In this guest post, RAHUL GOVIND gives us, by way of a review of Audrey Truschke’s book, a glimpse of the world of medieval Sanskrit and what they tell us about ‘Hindu’ and ‘Muslim’ identity in their own time. Why Audrey Truschke’s The Language of History is essential reading for every Indian (and Pakistani and … Continue reading Exploring ‘Hindu’ and ‘Muslim’ Through Medieval Sanskrit Narratives: Rahul Govind →
This article by HILAL AHMED is the third and final contribution in the set of three reviews/ comments on Manan Ahmed Asif’s Loss of Hindustan. The first contribution by Dwaipayan Sen can be read here and the second by Dilip M. Menon can be accessed here. A Political Reading This is a provocative book in … Continue reading Loss of Hindustan – A Symposium III: Hilal Ahmed →
This article by DILIP M. MENON is the second of the three pieces that comprise the symposium on Manan Ahmed Asif’s Loss of Hindustan. The first contribution by Dwaipayan Sen can be read here. The final contribution by Hilal Ahmed can be accessed here. The Loss of Longing “Nostalgia is not what it used to … Continue reading Loss of Hindustan – A Symposium II: Dilip M. Menon →
Manan Ahmed Asif’s recent book Loss of Hindustan: The Invention of India* has aroused considerable interest that goes beyond academic readers. Since the book deals with a matter that concerns not just our past but also how we imagine our future, we at Kafila decided to try out a symposium on it – on an … Continue reading Loss of Hindustan – A Symposium I: Dwaipayan Sen →
‘Secularism’ has now become a bad word and it is quite fashionable to attack, criticize and ridicule it. Just about anyone, regardless of whether s/he has spent even a minute thinking about it, can attack it. A television channel recently even decided to have a vote on whether we should ‘have’ secularism or not, I … Continue reading Secularism and the Myth of ‘Hindu’ Tolerance →
In a recent book Hindu Ekta Banaam Gyan ki Rajneeti [Hindu Unity versus the Politics of Knowledge] (Vani 2019), my colleague and friend Abhay Kumar Dubey raises some extremely important issues that have now become central to the struggle for a more just and inclusive India. The book is in Hindi and written in … Continue reading Discourse of Hindu Unity and Challenges in the Struggle Against the Right →
This tribute to Prof HARI VASUDEVAN by Prof SOBHANLAL DATTA GUPTA, who passed away in Kolkata recently, is being reproduced here, courtesy Mainstream Weekly. Thereafter, as we proceeded in our work on the publication of the texts of the documents, we began to face insurmountable resistance, quite surprisingly, from a section of the Left establishment … Continue reading Hari Vasudevan, the Soviet Archives and the Left Establishment: Sobhanlal Datta Gupta →
Ghya Chang Fou is not a Chinese or East Asian word – it is the name of this new dark Bengali satirical film that had its world premiere this September (2018), at the Transart Communication Festival, Nove Zamky, Slovakia. Below is the official trailer of the film, followed by my take on it – better … Continue reading ‘Beheading’ Marxism, Unleashing Desire: Ghya Chang Fou and the Marxist Unconscious →
Losing my religion, SecureDrop suicide and punching Harvey + this day in history w/the "Shining City Upon a Hill" and our song of the day by Typhoon on your Morning Monarchy for January 11, 2018.
Guest post by PRASANTA CHAKRAVARTY “Then is Now. The star you steer by is gone, its tremulous thread spun in the hurricane spider floss on my cheek.” ~ Basil Bunting, Briggflatts “He who writes the work is set aside; he who has written it is dismissed. He who is dismissed, moreover, doesn’t know it. … Continue reading Literature and Silence: Prasanta Chakravarty
