Hi everyone ,
I am a little overwhelmed at being selected to blog here. Trying to get used to it -:
Let me introduce myself. I am from India. When not blogging or trying to propagate a rational world view in the Indian society both online and offline , I work as a doctor practicing medicine 8-10 hours a day , 6 days a week in a small town in the south of the country.
My posts here will be mostly about issues faced by freethinkers in India , about its religions, politics, threats to scientific temper and secularism , gender , caste etc. I may also write about world politics , science , clinical medicine , pseudo science and anything that I find interesting.
Opinions I express here are just drafts , which can be edited and altered if there are strong evidence to back such a change. So I welcome discussions in a civil manner so that all of us can reach a logical , rational , evidence based view points on most issues.
A word about blog title. Many would be wondering what is this Nastik in the title. Nastik means atheist in many of the Indian languages.
So bye for now and HAPPY READING !
Hello and welcome!
Thank you
Hi !
hi -:)
Welcome, Arun! I’m looking forward to reading your perspectives.
Thank you
Another doctor! Hello! I’m new here as well, and I’m a doctor in the UK – much more part-time, though, for family reasons.
Hi,
Working part time due to family reasons ? Sounds familiar -:)
Hope similar number of men and women will say like this in near future.
Hi and welcome Arun.
My first thought when I read your intro was, are you in any personal danger due to your positions? I am aware that in parts of the world not far from yours, outspoken atheists and their supporters have been attacked and killed. I hope your situation is not so risky.
Thank you for the concern Don. No, I do not think there is any threat of physical danger to me though there may be a threat of legal actions accusing me of defaming religion for my social media posts.
Yes, it’s true that 3 prominent atheist intellectuals/activists were murdered by still unknown assailants , probably from the Hindu Right, in India in last 3 years. With a Right wing majoritarian govt at Delhi, freedom of expression is under threat. But it is also heartening to note that resistance against those threats are rising from all part of the country including from voters in provincial elections.
I have been lucky that my introduction to your country was in Hyderabad and, specifically, immediately following the separation of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh. There was and still is, relatively speaking, a great deal of interfaith good will here due to this shared struggle and triumph. I fear if I had landed in, say, Ahmedabad, my introduction would have been completely overshadowed by sectarian violence and political conflict.
I hope, for you and my good friends here, that India can rediscover some religious harmony and once again embrace the notion of a truly secular government as laid out in their constitution.
I wish you the best here. I hope your message can be spread widely and without incurring criminal sedition charges.
Thank you