The fake Voter-ID: A British legacy of Balkanising India

Reading the below summary (please scroll down below to read ) makes me feel very sympathetic to Sri. Amit Shah or for that matter anyone who occupies the Home Minister of India seat.  I now understand with much greater clarity than ever before how British Colonialism must bear full responsibility for India’s stupendous and enervatingContinue reading “The fake Voter-ID: A British legacy of Balkanising India”

“Mudhal Mariyaadhai”, “primus inter pares” and a religious community’s “mos majorum”

Please scroll right down below to read a summary of the above verdict delivered by the Madras High Court in the matter of dispute over claims to rights of “Mudhal mariyadhai” in the Arulmigu Sri Kallazhagar Kovil , in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. It could be argued that this verdict is blatant overturning of the wellContinue reading ““Mudhal Mariyaadhai”, “primus inter pares” and a religious community’s “mos majorum””

CONCLUDED:The Rt.Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastri’s memory and legacy…(Part-20): Death of the “Brahmin-Liberal”

On February 19, 1945, the anniversary of the death of Gopala Krishna Gokhale, Sastri spoke for about forty-five minutes at a public-meeting and suddenly lost consciousness. When he regained it after a while, he was advised by his doctors to give up all arduous work including public speaking. Nevertheless, on March 6. 1945, he gaveContinue reading “CONCLUDED:The Rt.Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastri’s memory and legacy…(Part-20): Death of the “Brahmin-Liberal””

The Rt.Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastri’s memory and legacy… (Part-19): Last days in Mylapore…

The last days of Srinivasa Sastri were spent in his home “Swaagatham” in Mylapore, Madras… in one of the oldest, most historically well-known quarters of the city (now known as Chennai). Mylapore was indeed one of the oldest and culturally richest parts of Madras, known for its temples, classical music, and Tamil and Sanskrit scholarship.Continue reading “The Rt.Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastri’s memory and legacy… (Part-19): Last days in Mylapore…”

The Rt.Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastri’s memory and legacy… (Part-18): Ignored by New Delhi, short-shrifted in Durban, forgotten in Mylapore,…

In the last ten years, Prime Minister’s Narendra Modi’s has made more than one high-profile State visit to South Africa. His public addresses there in Durban focused primarily on Mahatma Gandhi, with ceremonial visits, of course, made to places like Durban associated with Gandhi’s life and message. There is extensive media coverage and official documentationContinue reading “The Rt.Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastri’s memory and legacy… (Part-18): Ignored by New Delhi, short-shrifted in Durban, forgotten in Mylapore,…”

The Rt.Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastri’s memory and legacy… (Part-17): A streak of “raashtravaadi”? …

Srinivasa Sastri, in so far as we have studied him in the foregoing pages, was a man who never could be stereotyped as either this or that type of votary of any particular political ideology or as anyone who could be easily swayed by any extreme notions of Nationalism, Patriotism or Liberalism. And nor wasContinue reading “The Rt.Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastri’s memory and legacy… (Part-17): A streak of “raashtravaadi”? …”

The Rt.Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastri’s memory and legacy… (Part-16): “Anti-Sanatanist Liberal” or “Orthodox Performative Brahmin”? …

“THE SARADA ACT 1929“ Sastri deeply respected the śāstra-s and Hindu traditions but at the same time he also insisted that tradition must be intelligently interpreted in the light of contemporary science and modern needs. In taking this stand, the Mylaporean Brahmin-liberal-humanist clearly stood on the side of the “anti-Sanatanist Hindu Reformers” of his times …Continue reading “The Rt.Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastri’s memory and legacy… (Part-16): “Anti-Sanatanist Liberal” or “Orthodox Performative Brahmin”? …”

The Rt.Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastri’s memory and legacy… (Part-15): “Anti-Sanatanist Liberal” or “Orthodox Performative Brahmin”? …

Even with the benefit of 20:20 historical hindsight that we enjoy today, and as it was in his own time without it, Srinivasa Sastry could never easily be stereotyped. He was rather unique in that it could not be said with any certainty whether he was outright an Orthodox or Performative Brahmin “Sanatanist” or otherwiseContinue reading “The Rt.Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastri’s memory and legacy… (Part-15): “Anti-Sanatanist Liberal” or “Orthodox Performative Brahmin”? …”

The Rt.Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastri’s memory and legacy… (Part-13): …Lecture#15 of “Lectures on the Ramayana” – 2025 Independence Day special…

In Mylapore, Madras, on July 19th, 1944, Rt. Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastri delivered the fifteenth in his series of thirty sterling “Lectures on the Ramayana” Profoundly insightful observations were made in the course of the passionate speech upon a very wide range of matters, political and philosophical viz.: Patriotism, Treason, Nationalist pride, Democracy, Political Dissent, PoliticalContinue reading “The Rt.Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastri’s memory and legacy… (Part-13): …Lecture#15 of “Lectures on the Ramayana” – 2025 Independence Day special…”

The Rt.Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastri’s memory and legacy… (Part-12): …Lecture #15 of the “Lectures on the Ramayana”…

Sastri felt politically marginalized by the rise of Gandhi and Nehru’s mass movements. He expressed melancholy and resignation about the eclipse of moderate liberalism.  ‘I am a clod of miserable earth, which nothing can galvanise. Let me be’”, he had written to a friend. His personal relation with Gandhi was respectful and affectionate despite politicalContinue reading “The Rt.Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastri’s memory and legacy… (Part-12): …Lecture #15 of the “Lectures on the Ramayana”…”