Sandeep Balakrishna

ARTICLES

Vandalising Mricchakatika: The Artistic Fraud Called Utsav

Vandalising Mricchakatika: The Artistic Fraud Called Utsav

In my memoriam essay on Girish Karnad’s death, I had remarked that Girish Karnad was a mediocre director and a terrible playwright. Starting with this piece, we will examine a few prominent plays and cinema of Girish Karnad if only to puncture the hot-air balloon of unearned fame

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In Memoriam: The Dreams of Tughlaq-Tipu Girish Karnad

In Memoriam: The Dreams of Tughlaq-Tipu Girish Karnad

An obituary on the passing away of Girish Raghunath Karnad

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Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Muhammed Ali Jinnah: R.C. Majumdar Puts them in Perspective

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Muhammed Ali Jinnah: R.C. Majumdar Puts them in Perspective

In this Series Part 1: UNMASKING THE MAHATMAHOOD OF GANDHI: R.C. MAJUMDAR’S FRANK ASSESSMENT OF MOHANDAS GANDHI Part 2: INDIA’S INDEPENDENCE WAS SECONDARY TO MOHANDAS GANDHI: R.C. MAJUMDAR UNMASKS GANDHI Part 3: THE MISGUIDED MYSTIC’S MISADVENTURES: R.C. MAJUMDAR’S ASSESSMENT OF MOHANDAS GANDHI’S

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Crushing the Heroic Hindu Spirit: Glimpses of the Real History of India

Crushing the Heroic Hindu Spirit: Glimpses of the Real History of India

Today is the day we commemorate the sacred memory of one of the greatest Hindu heroes of all time: Pratap Singh I Sisodia popularly respected as Maharana Pratap. This unparalleled warrior and imposing Kshatriya lionheart was fittingly born in the formidable fort of Kumbalgarh. There was no room for weakness,

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The Untold Story of how the Doon School Goon Squad Ran Bharatavarsha to the Ground

The Untold Story of how the Doon School Goon Squad Ran Bharatavarsha to the Ground

An essay unearthing some lesser known facts about Doon School, an institution attended by the children of India's elite

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Forgotten Heroes: The Solitary and Courageous Fight of Baba Madhavdas against Christian Soul Vultures

Forgotten Heroes: The Solitary and Courageous Fight of Baba Madhavdas against Christian Soul Vultures

Nobody—including me—perhaps knows who Baba Madhavdas was. Suffice to say that he was akin to the countless millions of Sadhus and Babas who dot the sacred geography of Bharatavarsha who do no “productive” work but without who Bharatavarsha will lapse and descend into India. I first read about

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The Misguided Mystic’s Misadventures: R.C. Majumdar’s Assessment of Mohandas Gandhi’s Ideals and Methods

The Misguided Mystic’s Misadventures: R.C. Majumdar’s Assessment of Mohandas Gandhi’s Ideals and Methods

In this Series Part 1: UNMASKING THE MAHATMAHOOD OF GANDHI: R.C. MAJUMDAR’S FRANK ASSESSMENT OF MOHANDAS GANDHI Part 2: INDIA’S INDEPENDENCE WAS SECONDARY TO MOHANDAS GANDHI: R.C. MAJUMDAR UNMASKS GANDHI Years before R.C. Majumdar wrote his classic and authoritative History of the Freedom Movement in

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India’s Independence was Secondary to Mohandas Gandhi: R.C. Majumdar Unmasks Gandhi

India’s Independence was Secondary to Mohandas Gandhi: R.C. Majumdar Unmasks Gandhi

In the previous part discussing R.C. Majumdar’s frank and objective critique of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, we had seen how Majumdar showed, using Gandhi’s own words, that Satyagraha had no fair role in India’s struggle for freedom. In the present episode, we present a continuation of the

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Narendra Modi Bombs Secularism into the Dustbin of Contemporary History

Narendra Modi Bombs Secularism into the Dustbin of Contemporary History

In his victory speech on May 23 2019, Narendra Modi 2.0 yet again demonstrated yet another proof that he’s the Master of timing. With the casual swagger of a strategist and leader at the peak of his powers, he declared that even the Megharaja (literally: king of clouds,

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Welcome Back Prime Minister Narendra Modi: Bharatavarsha was Never in Doubt that you’ll Return

Welcome Back Prime Minister Narendra Modi: Bharatavarsha was Never in Doubt that you’ll Return

There’s really nothing to write because there was really no doubt in my mind that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would return with a comfortable, no, luxurious mandate in 2019. A more detailed essay will follow in a few days because like millions of my countrymen and women, I want

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