Tag: Indian culture
Message from Karnataka: Mallikarjun Kharge must take centre stage
He invites respect, not rivalry. He is seasoned in politics and experienced in governance Rajmohan Gandhi As has been said a million times, a year is an eternity in politics. Any one of a hundred different things can upend the calculations of the smartest visualiser of the 2024 election scene. All, however, will agree that Karnataka has… Read More Message from Karnataka: Mallikarjun Kharge must take centre stage
The mridangam makers of Mylapore
Jesudas and his son Edwin are skilled craftsmen, known in the Carnatic music universe of Chennai and elsewhere for the mridangams they give life to, though they still face occasional communal biases Ashna Butani The sounds of Carnatic music on the radio fill a cramped room painted blue in a small lane of Mylapore. Photos… Read More The mridangam makers of Mylapore
The ‘Khan Market Gang’ is Back With a Flourish in Modi’s Naya Bharat
Irrespective of the present company he keeps, Jaishankar is a quintessential product of that real or imagined Khan Market fraternity. His newly accredited centrality in the Modi regime tells us as much about the external affairs minister as about the continued indispensability of the KMG to any ruler wanting to govern this difficult land Harish… Read More The ‘Khan Market Gang’ is Back With a Flourish in Modi’s Naya Bharat
Kerala: Muslim woman’s Hindu children inspire an Indian film
A new film on a Muslim woman from the southern Indian state of Kerala who raised three Hindu children has brought attention to the family’s unusual story. BBC Hindi’s Imran Qureshi spoke to the siblings who inspired the film. When Jafferkhan first watched Ennu Swantham Sreedharan (Yours Truly, Sreedharan), he says he was moved to… Read More Kerala: Muslim woman’s Hindu children inspire an Indian film
Dissent, Diversity Run Deep in Karnataka and in Indian Philosophy: A Conversation
Rahamath Tarikere and Chandan Gowda talk about philosophy, culture, resistance and syncretism in some traditions in Karnataka. Tarikere worked as professor of Kannada literature at Kannada University, Hampi from 1992 until his retirement in 2021. His extensive publications, which include literary and cultural criticism, travel writing as well as short essays on wide ranging matters,… Read More Dissent, Diversity Run Deep in Karnataka and in Indian Philosophy: A Conversation
India’s Urdu Press: A Bitter-Sweet Bicentenary
C. .M NAIM Last year, Urdu institutions in India celebrated a landmark in the history of that language—the 200th anniversary of the publication of Jam-i Jahan-Numa, the first modern newspaper in Urdu. It debuted on 27 March 1822, carrying a name that was clever and most befitting. It referred to the fabled “world-revealing goblet” of… Read More India’s Urdu Press: A Bitter-Sweet Bicentenary
Seventy-five Years After Indian Partition
Literature once filled in archival gaps by saying the unsayable. Now a younger generation is devising new modes of telling the story and finding new stories to tell. By Parul Sehgal Before it was an edict, and a death sentence, it was a rumor. To many, it must have seemed improbable; I imagine my grandmother, buying… Read More Seventy-five Years After Indian Partition
What today’s peddlers of Hindutva don’t understand about Hinduism
Mrinal Pande Writers are incurable fabulists. But lying sleepless in the dark encourages one to mull over the inflexible image of Hindutva, which is today less of a religion and more of a war cry against all non-Hindus. As elections in crucial states draw close and electoral rallies become vast, frenzied affairs, Hindutva is placed… Read More What today’s peddlers of Hindutva don’t understand about Hinduism
T. M. Krishna on Bharat Jodo Yatra
NB: For any mass campaign to focus on love and harmony is a welcome change from the atmosphere of communal animus and the non-stop sneering which has become the hallmark of Indian politics under the Modi government. Thanks are due to everyone involved in the Bharat Jodo Yatra. DS The Bharat Jodo Yatra began on… Read More T. M. Krishna on Bharat Jodo Yatra
After the truth-shower 