NavDharmyug

From the world of Self- Publishing, where I have been writing, publishing and struggling to propagate my book, finally I have meandered into the world of formal publishing with the nudge, push and support from Indic Academy (http://www.indicacademy.org), with well, Hindi satire, Ganjhon Ki Goshthi .  My previous books were in English, and with serious content, for two reasons, one, I was not sure about the receptiveness of readers towards Hindi and secondly, I did not know that I have in my writing style something which could be considered as the funny streak. I would read with awe and admiration of an apprentice and a student, the brilliant writing of great Triumvirate of Hindi Satire- Sharad Joshi, Shrilal Shukl and Harishankar Parsai.  I have been wondering where has all that, sarcastic yet serene, brutal yet beautiful, writing in Hindi gone. Why is the humor scene, in general, so full of abuse and innuendo? I pondered and pondered and as Modi ji decided to pick u...

“May you live in interesting times.” – Thus goes a Chinese wish from the ancient times. Thanks to the surprise thrown by the electorate, on the unsuspecting and entitled cosy club of the Congress in 2014 assembly election, catapulting Narendra Modi to the throne of Prime Minister of India, much to the dismay of puzzled Pundits; we have been living in absolutely interesting times since them as Congress keeps struggling to claw back to what it believes is their divine right to rule. Anything short of absolute power of the dynastic despot over the unwashed masses of India is for the Congress, a threat to democracy. With multiple avatars failing and multiple take-offs nose-diving into the dust, the ecosystem was put to task of getting the legitimate heir (if we can use the term in a democracy) back into the power.                 From the crafty designs of caste conflicts, failed attempts at engineering r...

"It is true that the intellect by itself is no virtue....An intellectual person can be a good man but he may easily be a rogue. Similarly an intellectual class may be a band of high-souled persons, ready to help, ready to emancipate erring humanity or it may easily be a gang of crooks.."                             - Dr. B. R. Ambedkar The problem of too much of intellectualism is that it runs a serious danger of turning narcissistic and base. A strong intellect without a sense of morality will make worse of human beings for they can explain, define and defend basest of their actions and thoughts. Dr. Partha Chatterjee, Professor at Columbia University, has suddenly become a known face all across India by scathing criticism he has heaped on the Chief of Indian Army General Bipin Rawat. He has compared the Army Chief with British General Dyer. It is difficult to understand how the context of Major Gogo...

"From Untrue to the True From Darkness to Light From Death to Immortality" The Right-wing is defined by Oxford Dictionary as a Conservative or reactionary section of a Political Party or System. Merriam-Webster calls it a group of people who support conservative ideas and policies.  The term came into being during the French revolution of 1789, wherein steep divides in position on various fundamental matters raised such situation that those with opposing views were advised to stick to one side to avoid physical violence. Those who were loyal to the king and religion took to the right side of the chair. This physical division continued till 1793 even after French legislative assembly came into being.  From seating arrangement, this term became political and by the beginning of 20th century, spread across the globe. The term on both sides was used as some kind of derogatory way of defining the opposition. The Left technically stood for communism, gro...

“ I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail…The poet’s, the writer’s duty is to write these things. It is his privilege to help men endure by lifting his heart. ”- William Falkner , Nobel acceptance speech, December, 10 th , 1950 The moments of crisis brings out the best and worst of human spirits. Then there are moments which rewrite the course of a nation. For India, the wars of 62, 65 and 1971 were such moments, so was the Emergency imposed in the late seventies by the Congress government. When we look at those moments, we wade through the old, black and white pictures of those family photographs and wonder where our parents were when these events were unfolding. I am writing this on #Demonetization, which is one such historic event. Before you sigh, roll your eyes upwards and throw your arms up in despair, and walk away, let me put forth the disclaimer. I am not an all knowing economist; I am also not an all-feeling journalist. I am the common man, wh...

Dear Students of NIT Srinagar, I am writing this letter to you as a citizen of the country, a father and as an Ex-NITian. I know no celebrity will write open letter to you, no intellectual DU professor will write an editorial expressing interest to adopt you, and no great media write will waste his eloquence in writing flowery Op-ed as tribute to your bravery in extremely hostile environment. I am writing because it means much to ordinary Indian.  Some pictures have the ability of changing the course of the history. The one that I have put up here is one such. Media is in search of finding such pictures and as we know now, at times driven by agendas, fabricating and propagating one. But amid those fabricated, choreographed and photoshopped images, some like paper Tricolor being raised in the heart of the valley at NIT Srinagar stand as some kind of message of divine intention in their innocence and truth. This paper tricolor carries a value much higher than the paper tig...

Photo Courtesy Gettyimages There was a Supreme Court directive which banned traditional bull racing festival Jallikattu in Tamilnadu. Today, as I write this, women groups are storming into a small temple in obscure town in Maharashtra. Media is in overdrive. Times Now seeks the rationale behind why women aren’t allowed in Sanctum Santorum of the temple. Yesterday they covered a Member of Parliament, sworn to the same constitution we celebrate today, who urged people to vote for their party, else they will lose their right to eat beef, which he posited, is a way of life for Muslims and Dalits. The rationale of it? Well, nobody would ask that. The same tribe which fights for the well-being of the animal also fights for converting the same animal into their dinner. But no, we don’t have it in us even to question such inept political positioning. Left, always boastful of being atheist, jumps in gleefully. The people who have no faith in religion, step in to modernize the religio...