Many of us in India have been on the lookout for the best way to carry the message of Humanism and rational thinking to people not exposed to this approach and improve conditions in our society. In a country where twenty-first-century technology is accessible to a fifteenth-century mindset and a variety of vested interests are on the prowl to take advantage of such a situation, it becomes a Herculean task for those who want a change for the better. This is a country where people take to the streets in thousands to protest against a write-up they have not read and will never be able to, or a book which has sold only a few copies, or at the instance of a so-called god-man with miraculous powers. In this sort of situation the voices of reason always seem to get drowned in the cacophony of the irrational and illogical.

As a movement we have tried many ways to bring about rational thinking among the common man. Of these the so-called miracle exposure programme has turned out to be one of the best. This is because of the fascination of the human mind for the apparently miraculous and inexplicable occurrences. In the same manner that a person is surprised by a display of so- called miraculous powers, she is also fascinated by its display and rational explanation. While the so-called miracle-mongers claim that their display of these are not an end in itself but only a visiting card, we claim that exposing them is our introduction.

The origin of this programme goes back about 35 years. The display of so-called miracles has been taking place at many rationalist programmes. But, the miracle exposure programme as a stand-alone programme was first conducted by Abraham T. Kovoor. After his demise, B.Premanand started the campaign. While Kovoor's campaigns started with his speech followed by a magician demonstrating the so-called miracles, Premanand started doing both. The performance and explanation along with a few ideas connected with scientific temper became a crowd-puller and in some states rationalist organisations were formed after his visits. This attracted the attention of an organisation called National Council for Science and Technology Communications, a wing of the Department of Science and Technology under the Ministry of Human Resource Development. Premanand was invited to various meetings and he started training more people to conduct this programme. This training required literature, which was also developed by him. For his efforts in this he was presented with an award for science popularisation by the same organisation. Kits were also developed for use with demonstrations.

While many of us in the movement have performed thousands of such programmes all over the country as well as abroad, given the size of the population, it isn’t enough. So, in order to carry the message to a much wider audience, it is necessary to train thousands of volunteers to perform them. To set right this deficiency, we have decided to conduct these training programmes on a war footing all over the country concentrating on areas where the movement is weak and the need is greater.

In this training programme lasting for about five days, the students are taught the various types of so-called miracles like those involving sleight of hand, tolerance to fire, pain, involving the use of the human body, special apparatus etc. They are also trained to communicate effectively. In addition, they are taught basic understanding of some diseases specially connected with superstitious lines of treatment. They are also taken to some public programmes conducted by a trainer, where they watch and learn the techniques of handling audiences. Some literature has also been published as aides memoires for the participants. In some of the programmes sponsored by government bodies, kits with special apparatus and some commonly unavailable chemicals needed for the performances are also distributed.

In the past few years, after I started devoting all my time to conducting rationalist Humanist activities the tempo has picked up. Earlier most of the training programmes were financed by the NCSTC or some other body. But more recently we have started conducting the programmes on our own. The local organisers provide the trainees and the venue and the other expenses are borne by us. We have also taken up extensive tours of states and have conducted hundreds of miracle exposure programmes and dozens of training programmes. We have also gone on road shows in which the audience is shown performances and given the message about scientific thinking. The Executive Director of IHEU and other office bearers have also taken part in some of these and have conveyed the message of Humanism to the people. By experience we have learnt that the older people hardly change. But for some of the older people who are inclined towards rationalistic and Humanistic values we have become a sort of rallying point. The local media, which used to sensationalise the so- called miraculous happenings due to supernatural powers, finds a refreshing change in us who put forth the opposite point of view. But, our performances do count on good viewership as we perform very dramatic acts that appear to be beyond the pale of human capacity!

The main idea behind the training programmes is to identify youngsters who are ideologically inclined towards Humanistic and rationalistic ideas and groom them to be activists in the field. Some of these young people have already formed organisations on their own initiative and have no financial resources. We have identified some of these and are in the process of conducting training programmes for them and paying for the local expenses. This whole process is intended to build up a process in every state by which we can have access to people in all parts of the country. Our objective is to investigate any reported paranormal events in any part of the country immediately, and also to create awareness. This network will conduct programmes nearby to enlighten the public about the modus operandi of those who claims to have supernatural powers.

In 2009 there are a number of events and anniversaries which could be used to further our cause; the 400th year of the invention of the telescope by Galileo and the 200th year of the publication of Darwin’s theory of evolution have given us one more reason to remind people of their achievements and contribution to scientific temper. The occurrence of a total solar eclipse on July 22, which will be visible in many parts of the country is another. Every eclipse in this country is treated as a catastrophe and a season of bounty for the astrologers and their ilk. Predictions of doom are made followed by solutions proposed. All of them involve some financial gain to the predictors. People unable to distinguish between science and pseudo-science fall prey to the jargon of such people who claim that mysterious rays being emitted during the eclipses cause mutations and harm fetuses, contaminate cooked food, and so on and so forth. We need to counter this with a blitzkrieg of facts and instill a sense of courage among our people. The miracle exposure programme is one such as we show that even very ordinary people can perform things that appear to be miraculous. Things like fire walking, dipping hands into ‘boiling’ oil, putting burning objects on palms and tongue are some of these ‘miracles’.

The International Humanist and Ethical Union has specially supported this task for the year 2009 by a grant to be used in those situations where the costs cannot be met by the local organisers. We do hope that this year we will have many more such training programmes particularly in those areas where the financial resources are very meager and the need pressing.

Narendra Nayak is President, Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations