For the ’sms generation’ which feels anything more than four lines is a lecture, Sayesha has what she calls executive summaries of Kabir’s two-liners.
Kaal karey so aaj kar, aaj karey so ab
Pal mein pralaya hoyegi, bahuri karega kab?
Rough translation: Do today what’s due tomorrow. Do now what’s due today. If the moment is lost, when [...]
Two posts on languages, religion and identities. Razib foresees more intense conflict, in a globalizing world, among civilizations:
Though language is emotionally salient for many, that is really not what I had in mind. In The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order Samuel Huntington presented a thesis which used religion as the major [...]
A blog dedicated to the saint composer Thyagaraju: V.Govindan has been posting trasliterated versions of the composer’s Telugu Kritis in English (and in Devanagari, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam scripts), together with the translation in English. A commendable effort. The latest post features the Kriti ‘ramA ramaNa rArA’.
In 1993 in Hyderabad a group of women from different feminist organisations decided to venture into the challenging terrain of publishing a feminist magazine in Telugu and the first issue of Bhumika came out in the month of Jan1993.
Bhumika Women Collective emerged in the context of the women’s movement as a felt need to make [...]
Noticed this interesting blog ‘Makkal Sakti‘ (which, I guess, means ‘People’s Power’ in Tamil) which focuses on issues facing Malaysian Indians. This post by Joe Fernandez, a former newspaper editor, unveils one perspective on the recent unrest in Malaysia:
Does the fate of the Tamils in Malaysia hinge solely on the government? The Tamils are the [...]
Harini welcomes the singing of Tamil hymns in the Nataraj temple in Chidambaram:
And, this is 2008. Devotees still face the kind of threat that Tulsidas faced when he rewrote the Ramayan in Brij Bhasa and Jyaneshwar translated the Bhagwad Gita into Marathi … thereby making them accessible to all. People of all types arent’ allowed [...]
[ This is Essay # 22 in our Spotlight Series. Click here for the archives.]
Beyond the Open Road, Wandering and Wondering
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Anil P
Now when I look back I wonder if I’ve been lucky to not confront, even once, any introspective thought on the merits of travel. However, I’ve been asked just that by people. This [...]
BVN muses on diversity, language, religion and politics:
…in Mumbai we are comfortably silent when the Shiv Sainiks take on the valentines or muslims or the touring Pakistan cricket team or M.F Hussein. They are like that, we know they are crazy. But when the Sena turns to North Indians, there is news value, and perceivable [...]
Indiatime expresses concern at how Sanskrit has been discarded in India.
Although most Indians speak at least 2 languages, and many speak more than 3 or 4 fairly fluently, India has still managed to lose its most precious language, the language that was the origin of most of the Indian languages, and the language that Hinduism’s [...]
The name of Purandara Dasa is well-known to even the youngest students of Carnatic music. Known as the pitamaha of Carnatic music, his compositions are much sought after for recitals and competitions.
Bellur posts a tidbit trivia post on Purandara Dasaru.
For the uninitiated (like me), Wikipedia provides a detailed introduction.
The Conscience Keeper speculates on how U.P., might be carved up, giving us a glimpse what cynical electoral equations are driving the creation of new states:
By being the first to take a firm public stand on the issue, the BSP gets a chance to define the three regions in a concrete manner. In course of [...]
Cuckoo has some questions for Raj Thackeray:
Do you have any idea what impact your insane statement will make eventually ? Have you forgotten Godhra or Babri Masjid ? Do you ever realize what will happen if other states also follow the same suit ? Are you not on the path of creating many countries within [...]
Kalyan sheds some light on the world of the Bauls:
The word ‘Baul’ refers to three terms- betul meaning ‘out of rhythm’, vayu meaning ‘air’ or the inner flow of energy which gives life and harmony to all living beings ; and auliya, a term of Arabic origin, which means ’saint’ or ‘holy man’. This is [...]
Sujai thinks we should thank the Tamils for opposing the imposition of Hindi:
While other South Indians did not have the same clout over Indian Administrative Services and other bureaucratic jobs, Tamils were ruling the roost. They had featured in constituent assembly and cabinet meetings to influence the thinking of the Indian Government, and they fought [...]
Thackeray and the recent events in Mumbai seem to be on many bloggers’ minds- so, here are a few more posts on the issue:
Sahadevan isn’t happy with the inaction of the Maharashtra government either:
Some political parties have no good policy for people. They are befooling people, divide and rule what BJP and Congress have been [...]
Abhinandan Mishra foresees the unfolding of an old story in Maharashtra: pawns become wazirs as a spineless government looks on:
The Shiv Sena was earlier more of a pawn which the Congress used to its benefit, and now the same Shiv Sena runs a parallel government in Maharashtra. There is more than enough evidence to book [...]
[This is Essay #13 in our Spotlight Series. Click here for archives.]
Thinking-Feeling Dual-Citizenship
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Shashi Thandra
Since I am trying to think about how one negotiates several spaces emotionally, cognitively, and physically, it is worthwhile to say where I am. Born in Hyderabad, I lived there as well as Sirsila and Karimnagar during my brief eight years in [...]
Alin Dostofei is working on the presentation of a new, modern identity for the Roma to challenge a long history of ‘public abnormalization’:
The local population was not very keen to accept the existence of the Romani culture, implicitly of a multicultural society. Its focus was on assimilation, coming with “explanations” for the differences, like those [...]
Mahavir Chavan pays homage to eminent Marathi writer and poet Keshav Meshram who passed away recently::
EMINENT DALIT poet, critic, novelist and short-story writer Keshav Tanaji Meshram passed away in a hospital at Bandra in Mumbai on Thursday. He was suffering from lung cancer. With his death, a prolific literary career of a man (he [...]
Bonbibi is moved by ‘Swapnobhoomi’, a film on the plight of Biharis in Bangladesh:
These people are usually derogatively called ‘Biharis’ even though they also come from the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, of West Bengal, of Madhya Pradesh and distant Hyderabad. They came from various places and they came for various reasons. Some came to [...]
What do you call someone who says- Clinton has outgrown Lewinsky therefore Gujarat has outgrown the pogrom? A ‘half-crazed killer’ or a ‘braggart’?
In a hardhitting post, Amrit asks all the apologists for the BJP in the media- Why should we move on?
The problem with the right-wing media in India is that it is always trying [...]
Rahul Banerjee recounts some of the verses of the Bhils, and notes how contemporary struggles have been etched in verse.
Some of the modern Bhili poets have used the traditional style and put in new revolutionary lyrics and this has been most effective in mobilising the Bhil masses to rebellion. The greatest of them all are [...]
Arshad Amanullah posts an interview with Mohan Chiraghi on the state of Urdu journalism in the country:
Q: Is Urdu journalism to be blamed for this sorry state of affairs?
A: The Urdu newspapers have been capitalizing on the unreal aspirations of the community. Instead of debating its basic problems, they keep it busy with by and [...]
Ragongning Gangmei proposes a new language policy for Manipur ‘with a view to equally safeguarding and promoting’ all the distinct languages spoken by the 33 different tribes living in the State:
What is language to a native community? It shall be unfair on our part only to look at the face value and simply conclude that [...]
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