Hannah Arendt, one of twentieth century’s most famous political theorist and philosophers was catapulted to global fame with her coverage of the trial of Adolf Eichmann – the key architect of the Holocaust. Eichmann was abducted by the Mossad from Argentina and in a daring operation was spirited back to Israel where he was made … Continue reading On Hannah Arendt
When New Delhi was built by the British, a substantial chunk of the required land was under the possession of the Raja of Jaipur. The three villages – Jaisinghpura, Madhoganj and Raja ka Bazaar were acquired by the British and incorporated into New Delhi. All these three villages, lay on the trunk road which connected … Continue reading The Jaipur Footprint in Colonial New Delhi
Like most migrants, I insist, with moderate success, that my daughters speak their mother tongue (Malayalam), diligently expose them to Malayalam cinema (highly successful), feed them Kerala’s cuisine (Hobson's choice), infrequently take them to temples (where they are as clueless as me) and often drag them to Carnatic music concerts (which they tolerate for my … Continue reading The Codification of Culture
In ‘The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World', Dalrymple’s thesis is that once upon a time, India was the center of the world. It was the land that exported its goods, gods, ideas and science to the rest of the world that in turn shaped the world as we know it today. Most … Continue reading The Golden Road
Each time I hug and pamper my children, I subconsciously know that I’m contributing to the scaffolding of their mental architecture and shaping the landscape of their emotional world. And that dear reader, is the influence of Freud in our lives. Though his ideas are widely discredited today, Freud’s enduring contribution lay in being the … Continue reading On Freud
Over the weekend, I read the French political theorist Olivier Roy’s superb ‘Is Europe Christian?’ and was mighty impressed by his analysis and arguments. The transformations of Christianity since the time of Christ are well documented. Luther’s Protestant Reformation, the Scientific Revolution during the Enlightenment, the separation of Church and State brought about by the … Continue reading Christianity in Europe Today
The South Side Story, is organizing their annual South Indian music festival in Delhi this weekend. I went yesterday and caught Sithara of Project Malabaricus, TM Krishna and Agam performing live. Sithara was hands-down the highlight of the evening. With her rustic, folksy voice she really got my attention. Towards, the end she sang a … Continue reading South Side Story Music Festival 2024
Bharat Sundar sang at the India International Center a few weeks back; a short, brisk concert without too many fireworks. Karpagame in Malayamarutham Sogasuga Mridunga in Sriranjani (hearing this after ages) Padmavati Ramanam in Purvi Kalyani. (Oothakadu composition that I was hearing for the first time. Also learnt that this was composed as a tribute … Continue reading Bharat Sundar at IIC
Rajendra Chola, the chap who constructed the magnificent Gangaikonda Cholapuram and the son of Rajaraja Chola (immortalized in Ponniyan Selvan) ruled just about seventy years before Mohammed Ghori’s Somnath raids in the 12th century. I found this fact quite mind-boggling since I’ve never been able to visualize contemporaries of historic figures reigning simultaneously in different … Continue reading Random List of Contemporaries
The only thing I knew about Shahnaz Habib’s ‘Airplane Mode’ was that it was a book on travel that had garnered a decent amount of attention. Within a few pages, to my delight, I discovered that the Brooklyn-based writer dissecting her anxieties of traveling off the beaten track in Rumi’s Konya and Istanbul was a … Continue reading Shahnaz Habib’s ‘Airplane Mode’
