Ananya Bhattacharya “Why does she talk like that?” Snigger, a look of disdain, another snigger, and a few thinly-veiled laughs. It was Jadavpur University, circa 2011. I had asked an autorickshawala, “8B jaba? (Will you go to 8B?)” ‘Jaba’ was my colloquial Cooch Behar Bangla that slipped out in a stray moment. The Kolkata word… Read More Through hell and back in Jadavpur University
NB: And why should Caesar be a tyrant then? / Poor man, I know he would not be a wolf,But that he sees the Romans are but sheep / He were no lion, were not the Romans hinds Shakespeare; Julius Caesar, (I.iii.103-6) DS By Mitali Saran The trouble with manufacturing a larger-than-life persona for a… Read More The measure of the man
By Ishaan Tharoorwith Sammy Westfall The brutal war raging in Ukraine is a profoundly 21st-century conflict. Drones buzz around its battlefields. Hypersonic missiles plunge into unsuspecting targets. Satellites disperse the fog of war. Algorithms generated by artificial intelligence help guide artillery. Footage captured on mobile phones proliferates on social media, giving the conflict an almost visceral,… Read More Ukraine’s war of attrition draws parallels to World War I
Bharat Bhushan The government’s interventions on the Manipur violence in the Parliament do not address the root causes of the unprecedented ethnic cleansing in the state. Speaking on the no-confidence vote, Union Home Minister Amit Shah made two points – that the Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh must be retained because he was “cooperating”… Read More Will half-truths in the Parliament bring peace to Manipur?
Russian anti-war activist Boris Kagarlitsky has been charged with supporting “terrorism” and faces years in prison. Katrina vanden Heuvel, who has known Boris for decades, says whatever your views, people should demand the charges be dropped… https://scheerpost.com/2023/08/10/free-boris-kagarlitsky-katrina-vanden-heuvel/
Ours is the age of the intellectual organisation of political hatreds: Julien Benda, The Treason of the Intellectuals; 1928 Once crime was as solitary as a cry of protest; now it is as universal as science. Yesterday it was put on trial; today it determines the law: Albert Camus, The Rebel, 1956 A BJP minister’s… Read More India’s subdivision of criminality (how one massacre deserves another)
Ocean temperatures have hit record highs this year, growing so hot in some places that taking a dip in the sea feels like stepping into a hot tub. For kelp farmers, who grow an underwater crop with a life cycle highly dependent on temperature, that spells trouble for their harvests – and their nascent industry’s future. “Over the… Read More Can kelp survive rising marine heat?
Underlying longer-term weaknesses in the economy are bound up with Beijing’s repressive political system George Magnus At a Politburo meeting last month, China’s leaders referred to the economic recovery this year as “torturous”. You won’t often hear such candour coming from a Chinese Communist party institution, let alone such an elevated body. They were referring… Read More China’s recent economic woes suggest there is something seriously amiss
Almost 10 years back on a lazy summer afternoon sitting in the veranda of our ancestral home in suburban Kolkata, my late grandfather in a casual conversation said something which has stuck to me till date: “While others can talk about it and be nostalgic, only people of Bengal and Punjab could feel the actual… Read More Suman Nath’s ‘Democracy And Social Cleavage In India’ Indicts Both TMC And BJP For Communalism In West Bengal
Professor Neerja Mattoo writes: “Though Shahid was not based in Kashmir after he left to do his Masters in English from Delhi University, Kashmir stayed close to his heart. His regular visits to the land of his birth kept him in touch with his friends and the developments here. The events of the nineties, the… Read More University Of Kashmir Removes Works Of Agha Shahid Ali, Basharat Peer From MA English And BA Courses
