Mythologist | Author | Speaker | Illustrator
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Articles
Was Macaulay Anti-India Or Anti-Brahmin?
The debate around Macaulay, English, and education is not just about colonialism. It is about whether India wants a future shaped by open inquiry or a past shaped by inherited authority…
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Articles
The Durga of Dalit Mythology
In recent years, there has been a growing clash between ‘Sanatani mythology’ and ‘Dalit mythology’. During the festival season last month, a well-known Dalit activist argued that the worship of Durga is nothing but the celebration of an Aryan invasion of Dravidian lands. In his retelling, Mahishasur, the buffalo demon, represents dark-skinned Dravidians while Durga…
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Articles
Is Lingayat a caste or a religion?
The Lingayat community today insists it is a separate religion. They refuse to be placed within the Veerashaiva fold, or being seen as a subset of Hinduism. This demand has upset those who seek to unite Hinduism under a single umbrella by referring to it as ‘sanatan dharma’…
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Articles
How Caste Manifested Before the British
Caste impacts 100% of Hindu society while untouchability impacts 20% of Hindu society. But that lower 20% was sometimes seen as outside the Hindu fold, until their votes mattered in the 20th century…
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Articles
Is a Dvija the Same As a Savarna?
The term ‘Savarnaʼ was coined by the Left wing to distinguish the Hindu elite from the ‘Avarnaʼ, those who are deemed outside the caste system and denied human dignity…
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Articles
Caste As the Opposite of Conversion
Every Indian is born into a caste and a religion. But you cannot leave caste. You can only leave religion. This makes the doctrine of caste an antagonist of the doctrine of conversion…
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Articles
Diversity and Unity Amongst Castes
The battle over caste identity continues, as it remains a struggle for both access to resources and access to status…
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Articles
The Chatur-varna System of Punjab
Despite their military support, Jats were seen inferior by Brahmins, Rajputs and Khatris, as they practiced a form of widow remarriage (chadar chadhana) and refused to indulge in widow burning (Sati) valorised in royal and martial communities…
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Articles
Annihilating Caste, Defending Religion
No one can make sense of India without appreciating caste. Caste has been seen as the primary tool of oppression that gave rise to dehumanising practices like untouchability. That is why ‘annihilating casteʼ has been seen as a humanitarian goal in India. Despite a long history of violence, and oppression, no one speaks of ‘annihilating…
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Articles
No Caste Without Jati, Varna, Dvija and Adhama
We cannot talk about Hinduism without caste. When we say caste, we are using a European word. The local words are jati and varna…
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Articles
Was Hanuman a Dravidian, a Brahmin, or a Dalit?
Many politicians, during election time in North India, have argued that Hanuman was a Dalit, strong but subservient. The bell was used in mediaeval times to announce the presence of the ‘low’ caste in many villages, so people of ‘high’ caste could step away from the ‘pollution’…
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Articles
How Do You Explain Caste to a Non-Indian?
Castes exist in a superstructure, which has many regional variations. It was relatively dynamic before being fixed by the British colonial administration. It is important to remember that the word ‘caste’ is a European invention; the traditional Indian word is jati. …
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Articles
How to Look At Manusmriti and the Caste System
Everybody talks about the Manusmriti nowadays and links it to the caste system. But what exactly is it? To understand this, we must understand a little bit of Indian history…
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Articles
Must We Refer to Caste, or Gurus, When Discussing Indian Knowledge Systems?
Currently, gurus are seen as greater than even gods. Once you accept that the guru knows everything, there never will be growth…
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Articles
Caste Tales They Don’t Tell Us
Caste is a word introduced by Europeans about 300 years ago for what Indians have referred to as jati for at least 2,000 years…
