Biography
Shyam Manav is a Social Reformer, Rationalist, Philosopher, Hypnotherapy expert and Personality Development Mentor from India. He is well known for being the Founder-National Convenor of the biggest and longest-running Anti-Superstition Movement in India – ‘Akhil Bharatiya Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, – ABANS.
He is a pioneer in the field of Personality Development through Self Hypnotism, and was the first in India to conduct the personality development workshops in an Indian language (Marathi). He is known to be the foremost expert in the field of Self-Help Hypnotherapy. His workshops on memory-study techniques, family relations and parenting are very popular and effective. With a complete scientific approach to all the aspects of life, he provides the most useful guidance which is essential in this day and age of misinformation and confusion.
Prof. Shyam Manav
Early Life & Career
1. Birth & Family Background
Shyam Manav was born on 9th September 1951 in Devali in Wardha District in Maharashtra. His Father Dnyandev was a farmer and a social worker who worked with Vinoba Bhave – a renowned Gandhian. He even worked as Vinoba’s personal assistant for a prolonged period. Shyam Manav’s mother Kamal worked as a Montessori Teacher. He is the eldest of his siblings and has one brother and two sisters.
He grew up in Yavatmal and Wardha in a conservative, traditional atmosphere, and lived in Pavanar Ashram many times where he got to be with Vinoba Bhave and other noted Gandhians, which left a great impact on him.
2. Youth & Education
He completed his schooling and graduation in arts (B.A.) in Wardha. Later he completed his post-graduation M.A. (English Literature) from Nagpur university campus. He was a bright student in School and College.
During his college days, he became a member of the ‘Tarun Shanti Sena’ and then played an active role in Jayprakash Narayan led ‘Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Wahini’. He was jailed for nine months in Wardha during the emergency in 1975-76, for protesting actively against the emergency. These movements shaped his personality and gave him a confidence to become a public speaker.
3. Teaching & Journalism
After completing his Post Graduation, he worked as a Lecturer for English Literature at Ner. He also worked as a journalist and authored columns in various Newspapers like Tarun Bharat, Lokmat, Nagpur Patrika and then with the magazine ‘Kirlosker’
Encounters with Blind Faith
Coming from a conservative, religious, superstitious family, Shyam Manav also believed in many superstitions and suffered from blind faith. So much so that, he avoided walking bare foot as he believed that someone could use the soil he touched, to make a black magic doll, which could be used to harm him. His parents also believed in many fake gurus, quacks and they were hosted in his house many times. In fact, the case was that when his father, being a respected member of the community, would start following any new guru, the number of that guru’s followers would multiply quickly.
Overcoming Blind Faith & Adopting Rationality
Later, during college years, as he started participating in various social movements, he started thinking and reading a lot. He had prolonged discussions with various thinkers on various topics including rationality and spirituality.
When we was working as a columnist for the magazine ‘Kirlosker’ in Pune in 1981, a noted rationalist B. Premanand visited Maharashtra for a long tour. When Shyam Manav attended Premanand’s program, he got many answers which he thought were not answered by science. Then he found out about a very reputed rationalist from Sri Lanka Dr. Abraham Kovoor and his books on rationalism, spirituality and science. While reading those books, Shyam Manav got all the answers he was looking for all his life and became completely rational. Then he accompanied B. Premanand in the rest of his tour as the main speaker and became well known for his speeches on blind faith.
Akhil Bharatiya Anddhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (ABANS)
Shyam Manav established Akhil Bharatiya Anddhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti in 1982 along with many of his fellow rationalist activists. Since then, the committee’s work is spread in many states of India like Maharashtra, Goa, MP, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, and is growing every day.
Shyam Manav’s Stance on God and Religion
Shyam Manav has been greatly impressed by a Rationalist Saint in Maharashtra, Sant Gadge Baba. Gadge Baba used to make people aware about their superstitions, bad religious practices and blind faith. Shyam Manav also knew about anti-superstition teachings of many other saints in the past like Saint Dnyaneshwar, Saint Namdeo, Saint Tukaram, Kabeer, Saint Tukadoji maharaj. These saints were very effective social and religious reformers. Shyam Manav also considers himself to be taking their work forward with his movement A.B.A.N.S.
After thinking a lot about how to make people change their mind about superstitions and blind faith, as he himself suffered from these things once and never liked the way rationalists spoke on these topics, he knew that their stance was not effective. They used to oppose the concept of God and Religion altogether and involved only those people who were atheists.
