Jawaharlal Nehru's 57th death anniversary / ‘हिंद के जवाहर’ का जाना…

Today, May 27, is Jawaharlal Nehru’s 57th death anniversary. Jawaharlal (1889-1964) was an anti-fascist activist, fighter for India’s freedom, Mahatma Gandhi’s chosen political heir, India’s first & greatest Prime Minister &, above all, a decent human being. I recall being a 14 year-old schoolboy, in Sainik School Kunjpura, on a trek to the Pindari glacier, when… Read More Jawaharlal Nehru's 57th death anniversary / ‘हिंद के जवाहर’ का जाना…

27th May 202130th July 2022 Dilip

Gastón Gordillo: Nazi Architecture As Affective Weapon

One of Adolf Hitler’s most cherished dreams was to build the largest monument ever created. With the guidance of “the chief architect of the Reich” Albert Speer, he planned to remake Berlin around what he saw as the future core of the Germanic empire: the People’s Hall (Volkshalle), a dome that was to be 290… Read More Gastón Gordillo: Nazi Architecture As Affective Weapon

21st May 202130th July 2022 Dilip

Ravi Bhoothalingam: Coronavirus and the Mandate of Heaven (March 13, 2020)

NB: This thoughtful essay appeared a year ago. I planned to post it then, but it seems much more appropriate to be read now. It reads like a prophesy. DS The Mandate of Heaven is an ancient Chinese philosophical doctrine evolved during the Zhou dynasty in the first millennium BCE, to confer on an… Read More Ravi Bhoothalingam: Coronavirus and the Mandate of Heaven (March 13, 2020)

15th May 202130th July 2022 Dilip

Allah Baksh’s 60th death anniversary: May 14; 2021. By Anil Nauriya

Allah Baksh versus Savarkar Soon after the assassination of the legendary Allah Baksh on May 14, 1943, a young Sikh in Lahore wrote an elementary biography of the murdered leader. The first part of the title of the book by Jagat Singh Bright was “India’s Nationalist No 1”. Today, 60 years after the killing, India… Read More Allah Baksh’s 60th death anniversary: May 14; 2021. By Anil Nauriya

14th May 202125th November 2022 Dilip

Yair Wallach: The violence that began at Jerusalem’s ancient holy sites is driven by a distinctly modern zeal

Judaism, as it developed in antiquity and the middle ages, is a religion shaped by the absence of the Temple – destroyed by the Romans in 70CE. And while Jewish prayers speak about yearning for its reestablishment, the biblical practices associated with the Temple (such as animal sacrifice) are antithetical to the praxis and spirit… Read More Yair Wallach: The violence that began at Jerusalem’s ancient holy sites is driven by a distinctly modern zeal

14th May 202130th July 2022 Dilip

Barry Jenkins: ‘Maybe America has never been great’

Barry Jenkins first heard the history of the Underground Railroad from a teacher when he was six or seven years old. The school lesson described the loose network of safe houses and abolitionists that helped enslaved people in the American south escape to free states in the north in the 19th century. Jenkins as a… Read More Barry Jenkins: ‘Maybe America has never been great’

9th May 202130th July 2022 Dilip

Book review: Understanding Homer

In telling the story of his life, Kanigel unites it with Parry’s work to frame a single, massive question: What’s the relationship between tradition and inspiration? Born middle-class in Oakland in 1902, Milman Parry became famous posthumously for his idea that The Odyssey and The Iliad, thought by many to have been written by an individual human being named “Homer,”… Read More Book review: Understanding Homer

8th May 202130th July 2022 Dilip

Colette: The French resistance fighter confronting fascism – Oscars 2021 Short Documentary Winner

90-year-old Colette Marin-Catherine confronts her past by visiting the German concentration camp Mittelbau-Dora where her brother was killed. As a young girl, she fought Hitler’s Nazis as a member of the French Resistance. For 74 years, she has refused to step foot in Germany, but that changes when a young history student named Lucie enters… Read More Colette: The French resistance fighter confronting fascism – Oscars 2021 Short Documentary Winner

4th May 202130th July 2022 Dilip

The deep roots of Myanmar’s crisis

In this episode of Himal interviews, we speak to Geoffrey Aung, an anthropologist of Myanmar whose area of research focuses on the politics of infrastructure and the economic history of postcolonial Myanmar. He is currently a PhD candidate at Columbia University. In the context of the military coup and ongoing violence against civilians, Aung talks to us about… Read More The deep roots of Myanmar’s crisis

24th April 202130th July 2022 Dilip

Chris Hedges: The real tragedy behind the collapse of the American empire

America’s defeat in Afghanistan is one in a string of catastrophic military blunders that herald the death of the American empire. With the exception of the first Gulf War, fought largely by mechanized units in the open desert that did not – wisely – attempt to occupy Iraq, the United States political and military leadership… Read More Chris Hedges: The real tragedy behind the collapse of the American empire

20th April 202130th July 2022 Dilip

After the truth-shower

Philosophy, history, literature, current affairs, and other stuff. Posted by Dilip Simeon

Tag: History