PHILOSOPHIC
DISHES ON DINING TABLE
-
K. V. Dominic (India)
(Locale:
Dining hall of Prof. Francis Alexander. It is dinner time. Along with him
seated around the table is his family—wife Dr. Seetha, son Arjun, daughter
Catherine. Prof. Francis teaches zoology in a government college in the town.
Dr. Seetha is paediatrician in the district government hospital. Arjun is a
student of M.Sc. in Artificial Intelligence and Catherine is studying for B.Sc.
Micro Biology.)
Francis: 2025 will say goodbye tonight after a few minutes and
it will be the New Year 2026. You all may be waiting for that great moment. As
for me, I don’t feel any excitement. Tomorrow will be just another day as
today.
Seetha: You have always been like that--not finding any
thrill in celebrations like Christmas, Onam, Easter, festivals in churches or
temples, birthdays. We need some celebrations occasionally; otherwise life will
become monotonous.
Arjun: You are right, mama. When we were kids papa used to
find thrills in all such celebrations.
Catherine: True, papa took then the initiative to
celebrate our birthdays with all gaiety. Memorable were those days! Clad in new
dress how much we enjoyed the whole day with fireworks, feast to our relatives,
neighbours and friends!
Francis: Gone are those vibrant days of my life. We become
more philosophic as we grow older and older.
Seetha: But men of your age in our neighbourhood find
happiness in all celebrations. They find meanings in rituals and ceremonies.
They go to churches and temples regularly. Your own brothers are very pious and
find excitement in the celebrations of Christmas and Easter.
Francis: They are not prepared to think deeply and
philosophically and they find meanings in religious beliefs and teachings.
Though I am born a Christian my common sense doesn’t permit me to believe those
myths in the Bible. I am talking about the Old Testament. The very first book
Genesis seems unreasonable to me. In my childhood and teenage I believed those
stories as true. Besides, none was allowed to question the scriptures. We were
taught by the priests and catechism teachers to believe blindly those stories
about the origin of the universe and man. But later when I started to think
deeply I could understand that those scriptures were written at a time when
scientific knowledge was very little. Those who wrote the books of the Old
Testament never knew that there were human beings living outside Arab regions.
Homo sapiens originated in Africa around 300,000 years ago and the Old
Testament when calculated has only below 10000 years of human history. In this
present age the growth of science is like the flight of a satellite. We have
entered into the world of artificial intelligence. It is unfortunate and
ironical that still these stories and superstitions of religions have influence
in the minds of even the most literate persons.
Arjun: True papa, but I don’t think the present literate
youth have any strong faith in any religions. They follow the rituals and
ceremonies out of the compulsion from their parents and the society.
Catherine: I agree with you brother. I am not a fool to believe
the mythical stories in the Bible or other scriptures.
Francis: Our family is a secular one and you have been brought
up in such a manner to view the humanity as a big family where religions have
no role at all. That’s one reason why we don’t give much importance to the
religious celebrations of Christmas, Easter etc. Since Onam is a national
festival we celebrate it well.
Arjun: Papa, are you an atheist?
Francis: I am neither a theist nor an atheist but an agnostic.
I don’t know if there is God or not. I think the existence of God is unknown or
unknowable. At the same time I love to think that there is some divinity in the
universe, some spiritual power behind all creations. It is pantheism and I am
influenced greatly by William Wordsworth in this regard.
Catherine: Papa, it is said that God is
love. If that statement is true, he should be loving and compassionate to all
his creations in the universe. We come across news of hundreds of innocent
children tortured, raped and killed every day. In the Israel-Palestine war
several thousands of innocent children and women were killed whereas those
culprits are never punished. If there is such a divine providence how can it
happen?
Francis: Atheists ask the same question. Theists give answer
to the question telling that the plans of God are unknown to us. They say that
mysterious are the ways of God. Nothing happens without his knowledge. Some
believe that the fate of one is decided by one’s actions in the present or
previous births. My advice to you is to do well to others. Never harm anyone,
even the non-humans. Be sympathetic to humans, non-humans, living and
non-living and the entire universe. Then you will have bliss and will never
worry about whatever happens to you.
Seetha: What a healthy discussion we are having! I am
reminded of the great Malayalam poet Vayalar Ramavarma’s movie song starting
with “Man created religion; religion created gods; man, religion and gods
together are dividing the land and the minds of the people.” The song he sang
in 1972 won for him the National Film Award for the Best Lyrics. How
philosophic and universal the song is! As papa has stated the established
religions of today have only a history of more than two thousand years. The
concept of religions and gods originated for the well being of the people. Man
being a social being needs to live in the society without confrontations as
found in the animal kingdom.
Catherine: Mama, what do you say about the concept of heaven and
hell as some religions preach of?
Seetha: I have no belief in heaven or hell. Those religions
preach of heaven and hell as to instil fear in the worshippers’ minds and thus
enable them to lead virtuous life. As you know when these religions originated,
the knowledge of the universe was very little and the people could be made
believe that there is another physical world called heaven or hell outside the
planet earth we live upon. Believers’ ignorance could be manipulated in
convincing that after one’s death one’s soul will go to heaven if one leads a
virtuous life or to hell if one leads a wicked life. The description of heaven and hell they have
created is a comedy for laugh for the present generation. We have got our pet
dog and cats. What would happen to them when they die? Do you think their souls
will go to heaven or hell? The same is applicable to human beings also who are
creations of the same Creator. As per the evolution theory other beings have
more legacies to this planet than we humans. Then how can we hope that we will
go to heaven or hell where others are denied? These are all nonsense.
Francis: The largest exploitation or looting of wealth and
money in the world now is done by religions in the name of heaven and hell.
They create this fear of God as a punisher and as to appease God from his
punishment religions make the worshippers do innumerable types of rituals and
ceremonies looting their money. Just think about the rituals for the dead to
make the souls enter into heaven or avoid reincarnation! In the name of
horoscope how much money is stolen from the believers!
Arjun: Similarly billions are spent for the construction of
huge churches and temples. It has become a competition among the devotees.
Poverty in the world could have been wiped out if the money thus used was spent
for buying food for the hungry mouths.
Catherine: Not even ten percent of the money spent on defence by
the countries is required to remove poverty from the world. The wealth of the
nations is spent more for killing the people than saving them. Religions play
very little role in bringing out peace and harmony in the world. They are not
able to dissuade the countries from waging wars.
Francis: Word Happiness Report of 2025 reveals that our
country India stands 118th out of the 147 countries in the list. The
Nordic countries Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway
etc. rank the top and even though majority of people belong to any established
religion, very few observe the rituals and practise their religion. There is a big minority who has no faith in
any religion. Do Nishkam Karma and you will surely get happiness in life.
Seetha: Absolutely right! Only such satkarmas can make you
happy. The wealth you have or delicious food you eat gives you only temporary
enjoyment or pleasure. The ultimate happiness is in serving others, humans and
non-humans, selflessly, not expecting any returns or rewards, not expecting
even grateful words or looks from others. Let us pledge to lead such a life in
the New Year. Let’s go to bed now. It is midnight and the New Year has born.
Happy New Year to all!
Francis, Arjun and Catherine: Happy New Year!
****