As a 12-year-old I was fascinated by the TV shows of American magician Franz Harary. That was all about sheer entertainment from start to finish. But I used to feel pretty anxious all the way through the show, just because I was caught in the mix of those tricks.

In those days it seemed to me that this was science, just not fully explored yet. Anyway I succumbed to those ludicrous bag of enchantments.

My childhood was full of stories which captivated me, but I prided myself as being part of a boomer generation of people far more logical and analytical to believe in black magic or psychic powers.

Alas, even now, nearly two decades later, superstitions and blind beliefs ride millions of minds.

All the mechanisms of reason seem to be failing where traditions prevail among the people at large.

Fighting these blind irrational beliefs has been a Herculean task in India, where there is a confluence of religious feelings and cultures. Many of them are smitten by bug-eyed religious bigots who indulge in unethical and exploitative practices.

People who take up the cause of rationality suffer a public backlash from people with vested interests.

Sometimes, as with famous rationalist Narendra Dabholkar last month, this can even lead to murder. He was shot to death in broad daylight in the city of Pune that lies to southeast of Mumbai.

Dabholkar was a physician who gave up a medical career to uncompromisingly campaign for two decades to spread rational thoughts with undaunted courage in the state of Maharashtra in western India. All he wanted was a society devoid of the vicious endless circle of witchcraft and rituals.

Constitutional freedom of religion is allowed and no one can ridicule people for their beliefs alone. But to kill someone who stood up for against exploitation by crooks denotes intellectual bankruptcy.

Many such incidents occur every day and go unnoticed, simply because lunatics roam freely, enjoying the patronage of gullible people. Local administration turns a deaf ear, allowing the parable of bureaucracy to be eclipsed by weird fanaticism.

Nearly two decades ago, the country went into a frenzy over rumors that the elephant-headed god Ganesh was drinking milk offered by his devotees. The simple evaporation of milk in hot weather became a national obsession.

Some of the supposed gurus are smart enough to entice powerful disciples to follow them enjoying political patronage. They mesmerize millions whose knowledge is endemic in a society where religion has been mythologized with preposterous beliefs. Such idiocy encourages hooliganism and sabotages social harmony.

Mystical theories cannot be curtailed without a radical change in the public mind-set. In a multilingual society people are seeking a nation better than before. The option to nurture the spirit of enquiry lies with everyone.

One can be an ardent adherent of a philosophical or religious tradition and still retain a healthy psychological rationalism.
Letting our policies be bent by superstition will drive us into backwardness again.

Himanshu Kumar, a master's candidate in Global Business Journalism at Tsinghua University