Wednesday, August 09, 2006

  • Religion is fundamentally opposed to everything I hold in veneration: courage, clear thinking, honesty, fairness, and above all, love of the truth. ( H.L. Mencken)
  • The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one. The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality. (G.B. Shaw)

I guess these two quotes represent my thoughts like nothing I will write can. Tomorrow I will write about an atheist social reformer from Bengal, Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, one man with his eyes open in an ocean full of blind fools from 19th century Bengal. Point is, that bloke managed to survive. How, we will see tomorrow.

8 comments:

Prerona said...

really really liked the first one. abt him, have lots of thoughts. will share sometime later :)

nowheregirl said...

cheers to the quotes

Vidyasagar? uh... ok...

Oreen said...

yes, vidyasagar :-)
...read my dad's article on him and wondered who we've lost that Bengal to. the people from the mofussils? the coolies from Bihar? the fishmongers from Bangladesh? the trader community from Rajasthan?

these guys from medieval india have come in in hordes and over the years made sure Bengal went back to the same level as the rest of India . . . dark, medieval, pacing backwards, giving birth to new gods, and hunting witches . . .

we need not one but at least a dozen new heroes to show us light. one kabir suman and one joy goswami won't do.

Monami Roy said...

honestly?
how can u even think of kabir suman on the lines of vidyasagar??

goswami..his poetry is untidy. tho thats personal.

but wud u truly attempt to interpret vidyasagar on the blogosphere?

well.

\m/

Oreen said...

na na...all that was a momentary outburst. i don't know abt suman much. didn't read joy goswami either, except for his first novel. i don't have access to his poetry.

and abt vidyasagar, i just read an article in my dad's book and got really inspired. i would ideally love to translate that here. but dunno...it seems it won't be a good idea after all :-))

am going back to writing fictional accounts...

nowheregirl said...

kabir suman!!! joy goshwami!!!

i can still go with nabarun bhattacharya... but them!!!

Oreen said...

you guys have to choose your heroes...you are in touch with bengal...
(who is nabarun btw?)

nowheregirl said...

tsk tsk tsk.... your next birthday present ;)