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We got your mail yesterday evening and it was such a relief to know that you are settling in to the new surroundings of your engineering college. We missed you so much as this is the first time you have gone away from home for such a long time. Nice to know that you have been allotted a room in the college hostel and that you have a new friend who is also your room mate.

Mom is glad to know that you have been reading the Bible daily and praying. But it seems you have been having difficulty explaining to your friend why the Bible is a reliable piece of literary work. In your mail you raised three concerns which were also bothering your friend. It reminded me when I was a college student and I would raise the same questions to my friends. But I have had the privilege of spending a lifetime as a historian committed to the task of researching the authenticity of many literary works, not just the Bible. So allow your dad to put on his historians cap for a while as I try to address your concerns on the Bible.

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The Gore divorce annoucement came as a shock to the Americans especially because just about two weeks earlier they had celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary and 40 years is a really long time! As a couple they have survived emotional upheavals, the likes of which few could imagine. During their stint for the White House, and earlier even as ‘Monicagate’ loomed large over Al Gore’s political future too, they created the public image of a couple deeply in love. (more…)

I got your response to my last mail but I was unable to respond on time as I was travelling for some seminars. But now I am back home and things are back to normal after some hectic weeks of travelling. However I am glad that my last letter helped you to dig deeper in to this issue of evil and the existence of God. You came up with some important points in your last mail. You asked me that, wouldn’t it have been good for God to curtail some of our freedom to make this world a better place.

Well let me tell you that all my students who were copied on your mail were really confused by your argument because it all sounded so reasonable. If God had proposed a curtailing of free will to keep the evil in check wouldn’t we all have gladly agreed to it? We would all give up some of our freedom in order to protect the spreading of AIDS, killing of innocent foetuses and the killing of innocent people in the name of wars and Holy wars. (more…)

I never forget to say a small prayer of thanks to God whenever my flight is about to take off and immediately before and after it lands safely too. After reading about these close shaves, I should say that every take off and landing has been a favor granted! Some of you may shirk at the thought of thanking God for everything! Why to ascribe all favours to Him! If so, then let me tell you, I am sure there maybe times in your life when you really want to thank someone for something or for some situation in your life and then suddenly you realize that you don’t know whom to thank! (more…)

The prosperous state of Gujarat has an ambassador now. A brand ambassador who will become the face of the state henceforth. It is none other than “Big B”, Amitabh Bachchan, and ever since he came to the state a few days ago for photo and video shoots at different locales of this state, every move of his has been reported by the media, including what he blogs and tweets about his experience everyday!

Mr. Bachchan too has been creatively churning out impromptu slogans and jingles. Actually, some of his observations are quite insightful. Posted on one of his blogs: “What a magnificent country we own. And it is only when you visit these places yourself do you realise that it’s not just the greatness of the domain that makes this land so wonderful and blessed, it is the man on the street, the commoner that gives this nation its strength and its glory!” I say, “Awesome insight”! (more…)

In relationships, romance takes the laurels! It is still the most celebrated subject in movies made worldwide and more so in India! Strangely, in our traditionalist country, a lot of it is still in the celluloid! There’s an evident disconnect between what is shown and what is! Any bold exhibition of romance outside the movie, in public, is most likely to be viewed as profane! Romance, even still, doesn’t necessarily culminate in a marriage! Arranged marriages are still prevalent and surprisingly a vast majority of those who get married prefer arranged marriages over love marriages.

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I don’t know how to respond appropriately to your pain of loosing your eight year old son. I heard that he was suffering from Progeria due to which he was ageing much beyond his age. You told me that he had the body of an eighty year old when he died, a premature death, something that raises a lot of questions in our mind. I can understand your anger against God for allowing such evil but I cannot agree with your conclusion that therefore there is no God.

I still remember the days when I was the professor of philosophy at the University and you were one of the best students that I had. You were always a good thinker and used reason to good effect. In your last mail to me you told me to explain how an Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omni benevolent God can allow evil. According to you both are not logically compatible. And since evil is the most proven fact in this world you deduced that there is no God. (more…)

Hi Phil,

Here are some pictures that I took on my trip to some of the islands in the Indian Ocean. We started off our journey some six months before we reached our destination. It was basically an adventure trip where we were going to explore some of the scarcely populated islands in the world. Hardly has any man set foot on these islands because of the tough conditions of the ocean, lack of edible food and water and also the dangerous tribes that lived there for many years.

As we closed in on these islands we just wanted to have a look at the underwater creatures and vegetation that existed. While scuba diving, I came across a human skeleton with a nicely sealed bag made out of animal skin tied around his wrist. This was a fascinating sight as I was sure that these were the remains of some tribesman. I went closer to have a look. The bag was heavy and I was getting restless to have a look. I took the bag along with me back to the deck where I opened it in the company of other mariners. (more…)

This blog would be best understood if you can read it once you’ve read my last blog – “What drove him to the grave?”.
I was in Australia with one of my best friends, discussing with him and his daughter who was shattered by the suicidal death of one of her friends. She wanted to share a few questions with me, for which she was seeking answers very desperately. One of her main concern was, whether she would be able to meet her friend or talk to him any more? What exists beyond death? Would she ever have a chance to meet her friend? (more…)

All these years i have believed that there is no God and there is no immortality. And my ethical system was formed in this framework which made me believe that since there is no moral accountability every persons values become expressions of personal taste or the by-products of his socio-biological evolution and conditioning. One humanist philosopher said ‘The moral principles that govern our behaviour are rooted in habit and custom, feeling and fashion’. In plain words i did what i liked and i was not answerable for my actions to any supreme authority like God.

