On My Mind

Often these days, there is a war cry to save Indian Culture, to diss "foreign" rulers, to purify the culture. On one of the unfortunate days, I gave it a thought and was left wondering about what Indian culture is! Is it today's culture which is apparently influenced by western culture and has lead to movements to pursue equality among different sections or when it has lead to affect the customs like respecting elders, taking care of old parents? Nah, this doesn't make sense. This includes adulterations. This isn't the Indian culture we talk about.  Then is it what we had when British left? The social traditions of untouchability, child marriage, limitations on women, a rigid caste system? But this system had the traditions of taking care of old parents intact. Nah, this doesn't sound like the golden India either. There are so many social evils in this period. Let's backdate again. It must be the era when Mughal power was declining and

Sair-e-Gulfaroshan This is one of the most iconic symbol of  communal harmony  in India but unfortunately, not many people know about it. The festival is also known as “Phoolwalo ki sair” (English: Procession of those carrying flowers). It is the annual festival of flowers conducted in Old Delhi.  The event involves a procession led by  shehnai  players bearing floral  pankhas, chadars and chhatras.  These are offered at the ancient  Devi Yogmaya Temple  and the  Dargah of Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaaki  in Mehrauli. The festival owes its origin to Queen Mumtaz Mahal who was the wife of Mughal Emperor Akbarshah II.  It was stopped by the British but was reinstated in 1962 and has been celebrated ever since then with celebrations getting pompous each year. "Out  of clutter, find simplicity." - Albert Einstein

There  exists a township in India  which  envisages the idea of a world without boundaries . Auroville Township Auroville  ( City of Dawn ) is an experimental township in Viluppuram district mostly in the state of Tamil Nadu with some parts in the Union Territory of Puducherry in South India. It was founded in 1968 by  Mirra Alfassa (known as "the Mother")  and designed by architect Roger Anger. As stated in Alfassa's first public message in 1965, she states, that  Auroville is meant to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony, above all creeds, all politics, and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realize human unity.  The city is dedicated to the vision of Sri Aurobindo. Currently, it is managed by Auroville Foundation and  over 2400 people from as many as 50 nations live in Auroville.  It is recognized as International living experiment in human unity, endorsed by the UNESCO a

"Enough is enough! You can't hurt him when I guard him.", said Ramesh. Suresh retorted, "You guard him? You are more of a parasite. You are hurting him!" "Go away before I hurt you. You don't care about him. He has chosen me to keep him safe." "But you don't seem to realize it. Whatever you do is in exact opposite theme." "I am asking you for the last time to stop with your antiques." Suresh had had enough. He picked up a chair and threw at Ramesh. It missed him but ended up breaking a lamp nearby. Ramesh wasn't going to relent either. He hurled the paperweight he was holding at Suresh. It was only a matter a minutes before the entire house was burning. Out came the common man from his hiding now.  He didn't know how to feel. Two strong men in their desire to protect him had turned his house on fire. "Winter session of Parliament washed out recently costing us an amount of INR 40

It's often said that public has a short term memory. In India, policy of reservations has successfully defied this notion. Some thing or the other keeps popping up in the news every few days. So, what's exactly reservations all about? Reservations were envisaged by the founding fathers of the constitution as means to reverse the ill effects of the historical suppression of the lower classes of society by the upper class. They envisioned equality in the constitution as Equality among Equals . Keeping this view in mind, it's not difficult to see that the lower classes needed a push and this is how Reservation Policy came around. Not going into the political nature of the issue, the reservation was extended to the Other Backward Classes by VP Singh govt on the recommendation of Mandal Commission. After a subsequent Supreme Court judgement, the current status on caste based reservation is as follows: 15% for SCs 7.5% for STs 27% for OBCs - Non Creamy Layer This rese

" It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer " - William Blackstone In his seminal work "Commentaries on the Laws of England", William Blackstone expressed this idea which though not new, was then cemented and became a profound principle in criminal law. I find this quote rather under-celebrated. To confine it to the brim of law and judiciary seems unjustified. For me, this summarises the differences between every ideology with a tinge of liberalism and those inclined towards radicalism. The focus on the rights of an individual associated with the quote has served as the baseline for Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the stepping stone of liberalism. Having journeyed through different ideologies and philosophies, it seemed we were converging to Liberalism. The year 2016, however, has seen a lot of diversions. Brexit could possibly be marked as the first event this year to reflect the shifting ideologies. People of Britain i

Much has been discussed and debated recently about Uniform Civil Code with Central Government being asked by the apex court of its response on Shayara Bano's petition. Petitioner Bano challenged the constitutionality of Section 2 of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, in so far as it seeks to recognise and validate polygamy, triple talaq and 'nikah halala'. The Union government told the Supreme Court that 'triple talaq', 'nikaah halaal' and polygamy, as practised by the Muslims in India, were not "integral to the practices of Islam or essential religious practices". This has brought the topic of Uniform Civil Code into foreground again. While a large majority approves of UCC, the critics of UCC come mainly from Islamist groups who claim this would be a violation of their Right to practice their religion. Interestingly, apart from the aforementioned fundamental right, Constitution also says that "The State shall endeav

" You see, their morals, their code, it’s a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. They’re only as good as the world allows them to be. I’ll show you. When the chips are down, these… these civilized people, they’ll eat each other.  " Sitting in his cave, for the first time Bruce felt Joker could have been right. The little dialogue they shared was still fresh in his mind. With every poll Trump was winning, his apprehensions were on rise. "Do you hear it Alfred?" "Yes Master Bruce. The public is chanting Trump's name." "Could Joker be true? Would people be so ignorant to elect Trump as their president, he who feeds on hate and anger?" "Master Bruce, You should trust the people who rightly trusted in a vigilante with shades of grey. Your Father always believed in the power of people, the people he loved. Trump's presidency campaign wouldn't succeed. It can't. No one presses the button you think they would. T

वो दरवाज़ा आज भी वहीं था,शांत, खामोश, चुप चाप कहीं दूर देखता। काफी समय से खोला नहीं गया था शायद; लेकिन आज भी नया जैसा चमक रहा था। किसी के आने का इंतज़ार था दरवाज़े को। घर के अंदर बस एक यही सूनी जगह थी। माँ बाप की आँखों का दुलारा कैप्टेन  दिलजीत गिल का कमरा हुआ करता था उस दरवाज़े के पीछे। वही कैप्टेन गिल जो कश्मीर में शहीद हुए थे। तब शायद पता नहीं था की शहादत के बाद जे एन यू  के छात्र संगठन के प्रमुख श्री कन्हैया कुमार द्वारा उनके जैसे फ़ौज़ वालों पर रेप के आरोप लगाये जायेंगे। आखिर अभिव्यक्ति की आज़ादी है।  कितनी सच्चाई है, उस पर नहीं बोलूंगा, लेकिन जनरलाइज़ेशन पर ज़रूर खफा हूँ। हमारे यहां जनरलाइज़ेशन केवल तब गलत होता है जब स्टैण्डर्ड लिबरल वैल्यूज के खिलाफ हो, वरना भैया सब जायज़ है। जय हो अभिव्यक्ति की आज़ादी! जय हो हमारी पॉलिटिक्स!