We Become Atheists, by Gora

* About this File *
This book is a text file made from the original book and
proofread for accuracy with respect to the original book.
Most British spellings have been converted to American English.
Permission to transmit the book in electronic form was obtained
from Lavanam, Director of the Atheist Centre, Vijayawada, India
by John Edwards ([email protected]), who also did initial editing
and formatting.  Final formatting was done by Christy Phillips
([email protected]).  [Note: Lavanam is Gora's son.]

This text may be used unaltered in content in collections, CD-ROM
shareware and freeware offerings. It may be used and distributed
electronically for free.





We Become Atheists
by Gora




Contents



Introduction
I. The Change
II. Thirst For Knowledge
III. Clash with Parents
IV. The First Dismissal
V. An Early Experiment
VI. The Second Dismissal
VII. To a Village
VIII. Atheist Awakening
IX. My Children
X With Gandhi
XI. Political Action
XII. Between Gandhi and Marx
XIII. Economic Equality
XIV. Direct Action
XV. Seeking Election
XVI. Are They Outrageous?
XVII. Spread of Atheism
XVIII. Atheist Centers
XIX. Future of Atheism





Introduction



We look back into our lives and review them either for ourselves
or for others.  We weigh the pros and cons of the past from the
vantage of the present. Such a retrospect more often than not is
colored by our looking at them from a time which is not its own.
Our passions cool down and our past views change.  It is next to
impossible to relive our past, but retrospection is as valuable a
psychological process as introspection.  They may lead a man into
dejection or inspire him to further action.

A man like Gora can hardly find time to spare for writing an
autobiography.  His life was so active and dynamic that he hardly
found time to stand and stare.  He was not a man to wait for
things to shape his life.  He endeavored all his life to shape them.
He was of the firm opinion that free humans shape events and
create conditions and slaves' lives are shaped by events.
In choosing alternatives or giving a turn to events he displayed
a rare dynamic spirit.  In organizing campaigns for the establishment
of social and economic equalities he could not indulge in the
pleasure of sharing his personal experiences with others.

Gora suffered and struggled.  He put up with hardships patiently
and with a smile on his lips.  If he had compromised his
principles on any issue he would not have been Gora.  With his
family, friends and colleagues backing him up he weathered many a
storm.  Those who knew him personally know how he kept sufferings
to himself and spared a smile for others.  It was not self
imposed suffering but he suffered for atheism.  All his life was
devoted to removing the prejudice against atheism and making it
an acceptable and respectable term.  He made atheism more
positive than negative.  In this he differed from other
rationalists and agnostics.  He fought against all religious
racial, communal and caste labels.  He stood for democracy,
economic and social equalities.  All his campaigns were directed
towards this goal.  He respected human personality and raised his
voice against anything that denies or curbs human free-will.

In his hectic life, at the age of 73, he could spare a month to
write about his past experiences, rather, in outline.  Four days
after finishing this draft he breathed his last.  He didn't
expect to die so early.  He hoped to live actively, at least,
for ten years more.  When he was asked to write an autobiography,
he pleaded lack of time.  His mind was attuned more to programs
of action than to cool retrospection.  But he did look back on
his life at its end.  We don't know what he would have done if he
had lived longer.  But what little he has given us of his
autobiography is a precious picture of his life and message.
Gora's life was intertwined with his philosophy.  So, while he
was narrating certain experiences and influences in his life he
invariably gave expression to his views on human affairs.
A careful reader will find in this book the quintessence of his
life and views from his own pen.  Gora lived and died an atheist.


LAVANAM
Atheist Center
Patamata, Vijayawada.
13th November, 1975.




Chapter I.  The Change



To this account of my life, I would like to give the name,
"We Become Atheists", rather than "I Become an Atheist."  Of course,
I take the responsibility for initiating the kind of  atheist
thought and action described herein.  But its fulfillment is
largely the result of the cooperation, sacrifice and resolute
action of several workers, friends, relatives and, particularly,
of my wife and children.  Some of them adopted atheism too.
Therefore, it is appropriate to call this account, "We Become Atheists."

As I look back, I recall no special event that turned me an atheist.
But I can trace the growth of atheist thought and practice in me.

Born and bred up in a high caste Hindu family in India, I was
conventionally orthodox and superstitious in the days of my boyhood.
I believed in the claims of divine revelations by my parental aunt.
Twice or thrice in a week, she went into trances, muttered advice
and distributed sacred ash.  I constantly kept a small packet
of the ash in my pocket and thought that the presence of the ash
enabled me to pass examinations at the school.  I passed the
Intermediate examination in first class.  I little imagined that
a few years later, when I became an atheist, I would drive the
pretenses of obsession out of my aunt.  But even at the age of 22,
when I appeared for the degree examination of M.A., I had the
packet in my pocket.  All the same, I passed last in the rank of
five candidates for the subject of Botany.

Being the last in the rank, ordinarily I had the least chance of
getting a job.  My father was in economic distress.  I thought
that if I could not help him with my earnings, at least, I should
not be a burden on the joint family.  What could I do?  The old
saying that where there is a will there is a way, acquired a new
significance for me.  I wrote to my Professor, R. V. Seshayya,
who was then working at Tirupati.  I offered myself to be his
servant if he could give me food and lodge.  He sympathized with
my sad condition.  He called me to Tirupathi and treated me like
his brother.  I was doing odd jobs at his home.

The security at Seshayya's household let me think of my life.
I lost faith in the packet of ash and developed the will to
succeed.  Sense of self-confidence sprouted in me.  Though I had
no idea of atheism at that time, obviously that was the beginning
of atheism in me.  It was opening up my mind and taking me out of
the ruts of orthodoxy.

Two months later, the lectureship in Natural Science at the
American Mission College Madurai, fell vacant.  Solmon, who was
holding the post, left for USA for higher studies.  The other
four of my classmates did not apply for that post in the hope of
getting better jobs.  Good or bad, I took it up.  I found that my
classmates did not fare better than I.  I was last in rank at the
examination, but I rose to be the first in job position in due course.
I owed the success to the attitude of atheism that was growing in me.
My mind was becoming bold and open.

Seshayya kindly provided me with the necessary money to buy some
clothes and to go to Madurai.

Two incidents at Madurai speak of the change of my mind.
At Madurai I was faced with the problem of finding a suite of
rooms for my residence.  Madurai is a place of pilgrimage and
a crowded city.  After vigorous search, I found a big house in
the outskirts of the city.  For the last few months it was kept
locked and unoccupied as it was supposed to be haunted by ghosts.
I disregarded the superstition and the landlord gladly let out
two rooms for me at a nominal rent.  Fine.  Practically, the
whole house with thirteen rooms and two halls was open to me.
I lived alone in it.

My neighbors and also my colleagues at the college dissuaded me
from taking the risk of living in a haunted house.  They related
to me their personal experiences of unwitting residence in
haunted houses.  I pooh poohed them.   After two or three months,
tenants gradually came to occupy other rooms.  Soon the house was
full and I was confined to my original two rooms.

The other incident related to my work at the college.  It was a
practice in those days to select students for appearance at the
final university examination.  The Selection test was held three
months in advance of the final examination and the unselected
students were denied the opportunity to improve their standard by
diligent study during that period.  When I was a student, I felt
that the practice of selection was unfair to the unselected students.
At the American Mission College, for the first time, as a lecturer,
I got the authority to select among my students.  I deliberately
gave pass marks to all my students and recommended the selection
of all of them for appearance at the final university examination.

My method looked strange to the principal, Rev. W. W. Wallace,
who had been used to the practice of selection.  He thought that
being new to the appointment and inexperienced, I was inconsiderate.
He asked me to revise my full list of recommendations for selection.
I told him: "I taught the class.   I set the test paper.  I valued
the answers.  If any of them failed, it means I failed to teach them well.
I am satisfied with their performance at the test.  I recommend
all my students for selection." Now I see it was a piece of bravado.
However, with age and experience, Rev. Wallace looked at my championship
of students with sympathy and endorsed the list of selection of
all my students with the admonition that he would not honor my
recommendations hereafter, unless the present batch of students
acquitted themselves creditably at the final examination.

I narrated the event to my students and said, "I have done my duty.
Now it is for you to do yours." The appeal worked well.
The principal was surprised that the final results gave a bumper
crop of first classes, distinctions and high percentage of passes.

Evidently everyone bears immense potentialities.  Release them.
With a sense of freedom and responsibility, they work wonders.
I achieved success when I gave up dependence on the packet of ash
and stood on my feet.  I tried the same with my students who were
generally depressed with the fear of failure at the selection.
I removed the fear and the students proved worthy of the trust
reposed in them.

India was under the British rule till 1947.  The government helped
promotion of Christian institutions.  The Christian missionary
institutions, in their turn, zealously attempted at proselytization.
Accordingly, Rev. Wallace suggested to me that I could go to Yale
University for my Ph.D. and become the Rector of the science department
if I would embrace Christianity and become a member of their mission.

At once I felt a Hindu.  Though I was leaning atheistically,
I had not got over the influence of early nurture.  I continued
a vegetarian which was the habit of the caste into which I was born.
I wore the 'sacred thread' which was the symbol of the caste.
The discarding of the packet of ash was just the beginning
of the march towards the goal of atheism.  I had a long way to go.
Also the goal was not well-defined in my mind at that time.
Therefore, when I did not accept the offer of Rev. Wallace,
I was more a Hindu than an atheist.  Of course, the question of
change of religion does not arise with an atheist at all,
because he rejects all religions.  But my reaction to the
suggestion was that of a Hindu.

In view of the excellent results of my students at the final examination,
the principal did not want to disturb my place in the college.
But, when I rejected the offer of change of religion, I thought
that my position in the college was unsafe.  A post was vacant
at the Agricultural Research Institute, Coimbatore and I shifted there
in the month of May, 1926.  Rev. Wallace gave me a good certificate
of my services at the College for one year.




Chapter II.  Thirst For Knowledge



The suggestion that I might become a Christian, helped me indirectly.
I followed the customs of Hinduism and adopted the habits of the caste
of my parents, because I was taught and trained in my childhood that way.
Just like mother tongue, we generally imbibe thoughts and practices
of parents or of guardians, without examining their merits and defects.
In the case of religious faiths, we are taught to cling to the faith of
the parents and to decry other faiths.  This close mindedness is the
cause of Jihads and Crusades.  But my reaction was somewhat different.
The rejection of the offer of Christianity raised a series of questions
in me. What is Hinduism?  What is Christianity?  How are they different?
What are other religions?  How do they compare with one another?
With a desire to know the answers, I started reading English or
Telugu translations of the Bible, Bhagavatgita, the Quran, Vedas,
Upanishads and other religious books.  I went through the volumes
of Max Muller's Sacred Books of the East.  At one time, for over
three months, I pored over the volumes of Encyclopedia Britannica
every day and read through references and cross references of god,
soul, salvation, rebirth, spirituality, other-worlds and so on.
Being a student of science, I was already acquainted with the principles
of physics, chemistry, geology and mathematics, besides my subjects
of botany and zoology.  The wide reading introduced me to philosophy,
sociology, ethics, economics, politics anthropology, fine arts
and psychology.  I was especially interested in abnormal and
religious psychology, as in them I found the clue to understanding
man's belief in the existence of god and soul.

I do not say that my study of the subjects was deep and detailed.
I cannot quote page and chapter of any book, though I took down
cursory notes as I was reading.  But the study was extensive,
spread over five or six years.  Further reading was casual.

I find that such general reading helped me to reflect and to
develop my own thoughts freely rather than become bookish and
bind myself to what others said instead of what I have to say.
Authority of books shifts responsibility of thoughts to others,
whereas reflection retains the freedom and responsibility of the self.

As a result of reading and reflection, I was conceiving of god in general,
without denominational associations of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity
or paganism.  Further, I came to the conclusion that it was man
that made god out of psychological necessity in primitive times.
Metaphysical justification of the existence of god was a clever
after thought of the civilized man to preserve the faith, at best
for its use as a sanction for moral conduct and at worst for
aiding exploitation of the gullible masses.

Along with the reading and reflection, I was seeking opportunities
to discuss my views with learned persons and religious priests.
The opportunity for exchange of views increased when I left
for Colombo (Ceylon) after a year at Coimbatore.  At Colombo,
I was the Botany Master at Ananda College, which was managed
by the Buddhist Theosophical Society.  There I came in contact
with Buddhist priests, and not only listened to their discourses
but studied the books which they kindly lent.  The one year stay
at Colombo was a valuable gain to me for enriching my knowledge.
The next year, 1928, I left Colombo to serve as Lecturer in Botany
at Pithapur Rajah's College at Kakinada, India.

I recall with interest an incident of discussion with a Hindu
scholar at Masulipatam, sometime about 1937.  He was delivering a
series of public discourses on Hindu philosophy and was answering
questions everyday at the end of the talk.  At the question time,
one evening, I requested, him to elucidate on the use of
the neuter gender for god (Brahma) of Hindu faith, instead of the
customary use of the masculine gender for god as in other faiths.
I was aware that in Sanskrit language, in which Hindu scriptures
were written, gender went with the form of the word, but not with
the meaning of the word.  "Dara", a synonym of "wife" in Sanskrit,
is masculine gender.

My question was innocent.  I wanted confirmation from that
scholar that Hindu concept of god as power appropriately  needed
the use of neuter gender.  The use of the masculine gender, on
the contrary, betrayed man's domination, in the course of civilization,
in philosophical concepts too, as in economic and political affairs.

Perhaps the form in which I put the question did not express the
amount of respect expected of references to god.  The scholar at
once asked me whether I was an atheist.  I told him I was.
But that did not matter.  The question was there to be answered.
The scholar's response was different.  He said he would not talk to
atheists and asked me to leave the meeting.  I said that it was a
public meeting and that I asked the question at the appointed time.
Why should I leave the meeting?  The scholar looked daggers at me.
He said he would leave the meeting, if I did not.  He got down
from the platform, walked a few paces away and stood with his back
towards the audience.  My repeated requests to him to come back
to the meeting were of no avail.  Then I said that the gathering
should not be deprived of the benefit of his talk on account of me.
So I left the meeting.  A few who thought that I was right,
also left the meeting with me.  Next day, a notice was put up
at the meeting place, "Atheists are not allowed."

The experience with the Hindu scholar was one of the many instances
when I was confronted with the prejudice against atheism.
Dictionaries give "wickedness" as a meaning of "atheism",
besides godlessness and impiety.  Conscious of the prejudice
against atheism, Gandhi advised me to take another name instead
of atheism, as however noble the work I do, the name of atheism
brings with it disrespect and ignominy, and good work falls into disrepute.

In spite of these warnings and hard experiences, I prefer to
stick to the label of atheism, because atheism alone renders changes,
radical and lasting in human affairs.  Those who fear the changes
steadily give atheism a bad name in order to stem its growth.
Everyone whom succeeding generations respected as a prophet of
an era of freedom and progress was persecuted by contemporaries
for heresy and blasphemy, if not wholly for atheism.  The life histories
of Moses, Jesus, Mohamad, Joan of Arc, and Gandhi are clear instances
in this connection. Obviously, atheism is a progressive force.
Atheists should not mind the slander and prejudices that vested interests
spread against atheism.

Saraswati was ten years old when we were married in 1922.
Like me, she hailed from an orthodox home and orthodox custom
required girls to be married before puberty.  Strict orthodoxy
prescribed eighth year as the upper limit for the marriage of girls.
My elder sister was eight when she was married.  Until the
Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1935 prohibited early marriages,
women's lot was miserable with early pregnancy and occasional widowhood.

