This week's Indispire prompt of Indiblogger is unique in the sense that usually you know a place is interesting or not after visiting it. You know whether food is tasty or not only after you have tasted it. But the prompt asks you to write about an interesting place you are yet to visit. An …
Tag: India
A land linked by the footsteps of pilgrims
Post independence we can say our constitution defines the idea of India, apart from its physical boundries carved out through historical corrections and blunders. But the idea of India is an ancient one, as ancient as perhaps when efforts were taken to sanctify its mountains, rivers and all other important natural landmarks and link those with local/pan Indian deities and events of our great epics. It is not great kings or factors like language or ethnicity that created and sustained the idea of India, but rather the footsteps of the humble pilgrims.
Read the full article published on Bengalurureview
You may also read : understanding nationalism
“A specialty of India’s landscape is that all its physical features such as rivers, mountains and seashores, are associated with myths and stories, ranging from local to pan Indian, from obscure tales to famous legends known throughout the length the breadth of the country,” writes Durga Prasad Dash
There have been numerous western scholars who have written books about India and Hinduism. Most of them have tried to see India through the lenses of either orthodox Christian values or liberal western values. Having done away with the pagan Gods at the advent of Christianity, it baffled the Europeans who came to India to see a thriving civilization with polytheistic beliefs and multicultural identities. However, instead of probing India’s cultural roots and taking a holistic view, some authors focused selectively on only the negative aspects of Indian society such as the caste system, and tried to establish that their own culture…
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understanding nationalism
Yuval Noah Harai, in his book 21 lessons for the 21st Century, gives a beautiful perspective on Nationalism. He says that the nation is basically a story we tell ourselves. No doubt every nation has its geographical boundary. But without those stories, the collective feeling of belonging to a nation would not come. In order …
a meal to remember … and the journey
During High School days, I was an active member of the National Cadet Corps (Army Wing). When volunteers were asked for to attend the annual NCC camp of 1982 to be held at the HAL town of Sunabeda near Koraput, I was one of the first batch of students to register. Early one morning I …
TOI Campaign on Lost Votes : a case of misplaced priorities and flawed premises.
The Times of India is running a campaign these days. It is primarily about the lost votes on account of India's huge migrant population both within and outside the country. They had a special panel discussion session as part of the Times Literature Festival held in Bengaluru on 23rd and 24th February 2019. As per …
Continue reading TOI Campaign on Lost Votes : a case of misplaced priorities and flawed premises.
Educating India #1: Secularism
"Re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul.” - Walt Whitman On one hand, we cry foul that our nation is becoming less secular and more polarised. On the other hand, we encourage religious institutions to expand their empires of education. So we …
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I give you divine eyes
I was surprised at the logic of one of the bestselling authors of India. He tweets that even though, India is well known for yoga and Ayurveda, it has poor life expectancy. His further elaboration indicates that he means to undermine the efficacy of yoga and Ayurveda. I replied, ‘Sir, agreed that yoga and Ayurveda …
A SOLDIER SPEAKS
It is not that Army is fighting external enemies only. It is not that Army has to fight at physical level only. There are internal enemies, there are psychological enemies. Unfortunately, many of our own people are trying to undermine the morale and ethos of our soldiers by irresponsible statements. Or, who knows these people are agents of some external forces that want to destabilise the fabric of our nation.
In spite of all these anti india forces both external and internal, I am confident Army will come out with flying colours.
They know that the Indian Army is the last argument of the state. They know that after the Indian Army, there is nothing…no fallback. And so, with malice and cunning, they seek to undermine the institution and the man who leads it.
It’s a vicious web of half-truths, outright lies, deceit and ill gotten wealth. It is an eco-system where greed is king and the nation, a commodity to be sold to the highest bidder.
If you want to undermine India, what better way to do it than to undermine the institution with the utmost credibility and integrity? If you want to undermine the Indian Army, what better way to do it than abuse its Chief?
They know that the army will never respond. They know that the Chief of Army Staff will never respond. They are honour bound not to. So, the Indian Army and its Chief will maintain…
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