Rationality must triumph Nationalism and Religion

Well are we civilized enough . I mean Humans have been fighting and killing each other from the dawn of the civilization and its been continuing with no end in sight . We have grown in our understanding of nature , of the laws that govern it . We now know how the evolution worked over million of years to achieve what we call the human kind today , but sadly we are still fighting and killing each other for numerous reasons .

Two ideologies which defines the conflict in the modern world is nationalism and religion .  Every country in this world believes its the best. That's the basic premise of keeping it together . All nations , barring a few is made of people who share some kind of cultural , racial , linguistic or religious traits. We are taught in our schools how our nation is the greatest and the most noblest of all . How from the very early age we are indoctrinated to believe what we are told . How we define enemies from the very young age . How we learn  to back our governments in whatever they choose to do , to die for your country ..or rather giving us the right to kill another human being legally on the pretext of saving our nation . The good and evil defined like that has worked and surprisingly still works even in the age of internet , where the world has shrunk like anything and the common citizens of all countries are interacting with each other like never before .

Then there are these great religions . The shining light of humankind  :), which sadly could never agree with one another . We are fighting for those texts written in different world for different people and amazingly still means different things to different people. We are taking and losing precious lives who could have done so much for the mankind . We are ruining lives of millions of children who will grow up to believe the same ideologies that took their childhood away for the lack of proper education and healthy environment.

Here's my question . Does morality comes from religion or fundamental guidelines of nation states. Do we need to believe in any ideologies to be a good human being , to love fellow human beings and to do good for the world as a whole by not confining our goodness to a certain group . Why one man in US killed is news and 100 killed in Africa isn't worth a look . Why we cling to our identity so tight that nothing else matter. The cries of the children , the shrieks of the mothers and the sadness in the eyes of every grieving soul does not need a religion to be felt . We feel it because we are humans . And we don't feel it because our humanity has taken a back seat to our false ideologies .

Why we fight. I assume the answer lies in the word Fight itself .

F : Fear
I :  Ignorance
G : Greed
H : Hatred
T : Threat

These doesn't need an explanation . All these  working together culminate into wars , killings , beheading , Genocides , Massacres . I of ignorance should be replaced with I of intelligence and  R of rationality  , then we can very well see how we can replace  F.I.G.H.T with what is R.I.G.H.T

As (R)ationality and
     (I)ntelligence will
     (G)row
     (H)umanity will
     (T)riumph

We need to be rational , We need to ask why . We need to understand the grey matter , that the world has no clear demarcations of good and evil , right and wrong . That it is for us to ask ourselves , whenever we choose to follow  something,  We need to ask ourselves so loudly that our soul can hear what we are saying . Our soul will then give us clear and concise answers , and guide us . That is the path we should tread.

May Humanity and Rationality Prevail .

What it means to be an expat ..

I have been living abroad for more than 5 years now . This includes multiple geographies . Living in Bahrain for almost three years . Sometimes I wonder how much it has changed me . Or more precisely is the change for the better or for worse . There are different kinds of expats . One kind , and you will find those in abundance are the ones who live in a tightly integrated community based on their origins and nationality. They are the ones who wants to preserve there original identity and culture . They wont mingle much with others apart for business . So they are living an extension of their lives in their country . They create similar surrounding for themselves and live in a protected shell minimizing the influence of the nation they are living in .

There is another kind . The one who assimilates in the culture of the place where they are staying or adopt  the culture of a true expat . A true expat has no baggage I guess . They just become a new identity and have friends from everywhere . Mostly westernized ( if they are not already from west ) they are the affluent ones and have a penchant for being highly social and being popular .

Here the problem lies for someone like me , who is nowhere . I don't want the baggage but I cant become a true expat . I want to talk to people and make friends with people of different nationalities but its very difficult when you are not the kind described above . When you hate social gathering , parties and don't go to pubs and forums . Its not that I have failed completely . Its more like , people get confused about what the true me is . I don't associate myself with my origins much and I cant change myself completely to fit in . So you end up staying lonely most of the time . And in a country like Bahrain , being lonely can be quite depressing . And people either think you are a snob or you are too reserved . I need friends but  I don't know how to make one . I wish there is one like me out  there who is struggling in the same way .

Ok so what I want . Hmm I want just to talk and exchange ideas and experiences ( not business cards ) . I want to talk politics and religion , science  and spirituality and things like that with an open mind. I want to meet in cafes and not pubs and bars . Society here is highly consumerised or materialistic . People just love to spend and spend and spend . Fancy cars , Fancy restaurants , Fancy resorts . That's the life and those are the laughs which rings hollow many times . The shallowness irks me . But I am out of depth myself . Its not just this place , its the same back home , same everywhere else too I guess.

Many of us are struggling I guess . Sometimes struggling to keep upto someones expectations , sometimes to our own expectations . Sometimes balancing both is  the biggest struggle . People are happier when they live in shells insulated , people are happy when they are flying freely without any strings . But it becomes difficult when u have broken the shell and can see the world outside but an invisible glue keeps you from flying , you are just walking slowly with heavy steps away from the world you want to get away from but nowhere near the one you want to be in . I dont know if the entire thing I wrote makes any sense or not . May be not ..just like my life .. Nothing is making any sense . ...  as the Beatles say ... let it be .

Raghu's Lessons on Life :)

TRIED MY BIT IN ANIMATION . HOPE ITS NOT BAD