This video features a discussion with Javed Akhtar about his views on God, faith, religion, and rationality. The interviewer explores Akhtar's stance on atheism and rationalism, and how these views relate to societal beliefs, the nature of existence, and the role of organized religion. Akhtar shares his perspective on the randomness of life, the human need for meaning, and the historical progression of religious beliefs as scientific understanding grows.
Here is the full transcript of the dialogue:
0:00 - I want talk about another thing and its to 0:02 - do with your work as a public 0:05 - intellectual. You know by and large most 0:08 - of your voice in public to do with 0:10 - intellectualism has to do with atheism or 0:14 - rationalism as it works. And it's something you 0:17 - know you you know you your videos go viral the most 0:20 - for a good reason 0:22 - because some of them like the one that's happening 0:24 - right now which you might not even know is an 0:27 - old video of yours with Sadhguru you know 0:29 - where you are sparring with him and those 0:31 - five-second reels are running. Yes. So 0:34 - I want to engage with you and please don't 0:36 - see this as a debate Javed Sahab because I don't know 0:38 - have the bandwidth. If we debate, you'll just crush me 0:40 - and that itself will go viral. So I 0:43 - understand your point about, for instance, 0:48 - organized religion. Yes. And and I think 0:50 - most of your arguments are on that. Yes. 0:53 - I understand your point about God, man. 0:56 - self-styled godmen because all of 0:57 - them are self-styled to begin with. Who 1:00 - called themselves god to start 1:01 - with? Others started calling them god. They also 1:03 - wore costumes for that particular role 1:06 - but the fact is Javed Sahab, the world is a 1:09 - mystery. We don't know why we are in this 1:11 - world. The fact is that we don't know so many 1:14 - things about about the universe. Why 1:16 - why were we brought here? We have no idea. 1:19 - So there is an element of faith that comes 1:21 - from that mystery, right? Do you have an issue 1:23 - with that? I'll give an example. For 1:25 - instance, if there's some calamity in a 1:27 - family, let's say someone's loved one is on death 1:31 - bed. Someone prays very strongly. It makes 1:33 - them feel better. Would that be something that is 1:37 - not in line with what you would consider 1:39 - atheism? If it makes them feel better. Maybe 1:41 - out of compassion or pity, I may allow or 1:44 - accept that person praying. Which is 1:46 - totally 1:47 - futile. That I mean, all right, somebody is 1:50 - dying and this idiot cannot do anything 1:52 - except for praying. We can't. The fact is 1:55 - we can't. No problem, but why can't we 1:57 - accept we can't? I mean, let's be 1:59 - realistic. First of all, why are we here? 2:02 - Why are we in this universe? 2:05 - Those questions, they asked me too. The ones you 2:07 - discussed with. Let's leave that. Yes, so I 2:09 - told him, Guruji, I don't know why you are 2:12 - in this world, but I know why I am in 2:14 - this world. And the answer is unpredictable. 2:19 - The answer is unpredictable. Unpredictable. Okay. 2:22 - Why I am in this world. How 2:24 - I came. Yes, let's leave all that. It is a simple 2:28 - question of homosapiens. Why am I in 2:33 - this world? 2:35 - You are 2:36 - redundant. It doesn't mean anything. Like one 2:39 - blade of grass. You go into a lawn. 2:41 - We have a lawn here. Take one blade. 2:45 - Why is this blade in this universe? Huh? 2:48 - It just grew. That is what we are. 2:52 - So what is the meaning of "Why I am in this universe?" 2:54 - But the fact that we don't know. 2:57 - No, no, you know, you will never think, you will never 3:01 - say that about an ant, about a cockroach, about 3:05 - a mosquito. Why is this mosquito in this 3:08 - universe? Maybe the mosquito is thinking, we will not know. 3:11 - You won't take that. "Hey, swat it and 3:14 - won't even think about it." You are the same, 3:17 - just a bit bigger. That's 3:19 - all. What are we? I mean, look at our age. Shameful. 