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
पुजारी का कर्म (Video + photo) पुजारी चिताओं के बीच खड़ा है, उसके मंत्रोच्चार उसके भीतर ही घुल रहे हैं, चिताओं की अग्नि में, लकड़ियों के जलने की आवाज़ और धुंआं मुखर है। अब तक उसने कभी दिन भर में, दो–एक से अधिक अंतिम संस्कार नहीं कराये, अब वह हर रोज़ सैकड़ों मृतकों के लिये मंत्र पढ़… Read More पुजारी का कर्म
In 2021, as we approach Shakespeare’s putative birthday tomorrow, there are more profound reasons why his character is pertinent. During this difficult year of lockdowns and isolation, Falstaff has emerged in my mind as a potent symbol of dispossession and social misfortune There may be Shakespeare characters who are more celebrated, or whose tragedies… Read More Sally Bayley: The Shakespeare tragedy that truly speaks to us now
First posted February 19, 2020 NB: Premen Addy passed away on January 15, 2020, coincidentally exactly a year after the death of my old friend and comrade Rabindra Ray. He was my kaka – my late father E.J. Simeon‘s maternal cousin. His father, Kiron Chandra Addy, was my granduncle, whom my father had nicknamed ‘Mejo’. He was… Read More In Memoriam. Premen Addy PhD; June 26, 1938 – January 15, 2020
On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the extraordinary experience of the Paris Commune, it is fundamental to draw a number of lessons from it. The measures a government takes regarding its Central Bank, the debts of working class people, public debt and private banks are decisive. If a popular government does not implement… Read More Eric Toussaint on 150 years of the Paris Commune of 1871
The theater historian Louise Kerz Hirschfeld, who was married to the production’s set designer, Leo Kerz, remembered the mood inside the theater on the opening night. “People were weeping,” she said in a phone interview. “At the end there was this deadly silence. Then, people got up and there was a 20-minute applause. For the… Read More Rolf Hochhuth, Who Challenged a Pope’s Wartime Silence, Dies at 89 ( May 2020). By Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim
NB: John le Carré was a literary genius and not just a writer of espionage thrillers. His novels were beautifully written, with deep existential reflection about the frailty and decency of human beings, and about contemporary politics. A Perfect Spy, The Honourable Schoolboy and The Russia House were among those which plunged readers into the conflicts of… Read More John le Carré, author of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, dies aged 89 / Betrayal, illusion, late middle age — John Le Carré novels were more than just spy thrillers
She was once the most publicly adored woman in the world, yet felt a deep lack of love in her private life. Now a new film about Audrey Hepburn, the first made with the consent of her family, reveals her extraordinary sadness and pain as she candidly discusses the traumas inflicted by her father, her marriages… Read More Nosheen Iqbal: 'The best-kept secret about Audrey Hepburn is that she was so sad’
After E.S. Reddy died on November 1, I wrote an obituary in the Financial Times, covering the major aspects of his life and work. In this column I offer a more personal tribute, of what he meant to me and to other scholars of Gandhi like myself.. I first met Enuga Sreenivasulu Reddy in New York in… Read More Ramachandra Guha: A tribute to ES Reddy, the father of my journey as a Gandhi scholar
First posted March 09, 2017 Mohan K. Tikku The most outstanding figure in 20th century Kashmiri literature has also been the least published poet of his generation. To his many readers and admirers, Dinanath Nadim has been a bit of a paradox. In a literary career extending over half a century, Nadim (1916-89) wrote a… Read More Dinanath Nadim: Kashmir’s forgotten poet
After the truth-shower 