The outcry in Bareilly last month over students singing an Iqbal poem reminds us that we live in a hyper-nationalist time, where leaders glorify territorial nationalism beyond measure and deliberately concoct insidious ancillaries anchored in religion, language, race or colour. As I read about the furore in Bareilly over Iqbal’s poem “Bachche ki Du’a” (“A… Read More A child’s prayer. By C. M. Naim
Extracts from Pascal Bruckner: On August 21, 1670, Jacques Bossuet, the bishop of Meaux and official preacher to the court of Louis XIV, pronounced the eulogy for Princess Henrietta of England before the Prince of Condé. The Duchess of Orléans had died at 26 after drinking a glass of chicory that may have been poisoned.… Read More Condemned to Joy: the cult of happiness is a mirthless enterprise
First posted June 05, 2013 ‘All through the ages, the different religions, which have been given to man for his spiritual development with the sole idea of unity, have gradually become a kind of community or nationality. Many people who belong to a Church accept its dogmas, claim a certain name for their religion, and… Read More Hazrat Inayat Khan on Religious Unity and Uniformity
First posted October 25, 2011 I’ve learned that you can’t hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk. (age 6) I’ve learned that I like my teacher because she cries when we sing Silent Night (age 7) I’ve learned that when I wave to people in the country, they stop what they are… Read More What I have learned (humans aged 6 to 92)
First posted October 24, 2011 Whoever embraces a woman is Adam. The woman is Eve. Everything happens for the first time. I saw something white in the sky. They tell me it is the moon, but what can I do with a word and a mythology. Trees frighten me a little. They are so beautiful.… Read More Happiness. By Jorge Luis Borges
Sreedeep Bhattacharya What are the essential ingredients of a pristine, romantic association? Introduction, anticipation, initiation, expectation, complexity, eccentricity, intimacy, reward and recognition. Not to forget the garnish of conflicts and contradictions; pathos and pleasure; tantrums and traumas; itches and aches—and, possibly, a lot more. Whereas these elements may have remained somewhat unaltered, there seems to… Read More In The Postmodern World, Intimacy Has Become A Strange Thing
Rebecca Root The violence began when the military set out to quash what it said was a communist coup sparked by the deaths of six generals. This has since been identified as a government pretext to launch a large-scale pursuit of communists and sympathisers. About 500,000 people were murdered in six months and 1 million… Read More ‘Truth is one of our rights’: victims of Indonesia’s bloody past want more than regret from their president
NB: This article was posted recently on social media under the title ‘The murder of a divine geography’; and was written by Amitabh Pande. His lines ring very true. Thanks are due to the writer. The video report below by Hridayesh Joshi is also a valuable piece of journalism: A sinking city: Fear and anger… Read More The sinking of Joshimath and the commercialisation of sacredness
SIMRIN SIRUR Joshimath: The land below their feet sinking, helpless residents of Joshimath town were gathered in front of the battered Malari Inn hotel for a second consecutive day of protests Wednesday. They were demanding “fair compensation” for being driven out of their homes and possibly the town itself. Tensions between the displaced residents on the one… Read More ‘Only place we’ve ever known’: As Joshimath crumbles, the displaced demand ‘fair compensation’
First posted October 18, 2013 NB – The outstanding feature of this report is that is written not from a communal standpoint, as in Hindu, Muslim or Sikh; but solely from the standpoint of common humanity: DS A scanned copy of the Communist Party of India’s pamphlet Bleeding Punjab Warns (File CPI/108 – 1947); is available at… Read More Archival document of the CPI from 1947: ‘Bleeding Punjab Warns’ by Dhanwantri & P.C. Joshi
After the truth-shower 