Not an Atheist

Before I start, there is the need for a disclaimer. It’s cliché, but still. First of all, I am not an atheist. Nor
agnostic. I am human. I just have some doubts which has been nagging me for as long as I can
remember. Secondly, this is my personal opinion. I am going to be touching at some sensitive topics
which could hurt the feelings of certain readers. But that is not my intention. I just want you to think
about these “doubts” which a student like me would have. Some may agree, some may not. So please
don’t be angry at me. Let’s be friends. :)

Hmm. So few weeks before I wrote this, I came across a question on a popular website. It goes – “If God
exists, why God has sent us to earth?” Innocent question. But the answer goes deep. Real DEEP.
See, if he sent us to see how we will live, then he surely knew how we were going to live even before
creating us. If a teacher knows the result to every student even before he does a test for sure, then there
is no need to conduct the test. Don't say "He wants to see if we will change”. Because he knows that we
won't change. Because his knowledge can't be wrong and hence we can never change. So seriously what
is the reason, of him sending us here? For example, if a teacher knows the results that students are
going to get and knows it is a bad one, he/she will try for sure to improve the students before the test.
Please don't answer saying our intelligence is not big enough to understand this, because that is the
lamest excuse you could ever give.

Moreover, it is even sillier to punish those who failed if you knew they were going to fail and still tested
them, especially if they had no say in the matter. You would literally be creating someone for the sole
purpose of them being tortured. That is the trademark of someone who is cruel, not loving. (Don’t get
angry folks, I haven’t come to the conclusion yet.)

Okay. If we were created to praise him, that doesn’t also make complete sense. Why would he feel that
he needs to be praised? It’s almost as if he’s so full of himself that he needs others to recognize him on a
daily basis. A pat on the shoulder. What is his plan? To reward the person who praises him the most?

What about those who did not follow him? Why can’t he offer them another chance, if they grew up in a
different culture? Religions are only a few thousand years old. What about the people before that?

Also, if he knows what’s going to happen next, then that includes his own actions. Then that means he
knows what he is going to do before he even thinks about doing it. That puts God in an autopilot mode,
because he knows what he’s going to do even before he plans on doing it.

Confused, huh?

Me too.

The whole idea has so many contradictions and paradoxes that you get dizzy just thinking about it.
Meanwhile, Google “Grandfather Paradox” and see, if you don’t already know about it.
Hmm. Back to business. So who is God? Or, what is the idea of a God?

By now you must have surely pictured me as a guy who doesn’t believe in God and says confusing stuff
just for the sake of saying it. But wait. You are wrong. As I said before, I am not an atheist. I believe in
God.

“Dafuq?” Says the reader.

Want to know what I have formulated from my 3 hours and 55 minutes of research on God? (Phew!)

God is there. But he is not a dictator living up in the sky and watching all the action, while Aadhil Khan is
utterly confused about what he is really doing up there.

Have you ever thought why sometimes, God makes good people suffer? Why the innocent people suffer
hardships and die, while the cruel and crooked people prosper and get rich and famous. (Sometimes)
Why do innocent kids in Somalia die of hunger while bad people elsewhere in the world who have done
bad deeds eat and bulk up? Why murderers just go to jail while the victim is laid down on his/her grave?
Isn’t there a balance of nature?

Wait. Why am I only asking questions? Where are the answers? Uh. There should be more sentences
without question marks.

So back to my conclusion. God is really there. But he didn’t create us. Instead he is in each of us. Because
if he would have created us, then he wouldn’t let those poor kids die and he wouldn’t let those bad guys
kill others. God is the good things we do. He is our positive energy. He is the driving force behind every
good thing that happens in this world. God is perspective. God is never related to violence.

