Religion is not the absence of reason, but a belief beyond its limits.
Atheism is not the absence of belief, but the belief in absence.
This is why some people experience phases of atheism and religiosity, because both are shaped by not rationality, but emotions, beliefs and lived experiences.
Therefore, debates about God mostly remain unresolved because “heart has it’s reasons which reason knows nothing of”.
Also, such debates are hardly about God. They are, at the core, about authority, morality, meaning and the limits of human judgment.
(Having only superficially skimmed the Akhtar–Mufti debate, it didn’t achieve resolution because it cannot, but it set an example of civility in disagreement.)
When an interviewer asks, “If I visit your state for three days, where would you take me?”
Have a solid itinerary ready: not just famous monuments, but small cultural experiences like a local market, a craft village, a food street, a sunset point only locals know. This shows you’re rooted.
But the finest way to end this answer is:
“…and on the last evening, Ma’am/Sir, I’d love to host you for a simple home-cooked dinner with my family.”
Your plan shows your knowledge. Your closing shows your heart.
Moral of the story: In any room, information can impress the mind but warmth is what ultimately wins the heart.
We belong to a world that often encourages erasure of identity in the name of progress.
Anglicise your name. Tone down your rituals. Don’t speak in your regional accent.
And yet, irony persists: an Indian American may perfect the most neutral accent in the room and still be introduced as “the brown doctor.”
While an actress like Priyanka Chopra who did not soften her Indianness to blend in, rather sharpened it to stand out. That is the trap. What you bury becomes a weapon others can use against you. What you accept becomes your armour.
And once you carry your identity with pride, no one else can carry them against you.
Each time we celebrate a festival, we momentarily dissolve our individuality into something larger than the self. Something that’s not about personal interests and wins, but about the shared values that a community cherishes.
It’s not logic, it’s a cultural anchor. By learning the litttle rituals, we keep alive a chain that connects the generations before us to the generations after us.
And Diwali is the jewel among them all. So let’s not be a bore. Go, celebrate and keep the chain alive.
A person may get freed from external restraints, but social conditioning continues to shape their fear, prejudices, and internalised hierarchies. The echo of the cage lingers, the way patriarchy makes women second-guess their choices, or how colonialism continues to define postcolonial nations’ sense of self-worth.
As Paulo Freire reminds us in ’Pedagogy of the oppressed’, liberation is a two-fold process: freeing the oppressed from domination, and then shedding the “oppressor’s consciousness” from the mind.
Only when the bird no longer carries the memory of the cage does it truly learn to fly.
This story isn’t just about deserts, it’s about how humans often die with “full bottles” of love unexpressed, wealth unused, talents unexplored, opportunities wasted, because we were waiting for the “right time” that never arrived.
Epicurus warned against this: the pursuit of happiness is not about endless preparation for tomorrow, but about learning to live wisely today.
But I also feel that to sip sparingly was not mere cowardice, but a desperate attempt, a small hope to sail against the cruelty of the vast desert.
Akshita singh baghel
Akshita singh baghel
Religion is not the absence of reason, but a belief beyond its limits.
Atheism is not the absence of belief, but the belief in absence.
This is why some people experience phases of atheism and religiosity, because both are shaped by not rationality, but emotions, beliefs and lived experiences.
Therefore, debates about God mostly remain unresolved because “heart has it’s reasons which reason knows nothing of”.
Also, such debates are hardly about God. They are, at the core, about authority, morality, meaning and the limits of human judgment.
(Having only superficially skimmed the Akhtar–Mufti debate, it didn’t achieve resolution because it cannot, but it set an example of civility in disagreement.)
3 days ago | [YT] | 25
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Akshita singh baghel
When an interviewer asks, “If I visit your state for three days, where would you take me?”
Have a solid itinerary ready: not just famous monuments, but small cultural experiences like a local market, a craft village, a food street, a sunset point only locals know. This shows you’re rooted.
But the finest way to end this answer is:
“…and on the last evening, Ma’am/Sir, I’d love to host you for a simple home-cooked dinner with my family.”
Your plan shows your knowledge. Your closing shows your heart.
Moral of the story: In any room, information can impress the mind but warmth is what ultimately wins the heart.
2 weeks ago | [YT] | 42
View 7 replies
Akshita singh baghel
- Tyrion Lannister in ‘Games of Thrones’
We belong to a world that often encourages erasure of identity in the name of progress.
Anglicise your name.
Tone down your rituals.
Don’t speak in your regional accent.
And yet, irony persists: an Indian American may perfect the most neutral accent in the room and still be introduced as “the brown doctor.”
While an actress like Priyanka Chopra who did not soften her Indianness to blend in, rather sharpened it to stand out.
That is the trap. What you bury becomes a weapon others can use against you. What you accept becomes your armour.
And once you carry your identity with pride, no one else can carry them against you.
1 month ago | [YT] | 36
View 4 replies
Akshita singh baghel
1 month ago | [YT] | 56
View 4 replies
Akshita singh baghel
Each time we celebrate a festival, we momentarily dissolve our individuality into something larger than the self. Something that’s not about personal interests and wins, but about the shared values that a community cherishes.
It’s not logic, it’s a cultural anchor. By learning the litttle rituals, we keep alive a chain that connects the generations before us to the generations after us.
And Diwali is the jewel among them all. So let’s not be a bore. Go, celebrate and keep the chain alive.
शुभ दीपावली! ✨🪔
2 months ago | [YT] | 32
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Akshita singh baghel
Related PYQ: The cost of being wrong is less than the cost of doing nothing.
Themes:
Risk and Growth, Paralysis by analysis, Simplicity vs complexity, Courage and moral agency
2 months ago | [YT] | 55
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Akshita singh baghel
A person may get freed from external restraints, but social conditioning continues to shape their fear, prejudices, and internalised hierarchies. The echo of the cage lingers, the way patriarchy makes women second-guess their choices, or how colonialism continues to define postcolonial nations’ sense of self-worth.
As Paulo Freire reminds us in ’Pedagogy of the oppressed’, liberation is a two-fold process: freeing the oppressed from domination, and then shedding the “oppressor’s consciousness” from the mind.
Only when the bird no longer carries the memory of the cage does it truly learn to fly.
2 months ago | [YT] | 68
View 5 replies
Akshita singh baghel
2 months ago | [YT] | 54
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Akshita singh baghel
This story isn’t just about deserts, it’s about how humans often die with “full bottles” of love unexpressed, wealth unused, talents unexplored, opportunities wasted, because we were waiting for the “right time” that never arrived.
Epicurus warned against this: the pursuit of happiness is not about endless preparation for tomorrow, but about learning to live wisely today.
But I also feel that to sip sparingly was not mere cowardice, but a desperate attempt, a small hope to sail against the cruelty of the vast desert.
Telegram : t.me/UPSCwithAkshita
2 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 58
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Akshita singh baghel
3 months ago | [YT] | 52
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