Being an atheist is quite taxing. Atheism is not just an awkward decision; it takes one through long-winded logical deductions to arrive at a certain situation where the all-pervading concept of ?God? no longer plays a role in one?s life

I do not know about Western countries, but I can say, living as a true ‘atheist’ is not quite easy here in this part of the world. In a civilisation so old, everything emanates from ‘God’ and ends there. Rationality takes a back seat when faith is implanted in a framework of belief. The belief system works strongly in a variety of forms. God is central to everything - from astrology to religion. Being religious is easy. You submit your faith to some system where you don’t have to explain what you do. Just do what other people do.


Being an atheist is often quite taxing. You explain to people why. The common and domesticated people often doubt your convictions and depth of knowledge if you do not subscribe to any faith. Following rituals and taking part in religious festivals becomes social norms. If you are not active in that area, your integrity may be at stake. You have to wade through hordes of excuses and feasible explanations in a very intricate way so as not to offend the believers. The believers, most of them, do their best to ensure that you run with the herd. It is often not easy to come out unscathed. This is more so as the believers all around you are your good friends, your relatives or may be your spouse!

Being ethically correct and tactically right will be a constant effort on your part while practising atheism. This is more so for the first generation atheists. I mean, if you are born into a religious family as is generally the case, you will invariably be entangled with the rituals and ignoring those rituals will show you in poor light. You will be emotionally exploited at times in order to go through some of the said rituals.


I remember an incident that took place when my father died long ago. I was a student then. Being born into a Hindu family I was supposed to perform a series of bizarre rituals after his death. It was quite an emotional situation. I declined because I had no faith in those ’meaningless’ rituals. The rest of the family got melodramatic about it and tried to persuade me into performing the rituals. Still I didn’t budge. In such a situation, arguments often do not succeed. Faith is everything. Even if the faith is not instilled in you strongly, you are driven to do things just because they are being done through the ages without being questioned.


God and spirituality should spring from inner realisation and they are very deeply rooted in people. So that must be respected and that should be kept inside. Expressions and discourses, scriptures and strictures through a ‘religion’ are unnecessary. Atheism is not just an awkward decision; it takes one through long-winded logical deductions to arrive at a certain situation where the all-pervading concept of ‘God’ no longer plays a role in one’s life.