Part-I Curtain on era of patronage of Arabic and Sanskrit learning The role of Lord William Bentinck (14 September 1774 – 17 June 1839) for restructuring the socio-cultural foundation of the Hindus “debased by three thousand years of despotism and priestcraft” [1] can rarely be exaggerated. His bold move to ban and abolish the cruel practice of suttee, which implied burning[Read More...]
I’ve come to realize that I don’t conform to ideas of any particular political party, religion, ideology and position in the way that others think the world or people should be or other positions should be. It is because I think and feel independently. Besides I was not indoctrinated by my parents or others. They let me be free. Yes,[Read More...]
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…So said the famous playwright and political activist George Bernard Shaw. Alas, instead of being celebrated, older age is feared and looked down upon by many and ageism fuels this fear. Ageing is a natural process and begins the moment one is born. But ageism is not. The World Health Organisation defines ageism as “the stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination against[Read More...]
In my “Putting the Decalogue Under a Microscope” I distinguished between “normative” and “empirical” statements relative to human behaviors. The latter are factual statements that pertain to either a given individual, or humans in general; the former are assertions as to what behaviors individuals should, or should not, engage in. Thus, although both types of statements pertain to human behaviors,[Read More...]
When I was a boy I once heard my father wondering to my mother why “a day did not have more than twenty-four hours”. I know it is difficult to believe, but it is a fact that my father spent several decades of his life working fourteen to sixteen hours a day. When he ate, slept or relaxed, only he[Read More...]
Diya Barmecha from Mumbai, proving that young minds are capable of thinking equally, if not better than older ones. A stunning essay on the life of a security guard, drawing out the discrimination inherent in society. This day was like any other. What else can you expect from the life of a security guard of a common building? Right on time, the[Read More...]
15 year old Abhipsha Mohanty leads us to this fairytale land of clean skies, green farms, beautiful fragrance in the air and a peaceful life.But all of this for real in her village in Odisha, which she points out is the 6th cleanest village in India. Here is a wonderful message of cleanliness. Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The soul of[Read More...]
(This is concluding and Part-3 of an article. ) English medium at primary school level is certainly harmful, more so to the rural and poorer masses. That is a key lesson in my life’s experiences, both as a student and as a teacher. It is being promoted by ruling classes, more aggressively in much of South India : English[Read More...]
The “Decalogue”—more commonly known as the Ten Commandments—is a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship. These are fundamental to both Judaism and Christianity. The text of the Ten Commandments appears twice in the Hebrew Bible: at Exodus 20:2–17 and Deuteronomy 5:6–17. I, however, prefer to think of the Decalogue as a collection of normative statements, as opposed[Read More...]
Writing an essay on Mahatma Gandhi, Indian Philosopher Akeel Bilgrami noted that “Its generally foolhardy to write about Gandhi, not only because you are never certain you’ve got him right, but because you are almost sure to have him wrong”. This is a pessimistic proposition in the light of the huge corpus of literature that is been brought out by[Read More...]
