Truth is no strainer than pastafarianism

While some beliefs could indeed strain credulity, when matters come to a head, it is difficult to ignore their existence at least. In the US, the rise in the number of people walking about with colanders — commonly used to strain liquids from solids as in the case of pastas — atop their crania has certainly put the spotlight on a (non-)religion called the nine-year-old Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

A former porn star recently posed for her driver's licence with one on, a convict has sued a jail for his right to sport it, and a small-town councillor was sworn in with it on his head. Indians are used to eye-catching headgear and do not turn a hair at religious accoutrement, but the dilemma of authorities in the US is understandable.

Especially when the colander is defended as an article of faith by its atheist wearers — known as pastafarians — who believe in an extraterrestrial mass of spaghetti and meatballs as an alternative to theories of intelligent design and creationism. Indians will not only identify with any affinity for pasta but also reverence for colanders, given the importance of sieves —also strainers, after all — in certain religious observances here. Besides, all kinds of believers have traditionally been welcome here too, so colander-wearing monster-believers would not be considered outré at all.