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The financial year-end had kept me busy and I couldn’t go to the Soul Café for many weeks! Moreover, the temperatures were much higher this year compared to the years before that I have lived, and so, coffee and all its derivatives were not very high on my wish list.

As April commenced, memories of the ‘All Fool’s Day’ and the amusement we had at the cost of our more naive peers flashed through my mind! I remembered that it was also a good old friend’s birthday! However, strangely, unlike how I would have been, this friend of mine, Amar, was ever glad that his birthday fell on such a memorable day! This year, as I called to wish him, I got invited to join him for an afternoon’s munch over coffee, and there I was, back where I hadn’t been in a while!

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Hi Vikas,

I saw your blog about the ‘racist attacks’ on Indians in Australia. And the situation i believe continues to remain grim with the government issuing a travel warning for people planning to visit Australia. Hope your course there is in the final stages and you will be back soon. It is nice that you are taking up the issue in the interests of the new students who have spent lakhs of rupees to get their admissions. The situation certainly is gloomy for those who have gone there with many dreams. (more…)

Mandy, Shelly and Nita allowed Soul Café to become a discussion ground for the biggest topic on the globe these days – a doomsday prediction of another kind – “environmental crisis”. We presented our arguments very strongly and there perhaps was a kind of consensus emerging at the end of the discussion.

However, what was going to follow was something beyond my expectation, especially since it was came from a young girl of the post-modern era! Read on to know why I say so! This is what Mandy disclosed.

“This is what happened a few days back. I was in my room sleeping and it was dark. I believe I was in deep sleep. Few hours into the night, it was cold. I could hear sounds and feel something unusual around me. I could feel someone walk up and down besides my bed. I initially thought that it was my room-mate who has a tendency to walk like this but something was weird. I opened my eyes and I couldn’t move. I tried to scream but I couldn’t, I was numb. I turned my head to see something I cannot forget to date. A girl with long hair and her face empty or probably dark, was staring right at me! Her eyes, I could see her eyes, innocent and pleasant! It is very disturbing. It was like the eyes of some lost kid! Then in flash of a moment she pounced on me. She was trying to choke me to death and I laid there helpless. I can still remember how her hair rubbed against my face and the grip of her fingers on my neck. For some reason she just left and the door shut with tremendous force. (more…)

Respected Teacher,

Yesterday’s science class still echoes in my mind because it has shaken up the foundations of my life. My parents always told me that God created the universe and that we are built for immortality or an eternal life if we fall in line with God’s plan for our life. But yesterday you said that the universe came in to existence through a big bang which took place some 15 billion years ago and that it expands every day, the galaxies go further and further from each other, till one day when all the energy will be used up, the stars will burn out and all the matter will eventually fall into a black hole bringing down the curtains to the existence of the universe. Which means that there is no God and hence no immortality that I dreamt about? (more…)

December 2009, one place that captured the imagination and attention of the whole world: Copenhagen, Denmark. Representatives from 183 countries met for a 12-day Copenhagen Climate Summit to try to come to agreement on how to best reduce mankind’s “Carbon Footprint” on our world. Though they finally ended up making a toothless and non-binding “Copenhagen Accord”, the summit was largely a failure. Despite a big and expensive build-up to the summit and long negotiations, they could not even agree upon or set targets for emission cuts of greenhouse gases! The developing countries were not ready to commit themselves while the developed ones had too much at stake! China, the world’s biggest polluter played the waiting game and made no commitments, thus frustrating everyone! (more…)

Recently while going through an article, I came across a statistics that made my eyes pop out! A game show on one of the TV channels received as many as “nine crore” (ninety million!!) phone calls made by people across all age groups from all over the country, just to take part in it! What would invoke such a response! (more…)

Your lecture yesterday on the evolutionary theory, well articulated and decorated with witful takes on God and religion has left many questions in my mind. You said that scientific evidence to prove the origin of the universe and the evolution of the species has proved beyond doubt that there is no God. And you were quick to add that such a view did not support a nihilistic approach to erase values and principles on which the society stands, although your hastiness to add this disclaimer seemed like the inevitability of the same. And that made we wonder about the viability of this whole theory. (more…)

“We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon our fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join us in defending them”. This statement is part of the Manhattan Declaration*, a manifesto which was drafted on October 20th, 2009 and released on November 20th, 2009 with the support of more than 150 American Christian leaders. The declarations website encourages supporters to sign the declaration affirming their support for the sanctity of human life, the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife and the rights of conscience and religious liberty. (more…)