SG OwnBlog

Kite flying has always fascinated me. Every year, especially during Makar Sankranthi, kites are flown all over India to celebrate the beginning of Spring, end of Winter, the God Surya etc. The religious significance of the day is varied - and various Hindu narratives converge here. What remains is the beautiful way it is celebrated. When I was a kid, I never got around to flying kites except for some of the occasions like these. But the universal nature of the festival allowed people from even other religions to participate in great numbers. Kite flying and its associated Hindu origin was largely frowned upon in many Muslim countries. The Taliban had banned it in Kabul because it went against the Islamic principles. Even Pakistan had briefly banned flying kites in the Panjab state where it was quite popular because of the use of the Chinese sharp manja. But they turned around the ban last December and this was celebrated widely - especially in the city of Lahore. Considering th...

Republic of India has been independent for over 70 years now. Ever since 1947, and particularly since 1950 many Governments have come and gone. The Constitution of India has been amended. By over 370 times and counting. The name of the nation has also changed. From the simple 'Republic of India' it was changed to the 'Secular Sovereign Socialist Democratic Republic of India' for reasons best known to the then ruling elites. Few policies have remained unchanged or unchallenged regardless of the different Governments, political parties, emergencies and so on. That is the systematic institutional and legal discrimination of Hindus. Sounds surprising? And yes, BJP fanboys - you are just as guilty if not more. Let me explain why. There are plenty of laws, rules and regulations that this marvellous Republic of ours has given us. Learning about the laws that govern our lives require us to take a Law degree. Literally. The Constitution that we are bound to live by is s...

I have a beautiful small house in the hills. It is about 3 km from Manali, in Himachal Pradesh. It is not much. Probably calling it a cottage is stretching it too far. I have got a couple of bedrooms, a small drawing room cum kitchen where we dine as well. There is storage and a small garage that is mostly empty. I have got another small room with just a single bed and a study built on the first floor. It is just about ten feet by ten feet but it has got a retractable ceiling and a wall made of glass with the rest of the roof being something of a balcony. This is the place where I like to spend most of my time. x In the front, there is a garden with some flowers in the front and trees lining the boundary wall. My mother has planted a few vegetables in the back that we regularly use in the kitchen. We mostly require only rice and eggs from the market. A typical day starts with me waking up and going for a morning stroll. I often spend my nights in the room on the ro...

I should be sorry for the highly controversial and click bait title. But I am not. There are some things in life that you can not just let go. This taunt is one of them. Recently, Thomson Reuters published a report stating that they have found out the world's most dangerous countries for women . This was the eight iteration of their annual undertaking where they assess several metrics to reach a conclusion as to where countries stand. This year they have concluded that India is the most dangerous country for women. In the world. Even after Afghanistan, Somalia and Syria. Yes, you read that right. Even a war torn country with a barely functioning Government is safer for women that India. I know for a fact that India has its share of problems. But Somalia and Syria being better than India in terms of women safety was a bit hard for me accept point blank. Liberals in India picked it right up. This is as clickbaity as my own title here. The only difference is that they won't...

Christian evangelicals are similar to parasites [1] . The similarities are simply astounding. Among all predatory religions, Evangelical Christianity has done, by far, the greatest harm to humankind [2] . Like leeches, the Evangelical sucks the lifeblood of an unchristian society till it descends either into chaos and incessant civil conflict or the relegation of the culture to the pages of history   (Bowden, 1985) . Even in the 21 st century this unashamed activity continues   (Bhosle, 2003) . [3] Source: https://www.economist.com/node/21543526 Evangelicals usually have a similar methodology when it comes to proselytization. Like parasites, the target is usually one belonging to the most vulnerable section of society. This does not necessarily mean that they try harvesting only the most down trodden of the society   (Kelly, 2001) . And most certainly, the objective is never the upliftment of the persons involved. The target groups may, for example, belong t...

Introduction It is the land of enlightenment, the land of higher education, of spirituality. It is the land of immense wealth, great architecture, the birthplace of several faiths, the land where research on astronomy, literature, math, general sciences and philosophy flourished. The land is not Greece. It is not ancient Rome, Egypt, Sumer, Mesopotamia, or even the Central Americas. The land rests today between two states in the Indian Union - between Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal; the Indian state of Bihar. This is a referenced article. For list of references, please check this link . Nalanda University - What remains of it, that is Bihar has since earned a terrible reputation. No amount of whitewashing will remove that stain. It is now known as the dacoits’ paradise, the land of hooligans, bad roads, caste and religious strife, rampant crimes against women and almost all the social evils that one can probably think of. However, Bihar was nothing like this. Or at least it ...

People are alarmed at the supposed bans on meat in India. Actually, this is a trend all over the world. From China to Europe to the United States, countries are looking to cut meat consumption rather than promote it . Also, contrary to popular opinion, India has been one of the largest meat exporters in the world. India is also the largest exporter of beef in the world . That is something we need not be very proud of. I am not for a policy against meat consumption in general. I do discourage it, for  a variety of reasons. Religion is probably only a small part of it . In fact, except for beef, religion does not play a part here in any case. There are numerous pros and cons to both sides of the argument here. But there is something that should strike you. I am not sure if you have thought about it, but here’s a hypothetical thought experiment for you to ponder about. I give you (by you I mean a general test population of at least 50+ people) a variety of food items – that ...

The Indian formal education system has barely seen any fundamental reforms. Ever since Independence, the only changes that we have seen are the mid-day meal schemes and the Right to Education Act. The method of imparting education has remained pretty much the same (in many if not most countries) for decades. There are classrooms, with teachers for subjects. Students attend classes, take notes, study at home or in school itself, appear for exams, pass and graduate to the next class. This process continues to the twelfth standard till the end of school. This is basically the same thing that our fathers did as students. As did their fathers and probably our future generation will also do the same thing. But the flaws of this system are apparent. The students are given a one size fits all system in the length and breadth of the country (and perhaps even the world). This defies common logic. Localized customization is not only a luxury but should be considered a necessity. Student...

The Partition of India was a terrible catastrophe. There is no doubt about that. Millions were killed, displaced, thousands were raped, orphaned etc. All this was done in a space of a few months. Mobs frantically killed each other for life, religion, property, identity, revenge and any other reason they could then think of. Even since the call for Direct Action, there was no doubt about a serious religious conflict. What followed was an eventual ethnic cleansing of parts of India of non Muslims and Muslims. How it happened, what happened, how trains full of dead bodies piled up on each side of new borders is well known. Hundreds of books have been written, research over decades have been published. We know all that. The basic idea of it all was simple - Jinnah believed Hindus and Muslims are two separate nations and the latter should have a distinct political entity for themselves, based on Islam, their faith. To identify this they had to prove one thing. That the All India Muslim L...

In this Information age, the opinions of people are shaped by the discourse that happens in the media – the newspapers, the internet forums, the videos that are shot, the letters, open letters and counter letters. A vast majority of them are full of half-truths and that is not surprising as every side has skeletons to hide. The problem arises when a gullible population (read Indians) digest these printed words both offline and on as the ultimate Truth without question. Secondary sources and even imaginary accounts becomes Gospels to be used to shut anyone who dares to oppose the mainstream discourse. The Quint has recently published an open letter by a veteran soldier of the Indian Army named Major Gaurav. They apparently waited for a counter to that which was furnished by a Wasim Khan, a ‘Kashmiri’ who now is settled in Mumbai and runs a successful media agency (not surprising). So before we go into braindead blaming attempts, let’s analyze the two pieces one by one and check ...