Of Blogs and Oranges..

Someone deposited a four-month old cheque into my account. It cleared, but messed up my calculations. And the cheque for my visa application bounced. Gah!

In memory of the event. On the Intuos 3 (6×8) in Photoshop. Click on it to download the larger size.

The Hindu religion (and it’s associated languages) has distinct concepts of Paap v/s Punya, but surprisingly there is no equivalent to Punya in English. What is the opposite of ’sin’?

At first glance, one seems to easily find words to describe the opposite of ’sin’. However,  sin is essentially a religious term. On the other hand, a ‘good deed’ does not necessarily have to involve religion. An atheist, for example, would be uncomfortable with the idea of ‘commiting a sin’, but comfortable with the idea of performing a good deed. In other words, the opposite should carry the heavy religious connotations of the word ’sin’.

Furthermore, the word ‘deed’ is not even appropriate. A sin is not necessarily a deed, but can rather be simply a thought or even a feeling. Consider, for example, envy or pride.

A further complication arises when I realise that Sin is defined slightly differently in the Biblical context: The state of Sin is the opposite of the state of Grace, i.e. one who has fallen from Grace is in Sin. So is Grace the opposite of Sin?

And no, the answer is not Cos.