According to custom, Saraswati gave up school study soon after
her marriage and engaged herself in religious ceremonies that are
prescribed for married girls.  Observance of the ceremonies is
supposed to ensure happy relations with the husband for the girl.
The temptation is similar to the promises of prayer.

Saraswati joined me in 1926 at Coimbatore.  Naturally, her
reading was little but she has keen understanding and sound
common sense.  We kept nothing private, and much less secret
between us.  On account of openness of relations, we think
together and act together in complete harmony.

On joining me, Saraswati left orthodox habits and adopted the
atheist attitude.  An incident was significant in this context.
At Colombo she was pregnant with the first child.  When she was
carrying the fourth month, there was a solar eclipse in the afternoon.
Hindu orthodoxy imposes the disciplines of silence and shutting up
in a dark room for pregnant women at the time of any eclipse.
Non compliance is threatened with mutilations of the child to be born.
But Saraswati saw Buddhist, Moor and Burgher women freely moving about
in the streets of Colombo, regardless of the time of the eclipse.
Surely, some of these women must be pregnant too.  If the evils
of infringement were real, all pregnant women should be equally affected
and their children should be maimed, irrespective of faiths.
But that doesn't happen.  Therefore, the disciplines relating to eclipse
are a superstition of Hindu faith.  Thinking along these lines,
Saraswati transgressed the taboos at the time of the eclipse.
After the full period, the delivery was normal and the child also
was normal.  The experience equipped her with the credit to
persuade other pregnant women to give up the superstition.
We have nine children now.  Both solar and lunar eclipses occurred
at different periods of her pregnancies.  Nothing untoward happened
to us on account of the violations of restrictions imposed by custom
on pregnant women during eclipses.

Saraswati's cooperation has been of great assistance to me in
growing atheistic.  The early steps of atheism were concerned
with working against superstitions.  Later, when we took up
economic and political programs of atheism, Saraswati rose to the
occasion and was repeatedly imprisoned in that connection.




Chapter III.  Clash with Parents

My parents lived at Kakinada.  They were getting old.  I desired
to be serviceable to them.

When I was born on November 15, 1902 at Chatrapur, now in Orissa,
my father, Goparaju Venkata Subbarao, was the head clerk of the
Forest Department.  He was popularly known as "Sambho" owing to
his ardent devotion to the Hindu god, Sambho, that is, Siva.
For his skill in draftsmanship and capacity to tackle any volume
of work, he was promoted to be the Sheristadar at Parlakemedi,
where my elder sister, elder brother and I had elementary
education.  My father was again transferred to Kurnool.  But my
brother and I continued our studies at Parlakemedi.  Our paternal aunt,
who claimed divine revelations, was our guardian.

As frequent transfers, though on promotion, disturbed our studies,
my father chose to settle down at Kakinada in the Revenue Department.
At Kakinanda, in P. R. College, my brother, Narasimha Rao and I continued
our further education.  He went for engineering course later on
and I went to Madras for my M.A. in Botany at the Presidency College.
While I was serving at Madurai, Coimbatore and Colombo, the condition
of my parents was constantly in my view.  Presently an opportunity arose.
P. R. College at Kakinada opened the degree course of study in Botany,
and preferred its alumni for the staff.  I accepted lectureship
and was happy that I was going to serve my old college and also that
I was living with my parents.

But conditions were not so happy as I hoped for.  Atheist attitudes
markedly changed my ways of life and resulted in clashes with the
conservative and conventional methods of my parents and of my alma mater.

My parental aunt continued to go into trances as in the past.
Of course, I received "sacred ash" from her when I was a boy.
The growth of rational thought changed the picture now.

A fortnight after I came to live in my parental home, I found my
aunt in trance in the prayer-room.  She was reprimanding my
mother on some trifling matter.  My father was a strict disciplinarian.
My mother was kind and loving to all her eight children.  We bore
special respect and affection for her.  So when I overheard my aunt
in trance finding fault with my mother, without a second thought,
I broke into the sanctum sanctorum with a stick in my hand
and threatened to thrash my aunt, unless she gave up that nonsense.
My father who was sitting before the deity was dumbfounded at my rudeness.
The whole situation was suddenly silenced.  I withdraw from the room.
There were no more trances and revelations afterwards.

The reason for my immediate reaction was my reading of the
psychology of Religious Mysticism.  I learnt that trances,
visions and revelations were either subjective illusions of weak
minds under the influence of overpowering autosuggestions or were
pretensions of cheats in the halo of religious belief.  The knowledge
disabused my mind of respect for my aunt's trances though I performed
my duties to her as the elderly woman of the family.  Further,
the family got into straitened circumstances by following the advice
of the so called divine revelations.  On return to Kakinada,
I could see the loss and trouble suffered by the family.
A few years later my father fell out with my aunt. During her last days
she came away to me.  At an advanced age of over eighty-five,
she died at my house at Masulipatam.

After my discourtesy to my aunt in trance, my father was not
happy with me.  He supposed that the deity of our family
possessed my aunt, took her into trance and revealed advice
through inspired utterances.  The rudeness to my aunt in
trance was considered rudeness to the deity of the family.
It was an act of sacrilege.  Except my flouting of the religious
faith, there was little to find fault with me.  Yet, it was not a
small matter.  He openly remarked that he made a mistake in
giving me higher education.  He was looking for an
opportunity to teach me a lesson.

The full moon of August was the day each year when the sacred thread
was ceremoniously changed for a new one.  On that day in 1928,
my father held out a thread to me and asked me to wear it as a matter
of religious discipline and respect for the rules of caste.
I had not discarded the thread wholly so far.  I was only
indifferent to it.  But my father's conventional discipline
challenged my atheistic leanings.  Politely I told him, "Father,
I have great regard for you.  But I have no respect for caste.
For the past two or three years I have been indifferent to
wearing the thread, which is a symbol of a caste.  But on this day,
when the thread is changed for a new one, let me make up my
mind and be honest to my convictions.  I'll discard the thread
wholly from today".

My father was enraged at this defiance of caste.  In severe voice,
he repeated thrice, "I am your father, I command you.  Wear the thread".
It was a moment of test for me.  Gently but definitely I replied,
"No, please".  "Get out of my house.  You are a sinner.
I won't look at your face," was the harsh command of my father.
He turned his face away and walked quickly into his room and shut the door.

I was outcaste.  My mother shed tears.  I came to Kakinada from
Colombo to serve my parents.  Atheism estranged me from them.
The news spread around.  I took a week to secure a house for me
to shift from my parent's home.  I was not economically hard up,
as I was holding a job in the college; but I was socially alienated
from friends and relatives who agreed with my father.  My wife and I
lived almost alone in the new house with our first child, Manorama.
Neighbors looked upon us with suspicion.  My mother visited us off and on.
Every month I was passing on a part of my salary to my parents
to relieve their economic strain.

The Gandhian movement of the Indian National Congress combined
constructive work with political fight.  It spread throughout the
length and breadth of India, and liberalized old traditions of
caste and communal differences.  In 1920, my father had a part to
play in the Gandhian movement: He donated two bags of paddy grain
to the Congress volunteer camp.  For this act he was suspended
from service for one month by the British government.  My father
was a generous man in many respects.  My open apostasy defied his
authority as a father and he was angry with me.

After excommunicating me, my father was consulting Hindu high-priests
on the propriety of his action.  Some of them seemed to have advised
him to review caste rules in the light of modern events,
especially the Gandhian drive against the observance of untouchability.

One incident settled the issue.  Dr. Duriseti Chalapati Rao was
our family physician.  He belonged to the same caste as my father.
On one occasion, my father praised him for observing caste rules
and complained against me for disobedience.   The doctor, without a word,
removed his coat and shirt and revealed that he did not have a thread
at that time.  He told my father that many young men of the age
were indifferent to the caste rules.  Only I was bold and honest.
Should I be punished for being honest and he be praised for
soft compromises with conditions around him?  The doctor's performance
and pleading set my father to think afresh.  My mother's persuasion
had its influence too.

After two and half years of excommunication my father called me
and my wife for common dinner with him.  Strangely, some orthodox
relatives excommunicated my parents for eating with me.  A few
months later, my parents who were around sixty years of age,
shifted to my new house which was more roomy and better ventilated.

I was happy I was serviceable to my parents.  I did not interfere
with their ways of prayer and worship.  Nevertheless, their
orthodoxy, was getting relaxed.  For some time Saraswati had to
adjust between the extremes of somewhat orthodox parents-in-law
and heretical husband.  She managed it well with tact and patience.
My parents spread out their time in living with me, and with
my brothers and sisters.  We were eight in all.  My parents
lived up to the ripe old age of ninety, and spent their last days
with my younger brother Sambasiva Rao.

My mother spoke at the public function of the celebration of my
sixtieth birthday.  She recalled the instances of my recalcitrance.
With abundant motherly affection she added, "After all, a son is a son."




Chapter IV.  The First Dismissal



I was reading extensively for and against atheism.  Atheism was
not an intellectual understanding with me.  I wanted to know how
an atheist was different from a theist in the ways of life.
It appeared to me that people closed their minds with faith
in god and fate.  They lost initiative, became superstitious and
fanatically cling to their beliefs.  But god and fate were beliefs
with no basis in reality.  They were falsehoods.  If we reject them,
we stand on our feet, feel free, work well and live equal,
since all of us belong to the same kind.  With this ambitious plan,
I set about my life.  I knew I would clash with vested interests
and conservative views in the old ways of life.  But I would work
with no regrets.

At first I started with exposure of superstitions and pulling
down sectarian walls.  I discarded the sacred thread because it
was a caste symbol.  As I was a student of science with some wide
reading of different branches of knowledge and as I had leisure
and held a job which placed me decently above want, I indulged in
discussions against superstitions, and accompanied them with
demonstrations of simple scientific experiments.  For instance,
turmeric with slaked lime turns red.  When lemon juice or tamarind
paste is added to the red substance, it turns yellow again.
The truth is turmeric responds to acid and alkali media.
Ignorant of the chemical nature of the reaction, mendicants
shroud it in a religious garb and present it as a miracle.
Similarly, eclipses are not explained in a scientific way,
but are associated with superstitious practices in the name of miracles.
Miracles thrive where ignorance prevails.  And religious belief
closes the mind and becomes the source of dark superstition.

Close to my residence was a slum of untouchables, called Atchutapuram.
Untouchables are socially segregated, poor, illiterate and downtrodden.
I established contacts with the slum and started an adult night school
there on my own accord.  But the adults were irregular and
slow to take advantage of the school.  On studying the situation
I found that the immediate need of the adults of the slum was
not education but food.  Most of them had to work the whole day
at odd manual labor.   Either they were not paid the wages for the day
or they were paid so late that they had to buy foodgrains late
and cook for the day to eat.  The prospect of obtaining labor
for the next day was uncertain and the threat of starvation
constantly hovered over them.  I learned the reality of slum life
more than I taught them lessons.  And to be real to the common people,
atheism should solve the economic problem of India.

The academic life at the college posed its own problems.
To mention one, I noticed a student of my class dull and inattentive.
I talked to him privately and he said that he had no interest in Botany.
Fine.  I requested him to think over and tell me the next day
the subject in which he had interest so that I could recommend
to the principal the change of his subject.  He thought over
and informed me that he could not fix his interest on any subject.
I explained to him that the defect was not with Botany but with
his attitude towards life.   I encouraged him to continue in Botany
class as he had already done three weeks in it.  A few days later
I held a test for the class and deliberately gave him a good mark.
He was surprised and asked me if he was good at the subject.
I encouraged him and in the next test he deserved the mark.
He passed B. A. in Botany at the first chance.  Ten years later,
I met Suryanarayana, the same student at a meeting in another district
to learn from him that he was teaching Botany in a school and,
with a glee in his face, he said he was creating interest in Botany
in his students.  Supply cheer and man is all right.

There were several occasions for me to seek atheistic solution of
the problems of my students, their educational difficulties and
domestic troubles.  I asked them to feel free as masters of their lives,
to take steps towards equality of all humans and to live open
without a blush and to tell what we do and to do what we tell.
These simple guidelines evoked new enthusiasm among my students.
They used to visit me with their families, and my wife and I
paid return visits to their homes.  The social calls mingled up
several of us crossing conventional barriers of caste and
communal differences.  It was a big change in India in those
days before attainment of political independence.  I was happy to
be with the students both inside and outside the college.  The happy
relations had a healthy effect on their studies.  They paid good attention
to what I was teaching and fared well at examinations.  Most of them
came out brilliantly as professors, legislators, advocates or
successful businessmen.  Even forty years after the completion
of their student career, I keep up good social relations with many
of my old students.  J. Venkateswarlu, Professor Emeritus of
Andhra University, C. V. K. Rao legislator of the State Assembly,
Narayana Prasad serving in the United Nations Organization,
Acharyulu a successful accountant at Bombay and T. V. Raghavulu,
a former minister, are some whom I can mention.  This wide and abiding
sociability I attribute to the atheist way of life.

One of my students, B. V. D. Narayana Rao, started a manuscript magazine.
He had a flare for journalism.  He requested me for an article on atheism
and I wrote one on "The concept of god".  I said that the concept
of god was useful in three ways.  Firstly, it provided a ready answer
to every question in the form of god's creation and god's will.
Secondly, it supplied a sanction for moral conduct in the form of hope
of heaven and fear of hell. Thirdly, it could be molded conveniently
for any theme of fine arts.  A large volume of song, dance, painting
and sculpture was produced in the name of god.  In spite of its usefulness,
the concept of god was a falsehood.  Like every falsehood, it corrupted
mankind by importing superstition and fanaticism into the belief in god.
I concluded that though god was a useful falsehood, it should be discarded
as every other falsehood in order to promote truthful life and
real social harmony.

P. R. College, where I served, was inspired with the ideology of Brahmooism,
a liberal offshoot of Hinduism.  Yet avowed atheism was too much
of irreligion for the management.  The authorities of P. R. College
took exception to my expression of atheist views in the article
on 'The Concept of God' and called for my explanation.  I replied
that I was an atheist by conviction and those were my views.
My services were dispensed with after a due notice of three months.

My students moved in the matter and lodged a protest against my dismissal.
It was of no avail.  After five years of lectureship, I left the services
of my alma mater in 1933.   Atheism clashed with my parents.
Atheism caused my dismissal from the college.




Chapter V.  An Early Experiment




Saraswati and I were discussing every turn of events.  But we did
not expect the dismissal from P. R. College.  For our maintenance
we were wholly dependent upon the salary from the college.
Our only property was a thatched hut we put up on a plot of land
which we purchased by disposing of Saraswati's ornaments.  The landlord
of the house we were living in after getting excommunicated by the parents,
took advantage of our social odium and was frequently demanding higher rent.
So we thought of putting up a hut of our own.  It was on the outskirts
of the town with open fields around.  My parents joined us in that hut.

My father drew a pension on retirement from government service.
As I was economically depressed on losing the job at the college,
my parents chose to go on a long visit of relatives in other districts.
I had three young children by that time.

Of course, we were hard hit by the dismissal.  But that did not unnerve us.
We chose to go the atheist way.  It was uncharted.  We should be
prepared for risks and untoward incidents.  We are the masters
of our lives.  We cannot complain.  We should chose our course
of life and act with freedom and a sense of responsibility.

Equipped with hope and confidence, I decided to start a tutorial college.
It was a private institution to coach students for public examinations.
Some of my old students who had graduated by then came to my assistance.
We were fourteen in number.  We gave the name of 'Andhra Tutorial College'
to the institution. A friend of mine who sympathized with our venture,
let out a portion of his house for a small rent to locate the
tutorial college.All the fourteen of us did all the work ourselves,
from sweeping the premises to teaching the students.  It was a
successful beginning in cooperative living.  We divided the income
from fees equally among us.  My share of the income was a tenth
of what I got at P. R. College.  I cut the coat according to the cloth
and Saraswati wonderfully rose to the occasion.

