Javed Akhtar was handed the topic of the Urdu script problem. He opened by saying there is no problem with the script at all. In this Jashn-e-Rekhta session, Javed Akhtar sits with journalist Pervaiz Alam, former BBC Hindi broadcaster, for a sharp conversation on the Rasm-ul-Khat debate. His central point is simple. Script and language… Read More Javed Akhtar & Pervaiz Alam on the Urdu Script Debate (June 28, 2026)
SHARMISTHA SHIVHARE – Published: 26 Jun 2026 On 14 June 2026, a Dalit man was killed, allegedly for refusing to massage a coworker’s feet, in Lalitpur, Uttar Pradesh. The setting of the crime scene was an informal get-together of four coworkers at one of the coworker’s residences in Civil lines. On refusing to massage his coworkers… Read More Lalitpur Killing Shows Caste Violence Is Sustained Through Everyday Humiliation
NB: A profound reminder that our self-appointed decolonisers themselves need to decolonise their minds. DS भारतीय ज्ञान परंपरा और संघी एजेंडा पर समाजशास्त्री प्रो. पुरुषोत्तम अग्रवाल के तीखे सवाल। क्या हिंदुत्व एजेंडा के तहत सिर्फ वैदिक-ब्राह्मण परंपरा का महिमामंडन हो रहा है और बौद्ध, जैन तथा लोकायत जैसी लोक परंपराओं को दरकिनार किया जा रहा… Read More भारतीय ज्ञान परंपरा या RSS का कोई छुपा हुआ एजेंडा? Indian Knowledge System: प्रो. पुरुषोत्तम अग्रवाल
Annihilation of Caste is not possible without a revolution. And revolution is not possible without the Annihilation of Caste Anand Teltumbde [Following is an edited and shortened transcript of the online speech delivered by the author on 17 April 2026 at the seminar on Brahmanisation at Jadavpur University] It may sound as a clever formulation,… Read More Caste Annihilation and Revolution
Abinash Dash Choudhury Cuttack first came to me as a palimpsest of stories in which the personal, the historical, and the mythological mingled without clear distinction. From my father, I learnt that it was the city where my paternal grandfather spent his final days in penury, shuttling between his workplace in the Old Secretariat and… Read More Seeing Cuttack
NB: Shashank is a former student of history at Ramjas College, the University of Delhi. He can be assured that his erstwhile teachers are very proud of him. DS The 2025 Karwaan Book Award has been awarded to Shashank Shekhar Sinha for Casting the Buddha: A Monumental History of Buddhism in India. The Jury also awarded… Read More Shashank Shekhar Sinha wins the 2025 Karwaan Book Award for ‘Casting the Buddha’
The very first essential for success is a perpetually constant & regular employment of violence: Adolf Hitler NB: This is what is happening in India. A concerted assault on simple human decency. It is not aided by the ruling establishment, it is the policy of the ruling establishment – regardless of partisan affiliation. There is… Read More “Freedom Of Worship Being Attacked”: Shashi Tharoor On Christmas Vandalism / Hindu extremists try to shut down Christmas in India
Anusha Rizvi’s The Great Shamsuddin Family is billed as a comedy. So why does it leave you unsettled? Apoorvanand Dolly Ahluwalia (Asiya) and Farida Jalal (Akko) in a still from the movie. Set within one house, and one day, the film maps how personal choices—marriage, migration, belief—are influenced by a wider climate of suspicion. If you wish… Read More Laughing carefully
NB: Those who bang on about Macaulay’s Minute on education (1835) should acquaint themselves with this early Indian patriot, whose work in education inspired a generation and who preceded Macaulay by many years. DS The men of Young Bengal emerge not as pale imitations of British liberals, but as creative political thinkers who addressed India’s… Read More ‘India’s First Radicals’ argues for a generous assessment of 19th-century Indian intellectual life
As I look back on their lives, I can now see, more clearly than when I was young, how my parents affirmed, in practice rather than in theory, the spirit of fraternity and non-discrimination Ramachandra Guha’s tribute to his parents. May their souls rest in peace This column stays away from mentioning my family, but… Read More Quiet luminescence
After the truth-shower 