At a time when the Kashmir valley has been shut down, it is perhaps appropriate that we remember Lal Ded, Kashmir's best known spiritual and literary figure, someone remembered with divine adoration both by Hindus and Muslims in Kashmir. A fascinating excerpt from Sandhya Mulchandani's For The Love Of God: Women Poet Saints Of The Bhakti Movement.
'The irresistible charm of Indian politics is it can always throw up surprises -- even when it looks as predictable as in Tamil Nadu,' discovers Shekhar Gupta.
'Islam insists on sameness, which is fine but can run the danger to jihad against those who are not the same.' 'Brahminical Hinduism insists on difference, which is fine but can run the danger of an oppressive internal hierarchy: Caste oppression, for instance.' 'In actual fact, humans need both sameness and difference to exist.'
On Wednesday, Bengal's own daughter she firmly pitched herself as, was sworn in as the chief minister of the turbulent state for the third successive term amid raging fires of political violence and a rampaging pandemic.
Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath of office and secrecy to the 52-year-old Thakur, a five-time MLA from Seraj, and other ministers which included six new faces.
'If Modi-Shah had not changed the leadership, one section would have parted ways with the BJP for sure.'
'The continuing crisis in agriculture, the inability of successive governments to provide secure jobs to millions of youths having varying degrees of skills, and fragmentation of politics have created a sense of despondency.'
'Voters from the forward castes voted for JD-U because they feared Laloo Yadav's return, but since that fear is no longer there they may not see the need to vote for Nitish Kumar anymore.'
Yogi will stay in Gorakhpur till May 19 and will address at least three rallies every day in the region, reports Siddharth Kalhans.
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Jayanta Roy Chowdhury reports on how the West Bengal elections are being fought by the BJP and Trinalool Congress amid COVID challenges, 'Bangaliana', and campaigns based on religion, region, and caste.
Pandey had hit the headlines recently for his vocal condemnation of the non-cooperation meted out to the Bihar police team that had visited Mumbai to probe the death of Patna-born actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
'The cow can always be the CAUSE.' 'Cause for murder. Cause for setting India's people against each other.' 'Not recognising the fact that this can tip the country into an unending spiral of civil strife and set the much-vaunted 'India story' back by years is the ultimate stupidity of all,' says Shuma Raha.
What was Team Rahul's big mistake? Why are Brahmins dominating the All India Congress Committee? Why can't Food Minister KV Thomas visit Rome... All this, and more, in this week's Dilli Gupshup.
Aaradhya's day out with mom Aishwarya.
The party also declared sitting MP Praveen Nishad as its candidate from Sant Kabir Nagar
Almost a century before the current Sabarimala movement -- to facililate the entry of women between the ages of 10 and 50 into the Kerala shrine -- there was the Vaikom temple movement, to throw open temples in Kerala to all castes, a movement led by among others a man whose 71st death anniversary we mark today. A fascinating excerpt from Rajmohan Gandhi's new book, Modern South India: A History From The 17th Century To Our Times.
A towering figure in the world of letters, Udupi Rajagopalacharya Ananthamurthy, who died in Bangalore on Friday, was modern in his sensibilities and intellectual underpinnings in his literary works questioned many deeply-held beliefs.
The AIADMK's staying power is not in question, but it has to regain the winning streak. That will require its leaders and leadership to re-wire themselves, to be able to re-think situations in ways different from what they had been accustomed to, suggests Sathiya Moorthy.
The TMC expects to emerge victorious by way of a majority of minority votes and a minority of majority votes, notes Arun Bhatnagar, a retired IAS officer.
A five-time Member of Parliament from Uttara Kannada Lok Sabha constituency is now the Minister of State in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
According to an insider, "Winning is all that matters to the BJP. The leaders were warned that he was an undesirable character but they said look at his victory margin."
The culling of key state leaders and bureaucrats has given rise to distrust and uneasiness in Pramod Sawant's style of functioning, notes Aditi Phadnis.
'We should be open to looking at Ramdas Athavale's suggestion of reservations. India will not be unique if it chooses to do this, says Aakar Patel.
'I stand by what I said. It is understandable that Rushdie got angry and called me names. But it also means it hurt him because there was some truth in what I said.'
Indian actors from different generations and worlds, Roshan Seth and Sendhil Ramamurthy, star in a remarkable film, co-starring Oscar winner Mary Steenburgen and Oscar nominee Michael Lerner. Brahmin Bulls director Mahesh Pailoor, in a fascinating conversation with Arthur J Pais/Rediff.com
Last year, Nikhil Kamath and his brother Nithin jettisoned into a club of the country's 100 wealthiest with their net worth pegged at around Rs 24,000 crore
Cinematographer Azhagappan is making his debut as a director
Mahendra Nath Pandeysaid that Gandhi has "no gotra", going by the traditional male lineage.
'The BJP has been tinkering with the Indian Constitution every now and then.' 'Instead of celebrating November 26 as Constitution Day, the BJP was more interested in (the VHP's) Dharam Sabha which was called that day.' 'This shows they believe more in the Ram mandir than in the Constitution.'
Sukh Ram and Raja were charged with corruption during their tenure as telecom ministers. Sukh Ram was convicted while Raja has been acquitted. One had cash found under his bed; in the case of the other the trial judge mockingly asks: Where is the money? And if there's no money, where is the corruption? So, pronounced innocent. Sukh Ram is a Brahmin. 'Maybe he strayed just that one time, people like that aren't usually corrupt.' And Raja is a Dalit. 'Can you expect any better?' What race is in some places, caste is in India, says Shekhar Gupta.
We bring you the richest, biggest and famous Ganesh pandals from Mumbai.
'Even though the film focuses on caste discriminations in rural India, it is first of all a riveting police procedural, and one of the best made in India,' says Aseem Chhabra.
"Pawar said April 4 in the afternoon will be convenient for him as Parliament session would be over by then. Accordingly, the Commission has summoned him on April 4," Malik told reporters at the state secretariat in Mumbai.
'The Congress should have accepted our demands.' 'Gone are the days when it could decide how many crumbs to throw at us.' 'Now, we make the demands.'
The film works because of Niveditha's performance.