All my colleagues were not atheists.  They appreciated my atheist
way of life.  M. Bhaskara Rama Rao, who was my student at P. R. College,
was very much attached to me.  His early death deprived me of a
valuable friend.

Mrs. Durgabai, who later gained reputation as Dr. Durgabai Deshmukh,
was a student of the Andhra Tutorial College.  By that time
she was in the forefront as the leader of the Congress Movement.
In 1930-33 she was the dictator of the Satyagraha camp at Madras.
She underwent long terms of imprisonment.  When the political movement
took a turn for constructive work, she desired to acquire academic
knowledge by regular study.  She sought my help in the matter.

While I was teaching her, she often fell into a reminiscent mood
and related to me her experiences of political fights and prison life.
She introduced me to several political dignitaries.  At her instance,
I served as a personal volunteer of Mahatma Gandhi when he visited
Kakinada during his Harijan tour of India.  Running of the adult
night school at Atchutapuram acquainted me with the realities
of the economic condition of the slums.  Teaching Durgabai stimulated
my interest in political life.  The experiences were useful to me
when I added economic and political dimensions to atheism.

Durgabai was not only a political worker of eminence.  She was
interested in problems of widow remarriage and inter caste marriages.
Saraswati and I were with her in her activities.  Putsala Satyanarayana,
of Uppada, who later became a legislator, was our close associate.
Working in the field revealed to us practical difficulties in the way
of social reform.  The first hurdle was the parents of the parties
to the marriage.  Then the public would be willing to help but
afraid to commit themselves to any specific act of assistance.
Looking at the difficulties, the prospective bride or the bridegroom
would withdraw suddenly from the scene of action.  Amidst these uncertainties,
one has to work with patience and resolve.  Suramma was a widow who
steadfastly braved the ordeal and married successfully.  Some of
those who helped us greatly for the consummation of the marriage,
were unwilling to sit for a photograph with the newly married couple.
They would help, but they would not like to be known publicly
as helpers of a reform.  Saraswati and I were the common hosts
for every marriage feast of unconventional alliance.

Indeed work at the Andhra Tutorial College opened to me opportunities
of social and political significance which service at P. R. College
could not.  Salaried security of jobs and freedom of work and expression
do not go together.  Freedom is certainly attendant with risks.
Its ups and downs stand in marked contrast with the uniformity
of weekly wages or monthly salaries.  But this uniformity is the enemy
of initiative and innovation.  If I chose the freedom of atheism,
I should take the uncertainties that go with it.  If I continued at
the Tutorial College, perhaps, I could have developed activities that
would put atheism to test.  That was my dream also.  But the sudden
dismissal from P. R. College and the meager income from the Tutorial
College imposed such a financial strain on me and Saraswati
that we agreed to take help from a strange quarter that delayed
the strait experiment with atheism for six years.  When one of my position
and devotion to atheism was tempted by desire for security even for a while,
the pressure of economic conditions should be so enormous and enslaving
as to border on economic determinism in the case of common people.
How then are people to be released from this pressure?  Some have got to
withstand the economic conditioning, and change the order. They are
atheists who can change the order instead of succumbing to it.
Atheists are masters of systems but not slaves of systems.
But I should admit, I yielded to the pressure and took six years
to rebel against it.


My dismissal from P. R. College evoked wide sympathy from several quarters.
The cooperation from my colleagues at the tutorial college was
an aspect of it.  Further, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, who later on
became President of India, was Vice Chancellor of the Andhra University
at that time.  P. R. College was affiliated to the Andhra University.
He was known for his liberal views and acts of generosity.
He was not an atheist.  But he thought that a lecturer of a college
should not be persecuted for unorthodox leanings.  With his recommendation,
the subject of Botany was opened at Hindu College, Musulipatam
and I was offered the post of lectureship.  I took it up.
After a year of work at the tutorial college, I shifted to a regular
college again.




Chapter VI.  The Second Dismissal



A flood of letters congratulated me on my appointment as lecturer
in Botany at Hindu College, Masulipatam.  They thought when I was
dismissed from P. R. College on the score of atheism, the present
appointment was a moral victory for my cause.  The tutorial
college at Kakinada gave me a send-off and my colleagues continued
the college for a few more years.

The principal at Hindu College, Masulipatnam, K. Sivarama Krishna
Rao was kind to me.  As I was known as an atheist on my appointment,
there was no room for misunderstanding.   Further, Sivarama Krishna Rao
himself was considered a non-conformist and there was much in common
between us.

The work at Hindu College was light for me.  I was already a
teacher for nine years.  Further, the course of Botany was just
started and I taught only Intermediate classes here whereas I
handled B.Sc. classes at P. R. College.  I utilized my spare
time for the spread of atheism.

Practically, every weekend I used to go out to address public
meetings on atheism.  In two years I visited most of the villages
around Masulipatam and in adjacent districts also.  Usually I
spoke for two hours and at the end invited questions.  The answers
lasted for another two hours.  It was natural for me to
stand the strain of a four or five hour meeting as I was inspired
with the zeal of spreading atheism.  But what encouraged me was
the response of the gathering which stayed all the time and asked
me questions also with interest.  The longest meeting lasted for
seven hours from 1 to 8 P.M. at Duggirala (Guntur District).
That was in 1937.

The theme of my talks was to say that god, soul and other-worlds
were false.  I treated with god, soul and other-worlds in general
rather than limiting myself to Hindu, Christian or Islamic
concept of them.  As the audience was mixed, questions often
related to denominational faith to which the questioner belonged.
Questions and cross-questions of different denominations themselves
revealed that no denomination was wholly valid.  My general reading
of all religions enabled me to meet every question with confidence.
The questions were usually forty to fifty.  I recollect the largest
number was 136 at Anantapur.  The answering of questions clarified
my understanding of atheism and also gave me a picture of people's faith,
its form and use.

The meetings were attended in hundreds.  There was no disturbance
at meetings, except at Phirangipuram (Guntur District) which is a
stronghold of Catholics.  The elders of the village disapproved
of the disturbance and arranged the meeting again the next day in
quieter atmosphere with bigger audience.

A particular feature of meetings on atheism was the punctuality
of its start.  Indian villagers who are not used to machines,
take time leisurely.  Meetings usually start hours late.  One of
the early meetings was at Challapalli.  It was announced at 1
P.M. and was widely advertised by placards and handbills.
The place was a cinema hall.  I went there five minutes before time.
The convener too was not there.  About ten persons were in the hall.
I drew a chair, announced myself and started the meeting punctually
at 1 P.M.  by my watch.  Five people ran out of the hall to call in
the people who came for the meeting but were loitering in the streets
or sitting in coffee houses.  Within half an hour the hall was full.
The convener also rushed in.  There was a loud protest that I should not
have started the meeting without the full audience.  "Though 1 P.M.
was the time announced, we have to wait for the audience.  It may mean
2 P.M.  also" was the argument of the convener.  I simply replied,
"One may mean two for theists.  For atheists one means one."
The reply caught the imagination of the people.  Thereafter,
every meeting on atheism was punctually attended.

Educational institutions at that time were conventional and job oriented.
Mahatma Gandhi characterized them as "mills to manufacture clerks".
The atheist mind was eager to change every existing system and custom
with a view to make them more free, equitable and social.
I thought of a college to be managed by students and teachers,
free of commercial interests.  The new college would encourage initiative,
social mingling and technical skill.  There was response from the public
of Bhimavaram, a town of the adjoining district to sponsor such a college.
A committee was formed.  I was its principal member, since I put forth
the plan.  The university required the collection of a hundred thousand
rupees for the college for granting affiliation.  Five thousand rupees
were readily subscribed and the members of the committee started
collecting further donations.

An elderly gentleman was attracted by the plan of the college.
He wanted to donate sixty thousand rupees.  Fine.  He showed me
his bank book with a balance of seventy two thousand rupees.
The other twelve thousand he would keep for his expenses during
the rest of his life.  He imposed no condition or wish for the
donation except one.  He wanted me to wear the "sacred thread".
He said that, because I was a moving figure of the committee,
students would flout rules of caste by my example.  At once my eyes
were opened to the reality.  I was working in a caste ridden climate.
Politely I told the gentleman, "I am not fit for this work.
I shall resign from the committee.  Please pass on your kind donation
to the president of the committee."  The elderly gentleman advised me
to be considerate.  Sixty thousand rupees was more than half the amount
we were to collect for the college.  But atheism was more to me
than the bright prospect of establishing the college of my dream.
He would give the donation only if I remained on the committee.
It was an impossible condition.  I resigned from the committee.
The political movement in the country raged again.  Some members
of the committee took part in it.  The interest to establish the college
receded into the background.  Later, another of the conventional type
came up at Bhimavaram.

A big section of the youth were attracted towards Marxism.
They resorted to the method of strikes.  There were frequent student
strikes at Hindu college too.  The management thought that my
atheist propaganda was indirectly responsible for the strikes.
It resolved to dispense with my services.  After five years at
Hindu College, I faced the second dismissal in 1939.

Students took up my cause.  They approached all the members of
the management and successfully prevailed upon them to revoke the
order of dismissal.  But the principal was not happy, when the
management yielded to the student pressure.  In his capacity as
the principal, he imposed disciplinary regulations on me,
prohibiting me from meeting students outside the class-room and
banning the expression of my views on atheism inside or outside
the college, in speech or writing.

The ban was too much for me.  Should I resign immediately?
The students who fought in my behalf to get the dismissal order revoked,
did not want me to resign.  It was shameful for me to serve under a ban.
I agreed to stay for a year and to resign at the end of the academic year
in 1940.

The two dismissals plainly placed the choice before me between
atheism and job.  Saraswati and I chose atheism.  In fact, the
principal did not accept my resignation at once.  He knew that I
added two more children to my family, six by now.  He was kind to
me when he started the course of Botany in the Hindu College and
took me as a lecturer after I was dismissed from P. R. College.
He was kind again to remind me of my responsibilities to the
family and to advise the withdrawal of my resignation.  It was a
question of prestige for him when I suggested that the ban on me
should be lifted.  There was no common ground between us if I
valued freedom to spread atheism more than the security of a job.
The resignation was accepted.




Chapter VII.  To a Village



When I resigned the job at Hindu College, Masulipatam, I had
before me some choices for the next step.  I was offered the
secretaryship of a Life Insurance Company.  A scientific company
asked me to take charge of their section of Biology.  The manager
and correspondent of a High School wanted me to take up its
headmastership, which fell vacant just a few days ago.  These were
the jobs with security of service and salary.  There was the other
offer of public work.  Anne Anjayya invited me to settle down
in his village of Mudunur (Krishna District) and to carry on
public work in the manner I liked.

Every time in life we face alternatives for choice.  The final choice
depends upon objective of life, either rolling in the conventional
rut or the desire for a change and taking risks of a change.
Atheist thought that took shape during the several lectures and
answering of questions, made it plain to me that every individual
has the freedom of choice.  It is the fear of responsibility
that follows the choice, which compromises the individual
to conventional ruts and permits him conventionally to shift
the responsibility of the results of choice to god's will,
fate's decree, force of circumstances, inexorable custom,
economic condition, political necessity or the cultural pattern.
Whatever the plea, it is a question of owning responsibility of
choice or shifting responsibility of choice to some agent outside
the individual.  I recognized that the tendency to shift the
responsibility of choice is the theist way of life and the opposite,
namely, the boldness and frankness to own responsibility of choice
is the atheist way of life.  Atheists assert the freedom to make choice
everytime and to face consequences without regrets and with
a sense of responsibility.  If the results prove unpleasant,
the individual is as free to change the choice as he was to
choose earlier.   Throughout, it is a question of asserting freedom
with a sense of responsibility and using freedom under the cover
of faith in an external force that is supposed to determine choice
and the results of choice.

Saraswati and I were clear in our minds.  I had already worked
for fifteen years from 1925 to 1940 as a lecturer in five
different colleges.  The atheist disciplines do not agree with
theist conventions.  I faced two dismissals.  Why should I accept
a salaried job again to repeat the same clashes or to compromise
with conventional ways for fear of clashes?  So, we chose to
accept Anjayya's invitation to go to Mudunur.  The choice is
attendent with risk but it has the scope for the expression of
freedom with a sense of responsibility.  With six children ranged
from twelve to a year in age, Saraswati and I went to Mudunur in
August 1940.

Mudunur had a population of about 3,000, two miles from the
nearest road and eight miles from the nearest town, Gudivada,
which has a railway station.  It had a branch post-office, an
elementary school and a dispensary.  Communications and facilities
have improved considerably after India became independent,
but Mudunur was a typical village when we went there.  Anjayya was
its accredited leader by virtue of his liberal disposition
and a sense of service and sacrifice.  He was a freedom fighter
in the Gandhian movement of 1930-33.

Saraswati and I were born and bred up in towns.  My job as a lecturer
in colleges confined me to towns.  Except for addressing meetings
on atheism, I had little contact with villages.  Therefore, Mudunur gave us
a valuable opportunity to know village life, especially because
more than eighty per cent of India's population lives in villages.
Those who do not know villages do not know India largely.

Mudunur was one of the villages where I addressed a meeting on atheism
two years ago.  I had a few acquaintances and I was known there.
Further, at the instance of Anjayya, Mudunur received us kindly
and maintained the family collectively.  Two thatched huts were
put up for us in a private land just outside the village.
It was called the Atheist Centre.  From there we carried out our
activities till 1947 when we shifted to Patamata, (Vijayawada).

It was a wonderful experience for those seven years when everyone
looked after our needs in general and no one was responsible to
us in particular.  A friend would send us his milch buffalo and
another hay to feed her.  We enjoyed the milk.  We received
cereals and pulses by collective donation and clothes when we
needed them.  Vegetable-groweres who carried gourds and greens in
the early hours of the morning to the market in the town, would
drop a few vegetables at our hut on their way.  Thankfully we
collected them at day-break.  The omnibus on the road gave us a
lift to the town free of charge and somebody would buy us postage
for correspondence.  Our needs were met in kind and seldom we
had the occasion to handle a coin.  Special mention should be
made of Puvvala Nagabhushanam who was theistic himself, but was
attracted towards the atheistic way of life and actively took
care of us all the years we were at Mudunur.

The first program I took up at Mudunur was the running of Adult
Education School.  86 adults ranging from 20 to 70 years of age
from Mudunur and neighboring villages formed the class which met
in a shed on the tank bund.  The class sat from 12 noon to 2 p.m.
punctually, a time suitable to villagers engaged in farm work,
and to teachers of elementary schools.  Anjayya also attended the class.
I formulated a syllabus of the fundamentals of all subjects,
arts and sciences taught ordinarily in colleges.  My wide reading
for atheism enabled me to take the class in all subjects.
Prof. N. G. Ranga spared me volumes of Encyclopedia Britannica
for reference.  History, economics, politics, philosophy, sociology,
ethics, logic, fine arts, geography, physics, chemistry, biology,
geology, astronomy, mathematics, medicine, engineering and elements
of all subjects were in our course of study.  It was a pleasure
to acquaint the villagers with the fundamentals of all the subjects
in their familiar language.  It was training for me too.
It was interesting, indeed.  Side by side with this education,
the students who were drawn from all castes and religions of the village,
brahmins and untouchables, Hindus, Christians and Muslims,
grouped into twos and three and played the host for the rest
at tea by turns every Saturday evening.  The teas mingled up all castes
in their homes; Brahmin houses or untouchable slums.  The social mix-up
raised an uproar, but the band of 86 adults braved the opposition.

