Inner Metamorphosis

Kancha Ilaiah’s tirade against the trading community in his latest offering “Samajika Smugglerlu Komatollu” (Vysyas are Social Smugglers) is a unique blend of misplaced Marxist lens with blinding Hinduphobic tint. Which precisely explains why his theories, each competing with the other in the race to logical abyss, are lapped up by the left-liberal world and Christian missionaries alike.  Eyelids become heavy when he refers to himself as a successor to Buddha, Phule and Ambedkar in the recent spate of interviews to Telugu media. If only he had bothered to research a fraction of what Ambedkar did, we would have had a less pompous, but more measured ‘intellectual’. Speaking of ‘intellectual’ (that’s how he refers to himself!), it is instantly clear to any objective viewer that what passes on as a social scientist’s observations are actually nothing more than Hindu hatred in its purest form.  Since he repeatedly refers to his “Why I am not a Hindu” as some sort of m...

Let’s test our knowledge of history: name 10 Hindu kings of India, quick! If you’re able to do so, you’ve have my admiration. But if you find yourself unequal to this task, don’t curse yourself, for this was the way our ‘eminent historians’ (Arun Shourie’s term for left-leaning historians who force-fitted history into their ideological template) designed the system. That Indians have no sense of their rich historical heritage, except when it can be used to shame them into disowning it as with caste system, sati, etc. In school curriculum, we (I speak of CBSE syllabus) had one chapter each for Moghul emperors with detailed description of the social, cultural and political scenario; we barely had equivalent treatment of the pre-Islamic India. While medieval history is detail-rich on the exploits of Delhi Sultanate and Moghul Empire, many southern empires are reduced to a footnote.  But nothing explains the shoddy portrayal of the one the most important empires of South Indi...

To sum up the story so far: Rohan Murthy, son of ‘Infosys’ Narayan Murthy, spearheading Murty Classical Library, an initiative to translate 500 volumes of traditional Indian literature into English, has refused to consider removal of Sheldon Pollock as the mentor and chief editor of the project. Rohan Murthy with Sheldon Pollock "It is quite rich to sit in the peanut gallery, pass comments and throw empty shells at those who are actually rolling their sleeves up and working on the ground," said Rohan of those 132 academicians and intellectuals petitioning them to reconsider their decision.  Many Hindus do not grasp the enormity of what’s at stake here and join the chorus to brand any indigenous attempt to question West’s stranglehold on Hindu academics as Hindu chauvinism (or is it Hindu nationalism of late?). Intellectual Colonialism One of Rajiv Malhotra ’s important points again comes to fore: other religions are “defined” by their practition...

The idea that government must be involved in family planning presupposes the inherent utility in having lesser population, which would presumptively put our resources to lesser strain. It is argued that since our resources are limited, the people would receive a better share of them, if lesser number were to compete for them.  Family planning has no cultural ethos in India as newly wedded couples are typically blessed to have as many children as possible by elders. Somehow, modern thinking (western to be accurate) has led us to this ‘realisation’ that more means trouble. This informs our basic understanding of the concept of family planning and remains so entrenched and few if ever have tried to question it. The utopian scenario that family planning aims for is a working couple with abundant resources having to spend them all on their one child as against a relatively poorer family struggling to meet ends with many children. This contrast in prospects bet...