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Karan Thapar is a veteran journalist, television anchor and columnist.

What does spirituality mean to you?

A belief in something bigger than myself, in a factor that guides me, in a spirit that exists, symbolizes hope, comfort, assurance --- all of that in a loose way is what the term spirituality suggests to me.

Do you believe you are guided and protected by a superior force?

I believe there may be a God. When I was younger, maybe because I was less sure of myself intellectually or embarrassed, I would deny the existence of God. It was then the fashionable thing to do. But the truth is that even at that stage, I did believe in the Lord. It was mostly a form of superstition, but still I did not want to offend Him in case He existed. Especially at times of exams, I would get into deals with Him: I would give up things I loved in exchange for an excellent result. I was putting pressure on Him, believing He was morally bound as I kept my part of the bargain.

When I grew older, I realized what intellectual hypocrisy this was. I was escaping from the fact that I felt the need to believe in what you may call God, or a force. And I have had this need to this day. It is not a belief anchored in religion, I do not know the rituals of the Hindu faith, my prayer or worship are not defined by any custom or practice. But this belief fulfils a need --- and why should I deny it to myself?

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