For An Informed Ambedkar Age
Umar Nizar “It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue …
Umar Nizar Orientalism as a discipline has been detrimental to the fortunes of eastern civilisations, particularly that of India. The translation of a corpus of Indic heritage by the likes of Max Meuller rendered India susceptible to military interference and onslaught by great powers in the age of steam-powered industrialisation. The inscrutability of China can …
Umar Nizar The culinary crafting of Bharata’s `rasa’ theory has been established so much so that it is even compared to the South Indian spice soup called `rasam’ which is a cocktail of spicy, sweet, tangy and sour flavours. `Rasa’ depends on the sue generic creation of emotion. `Vibhavaanubhavavyabhicharisamyogit rasa nischpatti’ is the famous rasa …
Umar Nizar The graffiti superstar Banksy known for his politically charged work, has recently been playing it safe by making animal murals in the city of London, which is interesting in the light of the recent right wing hooliganism and rioting in the UK. Multiculturalism in the UK is a sham, and so is the …
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 …
Umar Nizar The allegation that was levelled against Socrates was that of corrupting the young. Similarly present day philosophers such as Zizek and Badiou has a huge following among the youth. But there are controversially radical figures like Jordan Peterson who dehumanises victims of violence, who also attract the minds of the young in large …
Umar Nizar There is a poignant moment in the i-flux edition brought out by Sage publications, in which the art work titled `Hallelujah Fallujah’ by Anita Dube is `misprinted’ as `Hallelujah Hallelujah’. This is the apotheosis of contemporary art, where a truly radical artistic ploy has been `unconsciously’ or `unintentionally’ reduced to an onomastic caricature with …
Umar Nizar The Malayalam novelist NS Madhavan claims that James Joyce was a major influence on his writings. But that leaves one wondering about the fact that Madhavan’s works bear none of the labyrinthine complexities of Joyce. His short stories have been celebrated in Kerala. Perhaps Madhavan is referring to Joyce’s `Dubliners’, a magisterial collection …
Umar Nizar (DEUS ABSCONDITUS AT THE KOCHI-MUZIRIS BIENNALE) `I am not your data’ -Abhay Xaxa Saddam Hussein, the erstwhile dictator of Iraq, was executed on a local holy day. The imperial revenants always make it a point to make their emergence on such occasions. Such was the case of a hatchet job perpetrated by the …