God should be the energy within us that tempts us to help those hungry, dying kids, for example. Then
we could say that God is with us. He would make us protest against anything bad that happens in our
society, without violence. He is not science. But he is our driving force behind our need to invent
something new. Something that will help the whole of mankind. Religion is something that should help
us achieve this. A feeling of belonging to a community that strives to work for the wellness of the people,
irrespective of caste or creed. Religion shouldn’t separate us. It should point us to the right direction. To
the purpose of our life. On this journey, the God takes different forms. Let it be Allah, Jesus, Shiva,
Buddha, and so on. No religion is perfect. But the last thing we want is fights, and intolerance and blah
blah. Because we all have one common aim, that is to work for the prosperity of mankind. And we are all
humans, aren’t we?

God is fear. For example, long time ago when a solar eclipse occurred, people didn’t understand why it
was happening. They got scared. There was no scientific explanation to calm their frightened minds. So
they assumed it was the anger of God. That God is displeased with how they were acting.
See, the fear in their mind made them to believe in a higher power up above the world so high, pulling
the strings.

God is fear.

This fear should prevent us from doing things that would hurt others. This fear should help us move
forward, not with a worried face, but with a smile.

Ah. Now that’s my conclusion. Before I end, I would like to point out some stuff. You might have
observed that I mentioned God as a “he” instead of a “she”. Don’t get angry. It’s just because, I am a guy
and I would prefer my inner energy also to be a male. If you are a girl, you can mention God as a “she”. I
wouldn’t mind. It’s up to you. It’s always been up to you.

Many of you might have contradictions to what I said. Arguments. If so, write them out as a letter and
put it in locker number 47 near our school’s computer lab. Because, I am NOT going to check it out. I
have other important things to do. Beh.

Just kidding. We will sort it out, I’m sure. Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you will become the
reason to put a smile on someone else’s face. Believe in God, and act accordingly, because life has a
purpose and we shouldn’t be really wasting it on fights. Cheers!

The 30 Day Formula

A few years ago, I felt like I was stuck in a rut, so I decided to follow in the footsteps of the great American philosopher, Morgan Spurlock, and try something new for 30 days. The idea is actually pretty simple. Think about something you’ve always wanted to add to your life and try it for the next 30 days. It turns out, 30 days is just about the right amount of time to add a new habit or subtract a habit — like watching the news — from your life.

There’s a few things I learned while doing these 30-day challenges. The first was, instead of the months flying by, forgotten, the time was much more memorable. This was part of a challenge I did to take a picture everyday for a month. And I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing that day. I also noticed that as I started to do more and harder 30-day challenges, my self-confidence grew. I went from desk-dwelling school nerd to the kind of guy who plays all kinds of sports and games  — for fun. Even last year, I ended up hiking up a major hill in Vagamon. Boy, it was dangerous! I would never have been that adventurous before I started my 30-day challenges.

I also figured out that if you really want something badly enough, you can do anything for 30 days. Have you ever wanted to write a novel? Every November, tens of thousands of people try to write their own 50,000-word novel from scratch in 30 days. It turns out, all you have to do is write 1,667 words a day for a month. So I did. By the way, the secret is not to go to sleep until you’ve written your words for the day. You might be sleep-deprived, but you’ll finish your novel. Now is my book the next great American novel? No. I wrote it in a month. It’s awful. But for the rest of my life, if I meet John Hodgman at a party, I don’t have to say, “I’m a computer nerd” No, no, if I want to, I can say, “I’m a novelist.” :)

So here’s one last thing I’d like to mention. I learned that when I made small, sustainable changes, things I could keep doing, they were more likely to stick. There’s nothing wrong with big, crazy challenges. In fact, they’re a ton of fun. But they’re less likely to stick. When I gave up sugar for 30 days, day 31 looked like Somalia.

So here’s my question to you: What are you waiting for? I guarantee you the next 30 days are going to pass whether you like it or not, so why not think about something you have always wanted to try and give it a shot for the next 30 days? Have fun!

Try Monotasking

I’m a student, designer and a musician. I’m a multitasking person, and I push my friends to fly through a very creative, multitasking design process. But how efficient is, really, this multitasking?

Let’s consider for a while the option of monotasking. A couple of examples. Look at that. This is my multitasking activity result. So trying to cook, answering the phone, writing SMS, and maybe uploading some pictures about this awesome barbecue.