The experience of common teas encouraged us plan a cosmopolitan
meal in the untouchable slum in the month of February, 1941.
The invitation was open with a small fee towards cost of food.
There were about 260 guests.  It was a big affair in a village where
caste-distinctions were rigid.  Elderly women, including Ramanamma,
Anjayya's mother took part in the common dinner.  But it was not
without an echo.

M. Suryam, M. Krishnarao, M. Suryarao and Dr. S. Subbarao were
the Brahmin participants of the common dinner in the untouchable slum.
Suryam had two children too.  When they returned home after the dinner,
their parents closed the doors on them, as eating in untouchable slum
was an affront to the rules of caste.

The four had the sympathy of the village with them though their
parents were stubborn.  For a week they stayed with their friends.
In the meantime, there was rethinking of the problem by the parents
and the boys were readmitted into their homes without any condition.

A few years later, M. Suryam became an agent of Metropolitan Life
Insurance Company.  His cosmopolitan views and acts stood him in
good stead.  He mingled freely with his clientele without reservations
of caste distinctions.  Consequently he won wide sympathy,
expanded business rapidly and rose to high position in the company.
He not only developed into a good businessman but served as an active
propagandist of atheism, frequently recalling the incidents of adult class
and common dinners.




Chapter VIII.  Atheist Awakening




The adult class gave me wide contacts in and around Mudunur.
Adiraju Amruteswararao, a teacher, attended the class with a few
of his students from Appikatla, two miles away.  From Bollapadu
and Marrivada, villages on the other side also, there were
regular adults at the school.  Perumal pedaled 16 miles on
bicycle to and fro between Mudunur and Gudivada town to attend
the classes.  There was general sympathy and respect for atheism.


Anne Anjayya gave a fillip to the atheist movement by persuading
Ramakumar Varma to hold a conference of atheists.  It was held in
1941, at Kanumur, a village eight miles from Mudunur.  It was
attended by about three hundred delegates and the conference had
free discussion during its three days.  Tummala Gopala Krishnayya
was the secretary of the committee that was formed to spread atheism.
He took me round several villages for meetings on atheism.

Movva Sivarao of Mudunur, undertook to print and publish my book
in Telugu on Atheism (Nastikatvamu).  In that book I used the neuter
gender for god, because god is a concept.  The change from the accustomed
masculine gender attracted attention and set about rethinking.
The book went through three reprints.

Wherever I was called for a public meeting, I insisted on my
lodge and board to be arranged in the local untouchable slum.
I took the occasion to mingle the two sects among untouchables,
Mala and Madiga.  Ordinarily, they do not interdine nor [do] they
draw water from the same well.  I consider their mingling an
achievement for the atheist way of life.

At Mudunur I demonstrated fire-walking and dispelled the superstition
associated with it.  There is a notion that one could walk on fire
only after a religious ceremony, as it was done.  My wife and I
walked on fire without the ceremony.  My son Lavanam who was a boy of ten
also walked.  A few villagers, including women followed us.
It was strange.  To the huge gathering that assembled to witness
the fire-walking by atheists, I explained the scientific principle
involved in firewalking.  When fire is super hot, the moisture on
the skin of the sole gets immediately converted into vapor.
It acts as the insulating layer between the skin and the fire during
the short interval of two or three rapid strides on the pit of fire.
Only care should be taken to see that the fuel burns for a sufficiently
long time to get super heated.

Similarly with the magnet from some machines in villages,
I demonstrated the phenomena of attraction and repulsion.
Some cheats use them for exhibiting peace and war between dolls
of gods of mythology.

On the occasion of an eclipse, Saraswati gathered pregnant women
of the village and dispelled the superstition associated with it,
as she did in Colombo.

The social mingling through common teas and dinners on the one
hand and the scientific explanation and exploding of superstitions
through demonstrations on the other, created a new awakening
among the people of Mudunur and the surrounding villages.
They moved with an open mind and revised old habits.

Puvvala Suryam is a musician of Mudunur.  He made a living by
playing on violin.  He was attracted by the atheist ideology.
He found that songs of classical music bore themes in praise of god.
He was unwilling to propagate theistic thought through his music.
He discarded the violin and started to live by hard physical labor.
He became an example of an earnest atheist.  A scholar of another village
was attracted by Suryam's example.  He composed songs with humanist
and rationalist themes and Suryam entertained atheist audiences
with the new songs.

Yellamanchili Butchayya, a young man of Mudunur wanted to marry
intercaste to set an example for the abolition of caste distinctions.
He married Puvvala Suryam's daughter on principle in the teeth
of opposition of his relatives.  Kaviraj Tripuraneni Ramaswamy
of high repute as a non-conformist, iconoclast and rationalist,
presided over the largely attended marriage function.  Movva Pichayya
and Kolli Ramamohanarao celebrated their marriages, discarding religious
rites and holding cosmopolitan dinners and inviting local untouchables too.
Marriage by civil registration became popular among atheists. My brother,
Sambasivarao's marriage with a widow in the orthodox village
of Kanakavalli, with untouchables sitting along with others for lunch
was a big social revolution in those days in the context of prevailing
Hindu caste-convictions.  A riot was feared.  But the opposition
of conservatives did not take shape in the light of atheist awakening.

The atheist awakening revised the personal habits of villagers.
Indian villages are known for insanitation.  Soil-pollution has
been an age-old bad habit with them.  Atheist awakening opened
their eyes to the uncleanliness and indecency contained in it and
men and women in several homes took to the construction and use
of trench latrines.  In this respect an item of the constructive
program of Mahatma Gandhi came to our help.

The sympathy for atheism spread so wide and deep into the minds
of people that in the census of 1941, from Mudunur village 142
persons classified themselves as atheists, disowning labels of
caste and religion.  Ramaseshayya incurred the displeasure of the
Sub-Registar when he refused to associate himself with a label of
caste or religion for additional identification at the time of
registering a document.  Similar was the experience of witnesses
in courts of law.  A small provision which went unnoticed so long,
had to be culled out in order to meet the demands of the atheists.
It provided an alternative to the usual oath in the name of god.
By such bold and consistent action of the villagers, Mudunur soon
came to be known as the "godless village".

It is a common view that theism, and its opposite atheism also,
are concerned with philosophical questions, personal discipline
and social conduct have little to do with political and economic
affairs.  That was the case in primitive times when political and
economic systems had not developed significantly and religious
faith dominated the life of the people.  In the modern age,
things have changed considerably.  Emphasis has shifted to
economic and political affairs.  The old view is out moded.
To be a real way of life, atheism should concern itself with all
aspects of life and especially with economic and political
systems because political authority and state law control and
regulate social relations more than religious faith does in the
modern age.  From care of children and mode of education to
family planning and rate of immigration, from irrigation facilities
and land distribution to food rationing and property rights,
state law rules in the modern age.  Therefore we atheists wanted
to bring political and economic affairs into the purview of atheism.
The occasion of Quit India Movement of 1942 came in handy.

Earlier in 1941 Mahatma Gandhi conducted the movement of
Individual Satyagraha as a silent protest against India's
involvement in the Second World War.  We were discussing its
progress in our adult school.  At that time, Anjayya was more
interested in the methods of Subhas Chandra Bose than in the ways
of Mahatma Gandhi.  So he joined the Forward Bloc of Bose.
When Bose was known to have left India to woo the help of Germany
for winning India's freedom, British government arrested associates
of Bose.  Anjayya went underground and was later detained in Deoligaol
till 1945.  On account of the political changes, we discontinued
the Adult School after a year and planned to take part in the
Quit India Movement.

By 1942, other workers had gathered at the Atheist Center.
Prominent among them were Kana, D. Ramaswamy, T. Challayya,
D. Tatayya and R. Arjuna Rao.  They expressed their agreement
with atheism and its political program.  Some students of the
Adult School also joined us in the political action.  We formed
a good team of Satyagrahis in the Quit India Movement.  Saraswati,
my daughter Manorama and my sister Samrajyam were among the women
who were arrested.  Ours was the largest single batch in Krishna
District to suffer imprisonment.  Kana, Tatayya and Chellayya
were imprisoned twice between 1942 and 44.  In Alipuram Camp Jail
I talked frequently to groups of fellow prisoners on atheism.
They belong to the four Southern language groups of Tamil, Telugu,
Malayalam and Kannada.

Political action broadened the base of atheistic thought and
prison life gained for us wider acquaintance.





Chapter IX.  My Children



I have nine children, five daughters and four sons.  The number
is outrageous from the point of view of the needs of family
planning in capitalist society.  Strangely, in socialist society,
not only mothers of many children are honored and special allowance
is granted for proper nurture of each child but childless mothers
are taxed.  Motivation of private profit presents norms different
from collective welfare of socialist society.

Mahatma Gandhi was surprised at the large number of my children
especially because I live by public support after 1940.  He asked
me why I was not observing celibacy.  I said that I did not like
to raise an artificial barrier between my wife and my self,
especially when I denied her caste and property.  If I denied
myself also to her, I would give scope for inhibitions that
disturb harmonious relations.  Gandhi appreciated my situation
and remarked that I was novel in having a large family without
private property in public work.

From a rationalist standpoint, I should have taken to contraceptives,
if I did not like celibacy.  But effective  measures of contraception
were not commonly procurable in  India in the thirties and forties
of this century.  When  vasectomy became handy, I got sterilized in 1948.
Nevertheless, on account of the atheist way of life we have bestowed
sufficient care on our children so that they grow as assets to atheism.

Our atheist outlook was reflected even in giving names to our children.

The first is a daughter born in 1928.  Except for defying the ban
of eclipse, Saraswati and I had not grown assertively atheist.
So we adopted the name of Manorama for her, a name suggested by
our friend Dr. Aserappa of Colombo.

The second is a son, born in 1930.  We were outcaste by that time
and we grew atheistic.  That was the time of the Salt Satyagraha
Movement launched by Gandhi.  So we called him Lavanam, which means
salt in Indian languages.

The third is Mythri, another daughter.  She was born in 1932,
the period of Gandhi-Irwin pact and the Second Round Table Conference
in London.  Climate of friendship was prevailing at that time and
Mythri means friendship.

Vidya is the fourth child and third daughter.  She was born in
1934 when I was trying the experiment with education in Andhra
Tutorial College.  Vidya means education.

The second son and the fifth child is Vijayam.  Vijayam means
success, for Congress scored a sweeping success in 1937 elections,
when he was born.

The third son is Samaram, meaning war.  He was born in 1939,
the time when the second world war started.

The next son is Niyanta born in 1941.  Niyanta means dictator.
That was the year of dictatorships of Hitler and Mussolini.
Gandhi was also made the dictator of the Congress to conduct the
anti-war satyagraha.

The eighth child, a daughter, is Maru.  The name means "change"
in Telugu language.  She was born in 1944, when there was a
change in the Congress program from Satyagraha struggle to
constructive work.

The last child is Nau, a daughter.  Nau means nine.  She is the
ninth child born in 1947.

The novelty of names attracted some of my friends who also gave
their children names like 'Agust' for the child born in August
1942 when the August Movement of Quit India started.  When we
were released from prison in 1943 the child of a friend of mine
was given the name of' 'Viduthala', which means release.
My grand daughter is called Suez, because she was born in 1955 at
the time of the Suez crisis and her brother is named Chunav which
means elections as he was born in 1952 when India conducted the
first general elections with universal adult suffrage.

Some atheists changed their names into Kana, Nara, Madhu, Vempo,
Bhanu etc., to dissociate from caste and religious association.

As both Saraswati and I are atheists, the children have grown in
an atmosphere of atheism and they have not so far felt the need
to complain against it.  Just as I discarded the thread which is
a mark of the caste, Saraswati cast aside her tilak (rouge on
forehead) and 'Mangalasutra' which are symbols of Hindu wifehood.
When Saraswati and I discarded the marks of caste and the symbols
of religion, our children too followed suit by training when
young, and by understanding as grown ups.  Their attitude of
action and adjustment without complaint made them sociable and
useful members of the family and of the society.  Since 1940 when
I left my job, my wife and I have been living on public subscription.
It gladly maintained my children too and in the long run they have
been offered ample facilities for development.

Besides food and clothing, an important problem with children is
their education in a country which does not provide for social welfare.
At Mudunur, Tummala Ramarao, took special care to give elementary
education to my children.  Then all of them studied Hindi.
Gandhian movement created facilities for the spread of Hindi
free of charge.  Lavanam gained proficiency in Hindi.  Vajayam and
Samaram passed highest examinations in Hindi.

Mrs. Durgabai who had established Andhra Mahila Sabha in Madras
kindly offered to give regular education to my children in that
institution.  Lavanam and Mythri went to Madras for that purpose.
But their education suffered a setback owing to bombing at Madras
and the consequent evacuation in connection with the Second World War.
Lavanam did not continue education further as he did not like
to study in the British educational system.  What attainment he has,
is due to self-cultivation.  He is well acquainted with Hindi,
Telugu and English to speak on public platforms and to write
articles in journals.  Lavanam was picked up to interpret
Vinoba's Hindi talks into Telugu during his tour of Andhra
Pradesh.  In my foot march with my associates from Sevagram to
Delhi in 1961-62, he interpreted my English speeches into Hindi.

Manorama stopped with elementary education after her marriage.
Yet she received training in social work and nursing at the
centers of Kasturiba Memorial Trust and worked for a few years in
slum areas.  Other children studied Matriculation privately and
qualified themselves for further education.  Mythri passed M.A.
and Vidya did B.A. by private study.  When we shifted to Patamata
from Mudunur, Maris Stella Women's college was close to us and
the other daughters and grand-daughters studied B.Sc. there,
partly with the help of friends and partly with the assistance of
scholarship grant for the children of those who were imprisoned
in the freedom movement.  With the same help Vijayam and Niyanta
passed M.A. and M.Sc. at the Andhra University.  Special mention
should be made of the kindness of Mr. J.S.R.L. Narayanamurty, who
was a lecturer and who gave Vijayam and Niyantha free food and
lodge during their study at the Andhra University.  Samaram completed
his Medical course with the help given by Mr. Ch. Seshagirirao.
Mr. Seshagirirao, who married Vidya, my third daughter later on,
has been a source of constant help to us for every need.
Maru too studied Medicine with the help of Dr. Sushila Nayyar,
who was a secretary of Mahatma Gandhi and became the Health Minister
of the Central Government.

A pleasant surprise came from Dr. George Willoughby of USA.
During his tour in India, he visited Atheist Center at Patamata
and was pleased with the way of our life.  He arranged for education
of my children in Philadelphia, USA for a year each by turns.
Thus Lavanam, Vijayam, Niyantha and Nau took the chances
to go to U.S.A.  Just as Narayanamurty helped Vijayam and
Niyantha at the Andhra University, Mr. Maturusurya Prakasam of
Vijayanagaram kindly helped Vijayam to go to USA.

Thus all the children have education or educational training by
the help of friends and of public subscription.  We are beholden
to them.  Also my children who are now qualified for holding jobs,
choose to seek self-employment only and be helpful to the needy.
They see from my experiences that a job impedes freedom of action
and initiative.  In capitalist set-up desire for private profit
tempts talent and honesty with security of a salaried job
and uses their services for furthering profits.  The high salaries
offered for service depletes free society of talent and honesty
and this weakens revolt against capitalist exploitation.
Every seeker of jobs is an accomplice of exploiters.  So movements
for social change give a call for those in jobs to come out,
sacrifice comfort and join the struggle for revolution.




