Swacch Bharat, Public Interest and Corruption
[Transcribed from Balu’s talk at World Hindu Congress Dec 2014 ] Chairman Sir, Ladies and Gentlemen, Good Morning. Actually I’m the odd man out. We have success stories. We have…
Read moreEnlightenment by Grace or Efforts or Birth?
9.32 Bhagavadgita māṃ hi pārtha vyapāśritya ye ‘pi syuḥ pāpayonayaḥ striyo vaiśyāstathā śūdrās te’ pi yānti parāṃ gatim The situation is a bit more complex. The word ‘yoni’ here does…
Read moreCentral features of studies on Caste
This article on Sulekha says: [B]ut there can be no doubt that for the past thousand years at least the caste system has been a great nightmare for the majority of our…
Read moreCommon sense ideas about the caste system
I 1. When I took the caste-system as an example, what am I doing? I am showing that turning the standard story on its head is a child’s play: caste…
Read moreWhat can India offer?
[Published on outlookindia, July 05, 2007] Today, India has become a global player of significant political and economical impact. Europe and India are facing each other as equal partners in…
Read moreCaste Sytem III
1. As I have said before, my hypothesis is meant to guide the research and, as such, suggests that we find that the Brahmins will exhibit more of a heterarchical…
Read moreCaste System II
Two small points before I respond to your questions. One: all I have is a hypothesis that can guide research. In itself, it is not a theory and I cannot…
Read moreCaste hierarchies
1. You ask whether “there is a perception of caste hierarchies among Brahmins”. My guess is that there is no such general perception, even if, regionally, multiple Brahmin jati’s fight…
Read moreCaste system I
1. Let me reconsider the hypothesis I propose: what we call ‘the caste system’ in India today is a hybrid beast. It is not a social structure but a linguistic…
Read moreColonial Consciousness: M.N. Srinivas and Sanskritization
1. M. N. Srinivas (MNS) claims that “a caste was able, in a generation or two, to rise to a higher position in the hierarchy by adopting vegetarianism and teetotalism…
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