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To me, devotion has never been about pleasing God. God is not the destination.
I am not a devout person in the conventional sense of the word. My understanding of the various religious rituals is pretty rudimentary. Not something to be proud of I know.. but also not something that bothers me in any way. I do believe in God. I do pray. But in my own way, much to the chagrin of those who expect others to believe in their beliefs. But, doesn’t that go against the very definition of faith? It has to be personal, it cannot be generalized. Fortunately, most understand and there is a mutual respect for each other’s ideologies when it comes to Almighty.
Over the years, I have sincerely endeavored to make myself more aware about religion and the rationale behind different thought processes. This has indubitably enlightened me and also made me more accepting, more appreciative and certainly more considerate towards conflicting beliefs. What I have come to recognise is that ultimately it is all about establishing that “connection” with the Supreme. Sometimes, it can happen within the confines of the bedroom. Sometimes, it can happen because of the aura of a holy shrine. Sometimes, it can happen in the lap of nature. And sometimes, one may not feel the need to establish that connection at all.
To me, devotion has never been about pleasing God. God is not the destination. Had it been so, atheists would have gone astray which is not true in any way. God is the means. God is the path through which I find strength to introspect, to submit, to find peace and to tap the reservoir within which lies dormant at times due to the daily grind of life. The last time I had felt so deeply lost in sublime reverence was at Golden Temple. The temple was thronged with devotees, yet there was no pushing around or attempts to get in the way of others. Because, each one present there had surrendered to the divine power inside them. I could feel the spiritual connection. I felt vulnerable. I felt powerful. I met myself – my raw and unmasked self.
Call it soul-searching or worship, but I exited from the temple premises a different person – more cognizant of myself, more clear-sighted and perhaps a tad more grounded.
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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