Author: Dilip

I'm a scholar, writer and teacher; and my blog is designed for intellectual exploration. It carries no advertisements and requires no cash subscription

Bharat Bhushan: Autonomous Hindutva could devour both India and the BJP

With the rapid radicalisation of sections of Hindu society, the Hindutva project has become dangerously autonomous. It is no longer possible to see it only as an electoral strategy of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Today one does not need to even presume the direct hand of the BJP or the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh behind Hindutva’s every move. Its exponential social… Read More Bharat Bhushan: Autonomous Hindutva could devour both India and the BJP

Dilip

Apocalypse now? The alarming effects of the global food crisis

Apocalypse is an alarming idea, commonly taken to denote catastrophic destruction foreshadowing the end of the world. But in the original Greek, apokálypsis means a revelation or an uncovering. One vernacular definition is “to take the lid off something”.  That latter feat is exactly what Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, achieved last week,… Read More Apocalypse now? The alarming effects of the global food crisis

Dilip

Millionaires join Davos protests, demanding ‘tax us now’

A group of millionaires have joined protests against the World Economic Forum gathering of the business and political elite in Davos, Switzerland, demanding that governments “tax us now” to tackle the burgeoning gulf between rich and poor.  The unlikely protesters, who describe themselves as “patriotic millionaires”, called on world leaders attending the annual conference on… Read More Millionaires join Davos protests, demanding ‘tax us now’

Dilip

Hindu College history professor booked for post on Gyanvapi ‘Shivling’ / Teachers, students demand immediate release of associate professor Ratan Lal

A Delhi University professor has been booked for an allegedly objectionable social media post on the claims of a ‘Shivling’ being found at the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi. Ratan Lal, an associate professor of history at the Hindu College, has been booked under IPC sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion,… Read More Hindu College history professor booked for post on Gyanvapi ‘Shivling’ / Teachers, students demand immediate release of associate professor Ratan Lal

Dilip

Vanessa Hua on Writing About the Forgotten Women in Mao’s Inner Circle

Vanessa Hua’s Forbidden City is narrated by a courageous, risk-taking sixteen-year-old whose life in a small village in China is up-ended when she is selected to join an elite dance troupe of young women trained in ballroom dancing to entertain Party leaders, including the Chairman. Hua’s is a fresh feminist take on the Cultural Revolution, an intriguing… Read More Vanessa Hua on Writing About the Forgotten Women in Mao’s Inner Circle

Dilip

This Is the Sea

The Waterboys: This is the sea These things you keep You better throw them awayYou wanna turn your backOn your careless daysOnce you were tetheredNow you are freeOnce you were tetheredNow you are freeWell that was the river!This is the sea Now if you’re coming undoneMaybe been alone too longOr just you’ve been suffering fromA… Read More This Is the Sea

Dilip

Madhavan K. Palat on Nehru the Historian of Home and the World. Public lecture May 26, Jawahar Bhawan

Nehru was not a professional historian, but he composed four books of history to explain its importance. We may decide our future only if we can satisfy ourselves that the past has made it possible. The future he pursued was a united humanity, not one splintered into warring nations; logically, he began with a small… Read More Madhavan K. Palat on Nehru the Historian of Home and the World. Public lecture May 26, Jawahar Bhawan

Dilip

Don’t worry, he’s not going quietly into that tweetless night. By Arwa Mahdawi

Jordan Peterson is an academic, an internet personality, and a big fan of beef. A man of many accomplishments, he’s most famous for writing a bestselling book called 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos while simultaneously living what can only be described as an incredibly chaotic life. The latest Peterson drama comes to us via Twitter,… Read More Don’t worry, he’s not going quietly into that tweetless night. By Arwa Mahdawi

Dilip