So someone tells us the story about supertaskers, so this two percent of people who are able to control multitasking environment. But what about ourselves, and what about our reality? When’s the last time you really enjoyed just the voice of your friend? So this is a project I’m working on, and this is a series of front covers to downgrade our super, hyper-mobile phones into the essence of their function.

Another example, have you ever been to Venice? How beautiful it is to lose ourselves in these little streets on the island. But our multitasking reality is pretty different, and full of tons of information.

I know that it could sound pretty weird to speak about mono when the number of possibilities is so huge, but I push you to consider the option of focusing on just one task, or maybe turning your digital senses totally off.

Forget Multitasking, Try Monotasking.

The Unforgiven

New blood joins this earth,
And quickly he’s subdued.
Through constant pained disgrace
The young boy learns their rules.
With time the child draws in.
This whipping boy done wrong.
Deprived of all his thoughts
The young man struggles on and on.
He’s known a vow unto his own,
That never from this day
His will they’ll take away.
What I’ve felt,
What I’ve known
Never shined through in what I’ve shown.
Never be.
Never see.
Won’t see what might have been.

They dedicate their lives
To running all of his.
He tries to please them all –
This bitter man he is.
Throughout his life the same –
He’s battled constantly.
This fight he cannot win –
A tired man they see no longer cares.
The old man then prepares
To die regretfully –
That old man here is me.

What I’ve felt,
What I’ve known
Never shined through in what I’ve shown.
Never free.
Never me.
So I dub thee unforgiven.

Life is a Beach

Life is like a beach. It’s a beautiful place. People come and people go, but all that matters is whether you had a good time at the beach. Yeah, the beach is not always calm. There are off-seasons which aren’t pleasant. Maybe Tsunamis too! But, in the end, you are gonna survive. Take my word for it. You meet all kinds of people at the beach. Learn from the awesome people, help out all the others. Show off a bit. Then just sit and relax. You know that everything is gonna be all right. So enjoy your vacation!

It's You

Who’s the most awesome person in this world? You!

Do you like yourself? If not, change your mindset right now. If you don’t like yourself, then who else will like you? People say, “Everyone is unique.” That’s just another way of saying, “No one is special.” But wait. If you are grateful about what you are and you think you are the best, then you are the most awesome person! If you are grateful, you will receive more and more. Then everything else will just fall into place.

Another idea. Just think about all the people who are not as fortunate as you. Didn’t that just make you more grateful about who you are? Hmm. So, just keep being awesome!

How to be Happy

Okay. Let’s get straight into it. I have a question for you. Are you happy?

If your answer is not that close to a yes, read on. Else, just remember to read this when you are not happy.

Hmm. So you are not happy. Not right now. But, can you attract happiness if you want to? Yes you can. Abraham Lincoln once said, “People are just about as happy as they make up their minds to be”. Yes. Attitude is the big difference that makes us different. It decides whether we are happy or not. People who want to be happy will use their positive mental attitude.

The best way to find happiness is to use your time and energy toward making someone else happy. Happiness is a sly bastard. If you go out searching for it, it will never find you. But if you help someone search it, it will surely come to you.

But if you share misery and unhappiness, you will attract the same to yourself. You might have seen people who are always in trouble, no matter what they do. This is only because they are always sharing their troubles with others.
Regardless of who you are, you are a wonderful person! But, some people might not think so. If you feel that some people are using their negative mental attitude towards you, just don’t let it change who you are. Remember, it is you who control the most important factor that decides your life. It’s what you do and the fact that you are happy that matters.

Nothing else matters.

Yeah. I know, right. Metallica is awesome.

Okay, the moral of today’s story is – “Metallica is an awesome band. If you haven’t heard their songs, you must surely listen to them.”



Oh. I almost forgot. Also, be happy by making others happy. It’s your attitude that matters.
That’s it. Thanks for reading. I hope I made you happy, so that happiness come looking for me. Yeah, I am a bit selfish.

Keep reading!