Pinned Tweet
Since quite a few mutuals have been asking me to be on Goodreads, created the account and have uploaded the first list of ~100 books. If a book exists in the list, it's not an endorsement but a recognition that it's useful in some or other ways.
goodreads.com/review/list/19…
One of the finest ever made. After reading the Aubrey-Maturin series of novels, one couldn’t have asked for a better film adaptation of the series. A fitting tribute to the literary genius of Patrick O’Brian.
I wrote about my love for the film Master and Commander, in honour of Trafalgar Day this week spectator.com/article/in-pra…
When Maulana Bhasani realized that partition was going to happen on demographic lines, he facilitated mass scale settlement of Bengali Muslims into Assam so that Assam would go to Pakistan. During Sylhet referendum, his Muslim league cadre blocked Hindus lest they wanted to vote.
On the contrary, she gave clean chit to DMK in 2004 over its links with LTTE as indicated in the Jain commission report to secure alliance. UPA I deliberately delayed decision on the mercy petition of Rajiv's killers for political reasons. She has prioritized politics over grief.
While people may have political and ideological differences with her and the Gandhi family, her losses have been grave. It's unimaginable to lose your partner so shockingly and abruptly. And that was preceeded by the loss of her mother in law, again in tragic circumstances. Sometimes it's easy to forget that our politicians are also human beings and deserve a measure of compassion and dignity in a personal capacity.
In the epilogue of the book, Tareen cites a particular view of Sharjeel Imam that deserves some deeper attention. Sharjeel asked why pro-Congress Muslim leaders such as Azad are promoted in discourse instead of the likes of Ahmad Raza Khan and his text on cow sacrifice.
By endorsing such an individual and his text, it's not difficult to see that Sharjeel Imam shares the same enthusiasm for Islamic dominance over Hindus. His rejection of constitution is a trifle for me because he rejects it merely for its inability to deliver Muslim rule.
If you write a book (Perilous Intimacies by Sherali Tareen) dedicating it to Sharjeel Imam, Faisal Devji won't merely write a glowing foreword, but he would tactically endorse the logic of Jinnah's view on Hindu-Muslim relations by contrasting it with Gandhi.
This is how Faisal Devji looks at Dhulipala's book:
m.thewire.in/article/books/y…
And one can always expect Swapan dada to endorse such Islamists as amongst the ‘most original political thinkers’.
As I've always said, the likes of Swapan Dasgupta always carry an inner guilt of being in conservative/right-wing camp. Vandalism of a few bookstalls set up by Leftists is being quite charitable to them because they are known to execute their enemies when they're in power.
‘My head hangs in shame!’ Glad @swapan55 said this BUT it needs more than just fine words to rein in the mob that owes allegiance to his own party. What happened to the Bengali middle class reverence for books? Those who claim to worship Ma Durga and Ma Saraswati, then vandalise book stalls during Durga Puja? This is what happens when religion is only an instrument for political power. telegraphindia.com/amp/west-…
While everyone keeps on quoting Scruton on May 1968, Raymond Aron’s work ‘Elusive Revolution: Anatomy of a Student Revolt’ is a far better work to understand the great anarchy and its far reaching impact on Western democracies.
Kalidasa in Meghadoot describes Yakshini as the one without any sringara or jewellery when she is waiting for Yaksha to return. She has not even done her hair again after her husband had done a single braid while leaving. Quite aligned with what Dharmashastra-s prescribe.
Political radicalism including violent protest is an integral part of French political culture and destroying a 143 year old bell tower has no deeper meaning. There is a reason why France had 5 republics and few other regimes in ~250 years. It's a regular 'affair' for the French.
























