Month: April 2020

Logic-defying, mind numbing statements cast in front of the public in India over the years.There is no dearth of ‘ancient wisdom’ in India, but the sheer number of self-styled ‘godmen’

As soon as I was about seven or eight years old and could read Hindi well, I started looking for books that I could read. This way, I found a

Religion is probably the most complex human phenomenon. From Centuries philosophers have tried to understand and define it. Different commentators have emphasized on its many facets. Probably one of its

Wild Wild West, the Netflix show that chronicled the sordid truths about Osho’s life, predictably created a big stir. National embarrassment for us, yes, but who doesn’t like a story

Introduction Jaggi Vasudev is a self-styled new-age guru whose philosophy and agenda are represented by his activities through his organization, the Isha Foundation. Isha Foundation has steadily been gaining a follower

Conspiracy theories can undercut public health efforts to forestall epidemics. An emerging line of research exploring what might be called misinformation studies is trying to understand how and why fake

(This is the text of Gail Omvedt’s inaugural lecture on Feminist Discourse, organised by the Department of Sociology, SavitribaiPhule Pune University.Gail Omvedt is a scholar, sociologist and human rights activist

Science has proved itself to be a reliable way to approach all kinds of questions about the physical world. As a scientist, I am led to wonder whether its ability

Shamanism is as varied as those who practise it. Its practitioners range from indigenous lineages who have passed down their craft over thousands of years to the modern ‘plastic shamans’,

‘If the fruits for life of the state of conversion are good, we ought to idealise and venerate it, even though it be a piece of natural psychology; if not,

This book, ‘I Could Not Be Hindu’, is unique in many ways. First, it is written by a former RSS member who has become a radical critique of the organisation

Over the past few days, India’s headlines have been dominated by cases of sexual violence, rape and violence against women. And with these cases has come the common refrain: ‘Hang

On January 3, Gujarat assembly speaker Rajendra Trivedi, speaking at a ‘Brahmin Business Summit’ in Ahmedabad, asserted that Brahmins are genetically superior to people of other castes and religions. If it’s a good

There are families in South Asian nations who would kill their child — usually a daughter — for the sake of ‘family honour.’ Here, the concept of ‘family’ is detached