Chai Chalk Chatter

My initiation to Dr. Tharoor’s literary work was with ‘Pax Indica’ and while I have come quite a long way from those days, I still enjoy what he writes. It was his ‘Why I am a Hindu’ that shaped my critique of an essential part of my identity which I guess was again negated with Kancha Ilaiah’s ‘Why I am not a Hindu’ but I guess this is a tussle which every thinking human will always have in their life. Coming to the most recent addition to Dr. Tharoor’s endeavor to provide direction to the idea of India, I think ‘The Battle of Belonging’ is a worthwhile contribution. It’s not that I agree to all he has written but we exist in a state of evolving discourse and as such not making any contribution to that discourse would be more demeaning than producing something which is evidently intended to keep up the spirit of an old diminishing elite. There are certain arguments in the book though, that cannot be denied – the most important one being the transformation to the idea of India. I b...

Dr. S. Jaishankar's 'The India Way' puts into perspective the evident anti-Globalisation and rising Nationalism(s) around the world. In doing this it highlights the growing multi-polarity that the world order is experiencing. The book, in my opinion, tries to position Indian Nationalism in the context of the globalization discourse by drawing on India's civilizational nature of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' and in it exploring the combination of Globalisation and Nationalism which would otherwise be an oxymoron, given the western understandings of the respective terms.  The incumbent Indian Foreign Minister goes on to explore Nationalism(s) and how the term could mean different things for different Nations - I believe our Minister's diplomatic career is to a great extent revealed in his assessment of Nationalism. Of the many thoughts that I have read on the idea of Nations and Nationalism(s), his is probably one of the least radical thoughts that I have come acros...

Donald Trump, who has been quite infamous for his inherent and sometimes induced comic attributes has achieved something that will go down in history as one of the most important events of the current times. He has managed to broker peace in a 72-year-old dispute. The Arab world seems to have settled down with the reality of the existence of Israel and this, from the erstwhile position of Israelis being occupants of Palestinian land. Undoubtedly it is a major set-back for the Palestinian Intifada that had enjoyed major support from the Arab world. One of the most important factors that have contributed to this is the sharp disagreements between the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) and the more militant Hamas. This deal is indicative of frustration that gripped the Arab states, for whom the normalization of relations with Israel, the most robust and functional economy of the region has been on the cards for a long time. It is also very bad news for Iran. The primarily Sunni...

I have been a critic of the populist version of Hindutva and that is my position but even so, I understand the necessity of the same for the larger dialectic. They are the antithesis of populist liberal thought. In fact, all such thought cannot be categorized as 'good' but then again 'good' is a very ambiguous term which is determined by way too many factors. It would be safer to consider acceptability - all liberal thought is not acceptable to all and it is very wrong on the part of a select few to decide what is progressive and what is not. So, my position does not give me the right to assert what is right and what is wrong but my opinion and my position are as important. This is an entitlement the Constitution of India gives me and as a citizen, I am entitled to it. Likewise, an individual who holds even the most extreme right-wing opinions has this same entitlement.   On Hinduism, Dharma and Indian Civilization While there is an ensuing debate about Hinduism being a...

Our identities are invariably multi-faceted with varied loci and even though we would like to believe that a lot of our actions are influenced by a strong locus of control yet it is only a naive expression to deny the existence of an external locus of identity. I am no exception, I do need a similar recognition and acceptance of my existence. I grew up in a sleepy ‘90s Shillong that was at the time basking in its newly found neo-liberal prosperity yet drowned in its colonial hangover. My neighborhood is one that has Marwari families, a Manipuri family, a Garo family, and a Naga family among others. While one of my next-door neighbors’ is an Assamese, the other a Khasi. The 1990s was an interesting time when the transition from the analog to the digital was only beginning to take place. The complaints of kids being occupied with the virtual world were not as prominent as kids trespassing every property in the area were. It is probably this multi-cultural setup that has enabled me to inc...

My story today is from the Bomra Chara Reang village in the Gomati District in Tripura, India. The Reangs are one of the 19 tribal communities in Tripura and is the only tribe that is categorized as primitive. They are still dependent on 'jhum' cultivation or shifting cultivation and prefer staying on hilltops. The Reangs are also spread across Assam and Mizoram, where they are known as Brus. My friend had time and again mentioned the perils he would undertake in order to reach his village which is atop a hill but he had also spoken of the adventures in his village. Being from the city such kind of a village adventure seemed to have an enchanting and euphoric effect on the mind and hence was my decision to visit his village. To start off, I had to take a local bus from Agartala which is the capital of the state of Tripura in India. This bus took me to Udaipur which is in the Gomati district, again in Tripura. It is not to be confused with Udaipur in Rajasthan. Udaipur w...

So, I just came across this post in a random group that I follow on my social media and it is just when it struck me - don't we have such confusions all the time? Why do we fail to say what we mean to say? Is such a response conditioned in women? Is it cultural? Most importantly though, does it promote activities of stalking or for that matter other forms of harassment? It is at this point that I am inclined to think about our very own Bollywood cinema or for that matter commercial cinema from most other parts of India. A stereotypical Indian commercial film will have a male lead who in his romantic endeavor will keep insisting on a relationship, even after a consistent 'NO' from the female character, until she actually gives in. Interestingly, after all those 'Nooooo(s)' and 'Naaaaaa(s)', she gives in and the male lead becomes her soulmate which she is convinced, were destined to be together throughout their seven lives.  While we all have t...

While many of my friends in South India probably know about this small settlement but I am very sure my friends up North and elsewhere are not familiar with the existence of it. It is quite fascinating to note that even the Danes were not far behind in the European quest for new markets and colonies. Unfortunately, it has been a very long time since I visited this small settlement but going through my archive of old photographs, I genuinely feel my friends in other parts of the country and elsewhere ought to know about this intriguing piece of history.     Tranquebar is a small settlement about 300 km south of Chennai and local public transport is easily available. The Danes settled here in the early part of the 17 th century. The settlement does not really have much to offer and with very few people it infact felt like a ghost town. Of some of the attractions that the settlement has to offer is the fort Dansborg, build in 1620 which boasts of being the second-...

I was very elated when a research paper of mine was accepted for presentation at the University of Bonn in Germany. After all the hassle and a load of documents which were required for the Schengen visa, I was very happy that my visa was approved within 4 days when the usual duration is about 2 to 3 weeks and that too, the German Embassy was kind enough to grant me the visa without having to pay any fee for it. This was my first trip out of India and obviously, I was very excited and a little nervous too. When I reached the IGI airport in Delhi, I stood in a queue as was the norm for a boarding pass to Air India flight AI121 flying directly from Delhi to Frankfurt. Oh, well all was fine until this young man at the counter asked me where is the luggage that I would like to check-in. All hell broke loose. I prefer traveling light and as usual, I was only traveling with hand baggage which was about 5.9 kg. I think for the man at the counter, this was not a usual sight and was p...