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

Petition re Suspension of academic in Kerala because he talked about fascism and Sangh Parivar

“By academic freedom, I understand the right to search for truth and publish and teach what one holds to be true. This right also implies a duty: one must not conceal any part of what one has recognised to be true.” – Albert Einstein Sign the petition: http://chng.it/7b2b6CDY Dr Gilbert Sebastian, an Assistant Professor at the… Read More Petition re Suspension of academic in Kerala because he talked about fascism and Sangh Parivar

Dilip

Chitrangada Choudhury: Modi Is Worsening the Suffering from India’s Pandemic

On May 8, 2021, as a deadly second wave of the COVID pandemic was ripping through India, an imprisoned doctoral student made an urgent appeal to the Delhi High Court. Incarcerated by the Indian government since May 2020 on dubious terror charges, Natasha Narwal asked for interim bail to see her father, agricultural scientist Mahavir Narwal, who was… Read More Chitrangada Choudhury: Modi Is Worsening the Suffering from India’s Pandemic

Dilip

Nesrine Malik: Abandoned by governments, Palestinians rely on the kindness of strangers

Until Camp David in 1978, Egypt had been Palestine’s main ally and the strongest military power in the region after Israel. The peace treaty returned Sinai to Egypt in exchange for recognition of Israel. With that normalisation, Egypt closed the door to any sort of Arab military assistance to the Palestinians for ever. We inherited… Read More Nesrine Malik: Abandoned by governments, Palestinians rely on the kindness of strangers

Dilip

Jana Mohr Lone: ‘Mommy, why do the days just keep coming?’ – Philosophy with children

Central to our work at the Center for Philosophy for Children at the University of Washington is the conviction that we ought to challenge beliefs about children’s limited capacities, and to expand our understanding of the nature of philosophy and who is capable of engaging in it. As one seven-year-old put it: ‘In philosophy, we’re… Read More Jana Mohr Lone: ‘Mommy, why do the days just keep coming?’ – Philosophy with children

Dilip

Book review – EXTRA LIFE: A Short History of Living Longer

Until a couple of centuries ago, more than a quarter of children died before their first birthday, around half before their fifth. In “Extra Life,” Steven Johnson, a writer of popular books on science and technology, tells the stories behind what he calls, in an understatement, “one of the greatest achievements in the history of… Read More Book review – EXTRA LIFE: A Short History of Living Longer

Dilip

Hridayesh Joshi: चिपको आंदोलन से बहुत बड़ा है सुंदरलाल बहुगुणा का संघर्ष / Jagdish Krishnaswamy: Sunderlal Bahuguna had wide political acceptance

शुक्रवारकोसुंदरलालबहुगुणाकेनिधनकेसाथहिमालयमेंपर्यावरणीयसंघर्षऔरचेतनाकेएकअध्यायकासमापनहोगया.   93 साल के सुंदरलाल कोरोना से पीड़ित थे और पिछली 8 मई को उन्हें ऋषिकेश के एम्स में भरती किया गया था.  बहुगुणा को सत्तर के दशक में उत्तराखंड में चले चिपको आंदोलन से जुड़े होने के कारण “चिपको” नेता के नाम से जाना जाता है लेकिन आमजन और पर्यावरण के लिए उनके संघर्ष… Read More Hridayesh Joshi: चिपको आंदोलन से बहुत बड़ा है सुंदरलाल बहुगुणा का संघर्ष / Jagdish Krishnaswamy: Sunderlal Bahuguna had wide political acceptance

Dilip

ना भूलना तुम : By Dr Raju Sharma, ex IAS

ना भूलना तुम ना भूलना तुम,2021 की पहली अप्रैल की सुबह, या उसके पहले की कोई सुबह, वसंत ऋतु की मंद ख़ुशबुएँ, जब, एक नहीं, करोड़ों आंखें एक साथ खुलीं थीं। और सबने अशुभ का कोई मंज़र देखा था! मन में कुछ खौफ़ सा लगा था।   ना भूलना तुम, कि तुम्हारी खिड़की की चौखट… Read More ना भूलना तुम : By Dr Raju Sharma, ex IAS

Dilip

Pratap Bhanu Mehta: For the sake of Indian democracy, the UP governance model needs to be challenged

A moral psychology legitimising an unprecedented ruthlessnessis now becoming the default of civil society in the state.   Uttar Pradesh has the population the size of Brazil, and 80 Lok Sabha seats. But the nature of its potential dominance in Indian politics is not simply a function of size and demography. The national influence of UP… Read More Pratap Bhanu Mehta: For the sake of Indian democracy, the UP governance model needs to be challenged

Dilip