3:23 - We have been here for billions of years. That's 700 3:27 - billion years, we keep hearing. In that, 3:30 - we die in 60, 70, 80 years. What is our worth? Hmm. Where were we born? What are we? Why were we born? There was one 3:38 - particular sperm that accidentally stuck to this egg. If it had stuck to that one, 3:41 - someone else would have been born. If if this egg 3:43 - had stuck to a different sperm, then someone else. And 3:46 - it's so random. This is the beginning of my birth. 3:52 - And I should, I mean, I should be ashamed 3:56 - that I suddenly become so important. I have become 3:58 - important. Then I say, why I am in this 4:01 - world? Nothing. Now I have to find a reason. 4:05 - That there is an interval between nothingness 4:08 - and nothingness. This in-between is 4:11 - important time because by the virtue 4:14 - of the fact that you are born randomly, you 4:17 - get the membership of a society called human 4:19 - society. This society will provide 4:23 - provide so many comforts to all your senses: 4:26 - the touch, taste, hearing, seeing. All these things 4:31 - that members before you, this temporary membership 4:33 - of this club, which the previous members 4:36 - created. You should be thankful to 4:40 - them. You should be thankful to this club whose 4:43 - membership you have received for a few days. 4:45 - Being a decent member, don't disturb it. If 4:48 - you can contribute something to the club, 4:50 - wonderful. Before going out, that is all. This is 4:53 - what life is. Your birth had no reason. 4:57 - Don't live with that thought. And after death, you won't be anywhere. 5:00 - Because where were you before you were born? 5:03 - You have the experience of nothingness. Billions 5:05 - of years. When you didn't exist, you won't exist. 5:08 - What's the problem with that? Hmm. 5:15 - Now, if it gives you some kind of a succor 5:20 - that there is a God who is looking and he 5:23 - will someday reward me because I have been such 5:26 - a nice by higher power that you don't have any 5:29 - clue about. What to do? Play along. 5:31 - What will you do? Yes. So why do you 5:33 - pray? I'll tell you something more practical. 5:35 - When you are in trouble, you start 5:38 - believing and thinking that Elon Musk is 5:42 - your savior. Hmm. And soon he will help you, 5:45 - send you a couple of millions, which are nothing 5:47 - for him. You will be more happy. Try it. 5:51 - But believe it. You think it's a stupid 5:55 - idea. It is just stupid because 5:57 - evolved. 5:59 - It exists, at least. And 6:01 - there is a lot of happiness in it. Try it. 6:05 - The other dimension too, I really forgot. 6:09 - Sek. I hope there is no what. All I 6:12 - believe, at the same time, I will say, I will tell 6:14 - you what. Poor fellow. There is an omnipotent 6:19 - supreme God looking after all the galaxies 6:22 - and 6:24 - nebulas, sun and planets, everything that 6:28 - is, managing it all. Then he's also looking after you 6:31 - from morning till night. He's looking after them. He's looking after them. 6:34 - What did he do wrong? What did he do right? He is totally... Why do you 6:37 - pray? 6:39 - Because you know he can intervene. If you believe 6:43 - that he has created a system and left it, 6:44 - then you won't pray. You believe 6:47 - that he can 6:49 - intervene. If he can intervene, how is this 6:52 - world running? What kind of world 6:54 - is this? Where there is so much of hunger. There 6:57 - is so much of poverty. There is so much of 7:00 - injustice. Oh man, even any of our ministers 7:02 - would run their ministry 7:06 - better than this. So, Dada, if this is the situation, how 7:11 - incompetent is this crew? When children 7:13 - die of diphtheria, their 7:16 - breathing pipe chokes. A membrane starts forming. They turn blue and 7:18 - they die. 7:21 - Are