Chapter X  With Gandhi



My association with Mahatma Gandhi is a hotly debated question
with some rationalists.  They see no common point between an
avowed atheist and a man of god, as Gandhi called himself.
Of course Gandhi did say that a blade of grass would not move
without god's behest.  What then is its congruity with his unique
method of Satyagraha which calls on every one to insist on what
he feels to be the truth?  It was this method of Satyagraha or
non-violent resistance that roused millions of Indians against
odds to fight against the forces of British imperialism.  Was it
god's command or Gandhi's call to action?

To resolve this apparent paradox I wrote to Gandhi in 1930.
I went to him in 1944.  My talks with him were narrated in the book,
An Atheist With Gandhi (60 pages, Navajivan Publishers, Ahmedabad).
24 pages of the book were taken up by the Introduction by
Kishorelal Mushruwala, a close associate of Gandhi.

I said in my book that Gandhi "was preeminently a practical man.
As a practical man, he took any situation as it obtained with all
its paradoxes.  He never sat down to scan and to sift its
contradictions intellectually, but he moved the whole situation
towards the ideal of happiness for all mankind.  He condemned
nothing before hand lest a good cause should be lost by bad judgment.
He only let things drop when they could not bear thestrain of progress.
Practice was his test of fitness.  He subordinated intellectual
and sentimental considerations to practical purposes.  He tested
a system of medicine by the cure it effected.  He tested the advocate
of the cause by the work he turned out." (page 56 57)  The emphasis
on practice was the meeting point between Gandhi and myself.

Two instances confirmed the commonness.

When I was with Gandhi at the Sevagram Ashram, "I wanted to
dissect a frog to demonstrate the phenomenon of heart-beat to the
nurses class which I was teaching.  The nurses objected to the
dissection on the ground that it went against the principle of
non-violence (ahimsa).  The matter was referred to Bapuji
(Gandhi) and he replied, "Dissect the frog, if that is the only
way to explain the heart-beat."  "And I dissected the frog."
(An Atheist With Gandhi-Page 40).

Compare this incident with what happened at Ananda College, Colombo.
I wanted to dissect a frog to demonstrate heart-beat to my students
of class of Human Physiology.  Buddhist priests on the management
of the college prevented me from the dissection on the plea that
it was killing.  The priests eat meat.  They say that they do not kill
but buy meat from the stall.  The priests are speciously argumentative.
Gandhi was honestly practical.

The other instance related to my daughter, Manorama's marriage
with Arjunarao.  She wanted to marry an "Untouchable" on
principle in order to establish castelessness.  Gandhi agreed to
get the marriage performed in Sevagram Ashram, as it conformed to
his vow of blessing marriages between untouchables and non
untouchables only.  He also accepted to replace mention of god
with truth, in deference to the needs of my atheism.  Further, my
wife, children and atheist associates did not attend the regular
prayers of Sevagram Ashram.  Gandhi did not mind our absence.
Evidently, doing work was more important to him than repeating
the name of god.

Why then did Gandhi conduct prayers so regularly and mention god
so frequently?  The reason is clear.  He was conventionally a
believer in god by early training, even as I was.  He continued
the habit in so far as it did not stand in the way of his work.
He was more concerned with real practice of programs than with
intellectual perfecting of principles.  Nevertheless he did not
hesitate to revise an old habit whenever a present situation
needed the change.  He started with the common Raghupati Raghava
type of god.  As he pushed forward, he held that god was truth.
But in 1931 he said, "I went a step further and said Truth is God.
You will see the fine distinction between the two statements,
namely, that God is Truth and Truth is God.  In fact it is more correct
to say that Truth is God, than to say that God is Truth."
He made the change in order to meet the objection of rationalist workers.
In 1925 itself when a conscientious objector protested against
the mention of god in the Congress pledge, Gandhi answered,
"So far as the conscientious objection is concerned, the mention
of God may be removed, if required from the Congress pledge
of which I am proud to think I am the author.  Had such an
objection been raised at the time, I would have yielded at once."
In the case of my daughter's marriage, he dropped the mention
of god altogether from the pledge.

Therefore, Gandhi was not that superstitious as he appeared to be
by the conduct of prayers.  Leading millions of illiterate,
downtrodden and tradition bound common people of India towards
the goal of Swaraj or freedom, he was "hastening slowly" in
changing old ways which were of no immediate concern.   At the
meeting of the Harijan Sevak Sangh in 1946, he described himself
by saying, "It is one thing for me to hold certain views and
quite another to make my views acceptable in their entirety by
the society at large.  My mind is ever growing, ever moving forward.
All may not keep pace with it.  I have, therefore, to exercise
the utmost patience and be satisfied with hastening slowly."
Change, he wanted; but he chose the speed of change.  Confronted with
the ghastly situation of Hindu-Muslim clashes in 1947, he chose
to change the form of prayer and added the name of Muslim god,
Allah, in the Hindu verse.  The change raised a storm of protest
from  Hindu quarters.  Gandhi stood firm.  He fell to the bullets
of a Hindu assassin.

Gandhi called himself a "Sanatan Hindu".  In essence he was not a Hindu.
He was basically a Human.  In the sea of humanity, a human is a rarity.
Cut up by labels of race and nationality, class and culture,
caste and religion, humanity has become highly sectarian.
There is hardly a place for a human to live.  So Gandhi was eliminated.

Emphasis on practice as the test of truthfulness, openness of
mind for progressive change and humanness transcending were the
characteristics of Gandhi that took me to him.  Similar features
of atheism made me and atheists acceptable to him though we did
not attend prayers and called god a falsehood.  But the difference
was there.  (page 52, An Atheist with Gandhi)  Gandhi's method
of continuing conventional belief in god, however open,
had the advantage of establishing immediate communication
with the mass of people.  Later, it suffered the reaction of
losing the essence of change and holding to the form of belief.
The Atheist method, on the contrary, raises initial prejudices
and renders communication difficult.  Yet, the change achieved,
however slow, is stable and firm.  Gandhi appreciated the content
of atheism.  He advised me to take another name instead of
atheism in view of the heap of prejudice against it.

Conventionally, atheism is equated with wickedness.  Yet, I take
to it deliberately for its promise to bring about permanent change
for human welfare.  Atheists have a hard way to fight through,
but every step they take is a definite gain to humanity.




Chapter XI.  Political Action



Early atheist programs were similar to Gandhi's Constructive work.
While the Constructive program of Gandhi was linked with the political
fight of the Congress and had therefore a nation wide significance,
our work of adult education or village sanitation or removal of
untouchability or women's liberation was intensively confined to
a few villages.  In a way, it was even non-political, as we had not
proceeded sufficiently far to come into touch with or to clash with
political authority.  We moved in the thin margin outside the direct
authority of the government.  But as our work widened, we did clash
with the conservative and capitalist ways of the government,
and we found the need of political action.  Political action becomes
indispensable in the modern age if social work should be free and broad.
Gandhi told Ramaswamy, an atheist, that he (Gandhi) was not a politician.
He was essentially a man of religion and a social reformer,  and to
the extent political factors have come in his way he had been unwillingly
drawn into political sphere. (An Atheist with Gandhi - page 28).

Despite the fact that our social work in Mudunur village was intensive,
it was not so abiding as we wished.  No doubt, Mudunur Suryam became
a successful Insurance agent, Nagulapalli Sitaramaiah became a
social worker of repute and Kalapala Suryam became a legislator.
They are all the products of the adult school and active participants
in the work at Mudunur.  Also untouchability is relaxed there
to a great extent.  But in the very village which was know to be
"the godless village" and in which 142 classified themselves as atheists
in 1941 census, religious ceremonies are reappearing.  Evidently social
work without political legislation loses strength.  The same is the
experience with the several constructive activities of Gandhi
during the fight for freedom.  The lasting contribution of the
Congress movement is the political freedom of India but not
social change by constructive work.  Of course, political work
without constructive work is blind; at the same time, the results
of constructive work without political action are short-lived.
So we added political action to social work and continued social
work along with political action.

Our active politics started when we participated in the Quit
India movement in 1942.  As we continued political action, our
politics have grown differently from the power politics in vogue.
The difference is partly due to the atheist outlook and partly to
our acquaintance with the Gandhian method.

The principal feature of power politics is the capture of the
authority of the government by fair or by foul means. The desire
to capture power raises competition for power among those who
have the desire.  Competition leads to formation of political
parties and rivalries among the parties make the means of
capturing power more foul than fair.  Party machinations and
corruptive ways and the many evils to which present democracies
are subject flow from power politics.

The real purpose of politics is to solve people's problems by
means of governmental legislation.  Constructive program is the
non-political method of solving people's problems.  Sarvodaya is
non-political in that sense.  But in the modern age when problems
are complex and social relations are wide, constructive work is
not able to cope up with the demands of people's needs.
Therefore, we require politics that is legislation, to solve our problems.
But we find politics also failing to solve the problems satisfactorily
on account of the competition for power entering into politics.
Therefore, unless politics are cleared of the mania for power,
politics cannot fulfill its real purpose of solving people's problems.
That is, those who hold the reins of governmental authority should
be people-minded and not power-minded.  But to suppose that lust for
power is inherent in the very institutions of government on account
of its centralized authority and revenues, and to recommend
non-political methods for solution of people's problems especially
when non-political methods are inadequate to deal with the problems
of stage of civilizational progress, are born of a feeling of frustration.
Therefore, to be practical a way must be found to turn power-
politics into real politics, that would make persons in authority
people-minded instead of power-minded.

Gandhi proposed the method of decentralization of the basic units
of administration so that the people get into direct touch with
their representatives.  The direct touch enables people to
control their representatives in authority and to check their
slipping into greed for power, because people stand to lose by
such a wrong.  Even in self defense against the evil of power mania,
people should prevent legislators from abuse of power. But effective
check is possible only when units of administration are sufficiently
decentralized to keep legislators in close touch with people.

If Gandhi got into the seat of power on India winning freedom,
or if Jawaharlal Nehru followed the Gandhian way, India would have
had politics instead power politics.  Both did not happen.
Gandhi was assassinated and Nehru held the power that preserved
the imperialist ways of centralized authority.  India has been
politically free since 1947, but is in the grip of power politics
rather than in the dawn of real politics.

What program shall we, the atheists, take up to clear the present
politics of power mania?  Decentralization is indeed desirable.
But it is not a feasible proposition for us as individual
citizens in a democracy.  It can be done only after we get into
seats of power.  Even Vinoba with all his prestige, mighty effort
of foot march throughout India, and huge following, could not get
administration decentralized effectively, though that was his
avowed purpose.  Some of us were with him in the Sarvodaya
movement, as it was known.  I wrote a book Why Gram-Raj by name
printed by the Sarvodaya publications.  Its theme is the need of
decentralization of the basic units of administration.

To start the work from where we are, we took to the programs of
partylessness and pomplessness of legislators.  The progress of
atheist political action consisted in formulation and practice of
items of partylessness and pomplessness.  Nevertheless, we keep
close to constructive work also.

In 1946, I was invited to the camp of Kasturiba Memorial Trust at
Borivilli, Bombay.  Mridula Sarabhai was the Secretary of the Trust.
She was quite rational.  She asked me to speak on superstitions.
Naturally, I referred to the need of atheism to fight superstitions.
There was a protest against the mention of atheism in a camp
which was run under the aegis of Gandhism.  Also Mridula dropped
the item of prayer from the time-table of the camp.  The protest
was carried to Gandhi.  He did not take a serious notice of it.
He suggested that prayer might be arranged for those who need it.
Gandhians were more "godly" than Gandhi.

Next year Mridula Sarabhai became a Secretary of the All India Congress
Committee along with Kheskar.  Sadiq Ali was the Office Secretary.
I was taken in as the Organizer, first at Allahabad, and then at
Delhi Camp office.  Gandhi was staying in the Bhangi Colony
on Panchkuan Road among sweepers.  I was going there pretty frequently.
I noticed the difference between the slum dwellings of sweepers
where Gandhi lived and the posh mansions of the cabinet ministers
who held the posts in the care-taker government under the prime
ministership of Jawaharlal Nehru in the name of Gandhi.
Obviously the principles of Gandhism and its austerity began
to be sidetracked.

Saraswati was with me for some time.  We were invited to lunch by
Mohammad Rahamtullah Khan, the president of the Delhi Congress Committee.
He was very elderly and considerate.  According to his custom,
he served beef as a dish at the meal.  Saraswati and I are vegetarians
by the caste habit which we acquired in childhood.  When we discarded
caste and religious association, we revised food habits also that
are linked up with caste distinctions.  But normally we
remained vegetarian.  At that time we ate a bit of beef to show
that we are not sentimentally vegetarian hidebound by caste habits
and religious feelings.  We asked M. Rahamtullah Khan whether
he would eat pork.  Pork is a religious taboo to Muslims as beef
is to Hindu castes.  Rahamtulla Khan saw the point in our question.
He rose above the levels of religious difference and told us with dignity,
"Yes, I should, when it is served to me." Of course we did not have a
dish of pork ready at hand.  But his reply left an impression on us
and suggested an objective program for effacing Hindu-Muslim differences.
Twenty five years later we conducted the program of beef and pork eating
in the face of opposition from conventional  religionists.
The incident at M. Rahamtulla Khan's house formed the basis
for an organized and extensive program in 1972.




Chapter XII.  Between Gandhi and Marx




Nehru was not faithful to Gandhi as Lenin was to Marx.  Nehru had
immense love and respect for Gandhi.  That was sentimental.
He did not consider the Gandhian discipline of austerity feasible
or desirable in independent India.  As Prime Minister of the
care-taker government till the August 15, 1947, Nehru was
visiting Gandhi who was residing in the slum of the sweepers.
But he was himself living in ministerial mansions of the British
imperial regime.  He paid little heed to Gandhi's advice to
Governors, ministers and legislators to deem themselves as
servants of people and to live a way of life close to the common
man of India who is poverty-stricken.  Gandhi did not simply say
this but lived that way of life in a hut at Sevagram Ashram and
in the slums at Delhi.  Neither Nehru nor "Gandhians" appreciated
the need of austerity to deserve the respect of the mass of
people for the laws they make.

In contrast to Nehru, stood Lenin.  On becoming the Secretary of
the Communist party he refused the increase in his salary.
Noteworthy still was his conduct, when he shifted to Gorky Hill
to take rest.  There was the mansion of the commander-in-chief of
the Czar who had fled after the revolution.  Lenin stayed not in
the mansion, but in the servant's quarter.  My admiration for him
grew a thousand fold when I saw the servants quarter by the side
of the big mansion when I visited Moscow in 1974.  At once in my
mind's eye Gandhi's hut in Sevagram appeared side by side with
the servant's quarter where Lenin lived.  Both stood in terrible
contrast with the Teen Murthi Bhavan in which Nehru lived, the
palatial mansion of the commander-in-chief of the British army in
India.  Lenin lived in the servant's quarter of the mansion;
Nehru lived in the mansion itself.  The difference indicated the
difference in their faithfulness to the ideology they professed.

Inspired by Lenin's simplicity, the rank and file of the Communist
party all over the world lived close to the common people.
Following Nehru, Gandhians deviated from the Gandhian principles.

After the Quit India movement, my close colleague, Tummala Challayya,
was disillusioned with Gandhian ideology which could not inspire
Gandhians with simplicity.  He was twice in prison in Quit
India movement, and an ardent Gandhian at first.  Later, he moved
towards the Communist Party, and persuaded some others too
to join the Party.  He and Yellamanchili Ramakrishnayya followed
the path of communism, went under ground and Ramakrishnayya was
shot dead in an encounter with police.  Chellayya narrowly
escaped capital punishment.

