Thanks to reader Kaanganeya for pointing me to this excellent interview where S.N. Balagangadhara (Baalu) shares his thoughts on certain fundamentals, which he says need heavy redefining. I’ll add my random bits here. The current theoretical framework is firmly embedded within Western cultural history and proves inadequate when it comes to studying non-Western traditions. The [...]

The poor, backward-caste minister, Ramadoss pours his heart out about how the media has been victimizing him because of his caste. Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss on Monday charged the media in the national capital with being biased against him as he belonged to most backward caste. On its part, the media has been quite [...]

Mahmood A. Madani, one of the prime torchbearers of the recent Calcutta riots, expounds on Taslima Nasreen’s "offensive passages" in Dwikhandita. He supports intellectual debate "but not rubbish." Rubbish isn’t worth debating so what is he angry about? The answer lies in the middle of a pile of circuitous stuff about his perception of the [...]

This promises to be fun. Times of India has already begun its verbal acrobatics. Congress in Gujarat is raising its voice on the Sohrabuddin issue. But, it should explain to the people what should be done to a man who stored illegal arms and ammunition. You tell me, what should have been done to Sohrabuddin?" [...]

Welcome a new oxymoron to the English language, courtesy a Holy Englishman: caring colonialism. Like burning ice and free slave. Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who officially leads nearly 80 million Anglicans worldwide, told a British Muslim lifestyle magazine that the British experiment in India was an example of caring colonialism. The word [...]

Krish is back with a real gem after a long time. We’d kind of missed this one for a while. From comments on this post: krish Says: November 30, 2007 at 8:02 pm Dude, how do you bullshit with a straight face?

To my great cyncial delight, the Acorn’s optimism has been shattered. In some ways, by Taslima herself. Back-channel negotiations between the Centre and West Bengal, with a little help from Taslima Nasreen’s “literary friends” in Kolkata, got the author to delete three pages from her book…. Her reasons for submission are irrelevant. She used to [...]