reasonings of a mortal
"I am a christian by birth. A vedantin by choice. And a hypocrite by nature."

That is how 'Reasonings Of A Mortal', my jettisoned autobiography, begins. But I couldn't bring it to a fruitful end because somewhere down the line I lost faith in the infallibility of reason. However, I continue to put reason to good use.

That quote -- the cleverness of it -- thrilled me so much that I had the cheek to make it my e-mail signature, sometime in 1998. After reading it, my friend Auspin sent me this stunning response:

"Dear Nirmaldasan,
Of course! no doubt you are a hypocrite. But see, there is nothing big or great or chivalrous in being a vedantin hypocrite. When it is so glaring of how worse a hypocrite you are, why the hell you pretend to be very frank enough to air it out. Because we don't everyday call you a hypocrite, it doesn't mean we accept you anyway better than a hypocrite."

I promptly removed the signature.