We are already past the middle of 2021, and what a year it has been. What a terrible couple of years the 2020s decade has chosen to begin with. So much suffering, loss of life and scars that are likely to remain for much longer. We even have some of the makings of the roaring… Continue reading Writings on the Wall #21: Reopening
June 5, 2021, was World Environment Day and since the Covid pandemic is in many ways connected with the environment, I thought I’d base this month’s Ovid in the Time of Covid on the story of Phaeton from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Just last month, India was struck by two cyclones in the Arabian Sea as well… Continue reading Ovid in the Time of Covid: Careless Consumption
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Living through a raging pandemic as we are in India, we don't need a bigger calamity in our lives. But we witnessed one briefly this past week, as Cyclone Tauktae stormed through Goa and along the entire western coastline of India. With the first thunder and lightning power went out, plunging us in darkness for… Continue reading Writings on The Wall #20: Calamity
In recent days, we in India have been witnessing people throwing caution to the winds, in the name of religious fervour. This, even as the Covid-19 pandemic ravages the country, with the discovery of a new, highly transmissible variant first found in India, the B.1.617. Whether it is the Maha Kumbh Mela, or the celebration… Continue reading Reading Russell During the Pandemic
As the Covid pandemic rages in India, one cannot help but think of how our leaders were gloating over having controlled the pandemic just a few months ago. In many other countries too, populist leaders - especially strongmen – were either in complete denial over the virus and contagion, or else were too absorbed in… Continue reading Ovid in the Time of Covid: Self-absorption
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
As we await the results of the state assembly elections on May 2, 2021, Tamil Nadu in particular would be one to watch for various reasons. One would be to see if and how the BJP improves its score card in the state, even if in alliance with the AIADMK. The other would be to… Continue reading Periyar – The Great One – on Brahminism and Social Reform
As countries go in for mass vaccination drives, the hope is that they may soon be able to reopen parts of their economies that have been severely affected. Like dining, entertainment, travel and more. And while technology has certainly come to the rescue of many, allowing people to shop online, stream films and concerts, and… Continue reading Writings on The Wall #19: Dining Out
As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to rage around the world and millions continue to die, its effects on different sections of society are widely different. And even as vaccines roll out, access to them and the speed of vaccination programmes too vary widely across the world. Meanwhile, the economic impacts of the pandemic are making… Continue reading Ovid in the Time of Covid: Flying High
