Life/Philosophy

False memes can direct the conduct of human affairs more than established science

A cultural transmission or meme is an element of culture (e.g., a perception, value or belief) that is copied and spread virally from one individual to another among people who find favor in their contents. Cultures generate memes. Thanks to science, a culture presents us with many memes that are reality oriented or based upon objective, compelling evidence. But other memes that are deluded are also promulgated. From a[Read More...]

What if TB, HIV medicines stop working? Experts unite against drug resistance

A picture containing text, person, person, suit Description automatically generatedOne year and 10 months ago when first case of corona virus was reported in Wuhan, China, entire world was terrified because no one knew if we have any medicine that will work against it. Possibly our worst fears came true and we witnessed the horrendous impact of the pandemic. One[Read More...]

Ambedkar, Gandhi, Marx…. Some thoughts on their philosophy

“True religion is a revolutionary force: it is an inveterate enemy of oppression, privilege, and injustice.” Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (Justice, Diversity, Enemy) Many philosophers, writers, thinkers and critics have, over the centuries, handed down a wealth of writings and speeches on life and its existence. From Democritus, Plato, Aristotle, etc., to modern thinkers like Marx, Engels, Lenin, Rosa Luxembourg, Mao, everyone[Read More...]

Our educational institutions are turning language into tool of discrimination

Pankaj Pushkar in conversation with Pramod Ranjan Pankaj Pushar: What has been your relationship with languages during your educational journey? How do you relate to different languages? Which language(s) do you use in your different activities?  Pramod Ranjan: I was born into a family which spoke the Magahi language. I spent my childhood at my maternal grandparents’ place. My Nana’s[Read More...]

Two centenaries on both sides of the Himalayas

Together the two, on both sides of the Himalayas, is a vast mass of land with almost half of the world population, huge resources, wide varieties of ecologies, agro-ecological and climate zones, and rich with by-gone civilizations fossilized in history. Mountain ranges stand high between them. But the uniformity that once put them on the same plane is exploitative systems[Read More...]

Love, Romance, Intimacy, Eroticism, Nudity and Sex Under Power Structure

When I was young, Helen was supposed to be a sex bomb in Hindi films. She played the role of vamp. But then, there were also others for the vamp roles. So, she stuck to her dancing roles. She was a good dancer. I still cannot understand why she was considered as a sex bomb. Perhaps, for the mainstream audience,[Read More...]

Malaria vaccine: Vital addition to toolkit for preventing malaria but no magic bullet

It is indeed a breakthrough scientific achievement that we Diagram Description automatically generated with medium confidencenow have the first-ever and only malaria vaccine to prevent malaria in children. This is an important (and long-awaited) addition to existing range of scientifically proven effective methods to prevent malaria. While we celebrate this moment of yet another milestone scientific feat we must remind[Read More...]

Gandhi vs. Ambedkar Debates and Search for Real Swaraj

 To celebrate 152 Jayanti of Mahatma Gandhi, most of the political parties from the Left to Right (barring a section of Ambedkarites) including secular parties are busy in celebrating Gandhi’s Jayanti with much compassion and commitment. In this respect, civil society and public intellectuals have written several articles in the newspapers and posted messages on social media to express their[Read More...]