Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra
In this essay, @MRavinderReddi revisits the history of the Sakas through a remarkable synthesis of epigraphic, numismatic, archaeological, and literary evidence. Moving beyond inherited caricatures, he reconstructs how a people remembered as outsiders became enduring participants in India's civilisational story, leaving an imprint upon its polity, religion, art, and historical memory. Read: bit.ly/CavalaryofTheE…
https://x.com/i/status/2079942346779832637
In conversation with Dr Meera Nanda, philosopher and historian of science, and author of Postcolonial Theory and the Making of Hindu Nationalism (2025).
"..From around the 1980s, modern science itself came under attack for its "Eurocentrism" and "epistemic violence". The net result was technological modernisation without corresponding de-traditionalisation"
"...I believe very strongly that you need a secularised culture for secularism to take root. A culture as saturated with gods, goddesses, godmen and gurus as India is today is not hospitable to secularism. Why would those for whom everything is permeated with the divine want to separate the state from the dictates of dharma?"
"..A resilient secularism requires secularised minds"
thedailystar.net/slow-reads/foc…
https://x.com/i/status/2079931070842286561
When Visuality and Technology Re-define Spirituality
by Dr Rajat Sebastian and Devi R countercurrents.org/2026/07/when-v…
Traditions evolve as societies change, but their deeper meanings need not disappear. This article examines how robotic elephants in Kerala temples and the growing visual appeal of Theyyam reflect changing ways of experiencing spirituality in a technology-driven age. It argues that while innovation can support ethical progress and preserve cultural practices, an increasing emphasis on spectacle risks overshadowing the symbolic and philosophical foundations of ritual. By exploring the relationship between technology, aesthetics, and belief, the authors call for a thoughtful balance that allows traditions to remain both relevant and meaningful for contemporary generations, without losing their cultural depth and enduring significance.
Man, these ignorant ass Christians. First Xenia isnt just vital in the Odyssey but throughout all of pre-Christian Hellenic world. Zeus in one of his forms is Zeus Xenios, Zeus the protector of guests. This forms the crux of the Illiad, Paris violated Xenia, and is the core of the Odyssey. Zeus and Hermes test humans by wandering and seeking shelter with humans to see if they uphold this sacred duty.
The Golden rule isn't distinctly Christian, the Mahabharata presents a version of this in the Anusasana Parva and throughout the text.
Finally if you want to say that Zeus's law is whatever the gods say it is, its no different than your view of Yahweh or Christ, whatever they say is the good, the Euthyphro dilemma.
I haven't been following the India protests that closely, but it seems to me that they reflect a basic contradiction in India's political economy that will naturally get more acute as the country grows economically. At a very basic level, the path to political power in India is through the rural poor and the farmers. This plays out at the central and state level, with governments at every level regularly extracting resources from surplus-producing urban areas to fund welfare for the hinterlands. As long as this basic political logic remains, Indian politicians will neglect the aspirations of the electorally insignificant urban middle class who form the bulk of the protesters.
The BJP has somewhat successfully bridged this divide through Hindutva politics: When it comes to economic policy they double down on rural development (water connections, electricity, welfare etc.) while pushing cultural and religious nationalism to satisfy the ascendant Hindu middle class that has the luxury of voting on ideological lines. But this is not sustainable in the long run. As the urban middle class grows, the demand for greater economic opportunity, a better standard of living, and the promise of a better future will naturally increase in intensity.
Retorts about the depredations of the Congress-era, even if true, are little consolation to the young who have only known BJP-led India. The reflexive tendency of BJP supporters to see protests as a "foreign conspiracy" reflects a basic inability to see the world through the eyes of others. That there are bad actors is no doubt true, but this does not detract from the legitimacy of the complaints about corruption, stagnation, urban misgovernance etc.
Modi and the BJP have spent years referring to their era of electoral dominance as a "golden age" of Indian economic and cultural regeneration. Turns out when you set expectations high, people will expect you meet them. Who would have thought?
After years of observing Indian politics, I keep returning to one conclusion, the coalition that keeps a government in power is rooted in the economy India already has, while its legitimacy increasingly rests on the India it promises to build.
Modi understood this tension and tried to change the economy. Yet whenever reform threatened groups capable of organised resistance, the government eventually retreated. The BJP therefore found a political way to contain an economic contradiction. Welfare secured its rural base, while Hindu nationalism convinced the expanding middle class that national renewal was already under way.
