I AND MY WORDS

  Sri Aurobindo at the Bengal National College in 1907 (courtesy Sri Aurobindo Institute ) 15th August is celebrated as India’s Independence Day. It is also the birth date on the Gregorian calendar of one of India’s most celebrated children, a man who left an imprint in the temporal and spiritual worlds in a way few have. That child of Bharat Mata, of Shakti, was Aurobindo Ghosh. Dr. Karan Singh, a scholar on Indian philosophy, had written an interesting book about Aurobindo Ghosh many moons ago, calling him the ‘Prophet’ of Indian Nationalism. The choice of terminology seems rather problematic to this day, but perhaps one can forgive it for the intent it wishes to highlight - that the sleeping spirit of the nation, when it needed a jolt, a thousand watt powerful lightning strike, had the opportune man to do it in the form of Aurobindo Ghosh.  For a man who had grown up in England, Sri Aurobindo’s fierce spirit of nationalism had a remarkable quality to it. While Dr. Karan Singh attrib

Courtesy: Indiatimes Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar)’s Simranjit Singh Mann asked for the removal of Bhagat Singh’s portrait from the museum at the Darbar Sahib, calling him a terrorist, and sent shockwaves through the political landscape of Punjab.  However, this is not the first time that he has raised this demand, but the shock value this time is higher given that now he is a Member of Parliament from the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat.  Criticism has come from every party, with people asking him to stop insulting the image of Bhagat Singh and his role in the freedom struggle. What is interesting though is the silence of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on the entire matter. The youth wing of Mann’s SAD(A) has actually shared a letter with the SGPC to support their demand. In this letter, Bhagat Singh claimed that he was an atheist. That is definitely true; in fact, one of his most famous essays, “ Why I am an Atheist ” is a major lighthouse for the Marxists of India despit

An old Mexican painting about 16 castas (Wikipedia) Recently, I came across perhaps the nth thread on the issue of caste and its European origins. While I cannot disregard the seriousness and merit of the arguments often put forth, it's something that I feel rather jaded about. Allow me to elaborate on some points that would perhaps clarify my position on the same. First of all, this is a rather complicated issue because in all honesty the jati ossification can be traced back genetically. A lot of genetic studies have been done that came to this conclusion, dating it to 2,000 - 2,500 years ago. While it has its fair share of criticism DNA results can't be just wished away. Therefore to ignore this would be naiive at best. European caste system certainly is a reality, and that same understanding was perpetuated to understand India. It was not an Iberian peninsula phenomenon; rather, it was widespread across Europe. A good indicator of the same would be the long standing presence

  It is kind of disconcerting that we have so much brouhaha to the kind of unfounded, selective discourse being written about people and the choice of characters we have taken up, just to put across a point. Be it the whole rigmarole about Savarkar’s petition, or the hilarious outrage about Jawaharlal Nehru verging on muted hagiography, there are several problem points that keep getting parroted without substance. Controlling discourse, the once strong citadel of the select few, and glorification of those who had little to say for themselves, is intellectual dishonesty that we wish were not prevalent in the vox populi media and academia of our times, especially when information lies everywhere. However, each point that causes outrage deserves its own dismissal, which shall be presented in a rather brief manner. The ‘Mercy Petition’ of Savarkar – Different Yardsticks for Different People So much has been written about the petition about Savarkar as if it was some kind of sin. Whil

India at the Time of Independence in 1947 A large number of left leaning academics have been perpetuating this nonsensical myth of the forceful takeover of Hyderabad for a while. I had responded earlier on a Twitter thread, and I am going to tell you that the claims of 200,000 Hyderabadi Muslims being slaughtered to death by the Indian forces are a ruse. This is essentially to cover up what the Razakars that resolved to uphold the Nizamiyat and make it a Khilafat did to the powerless majority of the princely state.  let us take a look at the 1951 census data and compare it with the data of the 1941 census. 1941 Census of Hyderabad tells us that there were 2.09 million Muslims. It can be seen here for those wishing to get references. In contrast, what do we see with the 1951 census? The Muslim population of the Hyderabad state was 2.2 million. That is right. 2.2 million. That is an increase of 0.11 million between ten years. i.e. a growth rate of 5.2% in the decade 1941-51 This clearl

  The Kashi Nandi, Staring Towards Gyanvapi  It is with irony that I note the manner in which the ongoings in Kashi are seen as some sort of weaponization . The thing that I find extremely depressing about Pratap Bhanu Mehta’s weaponization of academia to target a manifestation of the expression of faith repeatedly tells me more about the intellectual dishonesty that has been perpetuated by his comity for the last seven decades. If reclaiming temple sites is weaponization, how is it that temple demolition by the Islamic invaders in the name of jihad gets the term 'recontextualization' ? I don’t even need to take Mr. Mehta to Kashi – this is the case given for the formation of Quwat-ul-Islam mosque, which was built by ‘reusing’ rubble from destroyed Jain temples alongside Hindu ones in Delhi. The answer evades us to this day, except when one sees the blunt truth behind it. Over the past seven decades, there has been a rather blitheful effort bordering dishonesty to justify act

The 2021 Bengal assembly elections are going on, with the latest voting round witnessing deadly political violence in Cooch Behar. However, as an observer, and that too as Obangali or Bahiragata, there are broader meta narratives that have been emerging for a while. It is strange that most people have failed to notice a few trends. While the economic and development trends are well understood and have been discussed to the point of saturation, there is increased interest in the Hindu identity of Bengal, and open questioning of the shenanigans of the Kolkata bhodrolokis in the name of minority appeasement that has hung over the state of Bengal for decades on a stretch now.   Cultural Revivalism of the Subaltern Hindus What do I mean when I say cultural revivalism? Many people will actually not take my claim lightly, but let me give an example to highlight what has been going on. Irrespective of the Trinamool’s power control, the television industry of Bengal has seen a success fo