History and Culture

Herodotus, the Iliad, and 9/11 NEW!
Some curious parallels between the wars of the post-9/11 decade and the Trojan War as Herodotus saw it.

On Public Corruption in India NEW!
With findings from corruption research, Anna Hazare and his team, the Jan Lokpal Bill, and the anti-corruption movement.

Indians Abroad: A Story from Trinidad NEW!
A brief history of the Indian diaspora in Trinidad—today over half-a-million strong—from the colonial era to the present.

Decolonizing My Mind NEW!
On the politics surrounding the arrival and the spread of English in the colonies and the peculiar world of the Indian writer in English.

War and the American Republic
With the end of combat operations in Iraq, a fresh look under the hood of American jingoism.

On Caste Privilege
Much has been written about the unearned privilege of race and gender. What does the privilege of caste look like in Indian society? How and why has caste been politicized?

The Minangkabau: Mixing Islam and Matriarchy
This matriarchal society of Muslims in Indonesia reminds us that religion and culture are never cut from whole cloth.

The Dance of Indian Democracy
Why did democracy take root in India against all odds? What are its distinguishing features? Six decades later, how close is it to Ambedkar's inspiring vision of democracy?

The Blight of Hindustan
The Indian caste system continues to mystify outsiders. Here is a brisk overview of its origins, spread, and some historical attitudes and debates.

The Other Swastika
Can the symbol ever be redeemed in the eyes of the West? What might be lost and what could be gained in the possibility of doing so?

On Early Islam
This five-part series on early Islamic history begins with the rise of Islam, shifts to its golden age, examines two major currents of early Islamic thought—rationalism and Sufi mysticism—and concludes with an epilogue.

Part 1: The Rise of Islam

Part 2: The Golden Age of Islam

Part 3: The Path of Reason

Part 4: The Mystic Tide

Part 5: Epilogue

In Light of Nalanda
What was ancient Nalanda University like? Here is a portrait based on the accounts of Chinese scholars of 7th century CE and a recent personal visit.

America, the Cold War, and the Taliban
The roots of transnational Islamic terrorism lie not so much in culture and the Qur’an as in politics and the conduct of the Cold War in Afghanistan.

Marco Polo's India
Returning home from China in 1292 CE, Marco Polo spent a few months in India ... his book, The Travels, contains a rich social portrait of India that still resonates with us today.

Asian Food for Thought
India and China offer a striking illustration of the vast range and malleability of the human palate, and the power of ideas in shaping it.

What Confucius Said
No person has left a deeper mark on Chinese culture than Confucius, who lived 2500 years ago in an age of social turmoil.

Homosexuality in India
"We don't have any," is the classic Indian response to homosexuality in India. Curiously, Indians say this even when they know of and tolerate homosexual acts.

Travel

An Indian-American in China NEW!
Impressions from a journey through China, and the hard-to-avoid comparisons with neighboring India.

The Leatherbacks of Trinidad NEW!
A tiny village on the northeastern coast of Trinidad is home to the "so-ugly-they're-cute" leatherback turtles. In Apr 2011, I traveled there to see them.

The Lost City of Ugarit NEW!
The road to Lattakia goes over the Anti-Lebanon Range. I had left Aleppo under a blue sky at noon; now a thick fog rolls in, tall conifers appear in the valleys, visibility drops.

Divinity is Here
I am in the village of Rum in south Jordan, all signed-up for two days in the desert. The clincher was the Bedouin honcho's sell job:  "I have open jeep, ...

At the Foot of Mount Yasur
I am six hundred miles east of the Great Barrier Reef in the archipelago of Vanuatu-or, as they say in Vanuatu, the "ni-Vanuatu" archipelago, home to nine active volcanoes.

Nobody's Land
"Cuiabá is the city of mangoes. We don't buy them, just pluck and eat," says Rizardo, our wildlife guide. Riding in the bed of a pickup truck, we are going down the Transpantaneira.

Science, Religion, Philosophy

The Bhagavad Gita Revisited NEW!
Why the Bhagavad Gita is an overrated text with a deplorable morality at its core. Part 1 is on the Gita’s historical and literary context. Part 2 is the textual critique.

   Part 1 (The Appetizer)

   Part 2 (The Main Course)

What Do We Deserve? NEW!
Of particular relevance to market-based societies is the question, ‘What do we deserve?’ For our learning, natural talents, and labor, what rewards and entitlements can we fairly claim?

On the Void of Nagarjuna NEW!
The works of Nagarjuna, the great Buddhist philosopher who lived in South India 1800 years ago, represent "something of a watershed ... in the history of philosophy."

The Dearth of Artificial Intelligence
Despite big advances in computing, AI has fallen woefully short of its ambition and hype. Why is AI in such a braindead state?

Being Liberal in a Plural World
In the absence of a consensus on the ‘truly universal’ values of liberalism, and hence rights—whether on empirical or practical grounds—how is a liberal to act in the world?

From the Outside, Looking In
Speaking of Muslims as fanatics and terrorists is not even considered bad manners; it’s seen as a comic expression of the truth.

On Knowledge Without Wisdom
Philosophy today is not how the Greeks understood it, as the love of wisdom. It now paves the way for the acquisition of theoretical knowledge as an end in itself.

Atheistic Materialism in Ancient India
It comes as a surprise to many that in ancient "spiritual" India, atheistic materialism was a major force to reckon with.

*** READ THE BLOG ON SHUNYA *** SHUNYA'S NOTES

Cinema, Fiction, Art

Trying is All We Have NEW!
It has been a month since they first slept together. He wondered why their verbal sparring had increased in recent days. Just this morning at her place, Liz set off on the youth-obsessed American culture ...

Endhiran: A Review
A review of Endhiran (The Robot), India's biggest blockbuster foray into science fiction, starring Superstar Rajinikanth.

James A. FitzPatrick's India
Best known for his 200+ short travel documentaries from 1929-55, including many on India, what should we make of FitzPatrick and his films today?

The Man in the BMW
On their way to China Town, they pass an area with red curtained massage parlors and hookers pacing the streets in tight clothes.

Putty in Her Hands
Sasha calls on Saturday afternoon, ‘Are you free?’ Sasha is a Russian escort, 28, slim, dark-haired, with dreamy green eyes.

Avatar: A Review
Outlandishly expensive, visually stunning, and politically loaded, Cameron took every risk with this film. And what did he give us, after all? A heroic fantasy of White Guilt. The story of Pocahontas, re-imagined.

A Sales Conference
On Sunday evening, Ved flies to Palm Springs, California, to represent his product at Omnicon’s annual sales conference. More than a thousand of his coworkers from scores of countries will attend the three-day event.

Advice to a Young Artist
The idea for writing this came to me from an interview in which an author was reverentially asked, "Sir, what would be your advice to a young artist?

 

Books and Authors

Joothan: A Dalit's Life
Joothan by Omprakash Valmiki is a deeply affecting memoir of growing up achoot (‘untouchable’) starting in the 1950s outside a typical village in Uttar Pradesh, India.

The Reach of Reason
Perceptions of culture, history, and identity are necessarily subjective and selective. There's no impartial and omniscient chronicler of events, no 'scientific' history.

The Tragedy of the Congo
The history of European colonialism is replete with examples of extreme cruelty. The decimation of the American Indians in South America.

The Wonder That Was India
Various societies at different times have dazzled with their bursts of creative and intellectual energy. Historians call them Golden Ages.