manianviews

Hindus in Hindu Rashtra book - point by point rebuttal       I got this book through one of my relatives whose political leanings I do not know. Anyway it doesn't matter here for reviewing this book. Except Historian Sitaram goel's book 'Hindu temples - what happened to them' , I have never read any book by a hindutva writer. The author of this book "Hindus in Hindu Rashtra" is Anand Ranganathan. I already knew about him as a Right wing propangadist and writer in English along with people like J Sai Deepak & Vikram Sampath. These people are very popular through their speeches and discussions on Youtube channels and I have watched some of their videos. They were all very articulate and communicative to drive their points hard. The agenda, of course is Hindutva.       Let's come to the book. We will see the some of the arguments put forth by the author on the plight of hindus in India and my views on them. 1 Hindus are treated like Eighth class ...

Why Gandhi is important?     Here I have tried to summarize some points which are uniquely Gandhian. These are the reasons why I admire Gandhi the most among the political leaders past and present.  I had Gandhi on my WhatsApp DP some time ago. I remember someone asked, Why Gandhi ?   I came up with some reasoning for that and seemingly he was not impressed. So then I thought of writing down some of the aspects of Gandhi which I consider his unique contribution to humanity as a whole.  Ahimsa and violence  First time in history a major struggle was launched based on Non violent methods which eventually succeeded.  It paved the way for using the method for resolving conflicts. Until then violence was the only option. Gandhi proved and gave another highly successful, viable and less destructive for humanity to follow. It is not that the method will always work. It may not. But it is an option to explore in bigger and even smaller disputes between gr...

      கொடைமடம் நாவல்: சில எண்ணங்கள் (Kodaimadam Novel: Some Thoughts) வாசிப்பு அனுபவம் (The Reading Experience) சாம்ராஜ் எழுதிய கொடைமடம்,  நான் மிக விரைவாகப் படித்து முடித்த புத்தகங்களில் ஒன்று. இரண்டே தினங்களில் 600 பக்கங்களைக் கடப்பது என்பது எனக்கு ஒரு சாதனைதான். சமீபகாலமாக பத்து பக்கம் வாசித்தாலே தூக்கம் கண்களைத் தழுவும் சூழலில், இந்தப் புத்தகம் என்னை முழுமையாக ஆக்கிரமித்துக் கொண்டது. வாசித்த மூன்று நாட்களும் எனக்குள் வேறு எண்ணங்களே இல்லை; கதை மாந்தர்கள் மனதை முழுவதுமாக ஆக்கிரமித்திருந்தனர். சந்தேகமே இல்லாமல், இது ஒரு மிகச்சிறந்த வாசிப்பு அனுபவத்தைத் தரும் நூல். கதைக்களம் மற்றும் கட்டமைப்பு (Setting and Structure) 80-கள் மற்றும் 90-களின் பின்னணியில், இடதுசாரி இயக்கத் தலைவர்கள் மற்றும் தொண்டர்களை மையமாக வைத்து கதை நகர்கிறது. ஜென்னி மற்றும் முகுந்தன் ஆகியோரின் வழியே கதை சென்றாலும், ஏராளமான கிளைக்கதைகள் இதில் விரவிக்கிடக்கின்றன. இந்தத் துணைக் கதைகள் அனைத்தும் ஏதோ ஒரு வகையில் முதன்மைக் கதையுடன் (Common thread) பிணைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளன. இதில் பொதுவான அம்சமாக இருப்பது இடதுசார...

Why I always would say that I am not a "believer" of Marxist ideas?         At the outset I must confess that I only have a simple and basic understanding of Marxist principles. I am no way qualified to write exhaustive critique on Marxist school of thought. I make this attempt to highlight the areas of Marxism where I do have major differences in my limited understanding. This article is meant only to enhance my knowledge on the subject. Not to downgrade or belittle or to find faults in it.         Majority of "believers" of today's Marxists  are people who fell into Marxism controlled organisations due to some circumstances in their lives. They also may have been attracted to it due to the personality of some charismatic left leaders.  Some might be into it because of their association with Marxists dominated trade unions and some might be due to benefits which they received at some point. Many of them do not think beyond the 'bel...