you suggesting there's some power 7:23 - that could have saved this child, but did not? 7:30 - Are you suggesting when old people trying 7:32 - to crawl over a hill, but the tsunami took 7:35 - them down. He could have saved them, but did 7:35 - not. Are 7:40 - you suggesting that in Africa, where 2 to 7:45 - 4 million people died, he could have saved those people, 7:50 - did 7:51 - not? Are you suggesting that he could remove 7:55 - starvation from Kalahandi, but he doesn't? 8:00 - You want me to worship him, even if he is 8:04 - existing? Javed Sahab, that I understand 8:07 - your point about God, and that we repose all 8:09 - our faith in one particular image of 8:12 - ourselves. Sometimes when it comes to 8:14 - organized religion, like us, there is 8:16 - nothing like religion. Sorry, there is nothing like 8:20 - organized and unorganized religion. It is 8:23 - religion. I'll tell you why. If there are a few 8:27 - cancer cells in your body, then they are very good 8:30 - because they are always there. But if there are a few 8:33 - cancer cells, what happens in the beginning? You lose weight. Then that's 8:36 - wonderful. Don't do anything. The cancer cells 8:40 - are reducing your weight. But their 8:44 - tendency is to multiply. 8:46 - Why do we say alcohol is bad? If you have two 8:49 - pegs of alcohol, your longevity 8:52 - ultimately, among people who drink two pegs of wine, is the highest. 8:53 - Measured. Why do we say it's bad? Alcohol 9:00 - is used in medicines. Because alcohol has a 9:03 - tendency that you will drink more. 9:07 - And this one kept in a bottle looks very 9:09 - beautiful. A little light falls on it. It's red. 9:12 - Beautiful bottle. What's wrong with it? Its usage is mostly wrong. 9:14 - That's why you say alcohol is 9:18 - not good. Same about religion. Maybe if you 9:20 - take some moderate 9:23 - dose, it will be good for you. I don't know. 9:25 - I'm not too sure. But it doesn't happen. It doesn't 9:28 - happen. I'm saying, yes, sir. My point is this. 9:33 - Let's say atheism as an idea, is it also 9:36 - It also... See, one thing is we don't know much. 9:40 - But this is not is almost as 9:43 - dogmatic as religion, saying this is it. Whereas 9:46 - the answer may well be, I don't know. I don't know 9:49 - would be maybe agnosticism in its own 9:53 - way. 9:55 - I don't know. If you like it, then you pray. You must be getting some luck 9:58 - out of this. You don't. It's fine. The thought that 10:01 - you think this is wrong becomes almost dogma. You 10:04 - think at some point. Not at all. Not at all. See 10:07 - it is called God of the 10:10 - gaps. God of the gaps. Where there are gaps in your imagination and knowledge, you fill them 10:17 - with your God. And look at human history. 10:20 - God was everywhere. God is receiving, retrieved. Science is growing, and science is 10:23 - growing. God was in floods, God was in 10:30 - earthquakes, God was in the weather, God was 10:33 - in clouds and rains, God was in 10:36 - harvests. God was in snakes. God was 10:40 - everywhere. Diseases. 10:43 - As you solve the puzzle or query, God goes out of 10:47 - it. 10:53 - Now God is ultimately left in 10:56 - unpredictability of 10:58 - life and the vastness of the universe. Universe. 11:03 - And what will happen after life? These are the only two, three places left. God was everywhere. 11:06 - God is shrinking. As your knowledge grows. 11:10 - If I had believed back then that these Nile 11:17 - floods... And that's what they used to believe. And they were not ignorant people. 11:20 - They were the same people who made pyramids that 11:24 - even today we have not been able to solve how they made pyramids. Those same 11:27 - people used to throw 11:31 - virgins in the Nile at the time of flood. That 11:35 - God of the Nile has become angry with us, and 11:38 - to please him, we must sacrifice some 11:40 - virgins. 11:42 - If we had stayed there, we would still be throwing virgins. We 11:46 - are making progress, but still 11:49 - it's difficult to find someone. But still, 11:52 - think about it. You solved it. If you had brought faith into it, you couldn't have solved it. 11:57 - Whatever you have found, you have 11:59 - realized, you have understood is not by faith, 12:03 - by questioning. Subscribe to Midday 12:06 - India. Get direct notifications on all 12:09 - our videos by clicking on the bell icon.
