. One of the most famous comments come from Karl Marx who said - Religion is the opium of the people. Even Friedrich Nietzsche could not resist in saying - Faith means not wanting to know what is true.

Incidentally, I was in discussions with some colleagues lately on the same issue. Last month a colleague came to work and gave us the news that he has officially left the church. Actually in Germany, as a catholic or protestant you are officially registered with the church. Being a member of the church, you also have to pay a church tax from your salary every month. There are a few perks which come along paying this tax. This way you are officially allowed to attend the Mass and also the right to religious burial etc. I asked him the reasons to leave the church. He said he was not very happy to see the current state of affairs relating to religion, particularly his own. He rightly mentioned how in history horrendous acts of brutality have happened on the name of his religion. Also, the latest abuse scandals totally distanced him from the church. This is not just his story but as I observed over the years, the story of many in Germany. A few days later, I read a related news which did not surprised me and proved that this phenomena is really challenging the church. My colleague also suggested me to watch the movie, Magdalene Sisters. It was quite new for me to learn about that true story.

It immediately reminded me of all the scandals happening in India related to the so called "Holy Men" like Nithyananda to name a few, tarnishing the meaning of Religion. None of the religions I know have been spared by the misdeeds of a few bad men. There have been and there will be people misusing the name of religion for their own benefits. But that does not mean the whole concept of religion is bad.

Even after listing all the criticism against religion, I can still say that I am a religious person. I still have a faith in which I believe strongly. Because for me an atheist is also believer of a faith. The faith in the "absence of God" because like a person who cannot prove the existence of God, an atheist can not prove its absence.

I follow my religion which is relatively new and open. The interpretation which I made from it on the topic of religion can be compared and related to the structure of a university. Let me elaborate it in my next post.

The Composer

Life is going through a super fast mode right now with many new things happening daily to my otherwise mundane life. I am liking the changes but sometimes it scares me too.

Anyways, not going too much in my private life, I thought it is high time for a post. I realized recently looking at my last posts that I put up too many serious and boring stuff on my blog which not many people like to read. So, I thought of a more light post.

I have been living in Germany for more than 8 years now. Yes, I am also surprised on myself. But there are many new things I discovered after coming here and I feel good about them. Maybe, living in India with my IT job and stuck in a traffic jam mornings and evenings might not had given me enough time to explore the world, the way I like it. I might have made some money in India like my peers and then booked a Europe trip visiting all the touristy places, clicking cliched pictures at Eiffel Tower or Jungfrau and then posting them on Facebook. I might have never really absorbed the essence of those places, their cultures and their real lifestyle. Anyways, who am I to judge people.

Moving on to the post. Of many new things I explored after coming to Germany, one was the music of Beethoven. Honestly speaking, I had never knew about him living in India though there had been many incidences when I heard his music without knowing the composer and truly liked it. I had been brought up watching cartoons like Tom & Jerry, Popeye, Looney Tunes, Roadrunner etc. Many of these classic cartoons use classical music. Then, there are also many movies which have used classical movies over the years, specially Beethoven. I only got to know about the man behind those compositions after coming to Germany and staying close to Beethoven's birthplace in Bonn. I saw his museum, read about his history, experience his official music with the distinct symphonies he created. I got the opportunity to go and experience an Orchestra playing Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at the Opera House in Bonn. It was a mind blowing experience for me.

What is so exceptional about Beethoven or what amazes me about him is that most of his famous work came out when his hearing capabilities were close to none. I mean how can you write music when you cannot hear it. I think this is an achievement in itself and what makes Beethoven so distinct. A movie which comes to my mind instantly when I talk about Beethoven is "Copying Beethoven". Though it is more closer to fiction than the real deal still I found the moving fascinating. I would definitely recommend it.

All this introduction was laid out to share a short video I made last time I attended the Beethoven Festival in Bonn. It was pretty cool to see light, sound and water synchronized to Beethoven's Symphonies being played in the night. It was an open air presentation bang right in the city center at Münsterplatz in front of Beethoven's statue. Here is the video:

P.S: I know the video snippet is more like a teaser but unfortunately I lost the bigger video.        

Bare Reality

I took this picture from the Reuters India website while reading news today. Here is the link to the full article.

Frankly speaking, I was yet again heartbroken. A kind of sadness overshadowed the joy of triumph I had after reading the article and seeing this picture. An Indian athlete performing at the highest International level for sports (for the disabled) with one bare feet and rubber slippers in the other. No shoes or spikes even for the right foot. I feel ashamed of myself. Not because of the athlete but for the Indian authorities for not even providing the basic and the minimum to a sports person even if he is disabled, for the society we are now living in the shiny India. I feel so guilty and disgusted at myself right now that I cannot explain it in words.

 

Some would argue that maybe it was the athlete's choice of being like that. Maybe he felt more comfortable without any fancy shoes. Maybe this is how he lives his daily life in India. Maybe that led to his triumph. I will bluntly reject all arguments and maybes thrown at me in defense of the authorities or even me. I can also give many maybes in reply.

Maybe, it would have been a gold instead of a silver with the shoes.

Maybe, the shoes would have increased the comfort level.

Maybe, his training over a longer period would have helped him.

Maybe, it simply looks more dignified.

Maybe, I am just over-exaggerating and blowing it out of context and proportion.

This picture bares it all for me and the world to see ... the double standard society that we have developed in the 'India Shining' era.