Gandhi and Karl Marx: A New Perspective ​Based on the Essays of Akeel Bilgrami ​It is a widely accepted view that Mahatma Gandhi and Karl Marx represent polar opposites. Common understanding suggests that Marxist scholars and Gandhians occupy entirely different worlds, with many many adamant that there is no possible point of convergence between the two. ​However, according to Akeel Bilgrami , a philosopher and professor at Columbia University, there are profound areas of agreement. While they may appear to have no similarities on the surface, Bilgrami establishes a connection through specific philosophical interpretations. ​The Leftist Critique of Gandhi ​Left-wing scholars, both in India and globally, have historically leveled harsh criticisms against Gandhi. Yet, there is a growing insistence that a serious, original "left-leaning" essence should be extracted from his writings and actions to foster new debates. ​Bilgrami acknowledges that Gandhi did not use the trad...

Artificial intelligence and the Left         Recently I attended LIC employees Association's divisional level conference at Thanjavur. In the conference an interesting topic was raised by Kalapiran, a State level office bearer of Tamil nadu progressive writers  association. in his address to the delegates session of the conference he was talking about artificial intelligence popularly known as AI. Surprisingly for a declared leftist  and a communist sympathizer he spoke somewhat positively on the development.        Some people are of the opinion that communists always oppose any new development and they will be highlighting only the negative consequences of such new development . They always fail to see the possibilities of positive outcomes.         I remember asking Dr Thomas Issac in another state level conference, one of CPM party's economic idealogues, about the impact of AI on the labour and employmen...

Spectrum of Left      We were discussing politics in a family function some months ago. One of the persons in the casual chat was a district level RSS funtionary. As I am a known left sympathizer,  the rss guy tried to provoke me by strongly criticizing the Marxism based parties' activities and movements. I didn't fall for the trap. I said though I have left leanings as a trade union functionary, I won't blindly defend all that the left parties do nor do I fully subscribe to Marxist ideas. My support is only a qualified one and I further said that I was entitled to difference of opinion on some of the conventional left views or policies. One of the participants then said that there are many shades of left - or spectrum of left views among people. It provoked me to attempt this write up on the left thinking.       Debate with fundamentalists       And in the discussion I unambiguously told that, yes, I have some differing view p...

    Out of tens (or hundreds) of biographies which were written on Mahatma Gandhiji's life Louis Fischer's "The Life of Mahatma Gandhi" takes a very special place. Arguably it is considered by many as the best and most authentic of all the life accounts of the great man.      I recently read the Louis Fischer's book . I think it would have been reviewed umpteen times by many since the time it was published in the year 1956. Here I am going to write on issues which I could see as new or contrary to general understanding.      Many believe that the Civil disobedience movement which Gandhiji successfully launched against the British was largely inspired by American poet and writer Henry David Thoreau's book on Civil rights movement.  But it was refuted by Gandhi himself in his writings. The civil disobedience movement was launched in the year 1930 and only after the launch he came to know of Thoreau's essay on the subject much later. But Thoreau...

 My Impressions: Prophet Song by Paul Lynch Prophet Song is undoubtedly one of the most disturbing books I have ever read. It forced me to realize how relatively peaceful and comfortable our lives in India are by comparison. The novel is set in a near-future Ireland, though the specific political ideologies—be they left or right, religious or secular—are never explicitly mentioned. This ambiguity makes the terror feel universal. Why the Booker Prize? The book was awarded the Booker Prize last year, and I believe the reason lies in its urgent political relevance. In an era where people seem to lose sight of the importance of individual civil rights, this novel brings that struggle to the forefront. It meticulously describes the collapse of a family’s world when a nation suspends all civic liberties. The Plot: From Stability to Chaos The story follows a well-settled, urban family living happily in Ireland. Their lives are upended when the head of the household, a trade unionist, is t...

THE NARRATIVE IS SHOCKINGLY SIMILAR Recently, I attended a seminar on our country’s secularism. The keynote speaker was the writer Tamilselvan, a prominent functionary of the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers and Artists Association—a well-known intellectual wing of the CPM in the state. Tamilselvan is the author of many books and a significant Left-wing leader. Surprisingly, he delivered his speech using a PowerPoint presentation, which I felt impeded his natural flow.  As one of the party’s most prolific orators, he is usually at his best when speaking spontaneously. By using a digital aid, he may have been trying to embrace modern technology, but in my view, it did not enhance his delivery. In a speech lasting about an hour and a half, he attempted to cover everything from human evolution and the historiography of races in the Indian subcontinent to contemporary Hindutva politics. His central theme was "Who We Are," which reminded me of Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi’s book Who Am ...