Scam Calls of the Divine: When Faith Is Used as a Weapon

Every day, we receive countless scam calls. Some claim to offer business opportunities, while others ask for sensitive bank information—account numbers, PINs, anything they can use to rob you. Fortunately, with technology and awareness, most of us can spot these scams and protect ourselves.

But how do you protect yourself from a more insidious kind of scam—one that doesn’t come through a phone line, but through the voice of someone claiming divine authority?

What if the scam is wrapped in the language of culture, heritage, and religion? What if someone convinces you that a divine power has asked you to act a certain way—not for your own good, but to serve their political agenda?

These are the pseudo calls of divinity—deceptive appeals in the name of faith, designed to manipulate rather than enlighten. These calls are not coming from a higher power. They are carefully crafted by those who seek control, often by exploiting the very foundations of belief and tradition.

Take, for example, the recent call by our Honourable Prime Minister urging citizens to vote in overwhelming numbers—“400 and above”—claiming it as a divine mission. Behind this rhetoric lies a dangerous suggestion: that rewriting or dismantling the Constitution is not just a political move, but a sacred duty.

Such narratives are not just misleading—they are deeply harmful. When seasoned politicians use the language of the divine, they tap into something deeply emotional and sacred. The result is often a psychological manipulation of the masses, where reason is clouded by devotion.

Thanks to the sacrifices of great leaders and visionaries, India emerged as a democratic nation—a place where governance was meant to be rooted in equality, justice, and secular ideals. But today, we see attempts to alter even the preamble of our Constitution, as if changing the question paper to match the answers politicians already want.

Let’s be clear: Divinity does not call for the manipulation of the people. Faith, at its core, is a personal and spiritual experience—not a political tool to rally votes or rewrite laws.

These pseudo-divine calls are a betrayal—not of any one group, but of the very idea of honest public discourse. They are frauds in the name of something sacred.

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Conclusion: Time to Listen Carefully

Just as we have learned to detect scam calls asking for our money, we must develop the awareness to identify scam calls that ask for our soul. The ones that hijack our beliefs to push political motives. The ones that cloak personal ambition in the name of divine instruction.

True divinity doesn’t demand votes. It inspires compassion, justice, and unity. It’s time we listen more carefully—and call out the impostors.

When the evil blogs....

We are more practiced to live in the world wherein we fear watched by the evil than being blessed by the God. Thus keep the cards close to our chest when it comes to raising our voice against the injustice.

This made me put a question to ChatGPT on how would world change when evil starts blogging and the results of ChatGPT was dracular. When evil becomes a savvy blogger it can impact the world in following ways.

1. Normalization of Harmful Ideas

Blogging could become a platform to cloak dangerous ideologies in friendly, relatable language:

• Framing hate as opinion: Extremist views might be presented as just “alternative perspectives.”

• Soft propaganda: Evil can disguise itself in lifestyle blogs, pseudo-philosophy, or self-help content.

Example: A blog that seems to promote "traditional values" could subtly advocate for regressive, discriminatory policies.

2 . Algorithmic Amplification

Modern platforms reward engagement, not ethics:

• Clickbait thrives: Controversial or divisive content spreads faster.

• Virality over virtue: The more outrageous the blog, the more attention it gets.

Effect: The most unethical voices might become the most influential.

3. Acceleration of Division

Blogs driven by evil motives could polarize societies even further:

• "Us vs. Them" narratives: Painting others as enemies in ongoing culture wars.

• Distrust in truth: Promoting conspiracy theories that erode trust in science, journalism, and democracy.

4. Weaponized Identity and Empathy

Evil could take on sympathetic or marginalized personas to build trust:

• False vulnerability: Pretending to be a victim to justify hate or manipulation.

• Cultural camouflage: Adopting local lingo or concerns to infiltrate different communities.
  

5. Manipulation of Public Opinion

If evil becomes a master storyteller, it can sway hearts and minds:

• Echo chambers: Readers may be pulled into closed communities reinforcing harmful beliefs.

• Emotional hooks: Anecdotal stories may be weaponized to justify cruelty or injustice.

• Authority building: Evil bloggers could gain followers who see them as truth-tellers against a corrupt system.

If evil becomes a savvy blogger:

• Tyrants could be rebranded as “protectors.”

• Violence might be reframed as “necessary justice.”

• Censorship could be sold as “safety.”

In short: The medium of blogging, once meant to democratize voice, becomes a double-edged sword when wielded by those with malicious intent.

