I AND MY WORDS

As devout Hindus around the world in their millions celebrated the return of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya in a new mandir , it is fitting that Jai Shri Rama is the new zeitgest. People greeting each other with the name of Rama sets a new standard of vocabulary. And this is what gets me thinking about a less discussed incident in the mists of time that makes me wonder every time - what if...? Orchha in the ravines of Chambal on the Madhya Pradesh side of Bundelkhand has been the stronghold of Bundelas for long. The beautiful but haunting hamlet today was once the capital of the Bundelas, and housed many such amazing structures, The historic town sits on the banks of river Betwa. Founded in the 16th century by the Bundela Rajput Chief, Rudra Pratap, the city is a major tirtha for its Rama Raja Mandir, where Shri Rama is worshipped as the King of Orchha and gets a 21 gun salute every evening after the aarti . Rama Raja Temple of Orchha (credit: Kandukuru Nagarjun  ) The story of the temp...

  Ragi Jatha Performing Kirtan (courtesy: Live Hindustan) Very recently, the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) has been pressed by the Jathedar of the Akal Takht, Giani Harpreet Singh , to stop allowing the use of harmoniums inside the precinct of Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple). The logic provided by the Jathedar has been that Guru Nanak Dev ji never used the harmonium, and instead there was always a string instrument player accompanying him. Mardana, who accompanied Guru Nanak Dev ji across a significant part of his lifetime, has always been shown as playing a version of the rabab, a stringed instrument that gets plucked or played like the sarangi. Among the people who retain the Sikh musical tradition, very few people today can however play the instrument; instead, the harmonium has become the choice instrument. As per news reports, removing harmoniums will not be easy as of the total singers, only five can use string instruments and perform without the harmonium...

An old Mexican painting about 16 castas (Wikipedia) Recently, I came across perhaps the nth thread on the issue of caste and its European origins. While I cannot disregard the seriousness and merit of the arguments often put forth, it's something that I feel rather jaded about. Allow me to elaborate on some points that would perhaps clarify my position on the same. First of all, this is a rather complicated issue because in all honesty the jati ossification can be traced back genetically. A lot of genetic studies have been done that came to this conclusion, dating it to 2,000 - 2,500 years ago. While it has its fair share of criticism DNA results can't be just wished away. Therefore to ignore this would be naiive at best. European caste system certainly is a reality, and that same understanding was perpetuated to understand India. It was not an Iberian peninsula phenomenon; rather, it was widespread across Europe. A good indicator of the same would be the long standing presence...

  The Kashi Nandi, Staring Towards Gyanvapi  It is with irony that I note the manner in which the ongoings in Kashi are seen as some sort of weaponization . The thing that I find extremely depressing about Pratap Bhanu Mehta’s weaponization of academia to target a manifestation of the expression of faith repeatedly tells me more about the intellectual dishonesty that has been perpetuated by his comity for the last seven decades. If reclaiming temple sites is weaponization, how is it that temple demolition by the Islamic invaders in the name of jihad gets the term 'recontextualization' ? I don’t even need to take Mr. Mehta to Kashi – this is the case given for the formation of Quwat-ul-Islam mosque, which was built by ‘reusing’ rubble from destroyed Jain temples alongside Hindu ones in Delhi. The answer evades us to this day, except when one sees the blunt truth behind it. Over the past seven decades, there has been a rather blitheful effort bordering dishonesty to justify ac...

The 2021 Bengal assembly elections are going on, with the latest voting round witnessing deadly political violence in Cooch Behar. However, as an observer, and that too as Obangali or Bahiragata, there are broader meta narratives that have been emerging for a while. It is strange that most people have failed to notice a few trends. While the economic and development trends are well understood and have been discussed to the point of saturation, there is increased interest in the Hindu identity of Bengal, and open questioning of the shenanigans of the Kolkata bhodrolokis in the name of minority appeasement that has hung over the state of Bengal for decades on a stretch now.   Cultural Revivalism of the Subaltern Hindus What do I mean when I say cultural revivalism? Many people will actually not take my claim lightly, but let me give an example to highlight what has been going on. Irrespective of the Trinamool’s power control, the television industry of Bengal has seen a succes...