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Sep 21, 2024 | 
countercurrents.org | T Vijayendra |zeenat khan |Samuel Dhar |Bharat Dogra
Books on Hinduism will easily fill a library. Yet when confronted with the question ‘What is Hinduism’ even scholars tend to fumble and give long answers. In this article we will try to keep it simple, accessible to everyone. What is Hinduism? A simple answer is ‘the religion of the people of India’. The Sangh Parivar or the Hindutva lobby defines it as ‘Religions born in India’.
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Aug 18, 2024 | 
countercurrents.org | Binoy Kampmark |Samuel Dhar |Maher Mezahi |Bharat Dogra
Ekecheiria, also known as the “Olympic Truce,” is a quaint notion dating to Ancient Greece, when three kings prone to warring against each other – Iphitos of Elis, Cleosthenes of Pisa and Lycurgus of Sparta – concluded a treaty permitting the safe passage of all athletes and spectators from the relevant city-states for the duration of the Olympic Games. The truce had a certain logic to it, given that many of those granted safe passage would have been serving soldiers or soldiers in waiting.
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Jul 31, 2024 | 
countercurrents.org | Binoy Kampmark |Samuel Dhar |Maher Mezahi |Bharat Dogra
Swimming, or dipping, in faecal polluted waters is not unusual. The spirit longs for purity in the staining aqua, and the body keeps pace with it. The Ganges, for instance, features sacred rites and ceremonies defiant of science. In an aqueous body of lingering corpses, thickening pollutants and full flowing faeces, foolhardy believers can find spirituality. Such foolhardiness has also found itself in Paris 2024, the occasion of the XXXIII Summer Olympiad.
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Jul 27, 2024 | 
countercurrents.org | Binoy Kampmark |Samuel Dhar |Maher Mezahi |Bharat Dogra
Another entertainingly corrupt sporting event has just started in Paris, opening with a barge packed ceremony on the Seine. Thousands of simpering commentators, paid-up media gawkers and bored influencers have been ready with their computers, phones and confected dreams. As always, the Olympics throws up the question about how far the host city has managed to come through on the issue of facilities, infrastructure and organisation.
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Jul 27, 2024 | 
countercurrents.org | Samuel Dhar |Maher Mezahi |Bharat Dogra |Binoy Kampmark
A foreign citizen among the Indian diaspora has mocked at the poor performance of Indian athletes, compared to its population, in successive Olympics. Even though you are not more Indian citizens, Indian blood courses through your veins. Your angst is, therefore, understandable. I, however appeal to you to not look only under the heterogenic, compound stone with multiple fissures, that is India.
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Jul 13, 2024 | 
countercurrents.org | Bharat Dogra |M K Bhadrakumar |Bhabani Nayak |Samuel Dhar
On July 11, US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti stated, “I know India likes its strategic autonomy and I respect that. But in times of conflict, there is no such thing as strategic autonomy.”Speaking at a dialogue organized in Delhi, he also said in the context of close India-US ties, “Don’t take the relationship for granted, but enjoy it every day.”While the second quote got more media attention, probably the first one has more important implications.
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Jul 13, 2024 | 
countercurrents.org | Samuel Dhar |Ram Puniyani |Justice Markandey Katju |S G Vombatkere
Vedic studies cannot be a part of the syllabus of Hindu Studies, because the Word “Hindu” is not found in any Veda, Vedang, (18 Purans), or Vedant, which is the last of the series of Vedic literature, and is a purely philosophical extract of all the preceding Vedic literature, mentioning only one God, the Creator, referred to as the “Pita”, (Father). In fact, Brahmo Samaj was founded in the 18th C.E. purely on the Philosophy of the Vedant.
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Jul 9, 2024 | 
countercurrents.org | Seroja Manoj |Hiren Gohain |Mohd Khan |Samuel Dhar
The first message I came across on WhatsApp that day was that of a Union Minister being unable to write on a white board in Hindi, the tagline of a popular government program, that she wanted to endorse at a school event. Disappointing, I told myself. The fact that a Union Minister lacked in the fundamental ability to write in her native language, does not bode well for our nation, I argued. My mind was rapidly racing down the “where is this country headed?” line of thought.
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Jul 3, 2024 | 
countercurrents.org | Hiren Gohain |Mohd Khan |Samuel Dhar |Chanchal Pal Chauhan
Those familiar with W.B. Yeats’s poems know what the ‘rough beast’ could have meant in the nineteen thirties in Europe.The cycle keeping pace with progress of extreme capitalism has reached a similar point in its trajectory in the world today.It might turn out to be deadlier,more toxic.
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Jun 24, 2024 | 
countercurrents.org | Mohd Khan |Samuel Dhar |Chanchal Pal Chauhan |M Adil Khan
After Narendra Modi was sworn in for the third time as Prime Minister, his oversized cabinet of 71 members assembled for its first meeting at his residence. It was evident that Modi took care to include individuals from disadvantaged castes, tribes, minority religions, and women in his cabinet. The composition highlighted a deliberate attempt to showcase inclusivity and representation in the government.
