This last week has been a bit of a traumatic experience for us, the residents of Puranikoti village, as far away from Khargone and Jehangirpuri as Sabarmati Ashram is from the BJP headquarters in Jhandewalan. Now, PK is a tiny village with just 192 “souls” ( as the PWD board proclaims), we don’t even have […]
THE BULLDOZER BLUES Read More »
Vasco da Gama (1469‒1524) from Lisbon arrived in Kôzhikôde (Calicut, 11o25’ N, 75o77’ E) in 1498, during the reign of Nédiyirûppû Swarõpam Mãnava Vikraman Sãmõŧírí1. Consequently, the early years of the 17th century were busy for Europeans. Britain launched the English East-India Company (EEIC) in 1600 AD to explore India, seeking pepper and cardamom. The
Unheard Voices: A Tranquebarian Stroll Read More »
Einstein had once famously remarked that the only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance. A surfeit of either is minacious. A mixture of both, however, can be disastrous. The elected government of Himachal is now displaying that it has both attributes in abundance and it is the residents of the state who are paying
SHIMLA : GOING, GOING, GONE! Read More »
Familiarity is the deadliest religious disease. We feel at home with the familiar, because the familiar does not make any demand on us. It excludes the need to think. Thinking has the potential to unsettle us in our settled ways. It is when the unfamiliar hits us that, thank God, our brain begins to tick!
IN THE IMAGE AND LIKENESS OF GOD? Read More »
by Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan Penguin Viking, India, 2022 We Indians must have one of the strongest traditions in the world of respect for older folk. I am from the generation where we touched my parents’ feet every morning. Indeed, even now, by way of greeting me on first meeting after any length of time,
Good Innings: The Extraordinary Ordinary Life of Lily Tharoor Read More »
From childhood, whenever I heard that ‘there was no room in the inn’ for Jesus when he was born in Bethlehem, I used to feel sad. It is only recently that I realized how stupidly wrong I was! Here is the reason, in case you are interested (it will take only2 minutes of your time).
THE COCOON VERSUS THE HIGH ROAD, OR THE INN VERSUS THE WAY Read More »
Last week I received a draft petition to the Election Commission of India from a well known writer and activist of civil society about the use of EVMs, with the request to obtain endorsements for it. I forwarded it to about twenty contacts, all well read people, engaged with and concerned about the state of
THE BJP IS WINNING ANYWAY, ELECTIONS ARE A SIDESHOW. Read More »
The Hindu family in Bengal that I was born into represented a gentle, tolerant faith. Admittedly because of the aftermath of the partition in which Bengal too was affected, there was some unease towards Muslims, particularly among those who had to leave behind their roots and memories in what is now Bangladesh but not much. Most
Transforming a People Read More »
It is an enormous pleasure today to be able to welcome the Sahitya Akademi Awardee, Rashmi Narzary, as a Columnist for our community. I am particularly delighted that she is our first woman Columnist. The word has been out for some time that we’ve been looking for at least one Columnist who is a woman, and
WELCOMING OUR NEW COLUMNIST, RASHMI NARZARY Read More »
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