The alarming rise in COVID cases in India, its strained health care system, and gory details of mass cremations have occupied pages of global and India’s domestic media in recent months. But the Indian situation is no different from that in the other major comparable countries of the world. As a matter of fact, India is doing remarkably well despite the legacy of a rickety healthcare system and mismanagement, in particular, by opposition party-ruled Indian states that impacts the overall performance of India.

The WHO data shows that as of 6 May 2021, confirmed COVID cases in India stood just…

The Supreme Court of India gave an interim stay on 12 January 2021 to the three farm laws introduced by the Modi government in September 2020 to resolve the deadlock between farmers’ unions and the government. However, the unions have refused to cooperate with the Court established four-member experts committee and vowed to continue the agitation blocking roads to India’s capital city.

Why are farmers protesting?

The farmers want three laws passed by the Indian Parliament repealed. The laws are the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act; the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance Act…

I was recently asked by one of the participants in the talks I give on Hindu philosophy what is the concept of prarabdha karma and is there any escape from it? To answer his question, I wrote this short essay.

Mahadevan (1971) notes that Hindu thinkers distinguish three types of karma: sancita (accumulated karma from past births), prarabdha (that part of past karma that is fructifying in this birth and agami (coming karma which also includes karma of this birth). Gambhiranand (1998:1016) defines prarabhdha as ‘’karma-phala results of past actions that have set up the
present body, i.e. …

3. The relevance of Hindu thought for modern society

An important issue is whether the Hindu thought, with all its lofty ideals, is relevant for the present society? What can the modern man learn from Hinduism to make her/his own life richer and the society around her/him peaceful and harmonious? Interestingly, Hindu thinkers also considered how desirable ideals could be operationalized or brought in to everyday practice. Philosophy can be a dry subject to the disinterested, however, through festivities and other daily practices such as the Yoga, Hindu thinkers made it relevant to address everyday problems that a person faces and the wider society in which s/he lives. Hinduism…

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to present the general framework of Hinduism to develop our understanding of its nature and core principles and their significance to help resolve the tensions and complexities of contemporary society. The motivation comes from the misconceptions that surround its theology and practice. Given the vast philosophical literature developed over the years, often the central message of Hinduism for humanity gets lost. Furthermore, those interested are often confused due to the complexities of Hindu societal fabric, the political narrative surrounding, lack of familiarity with the original literature written Sanskrit language, and onslaughts by adherents…

Ramachandra Guha is surprisingly candid about Rahul Gandhi and his inability to lead the Congress Party in the 2024 general election to take on Modi. But instead of engaging in self-introspection, dynasty loyalists like Rajmohan Gandhi come to the defense of the indefensible Rahul.

Both are, however, on the same page when it comes to a diatribe against Hindutva and Modi. But Rahul for them becomes a lenticular piece of art -a permanent apprentice for Ram, but a master of everything for Raj who showers encomium on him.

Showing the mirror

Ram questions can Rahul ‘’who so lamentably failed to…

Shyam Saran, former foreign secretary Government of India criticizes Prime Minister Modi for attending the Ayodhya event in his recent article. As a Nehru Dynasty loyalist, his opposition to the Ram Temple is understandable. But in so doing, he not only toes the Pakistan government line but also has no qualms in unabashed concealment of truth.

Hiding the truth

In his speech, Modi referred to the popularity of Ramayana, among others, in Indonesia, a Muslim majority country. Saran notes ‘’ The irony was perhaps lost on him that it was on the site of the criminal demolishan of a mosque…

Australian Media’s bias against Modi’s India

In my article (part 1) titled as above, I provided a rebuttal of the recent articles by Brian Toohey and Mohamed Zeeshan that appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald on 07 July and 09 July 2020 respectively. In this part 2, I review similar anti-India, anti-Modi articles.

AARTI BETIGERI

Another left-liberal journalist in Australia who frequently derides India, Narendra Modi, BJP government is Aarti Betigeri. Her articles are published in ‘’the interpreter’’ which is a mouthpiece of the Lowy Institute.

Frank Lowy, an Israeli-Australian businessman, who owns the Westfield shopping mall chain, is the founder of the Institute. The Institute…