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Playing the Right Game: Goals, Balls, and the Art of Success

 Life is a vast playground filled with countless goals — some shaped like basketball hoops, others like soccer nets or cricket stumps. Each goal requires a different ball, a different strategy, and a different skillset. The game of life is not just about having goals, but about choosing the right tools to pursue them.

Most people today chase a common goal: money. It’s a popular target, but not everyone is equipped with the right ball to score it. Life might hand you a brush and canvas when you’re trying to shoot baskets. Or a cricket bat when you need a keyboard. The mismatch leaves many frustrated — not because they lack talent, but because they’re playing the wrong game with the wrong tools.

In their eagerness to chase artificial goals set by society, people often try to reshape their lives to fit what the majority accepts — instead of pursuing the goals that naturally align with who they are.

Success isn’t just about chasing a goal. It’s about understanding what kind of game you’re meant to play. Look at the ball life has handed you — your skills, your passion, your circumstances — and choose the goal that matches it. Then play with focus, creativity, and intent.

That’s how you stop playing someone else’s game — and start winning your own.

Curious case of AIDS diagnosis in India

In India, AIDS has long carried a social stigma unlike any other disease—largely because it’s associated with sexuality in a traditionally conservative culture. For decades, it was wrongly believed to be the result of immoral behavior, particularly infidelity. But how did India first learn about HIV/AIDS? Here is an interesting excerpts from an article published in Hindustan times.

The answer lies in the pioneering work of Dr. Suniti Solomon, whose groundbreaking research in 1986 changed the country’s understanding of the disease forever.

Then a young doctor, Suniti was testing 100 sex workers as a part of a research project at the Madras Medical College (MMC).

Little did she known that a small, humble Madras laboratory’s preliminary research would precipitate a medical challenge on a national scale.

“She was shocked,” her son, Dr Sunil Solomon, recalled, 30 years on. “She had told her research student that she didn’t expect to find anything, that she was expecting negative results across the board.”

Instead, what Dr Suniti found was that six of the 100 workers tested positive for HIV/AIDS, an enormous discovery that brought the reality of the virus home to India.

But not initially.

“The government refused to believe the tests,” Dr Sunil said. “They could not believe that a country like India – deemed to be cultural superior to the West – could have the virus.”

It was only after the samples were sent to Washington and confirmed as positive that the government accepted Dr Suniti’s tests.

Facing enormous opposition, the doctor would go on to establish the YR Gaitonde Care Foundation in 1993 in Chennai (then Madras), and shape how the country educated itself about the disease and treated those who had it.

“Her discovery helped India start its fight against HIV/AIDS,” said Dr Sekhar, a senior doctor responsible for anti-retroviral treatments that help subdue the disease, at the General Government Hospital in Chennai.

After Dr Suniti died last year, Sunil, a doctor in his own right, took over the foundation.

An understanding of the virus, Dr Suniti deemed three decades ago, was critical in helping treat those who suffered from it.

Dr Suniti’s sheer dedication to her patients came, perhaps, from some of their tragic fates.

One of the first six people to be diagnosed was a 13-year-old girl who had been abducted and sold into the sex trade. The girl volunteered at the foundation the same year it started, dying a few months later.

But sympathy from the general public was in short supply.

“We were thrown into jail, beaten by police, and called things like impure,” said S Noori, president of the South Indian Positive network.

A former sex worker, Noori was among the first to be diagnosed with AIDS in India, and decided to volunteer to help raise awareness about HIV after meeting Dr Suniti in 1987.

“Today, people look at homosexuals and transgenders with the same contempt they had for us sex workers back then.”

“Men face an additional level of stigma because of the prejudice against homosexuality,” Dr Sunil agreed. “And it’s worrying because it affects their access to treatment.”

The main difference between then and now, according to Noori, is how open people with HIV are. “People are much more willing to come out and say I am positive,” she said, “And that’s great because it shows that people’s attitudes towards it are changing.”

It has been exactly 30 years since the first HIV patient was diagnosed in India. In this time, the country has made significant strides in medical treatment, thanks in large part to Dr Suniti’s gargantuan efforts.

“What was a death sentence 30 years ago is now a manageable problem,” said Dr Sunil. “One pill a day and you’re good to go.”

The next big frontier that HIV/AIDS research needs to conquer is finding a cure.

But of equal importance is continuing the fight that Dr Suniti Solomon began – the struggle against the stigma that AIDS patients face.

 

 

 

 

The sounds of the night: Insects create a nocturnal chorus

To my friends in city it will be rare for you to hear the sounds of the insects but those living near bushy forested areas you hear an interesting rhythm of sounds from insects that starts in the evening and goes till the midnight. I came across an insightful article from Reconnect With Nature about this very topic, and I’d love to share some highlights with you.

