They are teachers who move beyond the syllabus. Their profession may limit them to a classroom, but that has not stopped them from becoming part of a growing army of rationalists who are reaching out to students and locals, educating them about superstitions and demystifying “miracles”.
D.M. Somesharadhya, 35, a science teacher in a government school in Hassan, has been spreading awareness about blind beliefs, superstitions and fake god-men for the past 12 years. In 2004, he heard the story of a young girl in a village near Channarayapatna, where he grew up. “She was suffering from frequent stomach pain. Instead of taking her to a doctor, they took her to a temple where the seer beat her up saying a devil ‘resided’ in her. By the time she was taken to a hospital, it was too late. The beating had caused her ulcers to burst, resulting in her death. It was then that I realised that people were falling for lies and losing time, money and lives,” he said.
Forty-year-old Ravishankar Honnavara, also a teacher in Mandya, belonged to a family that believed in everything he opposes. “I knew from the start that none of it was true. People, especially in rural areas, are easily taken for a ride. They are subject to what can be called mental terrorism and often made to pay up,” he said.
The mythbuster
Teachers-cum-rationalists are part of groups that were inspired by mythbuster Hulikal Nataraj, who has been spreading the ‘rational word’ since 1994. The incident that propelled Mr. Nataraj into dispelling myths involved himself and his mother.
“My father took us to Ganganahalli village when I was in class six. The god-man asked my father to leave my mother there as God had left her. I stayed back with her and a few other women. There was no electricity then and hardly any houses. Some time in the evening, he attacked my mother, tearing her clothes. Shaken, my mother and I ran away, managing to reach safety after a while. That day my mother asked me to ensure that no woman goes through what she did,” said Mr. Nataraj.
Groups of rationalists trained under him are taking on superstitions and fake god-men on the field. Comprising primarily of teachers, NGO workers and even journalists, these groups conduct experiments, deliver speeches, and even stage plays to put out their message. “There are people who question us, but we prove them wrong then and there and some convinced members of the audience start supporting us,” said Mr. Honnavara.
