by M.K. Sudarshan July 12, 2026: Chennai, India A dialogue between two postgraduate students of Indian Philosophy in a university coffee shop The coffee shop on campus was neither elegant nor noisy, which made it ideal for argument. It had enough hum to protect privacy, enough light to encourage thinking, and enough bitter tea andContinue reading “Vedanta at the Threshold: From “Vichara” to “Vyakhyana””
Category Archives: Essays & Reflections
When Eepa Met Churchill: A Birthday Quip on Who Really Writes the Rules
by M.K. Sudarshan July 12, 2026: Chennai, India What happens when you send birthday greetings to a doyen of Tamil literature? If the doyen is Indira Parthasarathy (affectionately known to generations as Eepa), you don’t just get a standard “thank you”—you get a masterclass in razor-sharp wit and historical cynicism. The legendary playwright, Sahitya Akademi winner, andContinue reading “When Eepa Met Churchill: A Birthday Quip on Who Really Writes the Rules”
“Get Out of the Way, Westphalia!”… Henry Kissinger’s dark prophecy
by M.K.Sudarshan July 9, 2026: Chennai, India Is the centuries-old doctrine of state sovereignty collapsing before our eyes?In his seminal work World Order, Henry Kissinger warned against a single hegemon rewriting the rules of global legitimacy. Yet, the systematic dismantling of Westphalian principles—seen in Iraq, Libya, Syria, and now the extreme defense ultimatums placed on Iran—provesContinue reading ““Get Out of the Way, Westphalia!”… Henry Kissinger’s dark prophecy”
India, AI, and the Question of Ownership: Do we really have a grand-strategy for the AI future?
by M. K. Sudarshan July 6, 2026: Chennai, India A YouTube video recently circulated widely because it captured something that many people have begun to feel but have not yet fully named. https://youtu.be/UfyxN46tCz8?si=DeZxeZ_XhW_7IEtp The video pointed to a striking reality: millions of Indians are already helping teach machines how to think, see, understand, and act.Continue reading “India, AI, and the Question of Ownership: Do we really have a grand-strategy for the AI future?”
Vedantic Retrospective Re-reading of Indian Fiction
Not every novelist writes within a Vedantic framework, yet many works of Indian fiction do lend themselves remarkably well to Vedantic rereading. This is especially true when a novel or short story is shaped by inwardness, moral conflict, duty, renunciation, suffering, attachment, or the search for a stable self. In such cases, the Vedantic lensContinue reading “Vedantic Retrospective Re-reading of Indian Fiction”
Reading the short-story “The Choice” (சாய்ஸ்) through a Vedantic Lens … with Indira Parthasarathy and J. Raghunathan
J. Raghunathan’s short story The Choice is compelling not merely because it stages a conflict between patriotic duty and domestic love, but because it leaves the moral structure of that conflict unresolved in a fruitful way. The story’s emotional power lies in the fact that the reader is never allowed the comfort of a simpleContinue reading “Reading the short-story “The Choice” (சாய்ஸ்) through a Vedantic Lens … with Indira Parthasarathy and J. Raghunathan”
Energy, Progress, and the Future We Can Afford
by M.K.Sudarshan July 4, 2026: Chennai, India An exploration of civilization’s hidden dependence on energy, the warnings of Robert J. Gordon, and the possibility that the future will be more advanced yet less abundant than the age that came before. The Hidden Axis of Civilization There is a strange and revealing fact about human civilization:Continue reading “Energy, Progress, and the Future We Can Afford”
The Chidambaram Rahasyam: How a Sri Vaishnava Shrine became a Proxy War Pawn in Tamil Nadu politics
by M.K.Sudarshan June 30, 2026/Chennai, India Introduction The Chidambaram Nataraja Temple is globally celebrated as the cosmic stage of Lord Shiva’s Ananda Tandavam. Yet, deep within its sacred geometry lies a quieter, parallel sanctuary: the Thillai Govindaraja Perumal shrine. For centuries, this physical coexistence of Shiva and Vishnu symbolized a rare, uneasy theological truce. Today,Continue reading “The Chidambaram Rahasyam: How a Sri Vaishnava Shrine became a Proxy War Pawn in Tamil Nadu politics”
From Dorian Gray to King Yayati: A 70-Year-Old’s Epiphany on the Traps of AI
By M.K.Sudarshan June 27 2026: Chennai, India In Oscar Wilde’s classic novel, “The Portrait of Dorian Gray” (1891), a beautiful young man named Dorian Gray wishes that a painted portrait of himself would bear the physical burdens of his aging, hedonistic lifestyle, and moral decay, allowing his actual body to remain flawlessly young and untroubled.Continue reading “From Dorian Gray to King Yayati: A 70-Year-Old’s Epiphany on the Traps of AI”