Academia has become unrooted from pedagogy. William Deresiewicz That liberalism is under threat is now a cliché—yet this has done nothing to stem the global resurgence of illiberalism. Part of the problem is that liberalism is often considered too “thin” to win over the allegiance of citizens, and that liberals are too afraid of speaking… Read More Colleges, Maybe Try Teaching!
NB: I found typewritten copies of these two prose poems among my parent’s papers, which are so rich and diverse that my mind can’t take it all in. DS (The Gestalt prayer is a 56-word statement by psychotherapist Fritz Perls taken as an expression of Gestalt therapy as a life model of which Perls was a founder) I do my thing and… Read More The Gestalt Prayer (1969)
Ian Buruma on Berlin during World War II Bryn Stole n December 1944, amid the bombs and wartime wreckage of Berlin, acclaimed conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler led the Berlin Philharmonic in a performance of Brahms and Beethoven in a frigid variety theater—since Royal Air Force bombing raids had already wrecked most of the city’s grand concert… Read More Dancing on a Volcano
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant’s obiter dicta in a case before him described some unemployed youngsters as “cockroaches”, some of whom go on to “become” (sic) the media, social media, RTI activists, and start “attacking the system”. — PTI Bharat Bhushan Notwithstanding the denial, it is important to note that metaphors that dehumanise any… Read More From The Bench To Barbs: ‘Cockroach’ Slur On Critics
A beautiful soul, forever with us Sun sets over Kaziranga Achintya (Monju) Barua, founder of Wild Grass resort Kaziranga; a devotee of wild life and natural conservation; known and loved by numberless people the world over passed away this morning, May 17. We had spoken over the phone at 7.50 am, he was coughing, and… Read More Achintya Barua (1953-2026)
For 15 years, over eight lakh students appeared for the higher secondary examination in West Bengal every year. In 2025, that number fell to 4.82 lakh. The children who paid the price were those who had no alternative. In Jangalmahal, private schools barely exist. When government schools stop functioning, children stop studying. http://www.reporters-collective.in Read the… Read More How a ‘Cash-For-Jobs Scam’ Emptied Out Public Schools In West Bengal
From 30th May – 4th June, 2026 in Chandigarh ~Applications are open~ Apply here. Last date to apply is 17th May, 2026. Context We live in an era of rapid technological progress. Building on the advancements in electronics and computing, just the last two decades have been marked by the emergence of buzz words like digital… Read More Summer School on Technology, Environment, and Society
John Boersma Tyranny and Revolution: Rousseau to Heidegger By Waller R. Newell; 2022 Waller Newell: Interview: The Characteristics of Tyranny Today’s political discourse is rife with the prognosis that liberalism is in trouble, evidenced by the rise of anti-liberal and post-liberal thought, each of which maintains that a politics based on material self-interest is incapable… Read More Tyranny and Revolution: Rousseau to Heidegger
Bharat Bhushan The sudden ceasefire after Operation Sindoor showed Narendra Modi that the support of the Hindutva base is not unconditional. It is predicated on giving no quarter to Pakistan. That is why he needs the blessing of the RSS to move forward with Pakistan Bharat Bhushan The call for keeping open the doors of dialogue… Read More Why Modi needs RSS cover for dialogue with Pakistan
For decades, many Chinese viewed the United States with a mix of admiration, envy and resentment. President Trump’s volatile second term shattered that image. Li Yuan When President Trump visited China in late 2017, Xi Jinping welcomed him with a grand display of Chinese history and culture: a four-hour private tour of the Forbidden City culminating in… Read More China Increasingly Views Trump’s America as an Empire in Decline
After the truth-shower 