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Reinforcing a New Indian Identity

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India, that is Bharat, has existed as a civilization for a very long time. Even before the Greeks could comprehend philosophy, the Indian civilizational state was producing some of the greatest philosophical texts in various domains, many of which are relevant to the day. Some of the oldest universities in the world came into existence in this part of the world. If not for the colonisation and decimation of India’s indigenous identities, Bharat would have probably been at par with some of the most developed nations in the world. Even though 75 years of India’s existence in its current form has yielded a period of respite from the shackles of a colonised master, our thoughts have not been liberated. We are plagued with a thought process that is a product of the Western hegemonic ecosystem that establishes the superiority of Western civilizational thought. Western civilizational thought has a tendency to disregard the wisdom of oriental cultures. In his Magnum Opus Orientalism, Edward Sa...
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Indian Farmer Protests from the Prism of Caste Politics in Northern India

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The debate of the 'Bourgeois' and 'Proletariat' in the context of India transcends 'class' and for many, it never goes beyond 'Caste'. The 'Bourgeois' is understandably mostly 'Savarna' [i] but the 'Proletariat' leadership too is primarily 'Savarna'.  It is through this frame that I intend to look at the nuances of Jat caste politics and the ongoing Farmer Protests primarily which seems to be restricted to the northern belt which is dominated by Jats. Historically, the Jats are a community who primarily indulge in agriculture but along with the Khatris, which is another sub-caste within the Jat community – they are considered to be the second-highest in the ‘varna’ [ii] order – the Kshatriyas, who are supposed to be the kings and the fighters. This debate of the ‘varna’ is a very old debate – while the system was put in place to organize society and was supposed to be based on one’s qualities and yet through time as it...
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Location: Shillong, Meghalaya, India
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A Reading of Dr. Shashi Tharoor's The Battle of Belonging

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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...
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Location: Shillong, Meghalaya, India
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A Reading of Dr. S. Jaishankar's The India Way: Strategies for an Uncertain World

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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...
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Location: Shillong, Meghalaya, India
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The Israel-UAE Deal: Implications for India

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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...
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Location: Shillong, Meghalaya, India
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Nation, Nationalism and the Indic Ethos

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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...
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Location: Shillong, Meghalaya, India
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A Shillong Thing: Why saying 'Dkhar is not okay?

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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...
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Location: Tezpur, Assam, India
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