Another article I had written for my college newspaper 'Spectator' 2 years ago. Until I get into the groove of writing again, I'm fishing out my old creativity ;)
Who is God? How would you define God? Traditionally, one would define God as the one Supreme Being, the Creator and Ruler of the universe. God is the whole and sole heart of this world. The mysterious life giving force behind every single occurrence, from the sprouting of a new infant leaf in spring, to the falling of a dead one in autumn, he is responsible for it all!
When asked to define God, 23 year old Sachin Bhandary had the following to say, "How can you define God? Can you ever imagine infinite happiness, infinite love? Human minds cannot understand that unless you reach a much superior level. I am sorry, I cannot define God." Different people, different opinions, different outlooks, but most would swear by one common point, there is only ONE God.
However, if that is true, then why the different names? When everyone agrees that God is only one, why call him by different names? So the question goes, is it important to 'name' God? "We can't have faith in something abstract. People need a name for what they are committing to", seems to be Sachin's justification.
Life hasn't been easy for 20 year old Tarana Merchant when it comes to naming her religion or the God that she worships. Tarana is from what can be called, a multi-cultural background. If one goes to analyze, it can even be said that she has genes from practically all the different religions. Her definition of God is simple; God is the supreme, omnipresent being who is invisible to the naked eye. He is just a force, and has nothing to do with idols. He is the sole connection between life and death.
The most common problem she faces is when she is asked about her religion. Says Tarana, "Ideally it is assumed that Tarana is a Hindu name, where as Merchant is more like a Muslim surname. I have actually seen stereotypical Hindus wince as they hear my last name. Why is this so? Why does God have to be named at all? I mean God is too supreme a being to be named in the first place. He CANNOT be categorized into any one religion. Naming him simply leads to a lot of communal tension and confusion. Let's just stop categorizing people on the basis of their religion. The world would be a much better place if we could get rid of these superficial biases once and for all."
Eighteen year old Shania Singh also shares more or less the same opinion as Tarana, only she goes a little overboard saying, "I am so tired of having people ask me my religion immediately after I introduce myself to them. I mean if the world is going to make it so hard to have faith in God, then I'd rather be an atheist!"
So can it be said that, the world would be a happier place to live in, if we all had one common 'nameless' God? The solution seems to be easier said than done. A tradition that goes back hundreds of generations, obviously cannot be changed overnight, or maybe cannot be changed at all. The hope for a religion-less world is probably just wishful thinking.
But then, a religion-less society, that is a society minus the religious customs, traditions, languages, etc. wouldn't be a society at all. Moreover, a world without culture and society would be like reliving the Stone Age! Surely that couldn't be the solution. So I guess we are back to square one, God apparently DOES need to be named, because like Sachin said, it gives us humans a sense of identity, one we simply can't do away with, no matter what the consequences.
