"Cogito Ergo Sum"- A Philosophical Quest

Or Have We Just Become Very Good at Calling Our Chains "Choices"? There are some questions in life that simply refuse to leave you alone. You try distracting yourself. You watch a movie. You scroll through Instagram. You eat biryani. You even convince yourself, "Bas yaar, enough philosophy for today." And then, when you least expect it, the question quietly comes back, sits beside you, and smiles. "Are you really free?" I don't know why this question troubles me so much. Maybe because of certain things that have happened in my own life. Maybe because every choice I have made has given me something beautiful while taking away something equally precious. People often say, "Follow your heart." Nobody tells you that the heart also comes with terms and conditions. The moment you choose one road, a hundred others disappear forever. Then life has the audacity to ask, "Happy?" Happy? Brother, I am still reading the user manual. So what does...

  कभी-कभी मैं सोचता हूँ कि क्या इतिहास केवल उन्हीं लोगों को याद रखता है जो जीत गए, या फिर वह चुपचाप उन लोगों को भी याद रखता है जिन्होंने तब खड़े होने का साहस दिखाया, जब बाकी सब मौन थे। पिछले कुछ दिनों से एक प्रश्न मेरे हृदय का पीछा नहीं छोड़ रहा है— हम कहाँ हैं? एक ईसाई के रूप में नहीं। एक जेसुइट के रूप में नहीं। किसी धर्म विशेष के सदस्य के रूप में भी नहीं। बल्कि एक मनुष्य के रूप में। जहाँ भी मेरी नज़र जाती है, मैं लोगों को अपने-अपने बोझ उठाते हुए देखता हूँ। कोई शोक में है, कोई भूखा है, कोई अपने भविष्य को लेकर भयभीत है, और कोई ऐसा है जिसकी आवाज़ कोई सुनना ही नहीं चाहता। चाहे वह हिन्दू हो, मुसलमान हो, सिख हो, ईसाई हो, बौद्ध हो या किसी भी धर्म से न जुड़ा हो—उसका दुःख सबसे पहले मानवीय है, उसके बाद वह किसी पहचान का हिस्सा बनता है। और मैं स्वयं से बार-बार पूछता हूँ— ऐसे समय में मेरा विश्वास मुझसे क्या अपेक्षा करता है? डॉ. भीमराव रामजी आंबेडकर ने हमें याद दिलाया था कि अधिकार तभी तक सुरक्षित रहते हैं, जब तक लोग न्याय की रक्षा करने का साहस रखते हैं। उन्होंने केवल नारे नहीं दिए, बल्कि एक ...

  कधी कधी मला प्रश्न पडतो—इतिहास फक्त जिंकणाऱ्यांनाच लक्षात ठेवतो का? की तो शांतपणे त्यांनाही स्मरतो ज्यांनी सर्वजण गप्प बसले असताना उभे राहण्याचे धैर्य दाखवले? गेल्या काही दिवसांपासून एक प्रश्न माझ्या मनाचा पिच्छा पुरवत आहे— आपण कुठे आहोत? ख्रिस्ती म्हणून नाही. जेसुइट म्हणून नाही. कोणत्याही एका धर्माचे सदस्य म्हणून नाही. तर माणूस म्हणून. जिकडे पाहतो तिकडे लोक आपापली ओझी वाहताना दिसतात. कोणी दुःखात आहे, कोणी उपाशी आहे, कोणी आपल्या भविष्याबद्दल चिंतेत आहे, तर कोणी स्वतःचा आवाज ऐकला जात नाही असे अनुभवत आहे. ते हिंदू असोत, मुस्लिम, शीख, ख्रिस्ती, बौद्ध किंवा कोणत्याही धर्माचे नसोत—त्यांचे दुःख आधी मानवी आहे, नंतर धार्मिक. आणि मी स्वतःलाच पुन्हा पुन्हा विचारतो— अशा वेळी माझा विश्वास माझ्याकडून काय अपेक्षा करतो? डॉ. बाबासाहेब आंबेडकरांनी सांगितले होते की न्याय टिकवण्यासाठी धैर्य आवश्यक असते. त्यांनी दिलेला मंत्र— "शिका, संघटित व्हा आणि संघर्ष करा" —हा केवळ घोषवाक्य नव्हता; तो मानवी प्रतिष्ठा आणि समानतेची जबाबदारी होता. त्यांचे शब्द आजही प्रत्येक पिढीला प्रश्न विचारतात. काही दिवसा...

Sometimes I wonder whether history remembers only those who won, or whether it quietly remembers those who had the courage to stand when everyone else remained silent. These past few days, one question has refused to leave my heart: Where are we? Not as Christians. Not as Jesuits. Not as members of one religion or another. But as human beings. Everywhere I look, I see people carrying burdens. Some are grieving, some are hungry, some are anxious about their future, and some feel unheard. Whether they are Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, or belong to no religion at all, their pain remains human before it becomes anything else. And I keep asking myself: What does my faith ask of me in moments like these? Dr. B. R. Ambedkar reminded us that rights survive only when people have the courage to protect justice. He urged people to educate, agitate, and organize —not merely as slogans, but as responsibilities rooted in dignity and equality. Those words continue to challenge every gene...

Hello guys! Long time... No, no... I didn't disappear. I was just trying to understand whether I was living in India or inside the comment section of Instagram. Because nowadays, I genuinely cannot tell the difference. Open your phone. One reel says the country has become heaven. The next says everything has collapsed. The third says if you don't support this leader, you're anti-national. The fourth says if you do support him, you've lost your humanity. And somewhere in between, your mother is calling you to eat dinner. Life is strange. I sometimes wonder whether politics has become our new religion. Not because people vote. Voting is beautiful. Democracy is beautiful. Disagreement is beautiful. But because we have forgotten how to disagree without hating. That frightens me. You know what hurts the most? It isn't that political parties fight. They always have. It is that ordinary people ......people who once shared tea, celebrated festivals together, laughed togethe...

I don't know why I feel so lost these days. Maybe what I am feeling is something everyone goes through, or maybe it isn't. I honestly don't know. But I want to ask each one of you something. Have you ever truly seen yourself? Not your face in the mirror. Not the version of yourself that people know. I mean the person who lives deep within you—the one who quietly feels, longs, fears, dreams, and loves. Have you ever noticed yourself being naturally drawn toward something or someone without being able to explain why? Have you ever stood at a crossroads where you knew which road you were taking, yet had absolutely no idea why you were walking on it? It is such a strange feeling. You know the direction, but you don't know the destination. You know your choice, but you don't fully understand the reason behind it. The emotions become so intense that even you cannot explain them. I don't know... perhaps many of you have experienced this too but have never spoken about ...