All believers, which constitute the majority, almost 99% of Indian society, consider the atheists to be evil. They think these atheists oppose whatever that is Good in the world as they consider God and Religion to be the basis of all that is good. Because of this, believers either don’t pay attention or they hate such atheists and their organizations.
More importantly, Freedom of religion and right to have faith and worship is essential in any democracy. Same is for the Constitutional democracy of India. So, opposing this freedom automatically becomes an anti-democratic stance.
Furthermore, Shyam Manav believes that God and Religion are not the roots of superstitions. All the saints and reformers in the past believed in God and were religious. Yet they were free of superstitions. This made him come to the conclusion that, irrational or unscientific thinking is the basis of Superstitions and blind faith.
Considering all this, he carefully started his anti-superstition movement with the vision;
“We are not opposed to God and Religion; however we are opposed to exploitation and robbery in the name of God and Religion.”
Involvement in Creating Anti Black Magic Act
Shyam Manav was among the firsts to ask Anti Black Magic Act from Maharashra State Govt. The Bill was pending in the State assemblies since 2005, and it was in 2013, after the murder of a renowned Rationalist and Founder of Maharashtra Anddhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti – Narendra Dabholkar who was actively involved in demanding the act, the Bill was passed and Maharashtra State adopted Anti Black Magic Act in 2014. Shyam Manav worked closely with the State govt. and led the team forming the Act. He was the first and still the Joint President of PIMC, which was formed to spread awareness about Anti Black Magic Act.
Efforts to form an Anti-superstition bill were started around 1992-93 by Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan samiti – M.A.N.S. which is a different organization from Shyam Manav’s A.B.A.N.S and it was led by Dr. Narendra Dabholkar. In 2004, the Bill was tabled for the first time in State’s Assembly. But it received fierce opposition from majority of the MLAs from all Political Parties, ruling as well as opposing. Those MLAs who regularly supported Prof. Shyam Manav and ABANS in anti-superstition activities, also opposed the Bill.
To know, why such a useful and universally beneficial Bill was rejected, Prof. Shyam Manav started studying the draft of the Bill, and realized that the Bill was limiting the peoples’ basic rights to practice faith and religion, and hence was rejected. Then Shyam Manav got involved in redrafting the Bill. Maharashtra State’s Minister for Social Justice Shri. Chandrakantji Handore responded positively, and the then President of MANS Mr. N. D Patil actively cooperated in the process. Eventually, the Maharashtra State government gave Shyam Manav the major responsibility of finalizing the draft of the Bill.
Prof. Shyam Manav under the guidance of Ex-Justice of Supreme Court – Justice P.B Sawant, discussed the Bill with more than 100 MLAS of Maharashtra and leaders from all political parties and made significant changes to the Bill. During this process, Prof. Shyam Manav acquired support from all political parties and created a positive atmosphere for the Bill.
Under the leadership of the then Chief Minister – Shri. Vilasrao Deshmukh, Deputy CM – Shri. R.R Patil, and Minister for Social Justice – Shri. Chandrakantji Handore, the Anti Black Magic Bill was passed on 16th Dec. 2005 during the Winter Session of Maharashtra State Legislative Assembly. However the Bill got stuck in Legislative Council. It was again rejected by the Legislative Council, after it was re-introduced in 2011.
ABANS and Dr. Narendra Dabholkar’s MANS worked tirelessly to get the bill approved from Legislative Council. However it was only after the murder of Dr. Narendra Dabholkar, on 20th August 2013, Maharashtra State Government immediately brought an ordinance for the bill. This was a bold decision by ehe then Chief Minister of Maharashtra Shri. Prithviraj Chavan, Deputy CM Shri. Ajit Pawar, Social Justice Minister Shri. Shivajirao Moghe, Home Minister Shri. R. R Patil, Shri. Chagan Bhujbal and others in the Maharashtra State Government for the benefit of the people of Maharashtra. Finally on 18th December 2013 the Anti Black Magic Bill was passed and the Act came into effect.
Maharashtra State Govt. formed a ‘Project Implementation and Monitoring Committee (PIMC)’ for the objective of spreading awareness and educating people about Anti Black Magic Act. Shyam Manav after playing a major role in drafting the Bill was made Joint President of this committee.