Chellayya persuaded me at that time to join the Communist Party.
The marked difference between the simplicity of Communist workers
and the pompous ostentation of Congressmen was his irrefutable argument.
I looked at Gandhism and Marxism in their wider perspective,
of theoretical implications and practical programs.  Principles of
dialectical materialism and their application to human history
basically deny freewill to the individual.  This goes against
the atheist assertion of the freewill.  In practice, the Marxian
ideology would necessitate secrecy and underground life in
the attempt to organize for the establishment of the dictatorship
of the proletariat or of its champion, the Communist Party.
I am averse to secrecy.  While I disapproved the pomp of congressmen.
I could not accept the implications of Marxism.  I felt that
both Gandhism and Marxism had good parts and both of them needed
atheist correction for clearing them of faults.  I explained this
in my book "Positive Atheism."  We carried on the atheist work
on political and constructive fronts, without getting into
the streams of the Congress or of the Communist Party.

Gandhi was assassinated on the January 30, 1948.  He had to lay
down his life because his followers would not listen to him.
His solution to the Hindu-Muslim problem was to give Jinnah,
the Muslim leader, a blank check to form the government of
undivided India.  He said that it was firstly wrong to think in terms
of Hindu citizens and Muslim citizens, instead of thinking in terms
of Indian secular citizenship; and that secondly, even if religious
distinctions were granted, Hindus were in two thirds majority
in numbers and could easily be liberal to their Muslim brethren,
though they were found to be stubborn.  Love of power blinded reason.
The Congress High Command agreed to the division to avoid the
colossal blood-bath.  India was divided on August 15, 1947.
Gandhi's protest took the non-violent from of working for
communal harmony.  His voice was drowned in communal frenzy
and a Hindu shot down a "Sanatana Hindu", who was simply a human.

After Gandhi's assassination, I severed connection with the Congress
and proceeded along the atheist path in all aspects of life,
as I conceived them.

We shifted from Mudunur to Patamata as the latter is on the road-side
with better communications being a suburb of Vijayawada town.
On the day we left Mudunur, there was a farewell function.
A purse of collections was presented to us and friends helped us
to shift the huts from Mudunur to Patamata.  The seven years' stay
at Mudunur and the reminiscences of activities there have fostered,
bonds of lasting relationship.  Paturi Nagabhushanam, the Secretary
of the Library movement, secured for us a plot of land at Patamata
to put up our sheds.  We called that place also atheist center
and conducted adult education classes in the untouchable slum
by our side.  The landlord, Govindarajulu Venkateswara Rao,
and his brothers, though congressmen, objected to our association
with untouchables since it would disturb the peasant-labour relations
in the area.  But we continued our programs.  They obtained an ex-parte
legal decree for our eviction.  Chennupati Ramakotaiah, the head
of the village, sympathized with the clash of my ways with the
existing social set-up and invited me to his land in another part
of Patamata.  The present Atheist Center, has been there since 1948.


Better communications at Patamata facilitated widening of engagements.
I participated in several library and adult education conferences
organized by Paturi Nagabhushanam who had devoted his life to
library movement.  He took part in the freedom struggle of 1930-32
and is an enthusiastic Gandhite.  He appreciated my condition that
wherever I go for a conference, my lodge and food should be arranged
in the untouchable slum.  A notable incident happened at the
Alampur conference.  The local organizers who generally treated
untouchables as manual laborers and disliked close association with them,
did not make the arrangements satisfactorily as promised.  At a late hour,
Nagabhushanam personally attended to the matter and several delegates
to the conference came to the slum and shared the meal they arranged.
It was a unique event in those parts and it, served to awaken
new social consciousness.  The most distinguished guest of the function
was Gadicherla Hari Sarvothama Rao, another freedom fighter
of radical views.  He walked to the slum for participation in the meal,
in spite of his advanced age.

Similar incidents happened at a village in Cuddapah District and
at Vallabhapuram in Guntur District.  Each incident gained fresh
friends to us who came forward with sacrifice of caste privileges
and worked for equal social respect.

The conference put me in touch with Ayyanki Venkata Ramanaiah,
Venkata Rama Naidu, Putumbaka Sreeramulu, Roche Victoria,
Korukonda Subbaraju and several elite of Andhra Pradesh.

Atheism extended its frontiers through programs of action.




Chapter XIII.  Economic Equality



Economic problem is the most important one in human affairs.
There are cases when men and women stake their life for honor and liberty.
Wars and suicides have no place in human life unless there are values
considered more worthy than food and comfort.  Yet, in day-to-day life
food is very important.  Those for whom food is assured progress in
fields of art and technology is more rapid than those who have to
search for or fight for food.  The backwardness of Asian and African
countries is primarily due to their lack of social security.

Further, modern age recognizes the equality of all humans.
Therefore, to have social security evenly distributed among all
people yields better results in development of human affairs than
when its availability differs with advantages in competition.
Evidently, socialist countries enjoy greater peace and progress
than countries under capitalist economy, though both have social security.
Hence economic equality is the cry of the day.

Countries that have adopted the Marxian ideology have a materialist
awakening and they have definitely achieved economic equality now.
But their achievement is subject to political dictatorship,
which curbs individual freedom.   The problem before atheists
is to find out a method by which economic equality is achieved
while preserving the freedom of the individual.  That is,
taking democracy and socialism together.

Because no country has so far achieved socialism democratically,
the common belief is that Marxism alone stands for socialism,
while democracy supports capitalism.  But we find Gandhi
attempted at achieving socialism democratically.   The thirteenth
item of his Constructive Program is to work for Economic Equality.
Of course, the method proposed.for achieving economic equality
is trusteeship.  And Trusteeship is too good to be real.
The Sarvodaya movement which gave trusteeship the best trial has
failed in the final achievement.  Therefore, while Marxism is
well known by its achievement of socialism, the thirteenth item
of Gandhian program is either little known by the lack of
achievement or where it is known it is discredited by its
trusteeship principal which is both non political and utopian.
Nevertheless, the indication of possibility of achieving
socialism democratically is found in the thirteenth item of the
Constructive Program of Gandhi.  It is this possibility that
attracts atheists.  They feel that if democratic political method
is adopted instead of trusteeship, it is possible to achieve
economic equality without disturbing the freedom of the individual.
The correction needed in this context is to drive democracy
towards legislations in favor of economic equality and
atheists feel that democracy can be driven in that direction when
it is rendered partyless and pompless.

With this plan, atheists held the Conference of Gandhi Sangh at
Gudivada at first.  The name of Gandhi was taken in order to emphasize
that not only Marx but Gandhi also talked of economic equality.
The conference highlighted the thirteenth item of the Constructive Program.
The organizers of the conference were Mudedla Ramarao and
K. Bhujanga Bhushana Rao who were freedom fighters.  S. Ramanathan,
President of the All India Rationalist Association and S. Jagannathan
were among the guests from Madras who contributed to the discussion.
Kodati Narayan Rao from Hyderabad helped us give shape to the resolution.
The success of the conference was due to the cooperative effort
of several persons who were interested in evolving a democratic method
for achieving economic equality.

The same work is carried on later when we formed Arthik Samatha Mandal
(Association for the achievement of economic equality) at Wardha
under the presidentship of J. C. Kumarappa.  I was the secretary,
D. J. Hathekar, T. K. Bang, Suresh Ram and Vasant Nargolkar
were on the committee.  We resolved that democracy should be
rid of party and pomp in order to think in terms of achieving
economic equality.

For spreading atheist ideas and programs of work, we wanted to
start a journal.  A small printing press with a treadle came in handy.
Lavanam underwent training in press work at Madras with
Shramajeevi Acharya.  At Patamata we started the press.  My children
Vijayam, Samaram, Mythri, Vidya and several coworkers from
Patamata village worked in the press.  I edited the Telugu weekly,
Sangham, (Society) in whose columns we discussed the atheist ideology
and plan of action.  The press was bought out of public donation and
the journal was run on public sympathy.  After running it for five years,
we changed the name to Arthik Samata (Economic Equality), under the
editorship of Lavanam.  The change of name was in tune with our emphasis
on economic problems.  When our press became too rickety to print,
C. Rangappa of Proddatur printed our journal in his Sarathy Press.
He printed some books of atheism too and helped our work.

Besides the two journals in Telugu, Sangham and Arthik Samata,
we ran a Hindi monthly, Insaan (means a human being) for a few years,
to gain contact with the Hindi States of the North.  Now we have
the English monthly journal, The Atheist, which has world wide
circulation in atheist circles.  For a year Lavanam was at
Kakinada with C. V. K. Rao, assisting the editing of Sarathi
which adopted the ideology of economic equality.

Though we were busy with press, journal and spread of atheist
thought, we did not lose sight of constructive work.  Being adjacent
to the town, the constructive work at Patamata was different from
the work at Mudunur.  While unemployment and poverty are general problems
concentrated in urban areas in developing countries with
no social security, the specific problem with which we were confronted
was the eviction of hut-dwellers who are untouchables, from the place
they were living on.  The reason for the eviction was either
the needs of town planning or the ownership of the land by a rich man.
Such a question came to us where 48 huts were involved.  I approached
the municipal authorities and the state government to provide the
evicted persons with alternative house sites for the huts.  They pleaded
lack of provision in the budget for the help.  My wife and I
took a straight course.  We helped the evicted hutsmen to occupy
a wide and unused road margin.  The municipal authorities objected
to the occupation as it was illegal.  Our simple answer was that
the occupation was moral.  Where there is discord between legality
and morality, legality should be opposed and morality should be upheld.
Law is for man.  If law hurts man's life, law must be changed
and man should be allowed to live.  The straight and open vindication
of our stand, let the poor people live on there.  The stand we took
involved the affected people in the contention and they now stand on
their legs with confidence. They feel strong because they are in the right.

My children have grown with the humanist outlook.  Their marital
alliances disregarded caste distinctions.  The daughter of Nara,
an atheist married a muslim on principle.   My son Lavanam,
married an "untouchable" and this was the second marriage that was
performed at Sevagram on atheist principles with no mention of god.
The first was the marriage of my daughter Manorama with Arjunarao.

As the children grew up and were qualified educationally by
private study or by regular collegiate education, we had to find
work for them.  They did not want salaried jobs.  So my second
daughter Mythri and Hemalata Lavanam started a private children's
school at the atheist center, Patamata.  It was named Vasavya
school.  Vasavya is a word coined with the first letters of three
words in Telugu, Vastavikata (sense of reality), Sanghadrusti
(sociability), and Vyaktityam (individuality) -- the three
qualities that atheism cherishes.  The children of Vasavya school
were required to drop caste appellations of their names.  The school
enlisted the cooperation of the parents of students and educated
the homes indirectly.  It was an enjoyable experience.




Chapter XIV.  Direct Action



The feeling of freedom is the principal feature of atheism.
It makes atheists masters of every situation.  Being masters they
cannot complain.  With a sense of responsibility, and direct
action, they have to redress whatever they find unjust.

Direct action is the same as Gandhi's Satyagraha.  When Gandhi
said that living faith in god was necessary for a Satyagrahi,
he spoke in common conventional language.  In spirit and practice,
Satyagraha and atheistic direct action are alike in as much
as both should insist upon the right and oppose the wrong.

Direct action has two advantages.  It sets right a wrong.
Also it disciplines the activist.  Our action against ornamental
flower plants illustrated the double advantage.  We felt that as
long as there is scarcity of food any where, it is anti social to
use land, water, manure, time interest or energy for growing non edibles.
From the point of view of social responsibility the color of tomato
or the shape of cabbage is more pleasing to the eyes than nonedible
salvia or pansy.  So, after due notice to the concerned authorities,
some of us planned in 1968 to replace ornamental plants with edibles
in the public garden at Hyderabad.  T. Ramarao who is not avowedly
an atheist, liked the plan. Before he participated in the operation,
he pulled out chrysanthemums from the pots of his garden and put in
coriander there.  By practice and sacrifice he inspired others to
do likewise.  It spoke of the honesty of his purpose and added
dignity to our work, with the result that several passers by on
the road joined us sympathetically in replacing flower plants
with edibles, in the garden that evening.  The police imprisoned
us on the charge of destroying public garden.  But the moral
value of our programs was so forceful that on rethinking,
the government had to withdraw the case against us unconditionally
after a month.

Our direct action was largely against the pompous extravagance of
the heads of the State.  Political power is a potent factor in
regulating lives of the people.  On winning political freedom of
India, we expected the persons wielding political power to think
and work for the welfare of all people.  But those who were
elected to seats of power, misused authority for selfish gains
and used the revenues of the government more for personal comforts
and pride of pomp than for people's welfare.  So, we directed
our action against the pompous extravagances of heads of the State.

Elected legislators could abuse power since people were not
vigilant enough to check the excesses of their representatives.
Accustomed to feel subservient to their notion of god, common
people obeyed their governments too, instead of controlling them
and preventing lapses.  Atheists re-educate the people to tell
them that they are the masters of their government, as democracy
requires them to be.  Involvement in the programs of direct
action is the best method of education.

Heads of State do need special facilities for the performance of
their special functions.  But personal pomp is certainly an abuse
of authority and disdain of people.  They travel in first class
and live in luxurious mansions, while common people are packed in
third class compartments and are restricted to huts in slums.
At one time, we insisted on the ministers of the state too
traveling in third class in sympathy with the condition of common
people whom they profess to serve.  At the railway station,
we prevented them from getting into first class compartments.
Chundi Veeraswamy, who earns out his livelihood barber, was a
great activist in the program.  He could see the injustice in
comparison with his hard labor everyday.  We were often kept out
by the police till the train left.  However, P. V. G. Raju, and
T. Viswanatham when they were ministers traveled in third class
some-times in sympathy with our demand.  M. V. Krishna Rao,
another minister travels in omnibus along with common people,
a big change in the prevailing customs in India.  Tanguturi Prakasam,
an elderly gentleman, too traveled in third class on principle
when he was the state minister for revenue.

One minister's reaction was strange.  When I persuaded him to
travel in third class, his ministerial dignity, false as it was,
was hurt.  He slighted me with "Who are you?"  Straight I replied,
"I am your master."  The right of democracy struck him hard.
He withdrew behind the cordon of police.

Rajendra Prasad was a close associate of Gandhi.  He became the
first President of the Republic of India.  In a special interview,
I requested him, "The best place for the President of India
is the slum were Gandhi lived.  I won't press that demand now.
Please visit the slum wherever you go.  Slum-dwellers also are citizens
of India.  Placed as you are, they cannot easily approach you.
"He was too honest to deny my request.  He could not agree either,
on account of the form and pomp that surrounded him, and parried
the question.

I repeated the request with Chandulal Trivedi, when he was the Governor
of Andhra State.  He could receive addresses from clubs and corporations,
but he should visit the slums also.  Twice we staged black-flag
demonstrations when he paid no heed.  Popular sympathy grew
in our favor.  Third time he yielded.  He visited slums wherever
he went thereafter and attended to their needs.  My wife, Saraswati,
and Andraiah played notable roles in those direct actions.

We pressed upon Sanjiva Reddy and Brahmanda Reddy, when they were
Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh to shift from their palatial
mansions to more modest abodes, closer to the common people.
I had a long discussion with Kamaraj Nadar on the point when he
was the President of the Congress Party.  In 1961-62 14 of us,
including Saraswati and Lavanam, started on a foot march from
Sevagram Ashram to Delhi.  It was 1,100 miles long and took 99 days.
It was a protest march against the pompous extravagance and
party affiliation of the Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.
At every camp on the march and on the way too, we were meeting people,
addressing meetings and explaining that, in democracy people are
masters and ministers are servants.  By the time we reached Delhi,
we were 38 from different States of India.  We wrote repeatedly
to the Prime Minister, the first representative of the people.
We requested him to set an example to the people as the "heir of Gandhi".
He was silent.  At Delhi we blocked the entrance of his
official residence, Teen Murthi, as direct protest.  He called
for us to talk the next day.   Mahavir Bhai and I met him.
He said he would gladly respond to the demand, if the public is
sufficiently awakened to the principles of partylessness
and pomplessness.  We said that a gesture from him would rouse
the people to democratic consciousness.  At present democratic practices
move in a vicious circle shifting responsibilities of change
from government to people and people to government.

