“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”? …”
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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”…”
The Rt.Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastri’s memory and legacy… (Part-10): ….An “Ahimsa” purer than Gandhi’s….
Srinivasa Sastri’s melancholia that clearly arose from a general sense of being cutoff from mainstream political life in India during the years leading up to the Indian National Congress’s QUIT INDIA Movement — and thereafter too until his death in 1946 — was perhaps worsened by declining health. It is documented that Sastri suffered fromContinue reading “The Rt.Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastri’s memory and legacy… (Part-10): ….An “Ahimsa” purer than Gandhi’s….”
The Rt.Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastri’s memory and legacy… (Part-9): ….The years in political wilderness ….
It would not be inaccurate to say that between roughly 1933 and his death in 1946, Rt. Hon’ble V. S. Srinivasa Sastri was in relative political wilderness compared to his earlier prominence. By the mid-1930s, Sastri had distanced himself from the more militant and mass-based nationalist politics led by the Indian National Congress under GandhiContinue reading “The Rt.Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastri’s memory and legacy… (Part-9): ….The years in political wilderness ….”
The Rt.Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastri’s memory and legacy… (Part-8): When Srinivasa Sastri urged Mahatma Gandhi to cease being a dictator and step away from the Congress Party
Srinivasa Sastry greatly respected Mahatma Gandhi for his deeply spiritual aspirations. But Gandhi’s spiritual militancy, such as his agitational methods of Sathyagraha employed against the British, received only his grudging admiration. And even such admiration was often conveyed to the Mahatma only with a large dose of brotherly admonition. Sastri as a friend advised GandhiContinue reading “The Rt.Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastri’s memory and legacy… (Part-8): When Srinivasa Sastri urged Mahatma Gandhi to cease being a dictator and step away from the Congress Party”
Modi-ji, Please don’t let the current Trump-tariff crisis of India go waste!
Below ⬇️ is a jingoistic “forwarded message” that’s going viral on the Whatapp University circuit. Why is Trump angry with India? Is it only because India is buying oil from Russia, or is that just an excuse? And why is it that we are not able to sign even a mini Trade deal, leave aloneContinue reading “Modi-ji, Please don’t let the current Trump-tariff crisis of India go waste!”
The Rt.Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastri’s memory and legacy… (Part-7): When Srinivasa Sastri delivered a brave but accurate character-profiling of Mahatma Gandhi
In their philophical approach regarding how the struggle for India’s Freedom from British Colonial Rule must be conducted, Srinivasa Sastri and Mahatma Gandhi were indeed poles apart. Gandhi looked upon himself as a saint-politician. Sastri looked upon himself as scholar-statesman. The contrast between the two men stood out starkly at times whenever Gandhi chose toContinue reading “The Rt.Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastri’s memory and legacy… (Part-7): When Srinivasa Sastri delivered a brave but accurate character-profiling of Mahatma Gandhi”
The Rt.Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastri’s memory and legacy… (Part-5): When Sastri corrected Gandhi’s English sentence-syntax and advised him to give up his dicatorial ways!
Between his return to India from South Africa in 1939 until his death in 1946, how did Sastri occupy himself ? What were his major political accomplishments and contributions to the Freedom movement? And what were his other pursuits, literary and academic? Between 1939 and 1946, Sastri’s life was devoted to literary scholarship, educational leadership,Continue reading “The Rt.Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastri’s memory and legacy… (Part-5): When Sastri corrected Gandhi’s English sentence-syntax and advised him to give up his dicatorial ways!”