The term "singing insects" might make you think of Jiminy Cricket or another animated bug made famous on the big screen, but these crooning bugs are real, making themselves heard all across our area.

These singing insects are cicadas, crickets, grasshoppers and katydids, the males of which produce loud calls in their search for a female mate, according to the University of Florida. The sounds produced by these insects may just sound like a loud din to you, but each is unique to its species.

Katydids, grasshoppers and crickets are all closely related, belonging to the order Orthoptera, while cicadas belong to the order Homoptera. How these insects make their singing calls varies. The Orthoptera insects — the katydids, crickets and grasshoppers — typically produce sounds by rubbing one body part against another, which is called stridulation, according to Songs of Insects. 

Crickets rub together structures on their wings to produce their call, according to "Singing Insects of the Chicago Region" by Carl Strang. Male grasshoppers are able to produce sound by rubbing a hind leg against a forewing. Katydids make sound by rubbing their forewings together. 

Cicadas have sound organs called tymbals, which have a series of ribs that can buckle onto one another when the cicada flexes its muscles. The buckling creates a clicking noise, and the combined effect of these clicks is the buzzing sound cicadas make.

Even to the untrained ear, you may be able to tell the difference between some of these insects' calls. Crickets, for example, have more musical sounding calls because of their low frequency, Sounds of Insects reports. Katydids and grasshoppers have a more high-pitched call with varying frequencies. The songs of these insects often is not audible to people, particularly those with diminished ability to hear high-frequency sounds. 

Of our singing insects, cicadas are by far the loudest, notorious for their loud buzzing sound. The cicada call often sounds pulsating and typically builds up to a crescendo before abruptly ending, according to Sounds of Insects.  

When you hear these insects' songs can be telling as well. Cicadas generally call during daylight hours and at dusk, turning quiet by nightfall. Many katydids and crickets call at night, while we tend to see and hear grasshoppers during the day.

The next time you're outside in the evening—especially away from city lights—pause and listen. There’s a whole world of rhythm and romance unfolding in the trees and bushes around you. It's a gentle reminder that even the smallest creatures play a part in the great orchestra of nature.

Faking Co-existence (The pseudo Co-existence)

The rich pretends to co-exist with poor, the white pretends to co-exist with the black, majority pretends to co-exist with the minority. And result of this pseudo co-existence is that the next generation which couldn't figure out this pseudo co-existence is at cross roads watching all the tamasha happening in the society and unable to take sides.

The next generation believed that fissures within the society were minor and hence they could concentrate on bigger goals of humanity. But people who faked co-existence have come out with innovative method of electing radicals to achieve their purpose of getting rid of the co-existing partner.

The side which faked co-existence couldn't believe that Constitution would come in their way of realizing their devious dreams. Constitution armed those people who were affected by the pseudo co-existence.

When coming to India, ancient people mastered the art of pseudo co-existence i.e. to fake co-existence despite being divided into castes. And they became rattled when foreign forces shed light on this pseudo co-existence practiced for thousands of years.

Capitalism added to this pseudo co-existence, where in a company you can find people of different level working under a single roof but they were never single at heart. 

To achieve co-existence we need to defeat the pseudo co-existence.

The great Indian entrance exams

Though a college degree in India doesn't guarantee a successful career, students invest immense effort just to gain admission—primarily through highly competitive entrance exams.

Entrance exams are a major phenomenon in India. Depending on their field of interest, students prepare for specific exams tailored to certain colleges or professions. Many begin this preparation as early as higher secondary school.

From a business perspective, a whole ecosystem has evolved around these exams. Prominent coaching hubs like Kota offer intensive, high-tech training for IIT aspirants. I remember a friend who moved to Delhi to prepare for the IAS exams. Although the IAS isn’t an entrance exam per se, it highlights how far students are willing to go—and how much they’re willing to endure—to succeed in competitive assessments.

But there's a darker side to this coaching culture. The pressure can be overwhelming, often leading to exploitation. In one tragic instance, students lost their lives in an IAS coaching center in Delhi that flooded due to poor infrastructure—it was running illegally in a basement. Kota, despite its reputation for academic excellence, sees an alarming number of student suicides each year.

The issue isn’t isolated to coaching centers. In Tamil Nadu, several students died by suicide after failing to clear the NEET exam, triggering statewide protests. Many believed that NEET disproportionately favored out-of-state students and disrupted Tamil Nadu’s traditionally inclusive approach to medical admissions. This controversy even led to calls for NEET exemption in the state.