It's a bit tricky to perfectly timestamp this as a dialogue with distinct speaker names, as the transcript doesn't explicitly label the interviewer. However, I can structure it to reflect the conversation flow, attributing lines to "Interviewer" and "Javed Akhtar" based on the content and the nature of the discussion. The interviewer generally asks questions and prompts Javed Akhtar, who then elaborates on his views.
Here's the timestamped dialogue:
Interviewer: 0:00 - I want talk about another thing and its to Interviewer: 0:02 - do with your work as a public Interviewer: 0:05 - intellectual. You know by and large most Interviewer: 0:08 - of your voice in public to do with Interviewer: 0:10 - intellectualism has to do with atheism or Interviewer: 0:14 - rationalism as it works. And it's something you Interviewer: 0:17 - know you you know you your videos go viral the most Interviewer: 0:20 - for a good reason Interviewer: 0:22 - because some of them like the one that's happening Interviewer: 0:24 - right now which you might not even know is an Interviewer: 0:27 - old video of yours with Sadhguru you know Interviewer: 0:29 - where you are sparring with him and those Interviewer: 0:31 - five-second reels are running. Yes. So Interviewer: 0:34 - I want to engage with you and please don't Interviewer: 0:36 - see this as a debate Javed Sahab because I don't know Interviewer: 0:38 - have the bandwidth. If we debate, you'll just crush me Interviewer: 0:40 - and that itself will go viral. So I Interviewer: 0:43 - understand your point about, for instance, Interviewer: 0:48 - organized religion. Yes. And and I think Interviewer: 0:50 - most of your arguments are on that. Yes. Interviewer: 0:53 - I understand your point about God, man. Interviewer: 0:56 - self-styled godmen because all of Interviewer: 0:57 - them are self-styled to begin with. Who Interviewer: 1:00 - called themselves god to start Interviewer: 1:01 - with? Others started calling them god. They also Interviewer: 1:03 - wore costumes for that particular role Javed Akhtar: 1:06 - but the fact is Javed Sahab, the world is a Javed Akhtar: 1:09 - mystery. We don't know why we are in this Javed Akhtar: 1:11 - world. The fact is that we don't know so many Javed Akhtar: 1:14 - things about about the universe. Why Javed Akhtar: 1:16 - why were we brought here? We have no idea. Javed Akhtar: 1:19 - So there is an element of faith that comes Javed Akhtar: 1:21 - from that mystery, right? Do you have an issue Interviewer: 1:23 - with that? I'll give an example. For Interviewer: 1:25 - instance, if there's some calamity in a Interviewer: 1:27 - family, let's say someone's loved one is on death Interviewer: 1:31 - bed. Someone prays very strongly. It makes Interviewer: 1:33 - them feel better. Would that be something that is Interviewer: 1:37 - not in line with what you would consider Interviewer: 1:39 - atheism? If it makes them feel better. Maybe Interviewer: 1:41 - out of compassion or pity, I may allow or Interviewer: 1:44 - accept that person praying. Which is Interviewer: 1:46 - totally Javed Akhtar: 1:47 - futile. That I mean, all right, somebody is Javed Akhtar: 1:50 - dying and this idiot cannot do anything Javed Akhtar: 1:52 - except for praying. We can't. The fact is Javed Akhtar: 1:55 - we can't. No problem, but why can't we Javed Akhtar: 1:57 - accept we can't? I mean, let's be Javed Akhtar: 1:59 - realistic. First of all, why are we here? Javed Akhtar: 2:02 - Why are we in this universe? Javed Akhtar: 2:05 - Those questions, they asked me too. The ones you Javed