Narendra Nayak

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Narendra Nayak
Born (1951-02-05) 5 February 1951
Occupation Rationalist, sceptic, columnist and biochemistry professor
Religion None (Atheism)[1]
Website
Narendra Nayak's blog
Prof Narendra Nayak during a miracle-exposure program conducted at Ayodhya on 5 November 2007 during the First All India Conference of Arjak Sangh, an affiliate of FIRA

Narendra Nayak (born 5 February 1951) is a notable rationalist, sceptic, and godman debunker from Mangalore, Karnataka, India.[2]

He is the current president of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations (FIRA). He also founded the Dakshina Kannada Rationalist Association in 1976 and has been its secretary since then.[2] He tours the country conducting workshops to promote scientific temper and showing people how to debunk godmen and frauds. He has conducted over 2000 such demonstrations in India, including some in Australia, Greece and England.[3] He is also a polyglot who speaks 9 languages fluently, which helps him when he is giving talks in various parts of the country.[4]

Life and work

Narendra Nayak was born in a Goud Saraswat Brahmin family and was named after Swami Vivekananda (born Narendra Nath Datta).[5] He has stated that seeing his father's business premises being repossessed by the bank and his father buying a lottery ticket on the advice of an astrologer to pay off the loan with the total confidence that it would get the first prize made him turn to rationalism.[6] He married his wife in a non-religious ceremony.[7] Narendra Nayak started out working as a lecturer in the Department of biochemistry in the Kasturba Medical College in Mangalore in 1978.[8][9] In 1982, he met Basava Premanand, a notable rationalist from Kerala, and was influenced by him.[6]

He decided to take on full-time anti-supersition activism in 2004 when he heard that a girl had been sacrificed in Gulbarga in Karnataka.[3] He was an assistant professor of biochemistry when he took voluntary retirement on 25 November 2006,[2] after working there for 28 years.[8][9]

Before the general election in 2009, Narendra Nayak laid an open challenge to any soothsayer to answer 25 questions correctly about the forth coming elections. The prize was set at ₹10,00,000 (about US$15,000). About 450 responses were mailed to him, but none were found to be correct.[10][11] The Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations has been conducting such challenges since 1991.[12]

He is also known for his criticism of Sathya Sai Baba,[13] and has appeared in the BBC documentary The Secret Swami.[14] He has been featured on National Geographic's television show Is it real?.[14][15] He has also appeared on the Discovery Channel.[6] He has been a regular columnist at the newspaper Mangalore Today since its inception.[9] He also serves on the editorial board of the Folks Magazine.[16]

He has admitted to have been attacked for his activism a few times.[17] He also has stated that his scooter's brake wires were once found severed, after an astrologer predicted his death or injury.[10]

Views

Nayak advocates that more people should be taught to perform the so-called miracles of godmen. He also advocates that people should be trained recognise pseudoscience and demand scientific evidence. He holds the opinion that well-known scientists should be convinced to join the cause and form pressure groups against pseudoscience.[18] He is also lobbying for a bill for the separation of state and religion to be introduced in the Indian parliament.[19][20] After the murder of anti-superstition activist Narendra Dabholkar and enactment of the anti-superstition ordinance in Maharashtra state, Nayak expressed the need of a similar law in Karnataka.[21]

Awards

See also

References

  1. ↑ Narendra Nayak. "Swearing By God: An Atheist’s Experiences In Indian Courts" (10 October 2010). Nirmukta. Retrieved 17 September 2013. "I am an atheist and I cannot swear by the name of any god." 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "About Us: Narendra Nayak". Indian CSICOP. Retrieved 18 September 2013. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Literacy doesn’t make us educated". The Times of India. 10 December 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2013. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "IHEU Awards for 2011". International Humanist and Ethical Union. 23 August 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2013. 
  5. ↑ "A Twice-Born Atheist". Nirmukta. 26 December 2010. Retrieved 18 September 2013. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Gawd! You can do it too". The Hindu. 21 June 2004. Retrieved 17 September 2013. 
  7. ↑ Narendra Nayak (27 June 2010). "Pseudoscience In The Stars: An Indian Rationalist’s Experiences with Astrology". Nirmukta. Retrieved 18 September 2013. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Extra Mural Lecture By Narendra Nayak: The Need for Rational Thinking". IIT Madras. Retrieved 18 September 2013. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "60th Birthday Celebration of Narendra Nayak". Indian Sceptic. March 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2013. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "There is no such thing as scientific astrology". DNA India. 11 May 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2013. 
  11. ↑ "Rationalist chief's Rs 10 lakh safe". The Times of India. 15 May 2009. Retrieved 6 September 2013. 
  12. ↑ "Predictions fail to match mandate, reward money has no takers". The Times of India. 18 May 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2013. 
  13. ↑ Sri Sathya Sai Baba and the Press, 1972-1996. M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd. 1 January 1997. p. 84. ISBN 978-81-7533-041-2. Retrieved 17 September 2013. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Tricks don't impress him". The New Indian Express. 16 May 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2013. 
  15. ↑ "Exorcism". Is It Real?. Season 1. 25 August 2005. National Geographic.
  16. ↑ "Folks Magazine: Editorial Board". Folks Magazine. Retrieved 18 September 2013. 
  17. ↑ "Rationalists fight superstition with dignity and nunchakus". The Times of India. 22 August 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2013. 
  18. ↑ Johannes Quack (22 November 2011). Disenchanting India: Organized Rationalism and Criticism of Religion in India. Oxford University Press. p. 170. ISBN 978-0-19-981260-8. Retrieved 17 September 2013. 
  19. ↑ "Activists seek early enactment of law separating state, religion". The Times of India. 21 August 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2013. 
  20. ↑ "Separate religion from politics: FIRA president". DNA India. 13 February 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2013. 
  21. ↑ "Rationalists demand anti-superstition law". The New Indian Express. 22 August 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2013. 
  22. ↑ "Humanism award for anti-superstition activist". The Times of India. 26 August 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2013. 

Further reading

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.