Quick tale: Slim Pickings

I was heading out and would have left the library but for the strange request from a thin reed like boy. I overheard him asking the librarian to suggest a book and the librarian reeled out a few titles that he ought to check. The boy seemed unconvinced and went on to leaf through random titles. I felt compelled to help the boy find an appropriate book.

I approached him and offered to help. 'What kind of books have you read? What do you enjoy? I'll suggest something similar'

'I read David Copperfield and I want something like that. How about Tale of two cities? Do you think it is deep. I want to read a deep book because one is supposed to read deep books. David Copperfield was deep. I learnt a lot from it. I want something like that,' he breathlessly spoke.

'Tale of two cities is a fantastic book. And I am sure you will love it. You should read Oliver Twist too'

'What is Shakespeare?'

'Shakespeare was a British dramatist...'

'No no, I know that. I meant how is he? Is he good?'

'Yes, he is considered by many as one of the greatest writers'

'What does he write?'

'Well! He has written a wide variety of books, ranging from comedies to tragedies. Have you heard of The Twelfth Night?'

My sales pitch on Shakespeare had clearly no effect and my customer was walking away. So a change of strategy was called for.

'How about Indian authors? Have you read R.K. Narayan? He is wonderful'

'Yeah!' he replied unenthusiastically, 'I have read him. English teacher, Financial Expert. It made me sleep. I want something more... I don't know'

'You should read Waiting for the Mahatma. It is one of my favourites'

The boy obviously didn't think much of my taste. 'Hmmm. But the book is so old.' It was an old copy, dusty hardcover and brown paper. It was evident that the boy was looking for a book that not only was a good read but would appear to be one.

The book evangelist that I was, I was undeterred. 'I will find him a book that he approves,' I told myself.

'Why don't you read Jefferey Archer? It should be here somewhere. Ah! Here it is. You could read 'Shall we tell the president?' or a 'Not a penny more, not a penny less'. They are intelligent and thrilling. You will like them'

'But they are so big. I may never complete them'

Sigh! The book should look new, sound intelligent and be thin. And yes, not by an Indian.

'Why don't you start with a collection of Short stories then? Take this one.' I handed him a copy of 'To cut a long story short'. It wasn't too fat, it wasn't too thin. It was just right. And new. And there were so many colourful volumes of Archer in the rack. Archer was good. One can always feel proud about reading an Archer.

'Thanks. This looks like something I can read'. He beamed a thanks and I left.

I sit at home wondering if he borrowed the book and if he liked it.

Belief

There is a celestial guardian angel looking after each one of us. All living beings reincarnate. Heaven and Hell are places you go to after death.

I could cry myself hoarse on this subject and it would make no difference. I know. I actually tried it. Had this discussion (we'll steer clear of the 'Argument' word) with a friend and he was fully convinced that all the above statements were true. Needless to say, I didn't. We were posing as rational beings and therefore the weapon we used was logic.

It is said in the Vedas that we reincarnate. Vedas are ancient. Vedas also tell us that they are divine revelations to seers and they are the truth. If Vedas are true, then we must reincarnate and since their truth is self-evident (because if it weren't true they wouldn't have written that it is true, right?), we must reincarnate. Aah! Beat that.

My friend's line of reasoning was that it was impossible to refute with any sort of evidence that the statements were indeed false. Therefore they must be true. Q.E.D.

I am reminded of the case of Bertrand Russell's Celestial teapot.

If I were to suggest that between the Earth and Mars there is a china teapot revolving about the sun in an elliptical orbit, nobody would be able to disprove my assertion provided I were careful to add that the teapot is too small to be revealed even by our most powerful telescopes. But if I were to go on to say that, since my assertion cannot be disproved, it is an intolerable presumption on the part of human reason to doubt it, I should rightly be thought to be talking nonsense. If, however, the existence of such a teapot were affirmed in ancient books, taught as the sacred truth every Sunday, and instilled into the minds of children at school, hesitation to believe in its existence would become a mark of eccentricity and entitle the doubter to the attentions of the psychiatrist in an enlightened age or of the Inquisitor in an earlier time.

Giving enough credit to my friend, he understood that this may be a sticky wicket to bat on and changed the rules. We no longer parried in logic. His new argument was that it was a matter of faith. These ideas were beyond the grasp of logic or reason. In fact logic and reason are obstacles to the proper understanding of it. Translated loosely, heaven exists if you think it exists. Isn't it amazing that mere thinking of something can conjure it into existence?

I don't think my friend should be allowed to have it both ways. Either it was a matter of faith and he just believed it and I didn't. If he cannot articulate why he believes it, he should not expect me to articulate why I don't. Or believing such things were a matter of logic and we could both trade arguments for and against and arrive at an understanding.

The problem, my friend was kind to point out, was that by questioning I lose all chances of finding out. Why can't you just accept it, he asked me. His charge was that I was not open to both possibilites. I plead guilty. I will stick my neck out and say that though it is possible that there is someone up in the sky looking after me, that I will reincarnate after this lifetime and that I may be deep fried in a huge pan of oil for such blasphemy, I think they are improbable.