As per the records/beliefs, there are 330 million Gods/Goddesses (deities) in Hindu Religion and surprisingly enough, I am pretty very much sure that I don't believe in even a single of these.

I have had many arguments with many of my friends on this topic and I am happy that none has ever convinced me enough that I change my belief. Everytime I enter into a discussion on this subject, I am taken through some COMMON questions and I believe I had answers of all those(though I believe some of these indeed very silly):

Q: How do you justify your existence?

PR: That is purely a biological phenomenon. Do you want me to explain?

Q: Then where did the first person come from?

PR: It is said that "Apes are our ancestors". Thats again biological. They gradually adapted themselves to the atmospheric changes like temperature and the availability of food. And got transformed to the so called humans.

Q: OK, lets come to the first living being?

PR: So, you are now getting into the "Theory of Evolution". Life arose spontaneously out of the inert chemicals of Earth some 4 billion years ago. Its all about atoms, cells, energy and forces.

Q: And what about before creation of universe?

PR: Do you think God existed before that too? By the way, here I think that where did this GOD come from? Who was the first God, if there are so many?

Q: There is something that makes the world go round. What's that?

PR: That's again scientific. The forces - and can you believe, the weakest force - gravitational force.

Q: There is a supreme power that governs the motion of all the things in universe. That's God.

PR: No dear, again the forces. As per my latest knowledge, its the "Dark Energy" that is responsible for the exponential expansion of universe.

Q: What is your inner self?

PR: Physically my inner self is bones, blood, tissues, cells and a mechanism that keeps me going. And emotionally its my character, my traits, my attitude. Another point, I don't believe in "SOUL", "SPIRIT" etc. :) Ofcourse, my conscience is my guide but that again constitutes my thoughts, my ideas and my moral and ethical sense (which I get from my parents and the environment I am brought up in).

Now, I want to ask a question: Who/What is God and why should I believe in him/her/it? I got varying answers from all but none of those was a concrete one. As per Wiki, "There is no universally accepted definition of God and since God is neither an entity in the universe nor a mathematical object, it is not obvious what kinds of arguments/proofs are relevant to God's existence".

I was going through the excerpts of Salman Rushdie's book - "His fictitious beloved" and found a wonderful answer for the believers of the deity, God. The following conversation between emperor Akbar and his genius minister Birbal gives me another reason to strengthen my belief (disbelief actually):

‘If you were an atheist, Birbal,’ the emperor challenged his first minister, ‘what would you say to the true believers of all the great religions of the world?’ Birbal was a devout Brahmin from Trivikrampur, but he answered unhesitatingly, ‘I would say to them that in my opinion they were all atheists as well; I merely believe in one god less than each of them.’
‘How so?’ the emperor asked. ‘All true believers have good reasons for disbelieving in every god except their own,’ said Birbal, ‘and so it is they who, between them, give me all the reasons for believing in none.’

Hats off to this innate genius. I am a Birbal fan you see and have always admired his quick and witty responses. I have been reading "Birbal tales" since childhood and have enjoyed them a lot. After the serious and a touching (for some) talk on God, let me take you through another Birbal wit from the same book:

"A great linguist was waiting at Akbar’s court, a visitor from a distant Western land: a Jesuit priest who could converse and dispute fluently in dozens of languages. He challenged the emperor to discover his native language. While the emperor was pondering the riddle, his first minister circled the priest and all of a sudden kicked him violently in the backside.
The priest let out a series of oaths—not in Portuguese, but in Italian. ‘You observe, Jahanpanah,’ said Birbal, ‘that when it’s time to unleash a few insults, a man will always choose his mother tongue.’"

He he .. the guy was brilliant, I must say.

After saying all this, I still confess that I do remember (pray to) god at times - hard times, may be when I find myself helpless amidst tough situations. And I consider this very silly and superstitious of myself and surely this again is the impact of the surroundings where I live, the people around me and the environment that I am brought up in.

Another confession here: Though I don't believe in God, I actually enjoy visiting churches, temples, mosques, synagogues and gurudwaras very much. And sadly enough, I try to avoid temples from this list because I find them really noisy. I feel utter peace at churches, mosques. Needless to say, temples are far too ornate and noisy with so many bells around. I went Vaishno Devi a few years back and all the way in that gallery there are bells hanging from the ceiling. And people keep striking them like insane. The sound hammers the ears. Not at all harmonious. Still I feel, at least there is something that keeps these people occupied and there is someone they fear. Though people fear GOD, I find their GOD incapable to mend their ways. They keep worshipping and carry on with their vicious and inhuman acts. No divine force is able to stop them. Oh GOD, please bring them on track. Sorry to seek help from God again :)

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are completely my personal views, not to raise any controversy or start any argument ;)

The basic idea is: I don't think we need to be religious to be good human beings and responsible citizens . Thers is no connection at all.