When I was in college, the roll call for attendance used to be exasperating for the profs as we had a Balaji Kartik, a Karthik and a Balaji Subramaniam in class. For me, nothing better exemplified the sway of Murugan in Tamil Nadu. Even for Keralites, Pazhani – the abode of Murugan is a revered … Continue reading Karthik/Murugan/Skanda/…
The Tughlaqs are seen as a relatively minor dynasty that ruled India from Delhi. But when you think of it, their 90-year reign from 1320 was greater than the age of the modern Indian Republic. Today, all that reminds us of their grandeur are their monuments still standing in various corners of Delhi and of … Continue reading Tughlaqabad
In the late 17th century, with scientific discoveries being the flavour of the season, Spinoza had already propounded his idea of God. Into this vibrant mix of new scientific thinking and philosophical daring entered Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. If there’s one person who can be defined as a polymath in the truest sense, it is Leibniz. … Continue reading ‘We Must Cultivate Our Own Garden’ for this is not the ‘Best of All Possible Worlds’
The most dramatic moment in the history of philosophy must be Socrates being forced to drink hemlock. If one is asked to pick another moment that could rank high on drama, my submission would be Spinoza’s excommunication in 1656 by the Jewish community of Amsterdam. Spinoza’s parents landed up in the Netherlands after fleeing Spain … Continue reading Spinoza’s God
So many of the gastronomical delights of our modern life would be impossible without modern refrigeration. Cheeseburgers, chilled beer, ice cream and of course all the imported exotic items like Norwegian salmon, Swiss cheese and Australian beef would have just remained local delicacies restricted to a few 100 kilometers from their point of origin had … Continue reading Our Refrigerated World
In the early years of my career in development, one of the raging debates was about the glory and ethical principle of working in the ‘field’ against joining organizations that paid lip service to development. Looking back, all of it appears so juvenile; as if development was only about working in rural, remote settings and … Continue reading On Simone Weil
In ‘Free to Choose,’ Milton Friedman—the poster boy of free markets and the favourite punching back of the left—makes an interesting comparison between India’s 30 years after independence and Japan’s 30 years after the Meiji Revolution. At these respective moments in time, both countries were similar in terms of their rigid feudal/caste structures, limited natural … Continue reading An India-Japan comparison
After visiting Sanchi, my next stop was Bhimbetka. Since I don’t own a car in Delhi, road trips aren’t a common feature of my life. So the two-hour drive from Sanchi to Bhimbetka was relished. The paddy fields, village roads leading to hamlets tucked away from the highway, India’s vaunted toll roads, Dusshera celebrations with … Continue reading Bhimbetka Notes
The Sanchi stupa is a spectacular Buddhist monument. It’s address is an unusual one as Sanchi was a city that the Buddha never visited during his lifetime. Hiuen Tsang who spent 15 years in India checking out all the major Buddhist sites makes no reference to Sanchi in his writings. The stupa is believed to … Continue reading Sanchi Notes
Until September 1924, India’s history was considered to have begun not more than 2500 years (500 BC max) ago. That month, John Marshall, the Director General of the ASI, in a piece published in the Illustrated London News, announced to the world the discovery of the Indus Valley Civilization based on excavations in Harappa and … Continue reading Discovery of the Indus Valley Civilization
