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

Book review: how Africa was central to the making of the modern world

Journalist, photographer, author and professor Howard W. French’s Born in Blackness: Africa, Africans, and the Making of the Modern World, 1471 to the Second World War, is the most recent in a long career of thoughtful and significant literary and journalistic interventions. It demands an account of modernity that reckons with Africa as central to the… Read More Book review: how Africa was central to the making of the modern world

Dilip

The age of intimacy famine: when we interact with our phones rather than our loved ones

Like most humans, I want intimacy. But as a developmental psychologist, I consider intimacy a fundamental human need. Sharing feelings, embraces, intellectual conversations, sex – these intimate moments are often the touchstones of a rich human experience. Yet millions of people worldwide are isolated and lonely, woefully lacking in the meaningful and diverse social experiences that… Read More The age of intimacy famine: when we interact with our phones rather than our loved ones

Dilip

The Break-Up of Britain / The US today resembles the Soviet Union just before it fell

Because of the impact it has already had and because its influence continues to grow, Tom Nairn’s The Break-Up of Britain, first published in 1977, is the most significant book on British politics of the past half-century, even though it is not a famous best-seller. Today, its republication by Verso signals the post-Brexit renewal of… Read More The Break-Up of Britain / The US today resembles the Soviet Union just before it fell

Dilip

Amit Bhaduri: The Farmers’ Protest Exposed the Limitations of Class Analysis

The farmers’ historic struggle and victory has upset not merely political arrogance but conventional wisdom in more than one way. It has shown the limitations of class analysis, and has thrown up new ideas for organizing peaceful protests in a democracy. The fact that relatively better-off farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh often led the… Read More Amit Bhaduri: The Farmers’ Protest Exposed the Limitations of Class Analysis

Dilip

‘Sometimes angels do walk among us’: Teacher shares tale of stranger’s act of kindness

Amidst the gloom of the coronavirus pandemic, one thing that has kept people going are random acts of kindness. One such act of kindness by a stranger was recently shared by a US teacher. Maria Iorlano, an educator from Brooklyn, New York was on her way to school with “arms full of classroom supplies and doughnuts” for… Read More ‘Sometimes angels do walk among us’: Teacher shares tale of stranger’s act of kindness

Dilip

Bharat Bhushan: Government as hacker / Proof of Pegasus use on phones, Cyber experts tell SC panel

Investigative journalists Ronen Bergman and Mark Mazzetti of the New York Times (NYT) have revealed that the cyber-weapon Pegasus was part of a $2 billion defence package the Narendra Modi government purchased from Israel in 2017. A government minister has sought to dismiss it as a motivated conspiracy by calling the highly respected NYT, “supari” media, a… Read More Bharat Bhushan: Government as hacker / Proof of Pegasus use on phones, Cyber experts tell SC panel

Dilip

Sunita Viswanath: Why is the Indian Media Erasing 'Hindus for Human Rights' from the Republic Day Story?

Our board member Sravya Tadepalli moderated the briefing and opened with the words, “As a Hindu and part of a religious tradition that believes all human beings are inherently divine, I believe it is my religious duty to speak out when oppressed people face atrocities. As an Indian American, I feel a special obligation to… Read More Sunita Viswanath: Why is the Indian Media Erasing 'Hindus for Human Rights' from the Republic Day Story?

Dilip

Remembering Mahatma Gandhi: उड जायेगा हंस अकेला / Abide with me: Gandhiji’s favourite hymn

Remembering Mahatma Gandhi: उड जायेगा हंस अकेला / जग दर्शन का मेला ।। The Christian hymn has been played by the Massed Bands of the security forces every year since 1950 to mark the end of the Republic Day celebrations. Listen to some versions: https://scroll.in/video/1015930/abide-with-me-tm-krishna-artists-around-india-sing-the-hymn-dropped-from-beating-retreat-parade ‘Abide With Me’: Listen to the hymn that has been dropped from the Beating Retreat ceremony Two AV talks: The… Read More Remembering Mahatma Gandhi: उड जायेगा हंस अकेला / Abide with me: Gandhiji’s favourite hymn

Dilip

Jillian Horton: A slap in the face to health care workers

Weiss is the former New York Times journalist best known for her departure from that paper. In a resignation letter posted to her own website, Weiss complained that she had been subjected to constant bullying by colleagues who disagree with her views, and that the Times had “become a kind of performance space.” A New York Times spokesperson… Read More Jillian Horton: A slap in the face to health care workers

Dilip

Yemen civilians bear the brunt of escalating Houthi-UAE conflict

The escalation of tensions between Yemen’s Houthi rebels and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) prompted humanitarian organisations on the ground to sound the alarm, as the United Nations forecasts January will “almost certainly” be a record-shattering month for civilian casualties in the country. Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF) warned the recent air raids launched… Read More Yemen civilians bear the brunt of escalating Houthi-UAE conflict

Dilip