Actor Dr Sriram Lagu inaugurates an online atheist community in Pune
They say god is everywhere, but there is quite a sizable section of the society that believes otherwise. A group of such atheists have come together to form a online community, which will help likeminded people connect. A group of ten such individuals from the cities of Pune and Mumbai have come up with an online forum to promote atheism, and create a bridge between other non-believers to freely exchange ideas.
Pimpri-based Ashwini Satav Doke (27), along with techie Nishad Mane, (29) and Sanjay Sawarkar (29), have come together to form a group that will share information free of cost. Doke is a post graduation student at the University of Pune, Mane works in a Mumbai-based company and Sawarkar is a technician in Mumbai-based private hospital.
Speaking to dna, Mane said, “The concept to start online portal where citizens who are atheists can enroll in the organisation, where they can share and be proud to be atheists came from Sawarkar. If people are proud of gay and bi-sexual communities are proud of what they are and why not us? In the past five years, we have found that all our friends are atheists, and that more than 20 per cent of population in city think similarly. So, to encourage and to create awareness among citizens, we plan to create this platform.”Doke said, “All of us in this group think alike. We decided that when any of us get marry, we will not follow any religious rituals or match horoscopes. Many of us are happily married despite that . Just believe in yourself and not to depend on stars or any supernatural power for your happiness. In the name of god, many people spent a lot of money, many offers flowers, coconuts, garments which are again circulated in the same shop and people purchase it again.”The site, www.maharashtraatheist.com, was inaugurated by a veteran theatre actor Dr Shriram Lagu on Thursday. He was also the first one to enroll himself on the website. As of this writing, over 50 people have already enrolled themselves on the community.d_chaitraly@dnaindia.net