Inner Metamorphosis

“Generally speaking, the errors in religion are dangerous; those in philosophy only ridiculous.” ~ David Hume In a rapidly modernizing world it is argued that cultural differences worldwide need to be ironed for a strife-free and rational global society. Religion – being the “opium of masses” has been a fertile ground for sowing hatred and is responsible for consequent bloodshed. Realizing that religion will not simply vanish from the face of earth overnight, the myth of all sameness of all religions has been purposefully built so that people understand that “ In essence, all religions teach the same ” or “ All religions are equally bad ”. Though an oversimplification, this is more or less true of the two important religions of the world – Christianity and Islam. Both have their own history of brutality and going overboard and committing excesses in their zeal to convert others to their faith. Yet, euphemism shouldn’t constrain us from exploring what might be political...

Many people quote Ambedkar’s works to abuse Hinduism and justify the mass-scale conversations on grounds these lower castes were condemned to suffer for centuries in Hinduism and they convert is to escape the tyranny of this cruel system. First things first – caste-based discrimination did take place in recent centuries. They continue even today. All right-thinking Hindus must come forward to condemn this unjust system. The original idea was that one should qualify to become a Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vysya or Sudra – the hereditary system as prevalent today is a clear deviation from the established principles. Ambedkar’s conversion to Buddhism Ambedkar conversion to Buddhism is itself is indicative of the intellectual power and historical-cultural perspective of Ambedkar for he didn’t choose one among the two more popular religions – Islam and Christianity. We’ll argue this point a bit later. Below mentioned are two connected notions widely accepted: ·...

Imagine concepts like feudal system, slavery, capitalistic exploitation and anti-Semitism being used to define the core of Christianity! Christians will be outraged at this inappropriate mixing of the core universal values of Christians and societal & historical aspects which merely existed in a Christian world. Now this raises the question – why is caste system defined as the core of Hinduism? Especially as “caste” itself is a western construct. Sounds irrelevant? Okay. Now imagine concepts like slave-trade, war on infidels, brutal subjugation of masses, temple destruction, and forceful conversions marking the core of Islam. It is considered sensible to first understand what the core scriptures speak about the religion and its universal values. The ills of the community & its societal aspects are differentiated from its core philosophy. Now, this brings us to the most interesting question – why is Caste System (caste based on birth) propagated to be the def...

Last few months kept me busy – professional and personal changes were too many to blog. Yet, from an intellectual point of view this was a remarkably fruitful period. Seven months back, I was hardly conversant with the Indian history and culture. I am not sure what started it – but I came across this blog www.sandeepweb.com which stimulated my interest to learn more about the greatness of Indian culture. From that, I moved on from articles to articles until that unveiling was as exhilarating as it was painful. Several articles from various authors challenged the widely accepted notions of Indian history and sought to expose the political designs behind maligning Hinduism. Below mentioned are few notions: Muslim kings were similar to earlier Hindu kings. They mingled with local populace and lived in harmony till Britishers came and used the “Divide and Rule” policy – the root cause of communalism in India today. Muslim armies easily subdued India...

The Telangana agitation in December 2009 was not a first, but it drastically changed the dynamics of this agitation. Before 2009 also many were fighting for separate Telangana and the emergence of Telangana Rashtra Samati (TRS) a decade earlier implied an underlying sentiment that the party desired to tap. Many people in Telangana region did have some grievances, but many such people didn’t feel that a separate state would benefit them. While the number of people supporting separate state was significant, those neutral/ opposing it was also considerable. Hence, the movement never gained momentum required to scale up this into mass uprising involving support from all sections of society. Movement in 1969 In 1969, the movement was primarily from dissatisfied government employees and students who were the first to perceive the negligence, exploitation, step-motherly treatment etc.  and protested against state government. Needless to say, the movement was crushed bruta...

You must give it to Congress government for successfully diverting the whole nation’s attention from its inadequacies to FDI in retail sector. It’s become a hot debate in webosphere and blogosphere. I have been reading different opinions from different ideologies and will use this platform to discuss more on this. The outrage against the move is widespread and there are common concerns prevailing out there.   I’ll try to answer the main concerns in this regard. Concern# 1 : Kirana shops will be wiped out. When organized retail like Big Bazaar first entered Indian market, there were similar concerns. But 10 years down the lane, I have not seen kirana shops closing down drastically. They remain in business despite the clear edge organized retail has over them. Imagine asking somebody not to open decent shop with modern facilities next to a primitive one as it will force the other out? Its competition boss ! Concern #2 :  Will cause large scale unemployment...

"Virtuous motives, trammelled by inertia and timidity are no match for armed and resolute wickedness."- Winston Churchill. Among the reports that are even critical of Manmohan Singh, there is always a mention of his personal integrity and honesty. The picture presented is that of an honest man thrown into an impossibly corrupted environment. Let me present the following scenarios… #1 :A bank is being looted by some robbers. The security person is fully equipped with a gun and has the potential to avert the situation. But far from attempting to avert it, he looks the other way when the robbery takes place. Did he personally indulge in robbing? No. Is the person of good character otherwise? Possibly, yes. But would you call him a person of integrity? I doubt. #2: You ask help from two of your friends. One person openly states his inability to help and moves out. The other person talks politely and lets you feel important while promising help. You take certai...