The Dharma Dispatch Bestsellers of 2019

We know we're a week late but we had a hard although thoroughly enjoyable time in the process of curating some of the (subjectively) best, the most widely-read, shared, and impactful content published on The Dharma Dispatch in 2019. Your selections might vary and rightly so. Like food, the appeal of good writing is largely subjective. If you disagree with some of our selections, please leave a comment. So, in no particular order, here's the list of the Best of The Dharma Dispatch, 2019.

Happy Reading!

This occupies the Number One spot in the most widely-read and shared pieces on The Dharma Dispatch. It narrates the near-comprehensive story of how history writing both in the academia and in popular discourse was systematically destroyed by a cabal of Marxists who captured key institutions.

Read the full story.

This three-part series was the subject of much discussions both on social media and elsewhere and generated a flurry of emails and comments. It traces the history of the manner in which the Dravidian ideology all but annihilated the teaching and learning of Sanskrit in Tamil Nadu. All three parts are listed below.

A profile of Acharya Ramesh Chandra Majumdar, one of the greatest historians India has produced. The essay details how he among others was one of the great luminaries of the Modern Indian Renaissance and how he continues to stand as a great inspiration and role model.

Read the full story.

A unique obituary on the late playwright and Marxist ideologue, Girish Karnad who passed away in June 2019. This piece garnered a massive readership when it was first published. The impassioned verdict of history with regard to his legacy is that he used his art in the service of Karl Marx.

Read the whole story.

This six-part series profiling Vedacharya Sri Sheshanna Shrauti, perhaps the last of the representatives of a precious cultural and civilisational heritage: Vaidika Brahmanas. It is a translation of a Kannada essay authored by the national treasure named Shatavadhani Dr. Ganesh. The sort of response, and more importantly, the quality of response this series garnered is still fresh in our memory. There was an element of sanctity in the manner in which this series was received. Links to the entire series is given below.

When we started work on the Moplah Genocide of the Malabar Hindus, we hadn't anticipated the scale and intensity of gut-wrenching experience we would undergo. Writing it was one of the most painful exercises in our memory. Equally, the extent of response to it from our readers truly stunned and humbled us. It continues to be one of the most widely read and circulated pieces on The Dharma Dispatch.

Here are the links to the full series.

This rather detailed piece traces the origins, growth and influence of a now largely-forgotten institution named the Indian People's Theatre (IPTA) Association, a creation of the early Indian Communists. The IPTA eventually assumed a highly influential role in steering the national cultural narrative firmly in the direction of Leftist ideas. We were pleasantly surprised at the kind of brilliant reception this essay received.

Read the full story.

A tribute to Ācārya S R Ramaswamy, one of the towering luminaries of the era of cultural giants and civilisational stalwarts, still residing quietly in our midst. Writing this was a sacred duty.

Read the whole essay.

This brilliant piece by the venerable David Frawley a.k.a Pandit Vamadeva Shastri went viral in the simple but effective manner in which it punctured the Leftist and Western-colonial fake trope characterising Hindus as violent and dangerous.

Worth reading again and again.

A three-part study of the techniques that Communists used in mainstream Hindi cinema to push their agenda of toxic socialism and pseudo secularism in the public discourse and the long-term consequences thereof. The cult hit Deewaar stands perhaps as the most accomplished representative of this ideological subterfuge and propaganda.

Do read all the three parts linked below.

So these are our selections for 2019. See you next year with a similar!