I AND MY WORDS

  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...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister to deliver an address from the ramparts of the Red Fort at night time. A commemorative stamp and coin were released alongside the special Shabad kirtan that was organized for the occasion, and Prime Minister Modi reminded millions of Indians about the greatness of one man who was given a tribute – the ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur ji. The occasion of course was perhaps befitting – the four hundredth Prakash Purab of the Ninth Sikh Guru,Guru Tegh Bahadur ji , being celebrated at such a grand scale. With the place of his shaheedi, Gurdwara Sis Ganj, and his crematorium, Gurdwara Rakab Ganj, being within short distance of the Red Fort, the triangle of Dharma that arose in the night created an incomparable divine positivity. Amidst all this, it is perhaps also important to step back and briefly examine the greatness of the ninth Sikh Guru, the times he came in and how he was much more than just the man who sacrifi...

Xi Jinping Addressing the Army (Courtesy CNN) While the world watches with baited breath what goes on in Ukraine, from the corner of the eye many would be watching the moves of China. There are several reasons to worry about a similar action being carried out by China on Taiwan. While there is some time for it to happen, judging by the pace at which Project 2049 is being pursued, one can be assured that the time is not right for the Taiwan invasion. However, the activities going on inside China are certainly worth noting as to why China, even though it is not collapsing like the Soviet Union, stands at a precipice of its own making. The inherent structural weaknesses created by decades of bad policy making behind the facade of economic progress are deep rooted today. This implies that China is not necessarily in the best of positions to carry out its plans militarily in particular.  The problem of Little Emperors is well known. Thanks to the one child policy spanning decades, there...

Poster hailing the friendship of the Soviet and Chinese People Two items in the past twenty four hours cycle featured on the Global Times present an interesting picture, in parts and in whole.  The first item that Global Times put out is the news story, Russia 'ready to talk' after militarily paralyzing Ukraine within hours. On reading through the article, one notices a typical pattern to the reporting line pursued. While the story tends to put the Chinese people at the centre of the story in multiple ways, the interpretation of the 'demilitarization' that was called upon by Russia's Vladimir Putin speaks for itself: "Demilitarize" could be understood to be putting down arms and surrendering, which can also be understood as incapacitating the opponent and rendering them unable to form a threat in a broader sense, Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Thursday. Moreover, they carried the Russian version of th...

With the recent invasion of Ukraine undertaken by Russia, one spot of foreign policy challenges that the world needs to still wake up to is China. There are a large number of reasons why Russia has significance for China, and it is not merely about economy or increasing global isolation. Soviet Union, modern Russia's precursor, was an ideological inspiration and mentor of the Chinese Communist Party till the death of Joseph Stalin, following which they parted ways. Of course, even after the Soviet collapse, there continues to be interest in Russian affairs in a variety of ways. A 1949 Poster Hailing the Sino-Soviet Peace and Friendship Treaty. The Putonghua reads as follows: "The Sino-Soviet Alliance for Friendship and Mutual Assistance promotes enduring world peace" This is the first part of a multi-part series as to why the latest Russian - Ukrainian challenge carries multiple implications for China. PART I -   SOVIET ON THE OUTSIDE, QING ON THE INSIDE – MAKING SENSE O...

Often times, we have publication houses, journalists and supposed investigators who are so off the mark that they refuse to recognize the truth. Post-truth, pre-truth, anything but the truth – this facile attitude adopted by a handful few is not damaging the ones it is supposed to target. Rather, it is eroding the confidence and trust that people would pose in them, and their abilities. L’affaire Pegasus is turning out to be much of the same. Every few months, some ‘sensational’ discovery turns up that reveal ‘a grave threat’ to the ‘foundations of democracy’, of ‘free speech’ and ‘treasonous behaviour’ that damages reputation of a government. The latest is this interview done by The Wire that seeks to raise eyebrows. Yet, the mountain made out of a non-existent molehill continues to remain invisible to most people, perplexed by the brouhaha created for no reason. The liberal Bible also known as New York Times, whose pulpit worthy gospels posing as news deserve praise for hollow...

This technobahn is a failure (picture credit: Indian Express) What is technobahn? Bahn essentially refers to a physical track or a train in German and its sister languages. Technobahn would in literal sense mean a techno track. It is important to define this phrase because it is perhaps the best way to describe the haphazard manner in which air pollution is tackled in India at all levels.  Now, it would be easy for any reader to see this introduction and dismiss the rest of the piece, calling it a kind of hit job on those who want to solve the issue. At the outset, let me clarify that this is not about science and technology per se; rather, this is about a mindset that has come to dominate the way we deal with air pollution on a daily basis. Technobahn is a concept that I have come across in recent times, and essentially refers to the single track approach of thinking that technology can solve every problem that plagues mankind today. While technology does offer us great solutions,...