Dr Ratnesh Katulkar Deekshabhumi is a site where Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar embraced Buddhism on October 14, 1956 along with his five lakh followers. However, this place of historical and spiritual significance is now facing an existential crisis. Common persons’ entry to the upcoming Dhammachakra Pravartan Divas in October could be permanently restricted if things continue …
Scent of an old woman
Umar Nizar Furthermore, it is a commonplace that mistakes or errors are part of the learning process and thus essential to creativity: as Jung remarked, “anyone who takes the sure road is as good as dead’, or as Hélène Cixous puts it: ‘our mistakes are our leaps in the night. Error is not lie; it …
English as a Tool of Liberation for Dalits in India
Anjali Shreshth In April 2010, the Dalit members of Banka, a remote village in the Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh in northern India, inaugurated a unique temple. The temple was symbolic not because of a mythical history attached to it but rather because it was symbolic of the reclaiming of agency—social and political—by the …
UP ke anpadh budhhijeevi: Why you must thank Kanshiram, Mayawati and BSP for this election result
Vaishali Khandekar India eagerly, almost anxiously, waited for the results of the 2024 General Elections and witnessed a surprising outcome on June 04, 2024. Uttar Pradesh is one of the states that surprised viewers the most. Going completely against the labels of a sweeping BJP victory in all the 80 seats of UP, the public …
Savarna Saviors and Subaltern Stereotypes: The Caste Problem in ‘Panchayat’
Neeraj Bunkar In a previous article for Round Table India, I analysed the depiction of caste dynamics in Season 2 of the web series ‘Panchayat’. The series portrayed a village dominated by ‘upper caste’(Brahmins), while Dalits are depicted as struggling to secure basic amenities, such as toilets. This is exemplified through the character of Vinod, …
The myth of sanatan dharma or the single truth
Chanchal Kumar I had the opportunity to attend a talk by a Brahmin professor on the topic “The place of law in human life”. It, as it may be guessed, drew on Hindu dharma shastras and such books as the Manusmriti, and the best audience to his oration could be assumed to be those living …
Being Chrisanghi is being Casteist
Naveen Prasad Alex Who is a Chrisanghi Chrisanghis is a term that recently came into use for Syrian Christians who share with sections from other religious groups the common hatred of Muslims, predominantly in Kerala. Efforts by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to increase their stake in Kerala’s legislative …
A Touch
~ Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man A Touch Your ancestors Forced my ancestors, To drag their dead animals, To skin them and cut them, Eat the dead animal meat, Cheap protein they would say — Animals which were fed Milk, ghee, curd and buttermilk. Your ancestors For years, became ‘impure’ after death. Your ancestors Won’t touch …
Seeking financial support for education purpose
Round Table India Govathoti Sudhitha is a student of BSc (Nutrition and Dietetics) at St. Francis College, Hyderabad. She completed her undergraduate studies in the same Course with a CGPA of 7.9. She’s currently pursuing MSc in Nutrition and Dietetics in the same college and and has completed her first year. Her father’s ambition is …