My take on the Budget. Links given below

If you ask : what is the value of the humanities? I would say that it teaches you to read with acuity, to analyse wild claims, to argue responsibly to questions to which there are no right answers. Do we need the humanities? Let’s hear it for yes!!!

Superb and stimulating two days of papers and debates, thrilling to have been a part of it! Thanks NLSIU

Why are people condoning violence and mob justice? Don't you know this is how we got to this situation in the first place? Let justice take its course now. Celebrate but don't destroy. Build back better. Please, we have seen this before, and it never ends well. 🇧🇩

Once Democracy’s child, the upsurge in Dhaka demonstrates how Sheikh Hasina has joined the ranks of dictators. My piece in The Tribune ⁦The Tribune⁩ : tribuneindia.com/news/comment/h…

Vinesh Phogat disqualification on the verge of a gold & a sealed silver is a national sporting tragedy. Shocking failure also by team, contingent bosses & coach. Wrestlers’ weight management issues when fighting on consecutive days are well known. It’s a management disaster.

Fall of Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh shows people power can still sometimes sweep away an unpopular autocrat. Belarus and Iran suggested that maybe online monitoring and willingness to kill demonstrators had tipped balance towards autocracy. Army loyalty seems to be key variable.

Look at this response from the London Borough of #Walthamstow saying NO to racism, NO to fascists, NO to bigotry. Big up Walthamstow✊🏾✊🏾

Stoked to be appointed Visiting Professor ⁦NLSIU⁩ —a real privilege to be here, can’t think of a better spot to think and engage on India! nls.ac.in/news-events/in…

In this Independence Day week, a rare archival picture to share (courtesy a friend). Shantaram Chawl Mumbai 1916 Ganesh Chathurthi. To the left of Lokmanya Tilak is Gandhiji Standing in Pagadi and Kurta. To the right in suit is Mr Jinnah. Would have loved to be a fly on the wall

Much light and little heat! A must-watch on #Bangladesh with Shivshankar Menon, Shivshankar Menon TCA Raghavan, Suhasini Haider Suhasini Haidar for The Wire youtu.be/dkRWZOdAHG4?si… via YouTube

Sharp as a shard piece by ⁦Yamini Aiyar⁩. On why capitalism fails to win over India and much more Why politicians choose statist solutions over economic reforms. Source: Foreign Affairs search.app/Ns2AqCZda9AYrW…

Maybe psephology or election obsessed predictive gaming sucked out all the air. With data correlations passing as thought 🤔 BUT political ideas and thought very much alive and kicking just not in the usual places or by the same old players

From MIH Archives: Shruti Kapila revises the common assumption that non-violence has been central to political modernity in India through the analysis of Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s philosophical reinterpretation of the Bhagavad Gita bit.ly/3XbVVwn

A series of new books helps answer the question of where the ideal of equality came from. But should equality, instead of freedom, be the main principle of our politics? bit.ly/3Z1vueu

I take death all too seriosly. Some of India's foremost thinkers based their political projects on death. So when Indian political thought is declared dead it is only amusing if wilful ignorance. Glad the next gen of scholars sets the record straight thewire.in/politics/contr…

A quiet night in Corpus Christi: the lull between summer schools and the bubble / excitement of a new academic year 😃

Three beautiful pieces from Chandigarh at the #TropicalModernism exhibition at the V&A

My essay on violence in India is up in the latest issue of Pacific Affairs. I review three thought provoking books by Shruti Kapila jyotirmaya sharma & Vinayak Chaturvedi: pacificaffairs.ubc.ca/review-essays/…