Parin Shah

Makarsankranti is no Bakrid

Does anyone remember their school days when they were asked to write an essay on a festival, e.g. Holi, Deepavali, or Uttarayan? We used to start off with festivals are a much needed break from the boring routine life and then go on to describe the festival. After so many years of schooling, it indeed feels that the festivals are that much needed break from the routine life! In the Indian…

Is patriotism the last refuge of a scoundrel or liberalism the compendium of shamelessness?

On September, 18, 2016 heavily armed Jihadis attacked an army base in north Kashmir and killed 17 soldiers, triggering calls for a swift retaliation that could squeeze the space for any détente between India and Pakistan. The Indian Army responded to this Jihadi attack with a massive counter terrorism operation, i.e. surgical strikes in POK, the illegally occupied part of the Indian state of…

When Godless feminists want to alter traditions of the temple of a celibate god

We all believe in causes, some causes are so special to us that we personally contribute everything we can in order to help those causes… However, just as you believe in some cause as you find it ‘right’, rest of the world doesn’t have to agree with you or echo your feeling of the righteousness of the cause you believe in; one simply cannot expect others to become card-carrying members of their…

Before I begin, let me first clarify that I am neither an author nor a traveler; I am writing this blog as a mark of appreciation. The story is of my journey to Bangalore from Ahmadabad. I was scheduled to fly to Bangalore by a 9:00 am Air Costa flight on August 27, 2016; however, owing to some technical and operational reasons (this was the explanation I was offered by them), my flight was…

Amidst the ongoing controversy, the news of a few rebellious ABVP activists burning Manusmriti as a mark of protest, for allegedly being ‘anti-woman’, at the JNU campus posed a serious question before me. Although it is not for the first time and it will, in the foreseeable future, not be the last time that Manusmriti was burnt as a mark of protest against so-called Brahminism whenever the…

JNU saga has nothing to do with freedom of expression

Youth is the embodiment of passion, turbulence, romanticism, and enlightenment. There is hardly an example of a mass movement, political or otherwise, having succeeded without the active participation of the youth. At the tender age of 18, Khudiram Bose was hanged till death for seeking to liberate his motherland from the clutches of the British rule, making him the youngest patriot to embrace…

Homosexuality and the Hindu society

As a Supreme Court bench headed by the Chief Justice TS Thakur agreed to hear the curative petition filed by gay rights activists and NGO Naz Foundation against the apex court’s December 11, 2013 judgment upholding validity of section 377 of the Indian Penal Code and the January 2014 order, by which it had dismissed a bunch of review petitions, the homosexuality debate is back again. As…

Evolution of Constitution & Its Consequences in Education Sector

Political literacy plays a vital role in the sustenance and growth of a democracy as vibrant as the Indian democracy. Unfortunately, even after almost 70 years of the commencement of Constitution of India, the dismal state of political literacy among the people of India remains a daunting challenge before all of us. The Government of India, in this light, has decided to commemorate and celebrate…

From Quit India to Split India

July 14, 1944 Many prominent leaders have said that they were simply astonished by the recent publication of Jinnah-Rajaji correspondence, which disclosed the fact that Rajaji with the explicit and often repeated consent of Gandhiji himself expressed readiness to accept the principle of provincial self-determination to secede from the central Indian Government, and had actually made an offer of…

Savarkar on establishment of Israel

19th December, 1947 I am glad to note that the overwhelming majority of the leading nations in the world should have recognized the claim of the Jewish People to establish an Independent Jewish state, in Palestine and should have promised armed assistance to get it realized. After centuries of sufferings, sacrifices and struggle the Jews will soon recover their national Home in Palestine which…

CAMPAIGN TO FAN UP THE MARTIAL SPIRIT IN THE HINDU RACE

“In pursuance of the resolution on ‘Immediate Programme’ passed at Madura by the Hindu Mahasabha and reaffirmed by the All-India Committee at Calcutta, it is encouraging to note that the Hindu Militarization movement is being carried on effectively by the Hindu-Sanghatanists throughout India. Several outstanding leaders of the Mahasabha are carrying on an intellectual campaign through press and…

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE HINDUS OF NELLORE

1st October, 1941 “I CONGRATULATE the Hindus in general and the Hindu Sabhaites in particular at Nellore on the boldness in asserting their civic and religious rights which were held up even by the law-courts, in spite of the high-handed and iniquitous ban put on their exercise by the local authorities there. Instead of suppressing Moslem goondaism for their alleged threatening to break peace in…

Chaulukya Queen Naikidevi- The Defender of Gujarat From Muhammad Ghori

The history of the Chaulukyas of Gujarat has never suffered from want of historians since Hemachandra wrote his Dvyāśrayakāvya. His lead in this field of literature was followed by many writers such as, Someśvara, Somaprabha, Chandraprabha or Prabhachandra, Balāchandra, Udayaprabha, Merutunga, Jayasimha Suri and others. Many of these authors really wrote the biography of Kumarapala or of…

A Letter of Complaint and Reprimand

Dear Sirs, I am compelled to write this letter of reprimand in order to apprise you of the sense of repugnance and disenchantment the latest issue of the Outlook Magazine has generated. It was, by all accounts, a sordid example of not only yellow journalism but also slanderous propaganda which I don’t think is the editorial policy of the Outlook Magazine. It appears that the latest issue of the…

Why do men rape?

Why motherhood is uncool