Here’s my own take on this editorial published in the latest issue of of The Economist UK : (please scroll right down to read the reproduced piece) 1. The title should have been rephrased as “ America’s new best fair-weather friend”. 2. India is certainly more democratic and far less liberal than the West. Why?Continue reading ““The Economist” (UK) on America’s new best friend, INDIA”
Tag Archives: India
Kancha Illiah’s challenge to Brahmins and the revivalism of Sanskrit
Why no Hindutva or contemporary Brahmin scholar ever writes in Sanskrit ? Asks the well- known Dalit academician, thinker, activist and writer, Kancha Illiah….: “ Brahmins do not write in Sanskrit. Why is it so? Is it because they hate the language but continue to praise it to deceive the gullible Shudra/Dalit/Adivasi masses?” Kancha Illiah’sContinue reading “Kancha Illiah’s challenge to Brahmins and the revivalism of Sanskrit”
I know no English , but I can quote Shakespeare …
I know my distant ancestors spoke Sanskrit … Today , I can’t converse in the same language as theirs . I can read and write Sanskrit but ever since in this country it became “dead language” , being able to speak Sanskrit fluently has become a rare curiosity if not anachronism amongst common people andContinue reading “I know no English , but I can quote Shakespeare …”
“Ekam sath vipraah: bahudah vadanti…”: the great debate on NCERT history text-book
The only way to de-politicise History is to aestheticise it . Why this obsession with “text-book history”? Why this rancour amongst historians ? Why politicise history ? Why the belief amongst historians, academicians, politicians and students of history that there can be only one version of India’s History that can be true, “authentic”, “faithful toContinue reading ““Ekam sath vipraah: bahudah vadanti…”: the great debate on NCERT history text-book”
Special Marriages Act, 1954: the thin-leading-edge of a battering ram?
The problem in India is that same-sex weddings are likely to be used — rather, even abused by the politics of hate and identity — to denigrate Hindu religion, customs and way of life … Which is why I agree with the argument being made by several quarters in the country today that they areContinue reading “Special Marriages Act, 1954: the thin-leading-edge of a battering ram?”
Genitalia, Gender, Biology, Physics and Psychology
😳😨…. The definition of Biological man and woman is no more determined by genitalia ! The SC of India enlightens us all today by imparting new wisdom! The Honourable Justices of the Supreme Court have a great burden on their head and soul indeed… It is a very, very complicated case to pass judgment upon.Continue reading “Genitalia, Gender, Biology, Physics and Psychology”
My Sunday morning crystal-ball gazing into global geopolitics
Fareed Zakaria of CNN posed all the right questions to German Chancellor Schulz and got all the right sounding answers. But to me watching the video, the interview sounded pretty menacingly portentous for the future of the world in decades to come. On a quiet Sunday morning yesterday , I couldn’t thus help falling intoContinue reading “My Sunday morning crystal-ball gazing into global geopolitics”
The Supreme Court of India and “Same-Sex Marriage”: A very, very Vexing question !
QUESTION: Whether homosexulity was recognised in ancient India particularly in our ancient texts and the sastras? Explain. A question posed to me via email this morning by a very learned friend —- a retired very high ranking IAS officer. My answer to him in my email reply.: Sir, turning to your question on “whether homosexulityContinue reading “The Supreme Court of India and “Same-Sex Marriage”: A very, very Vexing question !”
A “National Referendum of the People” is needed to side-step the Constitution of India whose provisions are thwarting the implementation of the “one-nation, one-election” principle !
The impossibility of implementing a change — from the current electoral system in India of holding multiple elections at multiple times in multiple constituencies in our vast country to a system of “one-nation , one-election” every 5 years — has been lucidly explained by a well-respected luminary ( name withheld for privacy reasons) below. AfterContinue reading “A “National Referendum of the People” is needed to side-step the Constitution of India whose provisions are thwarting the implementation of the “one-nation, one-election” principle !”
At last India now has a diplomat with a whiplash tongue that’s more than 56 inches long !
No punches pulled … India’s EAM and diplomat S. Jaishankar puts an Austrian TV anchor in his place … with devastating zingers ! Never before in history have I heard an Indian Foreign Minister speak so candidly and authoritatively in a foreign forum… Usually they would hum and haw and mumble vaguely and duck loadedContinue reading “At last India now has a diplomat with a whiplash tongue that’s more than 56 inches long !”