Akhtar: 2:07 - discussed with. Let's leave that. Yes, so I Javed Akhtar: 2:09 - told him, Guruji, I don't know why you are Javed Akhtar: 2:12 - in this world, but I know why I am in Javed Akhtar: 2:14 - this world. And the answer is unpredictable. Javed Akhtar: 2:19 - The answer is unpredictable. Unpredictable. Okay. Javed Akhtar: 2:22 - Why I am in this world. How Javed Akhtar: 2:24 - I came. Yes, let's leave all that. It is a simple Javed Akhtar: 2:28 - question of homosapiens. Why am I in Javed Akhtar: 2:33 - this world? Javed Akhtar: 2:35 - You are Javed Akhtar: 2:36 - redundant. It doesn't mean anything. Like one Javed Akhtar: 2:39 - blade of grass. You go into a lawn. Javed Akhtar: 2:41 - We have a lawn here. Take one blade. Javed Akhtar: 2:45 - Why is this blade in this universe? Huh? Javed Akhtar: 2:48 - It just grew. That is what we are. Javed Akhtar: 2:52 - So what is the meaning of "Why I am in this universe?" Javed Akhtar: 2:54 - But the fact that we don't know. Javed Akhtar: 2:57 - No, no, you know, you will never think, you will never Javed Akhtar: 3:01 - say that about an ant, about a cockroach, about Javed Akhtar: 3:05 - a mosquito. Why is this mosquito in this Javed Akhtar: 3:08 - universe? Maybe the mosquito is thinking, we will not know. Javed Akhtar: 3:11 - You won't take that. "Hey, swat it and Javed Akhtar: 3:14 - won't even think about it." You are the same, Javed Akhtar: 3:17 - just a bit bigger. That's Javed Akhtar: 3:19 - all. What are we? I mean, look at our age. Shameful. Javed Akhtar: 3:23 - We have been here for billions of years. That's 700 Javed Akhtar: 3:27 - billion years, we keep hearing. In that, Javed Akhtar: 3:30 - we die in 60, 70, 80 years. What is our worth? Hmm. Where were we born? What are we? Why were we born? There was one Javed Akhtar: 3:38 - particular sperm that accidentally stuck to this egg. If it had stuck to that one, Javed Akhtar: 3:41 - someone else would have been born. If if this egg Javed Akhtar: 3:43 - had stuck to a different sperm, then someone else. And Javed Akhtar: 3:46 - it's so random. This is the beginning of my birth. Javed Akhtar: 3:52 - And I should, I mean, I should be ashamed Javed Akhtar: 3:56 - that I suddenly become so important. I have become Javed Akhtar: 3:58 - important. Then I say, why I am in this Javed Akhtar: 4:01 - world? Nothing. Now I have to find a reason. Javed Akhtar: 4:05 - That there is an interval between nothingness Javed Akhtar: 4:08 - and nothingness. This in-between is Javed Akhtar: 4:11 - important time because by the virtue Javed Akhtar: 4:14 - of the fact that you are born randomly, you Javed Akhtar: 4:17 - get the membership of a society called human Javed Akhtar: 4:19 - society. This society will provide Javed Akhtar: 4:23 - provide so many comforts to all your senses: Javed Akhtar: 4:26 - the touch, taste, hearing, seeing. All these things Javed Akhtar: 4:31 - that members before you, this temporary membership Javed Akhtar: 4:33 - of this club, which the previous members Javed Akhtar: 4:36 - created. You should be thankful to Javed Akhtar: 4:40 - them. You should be thankful to this club whose Javed Akhtar: 4:43 - membership you have received for a few days. Javed Akhtar: 4:45 - Being a decent member, don't disturb it. If Javed Akhtar: 4:48 - you can contribute something to the club, Javed Akhtar: 4:50 - wonderful. Before going out, that is all. This is Javed Akhtar: 4:53 - what life is. Your birth had no reason. Javed Akhtar: 4:57 - Don't live with that thought. And after death, you won't be anywhere. Javed Akhtar: 5:00 - Because where were you before you were born? Javed Akhtar: 5:03 - You have the experience of nothingness. Billions Javed Akhtar: 5:05 - of years. When you didn't exist, you won't exist. Javed Akhtar: 5:08 - What's the problem with that? Hmm. Interviewer: 5:15 - Now, if it gives you some kind of a succor Interviewer: 5:20 - that there is a God who is looking and he Interviewer: 5:23 - will someday reward me