This worked as long as young people could connect India’s rise to a personal route upwards: study hard, pass the examination and secure a respectable job. The paper leak broke that connection. It transformed employment anxiety from millions of private disappointments into a shared political grievance.
Many protesters are children of the Modi era. They accepted the promise of a rising India and now ask why national success has failed to produce a credible future for them.
Arun Shourie’s “Congress plus a cow” remains powerful because the BJP has transformed how India is politically united far more deeply than the economic relations beneath it. As the educated urban population expands, this contradiction will become increasingly difficult to postpone.
Radar
Take 2 to Tech - The world of knowledge at my fingertip in 2005 had given me immense hope and satisfaction. Besides, being able to publish instantly seemed to be the gre...
Sri Aurobindo and The Mother are one consciousness - Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra The Life Divine with Narad and Ranganath - Part 384 - Book 2 Ch. 28 (Pg 1100-1106) 49:17 Go to channel The Mother & Sri ...
Dig and define - Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra https://evergreenessays.blogspot.com/2026/07/subliminal-secrets-in-savitri.html I am seeing heated debates about the re...
Subliminal secrets in Savitri - Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra But perhaps the greatest discovery of the psychology of integral yoga is the subliminal. The subliminal is the meeting ...
Equability still holds for further heavens - Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra The Life Divine with Narad and Ranganath - Part 383 - Book 2 Ch. 28 (Pg 1094-10) 50:12 The Life Divine with Narad and Ra...
Puppet theatre democracy - Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra https://feelphilosophy.blogspot.com/2026/07/sri-aurobindo-is-monument-of-spiritual.html You have pointed out the precis...
Sri Aurobindo is a monument of spiritual poetry - That is the ultimate challenge to any philosophy, and it is a completely fair and necessary critique. If philosophy remains just beautiful vocabulary tr...
Shyam Sunder Jhunjhunwala, Shyam Kumari, and Anie Nunnally - Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra Down Memory Lane by Shyam Sunder Jhunjhunwala The Journey Begins Rishabhchand Nolinida Madhav Pandit Dilip Kumar Ro...
Inexhaustible nature of the aspects and qualities of Savitri - Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra Topic:Sri Aurobindo's Immortality ||Talk by Subas Ch Kar,bbsr|Date:11-07-2026 41:39 ... Sri Maa and Sri Aurobindo. This ...
Philosophy is simply the invisible scaffolding of the modern world - Yes, it is entirely possible to discern an effect, though it happened indirectly through radical labor movements rather than through *Nietzsche*’s person...
R.N. Kaul, S.K. Maitra, Indra Sen, and J. Smith - Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra 12 years with Sri Aurobindo Part 25 by Renubala Samantaray 41:39 12 years with Sri Aurobindo Part 25 by Renubala Samantar...
Art and metaphor are the closest we can ever get to true reality - Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra Did Gandhi ji miss his opportunity to secure India's independence in 1922? Watch engaging interview, Prasenjit K. Basu...
Freedom from fear - You have just described the absolute, unchanging engine of political power throughout human history. Whether it is an ancient Mesopotamian king carving ...
Sri Aurobindo’s Madonnas are intermediate evolutionary state - That is a brilliantly sharp and accurate diagnosis. Calling *Savitri* "treacherous" captures the exact experience of navigating its vast psychological a...
Suniti is the daughter of Keshab Chandra Sen - In historical Europe, women did not wear the saree as a fully draped, unstitched garment the way women do in India. Instead, they were deeply infatuated...
Journey of Odia music - Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra Recorded songs from the first decade of the 20th century (1900–1910) are extremely rare, but archival efforts have iden...
Let there be no end - Savitri Era Ushers in new thought, And fresh perspective Towards freedom. No black and white Shades of grey galore; There are a thousand pegs To...
