Enchanted

I have been a lifelong fan of Ayn Rand's and The Fountainhead has probably been the most influential book I have ever read. Maybe thats why or maybe because my dad's been building them all his life, I love buildings and before I discovered the fairer sex, a walk down the road was an exercise in structure watching.

Howard Roark might disapprove, but I have always loved historical buildings and the Fort Area of Mumbai and Shahibaug in Ahmedabad as well as the Pols - the narrow bylanes that used to form the dwellings of the bourgeoisie have enchanted me since childhood. Baroda being one of the princely states of the country has a rich architectural tradition and the whole city is dotted with huge palatial buildings built by the Gaekwads.

These days my expanding waistline has forced me to take morning walks in the famous Sayajibaug - aka Kamatibaug. A vast, sprawling plot of lush gardens, kamatibaug is adorned by a huge museum and art gallery right in the middle. The museum is housed in a beautiful Victorian style building with a facade that takes my breath away every morning. The Victorian building complete with arches, intricately carved skylights and window panes of varied hues, shapes and colours. And by god, it is huge, by any standards. Unfortunately visiting hours for the building are from 10:30 to 5:30 and so are my office hours. Hence I am waiting impatiently for the weekend when I can poke around the building at my leisure. But it sure has me bewitched.

BhagatSingh's Atheism

The following are the excerpts of an excellent article about his atheism by Bhagatsinghji written during his last days. Message me if you want the full copy.

" 'Belief' softens the hardships, even can make them pleasant. In God man can find very strong consolation and support. Without Him, the man has to depend upon himself. To stand upon one's own legs amid storms and hurricanes is not a child's play. At such testing moments, vanity, if any, evaporates, and man cannot dare to defy the general beliefs, if he does, then we must conclude that he has got certain other strength than mere vanity. This is exactly the situation now. Judgment is already too well known. Within a week it is to be pronounced. What is the consolation with the exception of the idea that I am going to sacrifice my life for a cause ? A God-believing Hindu might be expecting to be reborn as a king, a Muslim or a Christian might dream of the luxuries to be- enjoyed in paradise and the reward he is to get for his sufferings and sacrifices. But what am I to expect? I know the moment the rope is fitted round my neck and rafters removed, from under my feet. That will be the final moment, that will be the last moment. I, or to be more precise, my soul, as interpreted in the metaphysical terminology, shall all be finished there. Nothing further. "

The final paragraphs of his writings again reiterate his belief that religion is nothing but a crutch.

"As regards the origin of God my own idea is that having realized the limitations of man, his weaknesses and shortcoming having been taken into consideration, God was brought into imaginary existence to encourage man to face boldly all the trying circumstances, to meet all dangers manfully and to check and restrain his outbursts in prosperity and affluence. God both with his private laws and parental generosity was imagined and painted in greater details. He was to serve as a deterrent factor when his fury and private laws were discussed so that man may not become a danger to society. He was to serve as a father, mother, sister and brother, friend and helpers when his parental qualifications were to be explained. So that when man be in great distress having been betrayed and deserted by all friends he may find consolation in the idea that an ever true friend was still there to help him, to support him and that He was almighty and could do anything. Really that was useful to the society in the primitive age.

The idea of God is helpful to man in distress.

Society has to fight out this belief as well as was fought the idol worship and the narrow conception of religion. Similarly, when man tries to stand on his own legs, and become a realist he shall have to throw the faith aside, and to face manfully all the distress, trouble, in which the circumstances may throw him. That is exactly my state of affairs. It is not my vanity, my friends. It is my mode of thinking that has made me an atheist. I don't know whether in my case belief in God and offering of daily prayers which I consider to be most selfish and degraded act on the part of man, whether these prayers can prove to be helpful or they shall make my case worse still. I have read of atheists facing all troubles quite boldly, so am I trying to stand like a man with an erect head to the last; even on the gallows."

Salutations to the great man.

Travel Travails

A lifelong resident of Gandhinagar, the apologetic capital of Gujarat, my sojourns beyond my home city have been limited ensuring a life as yet innocent to the perils of the world. My project being in Baroda I commute every weekend to Gandhinagar which is at a three hours journey over the expressway.

My work in the company, apart from writing blogs, is largely dependent on a fast processor and loads of primary memory. My CPU used to leading a luxurious life of uploading blogs, watching movies and checking mails was thus put through a horrendous experience of working on SQL server and Visual studion 2005. The poor thing was in such bad shape that once and for all I decided to put it at rest and bought a new one. And so I had to bring it back all the way to Gandhinagar.

I decided to go by a state transport bus and nonchalantly placed my CPU cabinet in the space just behind the driver’s seat. Soon the driver got into the bus, looked at the passengers like a king addressing his court and then noticing the CPU as the only discrepancy in his glory he addressed the audience in coarse gujarati – Who brought this? No electronic items allowed aboard. Off my bus NOWW.
I learnt that there is an octroi applicable on all electronic goods in spite of a VAT that we pay. And the process for the same takes up so much time that you feel it would be simpler to buy another one. I wondered how they will charge octroi on a laptop or a cell phone and why should I pay for a piece of obsolete electronic junk half a decade old.
Anyways, 30 bucks later he drove on and my dear CPU acquired a place of honor behind his butt. I informed my fellow passengers how much I paid thus ensuring they wont be cheated if faced with a similar situation and cursing the roads and the shock absorbers of ST buses I slept all the way back home.

After a restful weekend Dad arranged for my conveyance back to Baroda. On the way back in a Govt. Of Gujarat vehicle, I bought no tickets, paid no toll tax on the expressway, and of course didn’t have to sneak any money under the table as my CPU was home delivered.

I thank god for letting me work in the IT field which offers the opportunity of a life free from such malpractices. Yet at times it seems that in our dear India clean living is a non option.

Have started a blog on rediffiland - www.janit.rediffiland.com . Its a better and a simplere name than this one. In fact if some one could co-author with me there or here it would be much more fun. Awaiting responses.