I found the members of Communist Party no better in their response.
Their members in legislatures draw the same salaries and allowances
as those whom they call bourgeoisie.  They say that circumstances
should change for persons to change.  How do circumstances change?
Certainly by the effort of some individuals.  Lenin did not wait
for the whole bourgeoisie to lose the class character before he
lived in the servant's quarter in Gorki Hill.

Nevertheless, four legislators of the Andhra Legislature elected
a voluntary cut in their salaries and allowances to be honest to
their representation of people's interests.  They were C. V. K. Rao,
Vavilala Gopalakrishnayya, M. V. Subbareddi and Koarapati Pattabhi Ramaiah.

Another aspect of direct action is seeking elections.




Chapter XV.  Seeking Election



One-adult-one-vote is the outstanding character of democracy.
The equality of voting franchise ought to lead to equality of
economic opportunity and equality of social respect among people
through appropriate legislation.  But democracies have not so far
succeeded in establishing equality, despite the equality of
voting franchise.  What is the reason?  Atheists have thought
over the problem with an open mind.  They have tried to find out
where and how democracy is sabotaged in the fair purpose of
achieving equality.

One of the reasons for failure of democracy is the centralization
of administration which removes the representative away from the
easy control of people.  Then the representative can abuse the
powers of his position and fall into the temptation of personal comfort.
The programs of direct action have been attempts to control
the legislators and to compel them to shed pomp as far as possible
under the conditions of centralized administration.

The second method is seeking election by those who are inspired
with the desire to establish equality democratically.  If they
get elected, they can try to introduce legislation to cut down
pomp and to decentralize administration.  But there is a hurdle
in the way of seeking election.  Political parties have crept
into the democratic machinery and have virtually captured the
election platforms.  Parties set up their candidates, and scare
away non-party candidates from seeking election.  Nor are the
party candidates useful for the purpose of democracy.  The competition
among political parties for getting elected by hook or by crook,
fouls the election machinery.  They collect huge funds,
bribe and corrupt voters, bug and blackmail opponents.  After election
their attention is more absorbed in strengthening their positions
by pulling the legs of opponents than working for the welfare
of the people.  The way of democracy that is side-tracked by
political parties is called power politics in contrast with
the people's politics of real democracy.  Atheists are confronted
with this ugly conditions of power politics when they seek election.

Atheists know that there is no mention at all of parties in
democratic constitutions.  Even if there is any provision it
could be amended, in view of the harm that political parties do
to people's interests.  In the face of the conventions of power
politics atheists feet bold to seek election as non-party candidates.

I sought election to Parliament in the first general election in India
in 1952.  Reve stood for the State Assembly from Suryapet Constituency.
Though people were habituated to power politics and they were
in the grips of political parties, I found it easy to put across
the purpose of democracy to the people.  I held street corner meetings,
contacted the people straight and held open dialogues.  I did not
succeed at the polls, but certainly I succeeded in opening a new path
to lead towards people's politics out of power politics.
It was a partyless movement.

M. N. Roy also propounded the theory of partyless democracy earlier.
Consistently he dissolved his party and encouraged the members
to lead the partyless movement.  A. G. K. Murty of Tenali
was a protagonist of the cause.  He gave his full support to me.
Later when I sought election to the State Assembly again in 1967,
his  colleague M. V. Ramamurthy stood for the Parliament election.
In 1972 elections the number of candidates to seek election
from partyless platform increased.  B. Venugopal from Repalle,
Parachuri Venkataratnam from Kuchinapudi, K. Muralidhararao
from Nallagonda, S. Narasimhulu from Cuddapah and Lavanam from
Vijayawada were among the candidates.

With the help of Mahadev Singh, S. R. L. Devi and Vandemataram
Ramachandrarao, we held a conference of Partyless Democracy at
Hyderabad in 1960.  Jayaprakash Narayan inaugurated the conference.
Some principles were highlighted at the conference.  We said that
candidates from partyless platform should considerably cut down
election expenses, because they were the main source of corruption.
Those who spend money at the election will be tempted to recover
the money by illicit means after the election.  Secondly, the opposition
should be free and fluid, instead of being bloc and whip bound.
Opposition is effective only when it is free.  It can then be
constructive too depending on the merits of the issue instead
of opposing for the sake of opposition which is unworthy of
the dignity of a legislator.   When opposition is free, the cabinet
of ministers accepts the decision of the House by a majority
of free votes, even though it may mean amendment or rejection
of a cabinet proposal.  In such a state of partylessness the leader
of the House is elected by the whole House by the method of
eliminating those who get the least number of votes each time
and repeating election.

It is the power politics where parties vie with one another that
call elections a "contest" meaning a kind of rivalry between the
different candidates.  In the partyless approach, we seek election
but contest with none.


We held a series of talks, seminars and study classes in towns
and rural parts on partyless democracy.  I toured the country
extensively in the month of April, May and June 1962 addressing
meetings on partyless and pompless democracy.  A week long
worker's camp was held at Ghaziabad, near Delhi in early 1962.
Conferences on Partyless Democracy were organized successfully in
August 1961 at Hubli; in June 1962 at Calcutta; in October 1968
at Bangalore and in February 1975 at Warangal.  The discussions
on partyless democracy clarified two features as principal
changes from power politics.  First, seeking election is as much
a right of the citizen in democracy as casting vote.  Party
politics set up party candidates at elections and practically
shut out others from the privilege.  Partyless platform breaks
the self arrogated monopoly of political parties and encourages
any number of candidates to seek election in a constituency.
Out of the several candidates, voters choose those who commend
themselves by their history of service, integrity of conduct and
ability to represent people.  The wide scope cuts across caste
and communal bias and presents alternatives to the yes men of parties.
Not the promise of a showy manifesto but the objective to legislate
for establishing economic equality and social justice becomes prominent.
Secondly, an elected member will serve his full term.  The mischief
of power politics which asks a member of the rival party to resign
every time will be replaced by the healthy convention of checking
the lapses of a legislator by pressures of direct action.
The extra expenditure of by-elections will be avoided and the funds
will be usefully diverted to promote people's welfare.  The party
politics which reduce a citizen's rights only to casting votes
periodically will be activated by the principle that the right
of a citizen in democracy is also to see that his representatives
do their duty.  Democracy strengthens through people's participation.
Decentralization of the units of administration certainly
facilitates people's participation.  But partylessness is the
first state from power-politics to decentralization.

Besides Radical Humanists of Royist ideology and Jayaprakash Narayan,
members of Sarvodaya are committed to the principle of partylessness.
So, I joined Sarvodaya a year after it started in 1951.
I spoke freely about partyless programs from Sarvodaya platforms.
We held the conference of Partyless Democracy at Raipur.
Vishnu Sran, Tiwary and several friends helped its spread,
with the name of Satyagraha Samaj.

But Sarvodaya largely is non political in its activities.
Therefore, though it agreed to partyless democracy in principle,
it discouraged active programs in that direction.  The conference
on partyless democracy at Raipur, the Sevagram-Delhi March in
1961 were opposed by Sarvodaya office bearers as being political,
though members like Thakurdas Bang, Ganesh Prasad Naik, Mahavir Bhai,
Lokendra Bhai and Hemdev Sharma actively supported and participated
in programs of partyless democracy.

Shri Shivamurty Swamy, member of Parliament from Raichur, Karnataka,
is an ardent supporter of Partyless Democracy.  He introduced
a non-official bill in Parliament laying it down that the Prime Minister
should be elected by the whole House, giving up the convention
of appointing the leader of the majority party as the prime minister.
Sivamurty Swamy held a conference at Hubli to which Mahavir Bhai,
S. R. Subrahmaniam, Lavanam and I were invited.

Partyless democracy which emerged as the political program of
atheism by and large gathered wide support.




Chapter XVI.  Are They Outrageous?



Atheist mind is open.  Every time it practically writes on a
clean slate.  All revolutions do it.  Atheism is revolutionary.
Atheists respect old values in so far as they are useful to
present times.  Atheists do not hesitate to drop such old values
that do not bear the march of progress.  The only two values that
abide with atheists are the objective of equality of all humans
and the method of openness.  Equality and openness are indispensable
social needs.  Put to the test of equality and openness,
we find most of our old values require revision or even rejection.
Thinking and working along these lines, I was confronted with
special situations, whose solution from the atheist standards
seemed ordinary to me, while they looked outrageous to others
till they understood me.

The first one related to the social status of unmarried mothers.
In India girls are married early.  Till 1935 when Child marriage
Restraint Act was passed, marriages were mostly pre-puberty.
Therefore, motherhood is shielded by the condition of marriage
and unwed motherhood does not arise except in the case of widows
who are not remarried.  So by old social custom unwed motherhood
is regarded a heinous crime on the part of the woman.  Unwed mothers
either resort to abortion stealthily, or commit suicide.

The first case of an unwed mother we came across was at Mudunur,
sometime in 1946.  She was a Brahmin widow.  Her head was shaven,
as it is the custom with widows of some castes, including Brahmins.
She belonged to an adjacent village.  She was about 25 years of age.
When her pregnancy came to be evident, she was discarded by the village
and the helpless woman stayed alone on the tank bund at a distance.
When the case came to our notice, my wife and I called her to the
Atheist Center at Mudunur and offered her all assistance of food,
shelter, maternity home and post-natal care.  As friends of Mudunur
were atheistically minded, they agreed with me and came forward
with material help.

The woman was happy at first at our offer.  But when she found
out that at the atheist center we live without caste distinctions,
she being a brahmin, refused food at our hands, and left us.
She delivered in a hospital.  The experience made us aware both
of the condition of unwed mothers and of the sentiment of caste.

I wrote news articles on the social injustice to unwed mothers.
For the same act, man is left free as he can escape while woman
is punished.  Should special hardship be imposed on women on
account of the difference in sex?  It is as unfair as the
discrimination due to color of the skin in racial differences.

Later, I found Radha Kishan Home at Hyderabad, run by Mr. and
Mrs. Dage, gave shelter to unwed mothers, but they strictly kept
their identity secret.  Such treatment affords relief in
individual cases, but does not solve the problem socially.
I was enthused when I found that the Constitution of USSR,
and that of People's China give to unwed mothers the same status
as other mothers.

In 1970 and again in 1974, when I visited USA and Europe, I was
glad to find that there were institutions to take care of unwed mothers.
As the institution of family itself is cracking in Europe and USA
and as marital alliance is going out of fashion, the way of
becoming a mother does not matter much there.  Yet, the old custom
of disrespecting unwed mother has not yet been deliberately set aside,
though the sting is lost.

In 1951 my second daughter, Mythri, became an unwed mother.
As the boy was married, the question of her marriage with the boy
did not arise.  As atheists, Saraswati and I wanted to face the
problem openly.  Dr. Achamamba came out with her full support to us.
She offered to delivery, pre and post-natal care.  As I was wholly
depending on public subscription for our food and work, I needed support
in this open solution of a problem which was shrouded in secrecy so long.
I made known the fact to some of my friends by words of mouth and
by written letter.  Some friends thought that my frankness was foolhardy.
A friend went to the extent of addressing some common friends condemning
the condition of my daughter and deprecating the atheist way of life,
in view of this incident.

But openness paid me well.  While a few old friends dropped out,
many more new friends came in support.  Gandhi was no more by
that time.  But Kishorelal Mushruwala, who wrote the introduction
to my book, An Atheist With Gandhi, appreciated my stand.

Mythri was delivered of a daughter.  She married Jonnalagadda
Ramalingayya and has three more children.  She acquired academic
qualifications and plans to start a home for women where problems
can be solved openly raising the dignity of women to be equal to men.
Sex should not make a difference in social status as racial traits
ought not to.

The second event that raised a furor of protest was openly eating
Beef and Pork.  Among Christians no meat is a taboo.  But pork-eating
is forbidden for Muslims and beef is for Hindus religiously.
To disown religious sentiments into which many people are born,
we thought everyone ought to eat tiny bits of beef and pork
together openly.  Saraswati and I and our children are normally vegetarians.
As diet habits are associated with caste and religious distinctions in India,
we have no objection to eat a bit of any meat openly.  At Delhi,
Saraswati and I had eaten beef with Rahamtulla Khan as mentioned before.
Our atheist friends liked the program and so we proposed the function
of eating tiny bits of beef and pork openly with bread or rice
from 4 to 5 p.m. on Indian Independence Day August 15, 1972 at
Atheist Center, Patamata.  There were no special invitations,
but anybody was welcome to witness or to participate in the function.

The announcement of the function looked outrageous to Hindu and
Muslim beliefs.  But beef and pork eating clears the mind of
religious bias and breeds human outlook.  Without understanding
the objective of the function, Sankaracharya of Puri, a high
priest of Hindus, who was then camping at Hyderabad, issued a
statement protesting against the function.  I replied that I was
not a Hindu but a human, and so his protest was misdirected.
I invited him to the function, if he liked to transcend a
denominational belief and grow human.   Sankaracharya, with
vested interests in Hindu sectarianism, rallied a protest with
hundreds of religious people.  It became a law and order problem.
Police force was called into action.   Amidst wide protest, 136
marched in a queue, noted down their names and addresses and
participated in the function of Beef and Pork eating that day
according to the schedule.

To us beef and pork eating looked a simple social obligation that
sheds sectarian associations, but to others it looked an outrage
against religious practices.

The function was repeated by the Atheist Association at
Visakhapatnam and at Vellore by Senthamizhko.  At Coimbatore
R. Kasturi arranged a beef and pork lunch on a wide scale to more
than 800 guests.  Periayar E. V. Ramaswami participated in the
function which was inaugurated by Saraswati.  E. V. R. was a
fighter all through his public life against religious belief and
caste distinctions.  His presence at that ripe old age of 95,
lent special significance to the function at Coimbatore.

A braham who organized the function at Madras limited the number
of guests to 13 to break the Christian superstition in that number.
C. S. Murthy, K. Rangasai and Janardhanam and Paul were among
the participants that day.

At Suryapet Kana organized the function in the face of Hindu
protest and at Gudivada too the function was well attended by men
and women.  Manorama, the widow of Sobhanarao, my early atheist
associate and Sanskrit scholar, took particular care to
participate in the function.  The details of the several
functions were published in the columns of The Atheist.

The incidents with unmarried mothers and with beef and pork
eating were events of special significance for the Atheist movement,
as they shook religious faith and custom at the roots.  No wonder,
they attracted attention.  From atheist point of view they are
ordinary disciplines of social conduct, but from the point of view
of old values of custom and faith they looked outrageous.
In course of time, the objectives will be understood and the
prejudices will wear off.




Chapter XVII.  Spread of Atheism


Atheism is not new.  For a long time it was used as a term of abuse.
Nevertheless, every prophet was persecuted by his contemporaries
for blasphemy, apostasy or heresy, if not altogether for atheism.
Obviously, atheism contains the element of progress and basic change.
Therefore, in the last century Charles Bradlaugh of England
projected the idea of atheism more openly and Robert Ingersoll
of U.S.A. called himself an agnostic but spread atheistic ideas
through speeches and writings.  In India, Periyar E.V. Ramaswami
and his followers called themselves atheists, though they did not
use the words as such on platforms.  They preferred to negotiate
in the name of Rationalism.  ln fact, many people with atheistic leanings
use the terms rationalism, humanism, or free thought instead.
Our speciality consisted in using the term atheism openly and in
giving it a positive content and in evolving social and economic
and specially political programs of action for atheism.

