Mithilesh Kumar Prasad Have you ever wondered about religious stories and mythologies while reading or listening to them? You will notice that the animals used by the gods and goddesses are likely to be found in modern times as well. According to the National Geographic article ‘Age of Earth,’ the earth is probably 4.6 billion …
Asura in Postmodern Times
Dr. Y. Srinivasa Rao Nagas or Dravidians, the first migrant communities in India, are mythicised as Asuras or demons in a socio-political conspiracy of Aryan Brahmins. The word ‘Asura’ has many synonymous words such as Rakshasa, Rakshasi, Shankini, Dakini, Yakshi and Pisachi. Some of these have acquired everydayness as words of abuse and insult. Rakshasi …
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. …
‘Slavery’ by Mahatma Phule: Preface
‘Slavery’ by Mahatma Phule ~ Preface by The Author Himself ~ “The day that reduces a man to slavery takes from him the half of his virtue,” – Homer. “Our system of Government in India is not calculated to raise the character of those subject to it, nor is the present system of education one …
The ‘Myth’ in Mythology
Twish Mukherjee (This guest article tries to understand the protests by Bahujan students in JNU and other universities over Durga Puja and the demonizing of Mahisha and other Dalitbahujan personalities in Brahmanic mythology. These protests picked up steam around a year ago in JNU, and this article in Round Table India had covered the protests …
What is wrong with Bhagvad Gita? (Part III)
Rahul Bhalerao Continued from here. To the question ‘what do Karma and Guna exactly mean according to Gita?’ a generic and philosophical meaning is proffered as the answer. According to this response, Karma is any act or deed, be it good or bad, which in turn produces good Karma or bad Karma respectively. But, irrespective …
What is wrong with Bhagvad Gita? (Part II)
Rahul Bhalerao Continued from here. Coming back to the justifications given by the supporters of Gita, one finds that they are merely based on a few ambiguous individual verses scattered around the Gita. They certainly lack the holistic understanding and message that Gita preaches; let alone the interpretations that have evolved in practice since the …