Umar Nizarudeen I am also surprised at the praise for this book from a sensible social science scholar like Neera Chandhoke, in another review. Caste-blind scholarship which draws a quick distinction between Hinduism and Hindutva is forcing the Congress of Rahul Gandhi to own Hinduism, as a strategy to bring the Congress back to …
Rainbow casteism and racism in the queer community is alienating us
Sophia I entered the Delhi queer movement in my early 20s, as a complete outsider in terms of language, origin, race, class, and caste identity. I wanted to bring change to the status quo and challenge the existing caste and class hierarchy that pervaded the movement. I started my initiative and became a vocal …
In Memory of Sant Ramanand Ji
Ram Dayal Ahirwar Political and social theorists are in support of subaltern theoretical development in India as an emancipatory project for the socially, religiously, gender-wise, and regionally marginal. But within the strand of Dalit politics, there are lots of contestations, there are independents, groups of activists and public intellectuals who have problematic dispositions towards words …
Revisiting Keezhvenmani after 50 years: The embers still smolder
Deivendra Kumar A It was during my post-graduation studies in journalism at the Central University of Tamil Nadu in Thiruvarur that one of my professors enquired about my view on the recent movie Asuran (2019), directed by ace filmmaker Vetrimaaran. Further, he asked me about the recent buzz that the particular film has created among …
Textures of being – The Mappila verses by Ajmal Khan
Umar Nizar “Where do coconut trees go When their roots are declared illegal”. -Ajmal Khan, `Mappila Verses’ Poetry as a tool of resistance has been wielded by personas ranging from the Hebraic to the Hellenic, from Moses to Kabir. Poet, sociologist and educator, Ajmal Khan in his debut collection of verse, creates a poetic/proto history …
Logarithmic castes in Kerala and exponential pride
Navin Sambrani While the caste elite, being twice born enjoy the exponentially `squared ‘ status, the Keralite caste elite, savouring their status owing to erstwhile informal marital alliances with the twice born, are its logarithmic inverse (square rooted, to the power of two) counterparts. Life thus shrinks into itself, in all its tropical pestilence. Shashi …
Liars Masquerading as Communists: The Curious Case of CPIM in Bengal
Mahitosh Mandal “Philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it.” – Karl Marx, “Theses on Feuerbach” (1845) “In the twentieth century, we tried to change the world too quickly; the time is to interpret it again.” – Slavoj Žižek, “Don’t Act. Just Think” (2012) On the occasion …
When Caliban weds Miranda: `Discovering English’ in the poetry of S.Chandramohan
Umar Nizar “No, not a single letter is seen On my race So many histories are seen On so many races” –Poykayil Appachan (Tr: Ajay Sekher) English is the unacknowledged Creole of the world. Chandramohan, the Indian English poet, uses the colonial patois to craft an intergenerational dialogue with the Malayali social reformer Poykayil Appachan. …
Neoorientalism and Scopophilia in the work of Mayank Austen `Sufi’
Umar Nizar The road to hell is paved with good intentions. With the rather misleading moniker `Sufi’, social media celebrity and Arundhati Roy groupie, Mayank Austen Soofi ambles around Delhi, chronicling the lives of the apparently destitute. This has earned him accolades in the form of invitations to the `Serendipity Arts Festival’ in Goa and …