because I have been such Interviewer: 5:26 - a nice by higher power that you don't have any Interviewer: 5:29 - clue about. What to do? Play along. Interviewer: 5:31 - What will you do? Yes. So why do you Interviewer: 5:33 - pray? I'll tell you something more practical. Interviewer: 5:35 - When you are in trouble, you start Interviewer: 5:38 - believing and thinking that Elon Musk is Interviewer: 5:42 - your savior. Hmm. And soon he will help you, Interviewer: 5:45 - send you a couple of millions, which are nothing Interviewer: 5:47 - for him. You will be more happy. Try it. Interviewer: 5:51 - But believe it. You think it's a stupid Interviewer: 5:55 - idea. It is just stupid because Javed Akhtar: 5:57 - evolved. Javed Akhtar: 5:59 - It exists, at least. And Javed Akhtar: 6:01 - there is a lot of happiness in it. Try it. Javed Akhtar: 6:05 - The other dimension too, I really forgot. Javed Akhtar: 6:09 - Sek. I hope there is no what. All I Javed Akhtar: 6:12 - believe, at the same time, I will say, I will tell Javed Akhtar: 6:14 - you what. Poor fellow. There is an omnipotent Javed Akhtar: 6:19 - supreme God looking after all the galaxies Javed Akhtar: 6:22 - and Javed Akhtar: 6:24 - nebulas, sun and planets, everything that Javed Akhtar: 6:28 - is, managing it all. Then he's also looking after you Javed Akhtar: 6:31 - from morning till night. He's looking after them. He's looking after them. Javed Akhtar: 6:34 - What did he do wrong? What did he do right? He is totally... Why do you Interviewer: 6:37 - pray? Javed Akhtar: 6:39 - Because you know he can intervene. If you believe Javed Akhtar: 6:43 - that he has created a system and left it, Javed Akhtar: 6:44 - then you won't pray. You believe Javed Akhtar: 6:47 - that he can Javed Akhtar: 6:49 - intervene. If he can intervene, how is this Javed Akhtar: 6:52 - world running? What kind of world Javed Akhtar: 6:54 - is this? Where there is so much of hunger. There Javed Akhtar: 6:57 - is so much of poverty. There is so much of Javed Akhtar: 7:00 - injustice. Oh man, even any of our ministers Javed Akhtar: 7:02 - would run their ministry Javed Akhtar: 7:06 - better than this. So, Dada, if this is the situation, how Javed Akhtar: 7:11 - incompetent is this crew? When children Javed Akhtar: 7:13 - die of diphtheria, their Javed Akhtar: 7:16 - breathing pipe chokes. A membrane starts forming. They turn blue and Javed Akhtar: 7:18 - they die. Interviewer: 7:21 - Are you suggesting there's some power Interviewer: 7:23 - that could have saved this child, but did not? Interviewer: 7:30 - Are you suggesting when old people trying Interviewer: 7:32 - to crawl over a hill, but the tsunami took Interviewer: 7:35 - them down. He could have saved them, but did Interviewer: 7:35 - not. Are Interviewer: 7:40 - you suggesting that in Africa, where 2 to Interviewer: 7:45 - 4 million people died, he could have saved those people, Interviewer: 7:50 - did Interviewer: 7:51 - not? Are you suggesting that he could remove Interviewer: 7:55 - starvation from Kalahandi, but he doesn't? Javed Akhtar: 8:00 - You want me to worship him, even if he is Javed Akhtar: 8:04 - existing? Javed Sahab, that I understand Javed Akhtar: 8:07 - your point about God, and that we repose all Javed Akhtar: 8:09 - our faith in one particular image of Javed Akhtar: 8:12 - ourselves. Sometimes when it comes to Javed Akhtar: 8:14 - organized religion, like us, there is Javed Akhtar: 8:16 - nothing like religion. Sorry, there is nothing like Javed Akhtar: 8:20 - organized and unorganized religion. It is Javed Akhtar: 8:23 - religion. I'll tell you why. If there are a few Javed Akhtar: 8:27 - cancer cells in your body, then they are very good Javed Akhtar: 8:30 - because they are always there. But if there are a few Javed Akhtar: 8:33 - cancer cells, what happens in the beginning? You lose weight. Then that's Javed Akhtar: 8:36 - wonderful. Don't do anything. The cancer cells Javed Akhtar: 8:40 - are reducing your weight. But