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Farouk Gulsara
under Other Social Causes

Why do tribes go to war?

In the patriotic Hollywood movie 'Syriana' (2005), a child asks his parent why people fight. In a simple reply befitting a young child, the parent offered a brief comment on politics, power, and belief systems. In another movie, this time a Bollywood spy film, Khufiya (Secret; 2023), a similar conversation took place about why wars occur...

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Tomichan Matheikal
under Other Social Causes

The Tragedy of a Gay

He possessed a grand estate, seven children, and the favour of the King. Yet in the spring of 1931, this man who wielded much political clout in the British Empire was given a choice by his own brother-in-law: catch the next boat into permanent exile, or face scathing insult before the hangman’s noose tightens around his neck. Earl Beauchamp was the man. His offence: homosexuality. His brother-in-law’s motive: jealousy. William Lygon w.....

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Farouk Gulsara
under Other Social Causes

Living through change

I had the same feeling during my last visit to my hometown, Penang. After doing all the rituals I needed to, I decided to go for a run around the places I used to run more than 30 years ago. The quarry where I used to run has now become a cluster of towering apartment complexes. New roads leading to new housing estates were everywhere. Secondary forests had disappeared...

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Tomichan Matheikal
under Other Social Causes

Hunters

If our ancient ancestors hunted animals for survival, today we hunt attention, influence, wealth, followers, votes, market share, and sometimes even the humiliation of rivals. Social media platforms have become forests of ambush. Television debates resemble ritual combat...

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Tomichan Matheikal
under Other Social Causes

Mountains to Climb

On 2 June 1953, The Times newspaper carried two news items with almost equal prominence. Twenty-five-year-old Elizabeth was crowned Queen of England that day. The other news item was the conquest of Mount Everest by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. What is remarkable is that The Times was the only newspaper in the world to carry the story of the Everest conquest. When James Morris, the correspondent of The Times of London, reported it, journalism achieved one of.....

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Tomichan Matheikal
under Other Social Causes

Zero: the End where we start again

India invented zero and the Arabs gave it to the world. Without zero mathematics wouldn’t have progressed much. Imagine writing 999 in Roman numerals. CMXCIX. And thousand is just M. How far can you go with that sort of a numeral system? Zero changed it all. Zero brought about a revolution in mathematics. It changed the course of human thought more profoundly than most grand ideas. Yet, with all the humility that is characteristic of India’s mysticism (unlike its mythology), we.....

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Josna Rege
under Other Social Causes

654. Sovereign States

For the month of April, as part of the annual A to Z Challenge, I will be endeavoring to write a short personal post every day on the subject of war and peace—short because of time, War and Peace b…..

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Josna Rege
under Other Social Causes

652. Quit India Movement

For the month of April, as part of the annual A to Z Challenge, I will be endeavoring to write a short personal post every day on the subject of war and peace—short because of time, War and Peace b…..

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Farouk Gulsara
under Other Social Causes

She did it her way!

Now I know why Amma wanted to go back to Penang so badly. She was a local celebrity there. In the last years of her life, she kept on chanting the same mantra, ‘I want to go to Penang’ in as many languages as she knew to whoever would listen. Amma, over the years, had been afflicted with repeated strokes. What started as a fall and confusion led to her being transferred to Kuala Lumpur for further assistance and care. This was at the height of COVID and lockdo.....

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Tomichan Matheikal
under Other Social Causes

Quixotism: P B Shelley

Don Quixote was not a foolish man who tilted at misperceived windmills. He was a dreamer, an idealist who refused to accept a diminished vision of the world. His pursuits, albeit impractical, were born of a burning hunger for meaning, justice, and beauty. Reality as commonly accepted is often too narrow to contain human aspiration. Quixote dared to imagine an ideal world and live as though that imagined world was real. Can we take Quixote not as a figure of comedy b.....

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