By Graciela Mochkofsky It may come as no surprise that a country as deeply polarized by its recent history as Chile is also at war over the relevance of its preëminent poet, Pablo Neruda. In December, fifty years after the coup d’état that brought General Augusto Pinochet to power, Chileans rejected an attempt to write a new constitution… Read More Black thread in the brightness: the second death of Pablo Neruda
A centuries-old mosque was razed in south Delhi’s Mehrauli area during an encroachment drive, with the Delhi High Court ordering a status-quo on the land. The Masjid Committee said they were not given prior notice and “treated like criminals” by the authorities. The Delhi High Court directed the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to maintain the… Read More ‘Treated us like criminals’: Masjid committee after Delhi authority razes mosque
A few years ago, Germany seemed like it had all the answers. But in 2024, we find ourselves in a land of bleak absurdity Peter Kuras Germany doesn’t have a reputation as a funny country, but its dark humour is currently shaming the best recent efforts of both Britain and the US. Not that there… Read More Tractor chaos, neo-Nazis and a flatlining economy: why has Germany lost the plot?
‘I have written five books, but I feel that they are all one book. A book about the history of a utopia …’ Svetlana Alexievich held her Nobel Lecture on 7 December 2015, at the Swedish Academy, Stockholm. She was introduced by Sara Danius, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy. The lecture was in Russian.… Read More Svetlana Alexievich’s Nobel Lecture (2015)
Raghu Karnad According to the Mahabharata, the legendary city of Indraprastha was founded by the five Pandava brothers for their queen, Draupadi. Its wide streets and orchards surrounded a palatial hall, built by the demon-architect Maya, which appeared ‘like a mass of new clouds conspicuous in the sky’. The hall was ‘so rich and well built’… Read More Looking for Indraprastha
NB: This most perceptive essay on concepts of imperium was delivered at the Indian History Congress in 1991, and published by the Indian History Congress proceedings Vol. 52 (1991), pp. 831-887) The Soviet Union has just expired, and it seems only natural to know why. It appears as a failure; and to most it illustrates… Read More Madhavan Palat: Forms of Union – Russian Empire and the Soviet Union (1991)
January 22 has been projected as Victory Day. It is, of course, a victory, but not of the vibrant Hindu religious tradition, but of a majoritarian, exclusionist project that is deadly opposed to an inclusive, modern, and dynamic idea of India. The hurried consecration signifies not any vindication of Hinduism, but its appropriation by a… Read More The idea of Ram and the idea of India
NB: The only book by Greil Marcus that I’ve come across is The Dustbin of History; a set of incisive literary essays, mostly book reviews and cultural cum historical meditation. Well worth reading. As is this essay. DS whatever language is the language of your work, if I can move anyone else as that work… Read More Greil Marcus: Why I Write
मध्यमार्ग का अवसान : दिलीप सिमियन (Translated by Suman Keshari)The Broken Middle 1984 की हिंसात्मक घटनाओं को मुख्य रूप से सहमति की राजनीति और साझा भारतीय राष्ट्रवाद के आदर्श के विघटन के रूप में देखा जाना चाहिए। जब साम्प्रदायिक शत्रुताएँ समाज में व्यापक रूप से फैलती हैं, तो वे (प्रत्यक्षतः अथवा अवचेतन ढंग से) सामाजिक चेतना को छिजाते… Read More मध्यमार्ग का अवसान: दिलीप सिमियन (EPW, November 2014)
NB: I had posted this in November 2022, and am reposting it today because of its prophetic quality. Apologies to those who have already read it. DS First posted January 31, 2015 यह चिट्ठी महात्मा मोहनदास करमचंद गाँधी को पहुंचे. महात्माजी, मैं न संसद-सदस्य हूँ, न विधायक, न मंत्री, न नेता. इनमें से कोई कलंक… Read More हरिशंकर परसाई: महात्मा गाँधी को चिट्ठी पहुँचे (1977)