Since 1949, our periodicals, Sangham, Arthik Samata in Telugu,
Insaan in Hindi and The Atheist in English have served to spread
and explain the ideology and programs of atheistic thought and action.
So several friends and sympathizers, directly or indirectly,
adopted atheist ways.  Kana at Suryapet and Nara at Nuzvid
and Venugopal at Repalle started atheist centers, and took up
the programs of the atheist center at Patamata, including its
political aspect.  But others adopted the social and cultural
programs and some called themselves non-political.

The Atheist Society Or India which Jayagopal, the editor of the
English Journal, The Age of Atheism, started independently at
Visakhapatnam conducted the Beef and Pork function, and burned
religious scriptures openly.  He takes a variety of bold programs
with rationalist thought but they call their center non-political.

Similarly, J. Veeraswamy and a band of workers at Hyderabad in particular,
and all over Andhra Pradesh in general, take up the program
of eradicating caste-differences.  They actively encourage
inter caste marriages and help change of names from conventional religious
and caste association to nonconformist forms.  Kana and Nara are
examples of nonconformism.  A legislator with the name M. V. Subbareddi,
reddi being the application of a caste,  changed his name to Gamago.
Yet the Caste Eradication Association calls itself non-political,
and turns out excellent work in its own sphere.

Vidya and Seshagirirao who are members of the Congress party,
consistently discard flower garlands and use fruits for reception
in sympathy with the direct action program of replacing ornamental
flower plants with edibles.  M. V. Krishnarao, a minister of
Andhra Pradesh also rejects flower garlands and receives only
fruits instead.

Vinoba Bhave, who started the Bhoodan movement and gave shape and
substance to the Sarvodaya movement, toured Andhra Pradesh in 1955.
My son, Lavanam, interpreted his Hindi speeches sentence by sentence
into Telugu throughout the seven months of the tour.  I was one
of the organizers of the tour program.  Vinoba regularly conducts
prayers both in the morning and in the evening.  He continued
the practice at the meetings in the tour also.  But in deference
to the atheist ideology of Lavanam and myself, Vinoba kindly
substituted the regular verses of prayer with five minutes of silence.
He said that during those five minutes the audience, according to
their wish, could severally meditate on god or think of social values
of life like truthfulness, compassion and love.  It was an accommodation
of atheists in a common audience with respect to each others views.
It was an act of recognition of the atheistic ideology.  Vinoba visited
the Atheist Center at Patamata, when he visited Vijayawada during
the tour in 1955.

Esteem for any ideology comes in the long run, not by its
theoretical perfections but by the lovable conduct of its votaries.
It is more so in the case of atheism, which has been a term  of
contempt so long.  The contempt is the result of the propaganda of
interests vested in exploitation of weaker sections.  Yet, bias against
it is a fact which atheists cannot ignore to take notice of.
Gandhi warned me against this handicap and advised me to take
another name in place of atheism.  But when we chose to take
the label of atheism, it is incumbent on atheists to be doubly wary
of their own conduct.  A notable achievement in this direction
goes to the credit of Madhu.  He is a young man who has taken to atheism.
He acquitted himself so well in social relations, that his villagers
chose him to be the president of the village committee, against the
rich and powerful man of the place who held the post for two terms already.
The machinations of the rich man could not unseat Madhu by virtue
of his sheer spotless character.

Lavanam and Mrs. Lavanam successfully conduct an experiment in
reclaiming criminals at Stuartpuram (Gauntur District) and they
withstand the threats of vested interests in the crimes, on account
of their straight forwardness.  J. Vengala Rao, Chief Minister
of Andhra Pradesh, has extended his moral support to it.

The work at the atheist center gained publicity abroad by the
visits of foreign visitors to atheist center.  I was invited to
the Congress of the International Humanist and Ethical Union at
Boston, U.S.A. in 1970 and for the next Congress at Amsterdam in 1974.
In that context I had the opportunity to tour Europe, America,
Australia and other countries in Asia.  At that time I visited
Madalyn Murray O'Hair at Austin, Texas.  She is well known
for her successful struggle to end prayer and the Bible reading
in Public Schools.  With the slogan of "Tax the Church",
she started the Society of Separationists (SOS).  As a result of
exchange of views between us in 1970 she started the American
Atheist Center at Texas.

Likewise, when I visited Adelaide, Laurence Bullock was the Secretary
of the Rationalist Association of South Australia.  The Association
considered it appropriate to change the name of their Association
to the Atheist Society of Australia.  Thus, rationalist and humanist
societies are preferring the name of atheism, which they deem
more appropriate to describe their attitude.

Whatever be the name, the International Humanist and Ethical
Congress as well as Rationalist and Humanist Associations all
over the world gave me a free platform for talking on atheism.
Moreover, the platforms of Quaker groups everywhere, invited me
for discussions on atheism.  Thus atheism is no longer a
condemned label.  The conduct of atheists has salvaged it from
the depths of slander.  The name is getting the respect that is
its own and has been denied to it so long.

We conducted the Atheist Meet in 1970 at Patamata and the World Atheist
Meet there again in 1972.  Madalyn Murray O'Hair was to preside over it,
but she could not go to India on account of visa trouble.  At the World
Atheist Meet, R. Kasturi of Coimbatore released my book Positive Atheism.
Margarat Reish and Edwin Lindseen were the two delegates from USA to
the World Atheist Meet.  Details of the report about the World Atheist
Meet were published in The Atheist.




Chapter XVIII.  Atheist Centers



When Saraswati and I went to Gandhi in 1944, we had eight children.
Now we have nine and nineteen grand children, including three great
grand children.  Gandhi was surprised how we managed that big family
without private property.  He had not seen any of the kind so far.
The speciality, if any, is due to our atheistic outlook.

Atheism understands that all distinctions between one person and
another are of our own making.  Distinctions of caste, religion and
culture exist so long as we accept them.   We can change them
whenever we desire.  One belongs to a caste because he accepts
and declares it.  There are cases where at strange place
persons have taken the label of the caste which is convenient there.
National differences change with frontiers.  Classes go when
property relations are changed.  Even racial traits blur with
blood mixture.  When they exist, they are not related to attainment
of talent or exercise of intelligence.  Family relationship
also is one of the kind.

The institution of family grows out of the custom of marriage in
man woman relationship.  If there is promiscuity, clans and
groups or wider human societies may form.  But relationships like
brother sister, father mother, son-daughter, aunt-uncle,
husband-wife will disappear.  All people move as friends.

Whether the institutions of marriage and family will ever go out of
use is a hypothetical question.  Care of children, affectionate attention
and emotional satisfaction of a sense of belonging are advantages
and they outweigh the snobbery of paternalism and predisposition
of kinship which accompany family ties.  Guarantee of social security
by the government and, especially, socialization of property
loosened family loyalties to a large extent.  Yet, family remained
for its own reasons.  Now, the question before the atheists
is not whether family should remain or go, but whether family
relationships should be safer than friendly relationships?
Are not family relationships as artificial as religious brotherhood,
national fellowship, cultural bond, racial alliance or class camaraderie,
deserving no special consideration?

To the atheist mind all persons seemed the same without
difference between members of the family and friends of atheism.
Hence, at the atheist centers, we all moved equal.   The members
of the family are dear to us not by sanguinity but by their
devotion to and participation in atheist programs.   The success
of the conversion of members of family into workers of atheism is
seen by the generous help we received from the public for the
upkeep of atheist centers.  They little complain of my large family.
On the contrary, they complimented me on having a good band
of workers in my family.  In this context I should make special mention
of S. N. Agarwal and Bjorn Merker.

S. N. Agarwal was the Managing Director of Dholpur Glass Works.
He visited our center at Patamata and was pleased with the way my
daughter Mythri and my daughter-in-law Hemalata were running the
school for children, Vasavya Vidyalaya, with the assistance of
Shri Rajyam Patnaik.  He was impressed with the team spirit of
the workers and attachment of the students to the teachers alike.
He donated the glassware from his factory sufficient both to
equip a laboratory to teach the children and to conduct periodical
science exhibitions, especially to explain superstitions
scientifically and to dispel faith in them.  One exhibition
was opened by Agarwal himself and another by Dr. C. D. Deshmukh
and Durgabai Deshmukh.  Balchand Mohta of Calcutta helped us
with donation of money and material.

Bjorn Merker is a boy from Sweden who came to India to do
alternative civil service to compulsory military training in Sweden.
He was at the Atheist Center for seven months.  He identified
himself so intimately with the programs of the Center that he
recommended atheist center to his parents for help.  Dr. Helmot
and Mrs. Ulla Merker kindly sent us contributions every month
out of their salaries and helped us partly to maintain the center
and mostly to carry on the work in slums.  They were my standing hosts
in Sweden when I visited Europe in 1970 and again in 1974.
Dr. Marla and Irma were similarly helpful to us in West Germany.

In India where there is no social security guaranteed by the government,
the entire responsibility of bringing up children rests upon the parents.
Incidentally, the children imbibe the outlook of the parents.
So it was the case with my children too.  But, if they disagreed
with the ideas of the childhood, they could leave the home and
stand on their feet.   As all my children received good education
with the help of the public, any of them could leave atheist centers
and live their own way.  In fact, my son in law, Ramalingaiah left
the Atheist Center at Patamata, when he did not like our Partylessness.
He lives by his homeopathic medical practice and other means.
So far none of my children have chosen to leave the Atheist Center.
They live in the Center as atheist workers.

While a blood relative like Ramalingayya left Atheist Center,
we continue to enjoy the cooperation and identification of workers
like Kana, Ramaswamy, Chellayya, Madhu, Rangarao, Nagayya, Gopalaswamy,
B. Venugopal and several others at atheist centers at Mudunur, Patamata,
Suryapet, Pedanemali, Repalle and Nuzvid.  Bhanu is Madhu's brother.
But he is devoted to Atheist Center at Pedanemali more as an
atheist worker than as the brother of Madhu, who is the person
in charge of the center.

Atheist centers with the ideology of equality of all humans work
in the midst of people who are accustomed to sectarian customs.
As in the case of every center with a progressive ideology those
around us subconsciously try to exploit us, though they consciously
help us too sometimes.  Our ideological impact on them and
their conventional exploitation of us are mutual.  The final result
every time depends on the strength and weakness of each side.

In the case of simple families, leadership of an ideology often
goes with relationship as with inheritance of private property
and skill of profession.  But in atheism, a worker is one who works,
irrespective of the family relationship.  The test of work is the
sacrifice of personal tastes and comforts for the promotion
of social welfare.  Social value of the work takes precedence
over personal talent and training.




Chapter XIX.  Future of Atheism



As atheists assert the freedom of the individual, they are more
concerned with present programs for plans into the future more
than with experiences of the past.  What is good in the past
readily comes into our present practice.  Only that which is
unsuitable or impracticable to present needs is left out.
Moreover, too much thought over the past inhibits initiative and
is not educative to progress of civilization.  Situations change
from time to time and call for fresh thought, plan and action.
Religious scriptures do the greatest harm in this context because
they claim infallibility and unswerving loyalty.  They stem
progress by smothering initiative and free thought.  Any dogma,
spiritualist or scientific, is equally inimical to progress.
Therefore, those whom succeeding generations deem as prophets of
eras of progress, were heretics of their own ages.  They revised
old scriptures and scrapped some of them.  Revolutions demolish
old ways and start afresh with new plans every time.  In this way,
atheism is the source of all innovation and progress.  Old civilizations
like those of Asia and Africa, are so much rooted in the past
that they have become today a lumber of old and new mixed
in disgusting disorder.  They need atheism more urgently than other
countries where a series of religious, cultural, materialist and
industrial revolutions have broken away people from the old repeatedly,
and have made them more progressive than people of the ancient civilizations.

Though ancient civilizations need atheism more than modern ones,
there is a general need of atheism for one important reason.
The so-called developed nations indeed have achieved considerable
progress technologically on account of their materialistic and
scientific outlook.  It is creditable so far.  But the same developed
nations have become exploiters of the weak people and have become
war-mongers all over the globe since they lack social outlook.
Scientific skill in the hands of developed nations has come to
mean the greatest threat to life.  Scientific progress is used
for the manufacture of lethal weapons, subtle and secret,
with  immense potentialities, allowing neither privacy nor safety;
for anyone, including the one who wields the weapon.  Suicide squads
have come into vogue in military operations.

Atheism is scientific.  But its science is subject to social
obligations to fellow-humans.  It changes the emphasis from simple
science to social needs.  If ancient civilizations are superstitious,
modern civilizations are anti-social.  Atheism has to set right
the wrong on both sides to make them march together towards
one-humanity pulling down the artificial barriers of caste and religion,
nation and race, class and culture.

The ideal of one humanity is shared by the rationalists and
humanists also.  But they have not developed the machinery for
its realization since they have taken a non-political stance.
Politics is the dominating power in the modern age.  To ignore it
is to fear to strike.  Gandhi's Constructive Program also was
non-poliltical.  His greatest achievement consisted in winning
independence for India through political action by a non-violent method.
Constructive work was an extreme form of non-violence, too good
to be real.  Under the guidance of Vinoba Bhave, the constructive work
was given another vigorous trial under the name of Sarvodaya.
The spectacular achievements at the start withered out in course of time,
not because it lacked earnestness but because it was non political.
After fifteen years of diligent effort, Jayaprakash Narayan
found that Sarvodaya should take to political programs also.
A big mass awakening; followed Narayan's reentry into active politics.

Democracy has a charm in the modern age.  But party system is its
unworthy temptation.  It has discredited Democracy.  Frenzied zeal
for one's own party and, then, indecent lust for the leadership
of the party are at the base of the Watergate scandal and of the
dictatorship in Bangla Desh and of the declaration of Emergency in India.
Everything is in the name of democracy, but the content is
partisan attitude, both for those in power and for those in opposition.
Further, opposition is reduced to a mockery in party-democracy.
Unhealthy rivalry as fanatical as that between blind religious faiths
rises from party-attitudes.  On account of the evils of the party-system,
honest politicians and the mass of people are not only losing
love for democracy but turning their interests away from politics.
The growth of non-political attitudes is the result of party politics
in democracy.

Non-politics is ineffective.  Therefore, atheists as realists,
rid democracy of parties and take to partyless democracy
which is real and effective democracy.

The future of atheism consists in establishing partyless democracy
and achieving one equal humanity through it.  National and racial
differences vanish as real democracies federate at first for
commonweal and then move towards one-humanity and one-world.
The United Nations Organization will have to convert itself into
United People's Organization for the purpose. Atheist awakening
rouses people all over the world into the feeling of mastership
over their institutions and systems of life.  The spread of
the atheist outlook is hope of humanity to turn from war to peace,
from slavery to freedom, from superstition to a sense of reality,
from conflict to cooperation.




The End


Gora suffered an attack of cerebral hemorrhage and died at once
while addressing a public meeting on "Social Change in Rural India",
held at Vijayawada on the evening of Saturday, July 26, 1975.

Gora's death stunned every one as it was so sudden and shocking.
Messages of condolence and sympathy poured in from all corners
of the globe.

Gora lived and died an atheist.  He lives in all those who stand
for reason, truth love and tolerance and raise their voice
against superstition, blind dogma, racial discrimination and
social and economic inequalities.  His work will be carried
forward unhesitatingly.




End of this Project Gutenberg etext of "We Become Atheists" by Gora.

You are viewing proxied material from gopher.petergarner.net. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.