their Javed Akhtar: 8:44 - tendency is to multiply. Javed Akhtar: 8:46 - Why do we say alcohol is bad? If you have two Javed Akhtar: 8:49 - pegs of alcohol, your longevity Javed Akhtar: 8:52 - ultimately, among people who drink two pegs of wine, is the highest. Javed Akhtar: 8:53 - Measured. Why do we say it's bad? Alcohol Javed Akhtar: 9:00 - is used in medicines. Because alcohol has a Javed Akhtar: 9:03 - tendency that you will drink more. Javed Akhtar: 9:07 - And this one kept in a bottle looks very Javed Akhtar: 9:09 - beautiful. A little light falls on it. It's red. Javed Akhtar: 9:12 - Beautiful bottle. What's wrong with it? Its usage is mostly wrong. Javed Akhtar: 9:14 - That's why you say alcohol is Javed Akhtar: 9:18 - not good. Same about religion. Maybe if you Javed Akhtar: 9:20 - take some moderate Javed Akhtar: 9:23 - dose, it will be good for you. I don't know. Javed Akhtar: 9:25 - I'm not too sure. But it doesn't happen. It doesn't Javed Akhtar: 9:28 - happen. I'm saying, yes, sir. My point is this. Interviewer: 9:33 - Let's say atheism as an idea, is it also Interviewer: 9:36 - It also... See, one thing is we don't know much. Interviewer: 9:40 - But this is not is almost as Interviewer: 9:43 - dogmatic as religion, saying this is it. Whereas Interviewer: 9:46 - the answer may well be, I don't know. I don't know Interviewer: 9:49 - would be maybe agnosticism in its own Interviewer: 9:53 - way. Interviewer: 9:55 - I don't know. If you like it, then you pray. You must be getting some luck Interviewer: 9:58 - out of this. You don't. It's fine. The thought that Interviewer: 10:01 - you think this is wrong becomes almost dogma. You Interviewer: 10:04 - think at some point. Not at all. Not at all. See Javed Akhtar: 10:07 - it is called God of the Javed Akhtar: 10:10 - gaps. God of the gaps. Where there are gaps in your imagination and knowledge, you fill them Javed Akhtar: 10:17 - with your God. And look at human history. Javed Akhtar: 10:20 - God was everywhere. God is receiving, retrieved. Science is growing, and science is Javed Akhtar: 10:23 - growing. God was in floods, God was in Javed Akhtar: 10:30 - earthquakes, God was in the weather, God was Javed Akhtar: 10:33 - in clouds and rains, God was in Javed Akhtar: 10:36 - harvests. God was in snakes. God was Javed Akhtar: 10:40 - everywhere. Diseases. Javed Akhtar: 10:43 - As you solve the puzzle or query, God goes out of Javed Akhtar: 10:47 - it. Javed Akhtar: 10:53 - Now God is ultimately left in Javed Akhtar: 10:56 - unpredictability of Javed Akhtar: 10:58 - life and the vastness of the universe. Universe. Javed Akhtar: 11:03 - And what will happen after life? These are the only two, three places left. God was everywhere. Javed Akhtar: 11:06 - God is shrinking. As your knowledge grows. Javed Akhtar: 11:10 - If I had believed back then that these Nile Javed Akhtar: 11:17 - floods... And that's what they used to believe. And they were not ignorant people. Javed Akhtar: 11:20 - They were the same people who made pyramids that Javed Akhtar: 11:24 - even today we have not been able to solve how they made pyramids. Those same Javed Akhtar: 11:27 - people used to throw Javed Akhtar: 11:31 - virgins in the Nile at the time of flood. That Javed Akhtar: 11:35 - God of the Nile has become angry with us, and Javed Akhtar: 11:38 - to please him, we must sacrifice some Javed Akhtar: 11:40 - virgins. Javed Akhtar: 11:42 - If we had stayed there, we would still be throwing virgins. We Javed Akhtar: 11:46 - are making progress, but still Javed Akhtar: 11:49 - it's difficult to find someone. But still, Javed Akhtar: 11:52 - think about it. You solved it. If you had brought faith into it, you couldn't have solved it. Javed Akhtar: 11:57 - Whatever you have found, you have Javed Akhtar: 11:59 - realized, you have understood is not by faith, Javed Akhtar: 12:03 - by questioning. Subscribe to Midday Javed Akhtar: 12:06 - India. 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