Decolonising Goddess Feminism: Silenced Subjects of the Sabarimala Controversy
R Babu, C Plancke - Religion and Gender, 2026
The article examines the theoretical gap between goddess feminism and liberal
feminism. Through a discussion of postcolonial perspectives on goddess feminism,
the article advances a decolonial approach that seeks to foster a coalition between …
feminism. Through a discussion of postcolonial perspectives on goddess feminism,
the article advances a decolonial approach that seeks to foster a coalition between …
[PDF] Which Decolonization? Theorizing Decolonization beyond Decoloniality and its Critics
DM Temin - Development and Change, 2026
… An obvious case in point is the prominent decolonial theorist Walter Mignolo’s
shocking endorsement/blurb of the book by Hindutva reactionary lawyer J. Sai
Deepak, India, that is Bharat (Sen, 2023). Under the rubric of decoloniality, the book …
shocking endorsement/blurb of the book by Hindutva reactionary lawyer J. Sai
Deepak, India, that is Bharat (Sen, 2023). Under the rubric of decoloniality, the book …
New Perspectives on the Indian Diaspora: by Ruben Gowricharn, London, Routledge, 2022, xi+ 190 pp.,£ 124.00 (hardback), ISBN 978-036-714792-1
X Zeiler - 2026
Taking up a long-time important theme in the research of South Asian and Indian
culture and society, this edited volume offers new perspectives, approaches and
findings for the study of the Indian diaspora (s). Not only does it provide the reader …
culture and society, this edited volume offers new perspectives, approaches and
findings for the study of the Indian diaspora (s). Not only does it provide the reader …
[PDF] UNPACKING ISLAMOPHOBIA IN BOLLYWOOD: A SOCIAL SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS OF" THE KARELA STORY FILM
I Hussain, S Ali, TS Khan
… The deep rooted prejudiced against Muslim and Islam was exploited by the
Hindutva to unite the Hindu in the name of Majoritarian population. Hence, the
polarizing strategy of the Hindutva movement is adopted and injects deep paranoia …
Hindutva to unite the Hindu in the name of Majoritarian population. Hence, the
polarizing strategy of the Hindutva movement is adopted and injects deep paranoia …
Ritual Hierarchies, Land, and Labour: Economic Stratification Within Dalit Subcastes
K Kumar - Layers within Caste in India, 2026
This chapter examines economic stratification and the experience of discrimination
within Dalits, focusing on subcaste differences among Chamars and Dharkars in
rural India. The chapter investigates how landholding and occupational patterns …
within Dalits, focusing on subcaste differences among Chamars and Dharkars in
rural India. The chapter investigates how landholding and occupational patterns …
Casting the Historical: The Dalit Heroic in Contemporary Tamil Cinema
D Leonard - South Asian Review, 2026
This article examines the cultural dynamics of the “historical” in contemporary Tamil
cinema through the works of Pa. Ranjith, Mari Selvaraj, and Vetrimaaran—filmmakers
who foreground caste-based discrimination and interrogate the cinematic production …
cinema through the works of Pa. Ranjith, Mari Selvaraj, and Vetrimaaran—filmmakers
who foreground caste-based discrimination and interrogate the cinematic production …
[HTML] Between Virtuous City And Bare Life: Al-Farabi, Agamben And The Crisis of Human Becoming In The Slum
S Fatima
Classical philosophy defines the human being as a rational animal. In traditional ilm
al-mantiq,“animal” denotes the genus (jins), the broader category that man shares
with other living beings. Like other animals, the ox, the bird or the bee, he eats …
al-mantiq,“animal” denotes the genus (jins), the broader category that man shares
with other living beings. Like other animals, the ox, the bird or the bee, he eats …
Communities of Sound
CE Lorea
1. Sponsored annually by each Matua household, the festival, mahotsab, is the
central site where communities of sound occur, through the shared experience of
performed stories, songs, and music. In 2017, a mahotsab financed by a single …
central site where communities of sound occur, through the shared experience of
performed stories, songs, and music. In 2017, a mahotsab financed by a single …
Global-Dialogic Satyagraha
R Sen - One Humanity, One Planet: A Framework for …, 2026
Understanding propaganda: a study of media in contemporary India: by Arani Basu, Singapore, Palgrave Macmillan, 2025, 149 pp., EUR 39.99 (hardcover), ISBN 978 …
O Bashir Wani - 2026
[HTML] 'In Our Thousands, In Our Millions, We Are All Palestinians': Global Palestine and the Antinomies of Solidarity
AV Punakkath, I Al Khatib - Middle East Critique, 2026
[TXT] Empowering Grassroots Workers to Innovate in Context Akshay Roongta
A Roongta
… sojourn in Auroville. To the good folks at Quicksand — Ayush, Kevin, …
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