Vinay Kumaran

I walk to work every day. It's about a 20 minute walk. About 2 years ago I noticed that an old lady would be sitting by the roadside with a rather malnourished cow tethered beside her. She had a platter which had some balls of what looked like some sort of grain and bundles of some green grassy stuff. She did not seem to be feeding the cow. The cow was listless. Both looked bored. Later I noticed that people were stopping their cars there and giving the lady some money, buying one of the balls or a handful of the grassy stuff and feeding it to the cow. Apparently, it is auspicious to feed a cow. You get Karma Points. This seemed like the perfect gig. You have a cow. You have to feed the cow. Instead of feeding the cow, people pay you to feed the cow. A perfectly Tom Sawyer idea (remember how he got his friends to pay him for the privilege of painting his fence?) Over the next two years, the cow as well as the old lady put on weight. About a year ago, a second cow appeared. A...

Although my antecedents are Malayali, I have never actually lived in Kerala. When I was small boy, we used to regularly spend the summer vacations in Kerala. My Achamma (father's mother) was the base around which the family was organised. She lived in a small village called Chowwara. In those days it had just recently been electrified. Water was obtained using a bucket dropped into the well. The well was lined with mossy plants and a large lizard (or perhaps a small iguana) referred to as the 'Irma' also lived in the well (not in the water but along the ridges in the wall. Cooking was done in a wood-burning stove. There was a canal running in front of the house with channels leading into the fields. The place was green and full of life. There were coconut and pineapple and chakka (Jack Fruit) trees. There were tadpoles in the pools, all kinds of birds and butterflies, owls and bats at night. For a small boy it was an amazing place and I thoroughly enjoyed the vacations. ...

Morals without Gods Vinay Kumaran There has been a lot of discussion on Quora about what makes people behave in a moral and ethical way. Theists claim that religion provides a moral compass and that without religion there would be no reason to behave in a moral or ethical way. Many of the responses by atheists have been unconvincing. I think a moral compass is a logical consequence of evolution. Let us begin with a species which has no morals. Each individual is concerned only with him/herself. Parents do not look after children, children will turn on their parents when they become strong enough. This species cannot compete with a species where parents look after their children and becomes extinct, simply because less offspring grow to adulthood. Now we have a species which has individuals who do cooperate and care for immediate family. However, more distant relatives are still enemies and rivals. They do not compete effectively against a "herd" species where large n...

A common thread which runs through all religions is the denial of death. They all have some form of belief which permits a person to survive, typically in the form of a soul, after the death of the body. They believe that something continues after the body dies. Some religions have the concept of reincarnation. The soul returns in another body. Or if sufficiently enlightened, attains a state of permanent bliss referred to as 'Moksh'. Or becomes part of a 'universal soul' which permeates the universe. Many religions have a reward and punishment concept. The soul is judged by a God for thoughts, actions and intentions during life and receives either a reward by being allowed into Heaven, apparently a nice place to be, Valhalla, an everlasting party with like-minded friends or punishment in the form of confinement to Hell, an unpleasant place to be in, typically due to low or high temperatures without the option of appropriate clothes. There are variations such as spen...

Words change slowly as the manner in which they are used changes. Public discourse as well as political speeches have changed the meanings of words which we thought were well defined. This is an attempt to better define these words. Patriotic A patriotic person has the following properties: Willing to loudly scream "Bharat Mata Ki Jai!" Loudly proclaim his devotion for cows (as long as he does not actually have to take care of them). Loudly call for war with Pakistan and China. Periodically call for an economic blockade of China. Is profusely distressed by the plight of Pandits displaced from Kashmir. Profess great reverence for soldiers (as long as they themselves are not expected to join the army). Even greater reverence for soldiers killed in the course of border skirmishes or anti-terrorism operations. Even even greater reverence for parents, spouses and offspring of deceased soldiers (with the exception of occasional offspring who show signs of free-thinking a...

The plane lands and begins to taxi towards the terminal. There is the sound of clicks as people release their seat belts and spring to their feet, jostling each other to get to their luggage in the overhead compartments. The air hostesses announce on the PA system: "please wait until the plane has come to a complete stop and the pilot has turned off the fasten seat-belt sign." Nobody is listening. They are falling over each other in the aisles. It's like a rugby scrum. They remain scrunched up in un-physiological positions until the deplaning begins. What are they trying to achieve? Are they afraid that someone will steal their bags? Do they think the plane will take off again if they don't get off quickly? Will they miss their taxis if they don't get out in time? I always take a window seat and wait for the aisles to clear before moving. Much more comfortable. On rare occasions when I've had to sit in an aisle or middle seat, I have been amused by the acut...

I had a layover of about 4 hours in Istanbul on my way back from Pittsburgh to Mumbai. There were other Indians connecting to the Mumbai flight from various points in Europe. We were looking at the display trying to figure out which gate our flight would be leaving from. A rather nervous looking middle-aged gentleman greeted me as an obvious fellow Indian and suggested we find our way to the gate together. I agreed. The gate was quite far away but there were signs pointing the way and I wasn't worried about getting there well on time. He, on the other hand, seemed to be in the grip of the chronic anxiety that seems to seize many Indians in unfamiliar surroundings. He was walking much faster than I was inclined to and I let him go at his own pace. He would pull ahead, look around and find himself alone, get into a mild panic and then come back to find me. He had a constant fear of losing his way. He kept saying 'are you sure this is the way?' How do you know?' 'Sh...