Yes. The Taj Mahal is a Despot’s Monument to a Woman
A cultural analysis of the real symbolism of the Taj Mahal
What Happens when a Hindu Temple is Destroyed
In the previous part of this series, we saw how Hindu temples show a remarkable sense of unbroken continuity and cultural unity in that they are still a living memory. The majestic Somanatha Devalaya that was rebuilt in 1951 is a superb testimony to this inherited knowledge-heritage, traditions, and
What is a Hindu Temple: A Brief Introduction
The conception, origin, evolution, and development of temples as physical, architectural, and later, artistic structures is perhaps as old as the dawn of human civilisation as we know it. Temples embody one of the finest, deepest, grandest, and most profound expressions of the Human Spirit of awe, wonderment, and a
The Bangalore Ganapati Clashes of 1928
The full story of an infamous communal clash in Bangalore 1928 because Abbas Khan, a Councillor was offended by the Murti of a Ganapati
Congratulations to Narendra Modi for the Action against these National Security Threats
Maoists and Naxals are national security threats. Discursive confusion arises at the precise moment one forgets this basic premise. Look at what’s happening in the immediate aftermath of the well-deserved and long-pending arrests of the five Maoists: Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun
Kerala Floods: When the Comrades Shed their Clothes
Nothing excites our Red-drenched comrades, now masquerading as liberals, as much as large-scale suffering. Larger the scale, greater are the swirls of the romantic and dreamy ideological mists that sway like diaphanous, tantalising curtains before their eyes. Their excitement is almost sexual, a heady tumescence anticipating a bloody
Atal Bihari Vajpayee: A Hero of India's Second Freedom Movement
In adversity, he was a unifier, in victory, magnanimous, in defeat, equanimous, and in exit, gracious. Atal Bihari Vajpayee. This is his finest hour. Mesmerising Orator A late rainy monsoon evening, 1991. The familiar venue of the National College grounds in Bangalore was overflowing, throbbing with energetic anticipation awaiting the
Christianising Carnatic Classical Music: The Madras Enablers of Cultural Appropriation
And just as I had predicted, the Ideological Iyengar has exploded in his naked, phoney fury and revealed himself in full technicolour craziness. Don’t take my word for it. Check his own tweet. Thodur Madabusi Krishna’s metamorphosis from merely being an Ideological Iyengar to a cultural hoodlum is
The Shakespearean Mists that Cloud the Colonised Indian Elite
Apart from being a great leveller, social media like sunlight, is a great disinfectant. In the heydays of blogging, if you bluffed, you would be mercilessly called out but you had a safety valve of sorts: you could run, lick your wounds, hide, and hibernate for a while. Social media
Is there a Faction in the Congress Party that Repeatedly Sets up Rahul Gandhi for Failure?
If fortune favours the brave and misery loves company, misery needs to heave a permanent sigh of relief. It has crown-prince-forever-in-waiting, Rahul Gandhi for constant company. In a recent podcast with a friend over the grave subject of the bizarre rigadoon that Rahul Gandhi performed live