Tomichan Matheikal's blog

Fiction Shahina experienced a strange sense of oppression whenever she put on the hijab.  No other girl in her class had to cover her head and look like a blinkered horse.  Moreover, she was not a little girl anymore.  She was sixteen and was mature enough to make some personal choices at least.  “It is our religious duty, my girl,” Bapa told her in his usual affectionate way. “But there are other Muslim girls in the school who don’t wear such a thing.  There’s even a Muslim lady teacher who never wears it.” “Well, we live in a particular community and we have to follow the rules of that community.” How absurd, thought Shahina.  We call ourselves Muslims and then we divide ourselves into a hundred factions.  Shias, Sunnis, Salafis, and what not.  And then each faction makes rules for itself.  Then fight for the sake of those rules.  Absurd.  Absurd. Standing in front of the mirror, she looked at herself.  “Blinkered horse,” she smiled to herself in spite of th

As the world observes today as Peace Day, India and Pakistan find themselves in a belligerent situation which may soon escalate into a war.  No country can choose its neighbours and India is unfortunate to have such neighbours as Pakistan and China one of which is steeped in medieval darkness and the other has a soul that is afire with territorial greed.  Both these infelicitous neighbours will unite against India in case of a war.  Is the Third World War taking shape at the Indo-Pak borders? On the occasion  of the World Peace Day, the UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon said, “Peace is not an accident.  Peace is not a gift.  Peace is something we must all work for, every day, in every country.  Peace is not just about putting weapons aside.  It is about building societies where people share the benefits of prosperity on a healthy planet.” Peace is an attitude, in other words.  Peace is an elevated level of consciousness.  Peace comes from the heart. Can hearts guided

A former student of mine called yesterday.  Since I am an extremely poor conversationalist, silence began to dominate after a brief exchange and he requested me to hand over the phone to my wife who was his teacher for more years than me.  Later my wife told me how much the young man, who is now a student of medicine in one of the top medical colleges in the country, admired and acquired some of my ways and attitudes.  I was stunned.  What admirable qualities do I possess?  Solitude and absolute refusal to gossip and flatter are two of the lessons he learnt from me, among a few others, it seems.  “But they are not qualities,” I protested when my wife reported it.  No one who wants to be a success can afford to choose solitude and abstain from flattery.  I lived among people who would often tell the Principal things like, “Sir, your shoes are shining so well today.  Which brand of polish do you use, sir?”  Those people are principals today and must be lapping up questions like,

Some concerned friends are sending me every morning tips on keeping myself happy.  I don’t know why they think I am an unhappy person. Maybe my blog posts give that impression. Isn’t every writer an unhappy person?  Before I come to that, let me state honestly that I don’t consider myself a writer.  A blogger, that’s all.  One among the millions.  But one who takes interest in the world’s affairs.  Affairs that matter.  Such as politics, religion and their myriad combinations which rule the roost today. Perilously. The peril is not my personal tragedy.  It is the tragedy of the world.  When Kashmir burns, it is not my personal tragedy.  When people die there, being killed by Islamic terrorists or Indian soldiers, it is not my personal tragedy.  When people kill one another all over the world in the name of gods and other illusions, it’s not my personal tragedy. Yes, I am unhappy.  But not in my personal life.  I’m unhappy about what’s happening in the world.  I’m un

Holy men are detached from everything.  Attachment is a sin that arises from ignorance.  Ignorance prevents us from attaining the realisation that everything on the earth is maya, illusion. Ordinary mortals live in illusion.  So they are attached.  Attached to their family.  To money.  Possessions.  Holy men are not attached to anything.  That’s why they don’t even marry.  They are not attached to people.  But, as some jester said, even holy men have one flaw or another.  Otherwise they wouldn’t be just holy; they would be gods. We don’t know if the jester is entirely right.  The jester is just an ordinary mortal.  And he is making a judgment about a mortal many times greater than him.  If a man many times greater has at least one flaw, if not more, then how many flaws does an ordinary mortal like the jester suffer from?  Simple logic makes us suspect the jester’s claim.  He being an ordinary mortal suffers from many flaws.  Therefore his logic must suffer from many fla

One of the best novels I’ve read about the human pursuit of enlightenment is Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha .  Set in ancient India, it tells the story of Siddhartha who leaves both the comforts and the religious rituals of a Brahmin’s life in order to seek enlightenment.  He joins the wandering ascetics known as Samanas.  But the hardships of that asceticism as well as its teachings fail to bring enlightenment to Siddhartha.  He meets Gotama Buddha eventually.  The Buddha is a really enlightened man.  But he cannot enlighten Siddhartha.  Enlightenment cannot be taught; it has to be experienced.  That’s what Siddhartha learns. “ That is why I am going on my way—not to seek another doctrine, for I know there is none, but to leave all doctrines and all teachers and to reach my goal alone—or die.”  Siddhartha tells the Buddha.  He has to experience enlightenment in his own way.  Doctrines and dogmas, rituals and rigours can’t bring enlightenment.  Enlightenment is a personal achievemen

I am scared of religious people.  Source Come to think of it, the world has never become a better place for all the religious people it has had for centuries.  From the time Moses gave the ten commandments to Yahweh’s chosen people or Manusmriti revealed the sanatana penal code to the chosen race a little more eastward, god’s people have been trying to make man’s world better.  A few thousand years of preaching.  Thousands of gods.  Millions of laws.  Countless places of worship.  Burning candles.  Smoking incense.  Inspiring sermons from infinite pulpits. Religion comes home round the clock on satellite TV channels.  Our very breathing is regulated by religion.  Our food is becoming religious: Prakriti ka ashirwad, for example.  So much religion all around.  So many gods.  Too many gods’ own people.  But dark matter continues to dominate the universe.   Darkness explodes like bombs in the alleys where live people who are as innocent as circumcised foreskin.  Fo