When President Emeritus Pranab Mukherjee announced that he would, in fact, accept the invitation from the RSS and be the chief guest of a valedictory function, the Indian media went on over-drive. The political landscape was all-shaken up. The reactions in the mainstream media were amusing, annoying, distasteful, and shallow, all at the same time. […]
The Sunday before Pentecost is observed as World Communication Sunday in Catholic Churches. Today, May 13, is the 52nd World Communication Day. This Sunday also happens to be the second Sunday of May, which is also popularly called ‘Mothers’ Day’. Mothers are supposedly good communicators (and so are Mothers-in-Law, I hear), so this is a very […]
Today, the 26th of November is significant because it is the day we Indians gave ourselves our Constitution. Hindustan adopted what was considered to be the most forward looking, futuristic, modern Constitution in the whole world. It’s a Constitution that embraces equality, social justice, freedom of speech, freedom of religious practice, freedom of belief, freedom […]
The Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola is an important spiritual milestone each year for Jesuit Schools and Ignatian organisations alike. As we (Jesuits, friends and collaborators ) celebrate the Feast Day of St. Ignatius of Loyola on July 31st, we have a chance to pause and reflect on all the efforts for social justice […]
Freedom of speech is under attack! Even more so, as somebody said just recently … Freedom of speech is only meaningful if there is freedom after speech. Over the past three years, we have observed carefully how difficult it is becoming to have freedom after speech. Criticize Prime Minister Modi and his moves, question flawed […]
Today is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty The observance of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty can be traced back to 17 October 1987. On that day, over a hundred thousand people gathered at the Trocadéro in Paris , where the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed in 1948, […]
The politically motivated post-mortem of the ‘surgical strikes’ of September 29 are enough to make all sensible Indians queasy. Looking at the way politicians and their supporters on both sides of the political and ideological divide have tried to milk this incident on TV and the social media has made me want to puke. As […]
The most striking thing about Saint Teresa of Calcutta is her simple slogan and sign language used when asked why on earth she was doing what she did… scrounging for souls in the blackest alleyways the world over. Her answer, five fingers of her tiny palm spread out, practically in your face would be : […]
Ever since the ‘new dispensation’ of the Right Wing BJP has come to power, the nature of public discourse has shifted from ‘development’ to ‘demagogy’. Never before have such regressive narratives been heard than in the past two years. Just pause to think about what topics are hitting the airwaves over the past month or so. […]
Patna: On Saturday evening (27 August) Some 300 people, mainly students and staff of the St Xavier’s Colleges (the organisers) and (among others,) a small group representing the cabinet of Patna Women’s College and St Xavier’s College of Education, speechified, sang songs and lit candles in a token ‘protest’ to draw attention to the alleged […]
What does the term ‘Jesuit Education’ mean to me? I was thrown into a Jesuit school by my parents at the very beginning of my school life, and now that my crucial first seven years of scholastic life were already thrust into the hands of Jesuits, like it or not, I am one of those […]
The political climate of India is fast becoming critically polarised. The nature of discourse is being vitiated by divisive, shallow diatribe. Parliament, supposedly the platform for enlightened, purposeful discussion and farsighted legislation has been all but reduced to a ridiculous circus of shallow, shouting, sloganeering, and slanderous attention seekers. Where the political leadership in the […]
