‘There may be a God’

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.

Do you believe you have a special mission or purpose in this life?

I do not believe in any form of predestination, and knowing if I am part of some greater plan or not does not matter to me. I think it is a question of talent, and luck. I ended up in this career by a series of accidents. In school I wanted to be an academic. Later in Oxford I decided to be a journalist, and wrote to six British newspaper editors saying pompously that I was the right choice for them. Four did not reply, one told me off, and the sixth actually rang the number I had given. He said he was astonished to receive such an audacious letter, and was tempted to meet me. He proceeded to invite me for lunch. It happened to be Charles Douglas-Home, Foreign Editor of the Times of London. A week later I was hired.

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