My heartiest congratulations to him for still achieving this feat beating all odds that laid in his path. May thy tribe increase!

Unsatisfied temptations

There has not been a post on this blog since the last one month. I thought no one would give a damn and frankly speaking who would care if there is a post on an anonymous blog or not. But I received a couple of comments on my last post checking up on my status. It felt nice. It felt being acknowledged. I thank them for giving me some motivation to continue with this blog.

Actually, life suddenly has changed gears in the last couple of months. Life is going at a pace like never before. It has been quite overwhelming for me and to some extent exhausting. I feel like taking a break from life and cut myself from it for at least a week. But since that seems like a distant dream right now, I tried to get some comfort in browsing through some of my travel pics. It also gave me the idea to write a post on my travel to Antalya in Turkey.

I happened to travel to Antalya in around mid of October, 2010. It was an interesting trip from a different perspective. Antalya is one of the biggest tourist places in Turkey. It has a rich history behind its name since it has seen many different kind of rulers. The Roman Empire, then the Byzantine Empire and then the Seljuk Turks, all have taken pride to rule Antalya. It is in fact a beautiful city along the Mediterranean cost of south Turkey. But as luck would have it, I was there to attend a 4 day business meeting and not for vacation.

I would have liked to visit this place for a holiday but accepting the facts of day long meetings at beach resorts was like teasing me to the core. It was like giving lolly to a kid and then asking him to just keep holding it in his hands. Anyways, I accepted the facts and tried to console myself that at least the meeting is scheduled in a nice city. My work place also complimented us by booking us a nice Resort for the stay. My work place has never ever booked such a fancy place of stay ever. Even I was a bit taken aback when I arrived there. Here are a couple of pics from the Resort. 

The morning view from the lobby with the sea in the background. Fancy, eh ?

Below is the view from the pool side to the balcony of my room. I was quite looking forward to use all the facilities at the hotel.

But that was a myth since in reality, all I used at the Resort was their Restaurant for the breakfast and dinner. The day meetings were so long that it used to get dark by the time we came back to the Resort.

I used to be left only with enough energy after the day, that I could have my dinner and pull myself to the balcony of my room and then enjoy these views and envy the people who came to this place for vacations.

So by the end of the trip, number of facilities used at the Resort - Zero. Number of times going to the beach - One. Amount of time spent at the beach - 2 mins. Days spent at the Resort - 4. It was really a tease.

Anyways, not giving up on my hopes, I tried to wrap up the meeting on the final day quite quickly and then tried to utilize that time for some sight seeing since our flight back to Germany was in the evening. I even managed to ask some Turkish colleagues from the meeting to come with us since they were also not locals but from Istanbul. We thought it would be handy to keep local people with us for guidance and sight seeing. It turned out otherwise.

So, after receiving high recommendations to visit the Manavgat Waterfalls from our local hosts, we decided to go there. It was around 70 kms from our Resort. Personally speaking, I was quite excited about the idea and was thinking something along the lines of Niagara Falls. It took some time for us to reach that place in our rental car driving through the country side. Finally, on arriving at the Falls, there was no limit to my disappointment. The reason can be easily chalked out by the picture of the Falls below.

I tried to calm myself by have the local chai at the Restaurant beside the Falls. The fresh cool breeze and the tea brew helped me get back to my senses and get excited for our next destination of the day.

Expecting our next destination to be more exciting than the waterfalls, we headed to a place called Aspendos. This was actually a local heritage site from the time of the Romans. Our local hosts advertised this place as a Roman Amphitheater built on a large scale perfectly preserved till date. I dont know why but again the combination of Roman and Amphitheater built a picture of Colosseum in my mind before even visiting that place. It actually turned out a bit smaller in proportion to my expectations.

But it was still not bad. It was impressive. A lot was truly intact but to some extent, not very well restored or maintained. Still the view from the top gave me a satisfying view and convinced me that it was worth coming here.

Below is the close up picture of the wall on the right side of the picture above. It always fascinated me how large the Roman Empire was over the years and then eventually fell apart. Later, these places taken over by Empires of different culture and religions but many of them still surviving the wrath of time.

As per the guide book we received at the entry gate, there were many other related sites of history around the Amphitheater. We decided to check it out but it turned out a big disappointment. There was not much to see to say the least. The picture below is of the stadium of those times. Now, a lot of imaginative effort had to be put to work to actually see stadium there.

The picture below is of the Basilica which was again a total ruin. There was no ceiling and even the walls were hardly standing.

My favorite of them all was the picture below of the Market Place as mentioned in the Tour Guide. Me and my colleague had a good laugh trying to figure out the real market scene incorporating the structures with the Roman time. Our imaginations went quite wild after some time so we decided to check out the last exhibit.

This last exhibit was a ruin of the famous aqueducts which the Romans were quite fond of building. I think that the aqueducts were quite and essential and remarkable feature of the Roman architecture. Not much was left of it but still one could make out a lot from the picture below.

After all the efforts and time put into visiting this place, it was worth to take home a souvenir from this place as in the picture below.

So, the trip was a success from the work point of view but a disaster from a sight seeing point of view. There are so many good places to see there but due to lack of time and bad judgement ended up missing them completely. But, there is always a next time. 

I was planning to skip this travel post on this blog since it was not one of the best ones but still it might remind me of my first visit to Antalya years later when I read this post again. Also, this post will serve as a reminder to me to fulfill the temptations left unsatisfied in a future visit. Antalya, I will come again. This time with my own money and time.