This is my World

You have to know me as a person before you read this article. This is not history, but a perspective and it is absolutely necessary to know the relevant details about the writer before reading their perspectives.  I'm not a Brahmin. I was born into the Nadar caste, which was suppressed by the then upper castes in the colonial era and liberated later. However, I do not consider myself a part of that caste anymore. Under the cover of building an identity and a sense of community, organised castes have developed only hatred towards other castes and I do not belong there. Though I'm an atheist and though I do not practice/preach religious rituals, my spiritual(not religious) beliefs are rooted in the philosophy of Tamils, most of which modern-day Hinduism has encapsulated. So, I'm part atheist, part Hindu (rather a strange combination). I love Tamil immensely. I will do anything to promote her, but I will not impose her on a non-Tamil speaker. I believe in freedom, equality a...

The Indian independence movement brought to fore great souls who were selfless and honest. While many of them resigned back to peace after independence, others ventured into politics. Not to make money or name for themselves, but to provide a better life for the suffering and the unprivileged. Though a few of them are still remembered today, most of them have been wiped off from the pages of history. One such man is P. Kakkan.  Personal life: Kakkan was born into a Dalit family on 18 June 1908 in a small village called Thumbaipatti near Madurai. He did his primary schooling in Melur - the town closest to his village - before moving to Thirumangalam or Madurai(there is some confusion over where he studied) for higher secondary education. He seemed to have failed the SSLC exam and thereafter, worked as a teacher before becoming a social worker. He was married to Parvati with whom he fathered five sons and a daughter. He was deeply religious and rejected Periyar's ideologies and me...

Perhaps the two reasons India still remembers Rabindranath Tagore is his nobel prize and the national anthem. Outside Bengal, his home, he is known very little for what he did to this country and even less for who he was. So here is a small article on the man on his birthday. 1) In his younger years, Rabindranath Tagore attempted to blend spiritual and romantic notions in the human soul and the mystic divine in his poems, before he moved on to write about oppression and imperialism. 2) He was a fierce critic of nationalism. Power, according to him, is a scientific product made in the political laboratory of the nation, through the dissolution of personal humanity. He often compared the world with a hydraulic press which can unleash an impersonal but effective pressure. 3) He was a humanitarian and the voice of the voiceless India. He spoke for the poor and the slaved and firmly believed that rural reconstruction through basic education and application of scientific methods to agric...