All posts filed under: Interviews

The Pseudoscience of Indology: An Interview with Joydeep Bagchee

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With The Nay Science: A History of German Indology, Professor Vishwa Adluri emerged as one of the most powerful critics of Indology, the nineteenth-century field established to study India. Professor Adluri has called Indology “scientized racism,” a “club,” and a “court.” He has been interviewed by Open, Swarajya, News18, Social Research, and IndiaFacts. Mukunda Raghavan of Meru.Media interviewed Professor Adluri’s student Dr. Joydeep Bagchee on the occasion of the completion of their second book, Philology and Criticism: A Guide to Mahābhārata Textual Criticism. Dr. Bagchee spoke on behalf of his teacher, and explained how they became interested in Indology and why historicizing the Mahābhārata was crucial to colonizing India intellectually. The following transcript was edited for clarity and length. The complete interview will appear soon as a podcast and a video from Meru.Media. MR: What are your backstories? I have a PhD in philosophy from the NSSR, New York. It is one the most prestigious schools for continental philosophy in the US. Hannah Arendt and Reiner Schürmann taught there. I met my teacher Vish there. …

प्रत्याशा नितिन- एक साक्षात्कार

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मैसूर की रहने वाली प्रत्याशा नितिन एक उभरती हुयी इस पीढ़ी की नौजवान चित्रकार और लेखिका हैं | इन्होने हालही में एक लघुकथा प्रकाशित की है और इंडिक टुडे ने इस मौके पे उनसे उनके लेखन और चित्रकारिता पे बातचीत की | इस साक्षात्कार के द्वारा हमने पायी एक झलक प्रत्याशा के जीवन व उनके बहुमुखी प्रतिभा की उनके ही बोलों में, आइये हमारे साथ मायापाश के इस दिव्य चित्रपट पे… प्र १ : आपने शिक्षण अभियांत्रिकी में किया हैं फिर आपने चित्रकारी और लेखन की तरफ कैसे मोड़ लिया ? यह एक बहुत ही रोचक प्रश्न है | आजकल ऐसा बहुत से लोग कर रहे हैं कि वे शिक्षा किसी और ही विषय की लेते हैं और बाद में किसी और ही विषय की और झुक जाते हैं | सच यह है कि मुझे भान ही नहीं था कि मैं चित्रकारी या लेखन जैसी कलाओं से कभी जुडूँगी या मुझमें इस प्रकार की कोई प्रतिभा है | अभियांत्रिकी तो मैंने भेंड़चाल में ले ली थी | मेरे भाई अभियांत्रिकी में थे | उन्हें उसमें बहुत …

Women And Politics In The Epics – A Conversation

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Were women empowered in ancient India? It is a big ‘Yes’! The phrase ‘women empowerment’ will transport you to a terrain of mixed views; the weight will shift more to what we perceive with our eyes and what the media infuses us with! And there is no dearth of literature in the digital world. Just a click or a touch with your fingertip and there you are, surrounded by an ocean of both positive and negative news and information. In this conversation blogger and author Manoshi Sinha interviews well known author of women centric books Kavita Kane on women and politics in Indic Epics. Women in ancient India enjoyed equal status with men. They were educated by choice. They were trained in the art of warfare by choice. The Rigveda finds mention about a warrior queen Vishpala, who was trained in the art of warfare. She lost a leg in battle; an iron leg revived her spirit and she resumed her battlefield exploits. Look at the world around you – that women is empowered is …

Mayuresh Didolkar on the art of fiction writing

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Mayur Didolkar a young writer from Pune who sort of burst on the political writing scene three years ago when he wrote an extremely popular article for India Facts (here) Since then he has written for many popular web portals on varied topics dealing with social media, literature festivals and political thoughts. Didolkar has also been making his mark as a fiction writer. He was signed by Juggernaut last year who launched his popular novel “The Dark Road”. On the occasion of the launch of his latest fiction “Nagin”, Indic Today spoke to him at length on his progression as an author and political writer. 1. Welcome to Indic Today! How did you decide to take the plunge from a standard corporate life into writing. How did the idea or inspiration for writing fiction come to you.. walk us through that phase. A: I think reading and writing have been inextricable linked with each other in my life. I began reading early (about six years of age) and was writing some stuff in Marathi when …

Chandrahas makes Vedic Maths easy

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Chandrahas Halai is an engineering consultant with interests in many diverse fields like mathematics, physics, aerospace, mechatronics, and mechanical engineering. Since last 20 years he has been involved in engineering consultancy and for the last 12 years he is involved in computer training and consultancy. In engineering his main area of interest is computer-aided engineering. He is in the process of developing his own FEA, CFD, fatigue & fracture analysis, vibration analysis, structural analysis, and dynamic systems analysis software, design simulation software, CNC controller & fuzzy logic controller while being involved in consultancy and development of CAD, CAM & robotic systems. Additionally he is also into management consultancy – operations research & game theory and gives training on lateral thinking and games of strategy. Apart from this Chandrahas has been teaching different science, mathematics & engineering subjects as visiting faculty and has been a special invitee at various science and engineering colleges to deliver lectures to students and faculty including research institutes like BARC, TIFR, etc. He is also involved in efforts to popularize science …

hindol-sen

Author Hindol Sengupta speaks on books, politics and religion

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Hindol Sengupta is a journalist, entrepreneur and an award-winning author of eight books. He won the Wilbur Award in 2018 for his book “Being Hindu: Understanding a Peaceful Path in a Violent World”, which happens to be the first book on Hinduism to win the prestigious prize given by The Religion Communicators Council of America. Earlier he was awared the PSF Prize for public service in India in 2015. His book “Recasting India: How Entrepreneurship is Revolutionizing the World’s Largest Democracy” was short-listed in 2015 for the Hayek Prize given by the Manhattan Institute in memory of the Nobel laureate economist F. A. Hayek. Sengupta is a World Economic Forum Young Global leader and a Knight-Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University. Indictoday recently had an engaging interview with him. Q: Welcome to Indictoday! You have written books on famous Dharmic personalities as well as Economic liberalism and entrepreneurship. How do these two apparently diverse ideas connect? Is Dharma more conducive to left-wing economics or right-wing economics, broadly speaking? A: Thank you, and congratulations on the new initiative. I, actually, do …

Dr. Vineet Aggarwal, author of Bharat on what inspires him to write

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Dr Vineet Aggarwal is a doctor by qualification, manager by profession and artist by temperament. Born in a family of doctors, he successfully completed an initial stint with the family occupation before deciding to venture into pharmaceutical management. He purses writing as a passion and is an avid travel photographer as well. His literary repertoire extends from politics to poetry and travel to terrorism but his favourite genre remains the amalgamation of science and mythology. He has published three books, the latest book being on Maharaja Bharat. In this interview, Dr. Vineet Aggarwal speaks on what inspires him to write. You can also click ‘here’ to buy his books. He also conducted a ‘Facebook’ live recently which you could check and his page here. Interview: Dr. Vineet Aggarwal 1. When did you first realize that you wanted to be a writer/ a storyteller? My fascination with the ancient stories of India began quite early in my childhood, with my grandmother regaling me with the wonderful narratives from our Puranik corpus. My grandfather, who retired as the head-master of …

Manoshi Sinha Rawal

Manoshi Sinha Rawal, author of Blue Vanquisher dispels myths on Krishn

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Author Manoshi Sinha (Rawal) calls herself a writer by passion and an editor by profession. The writer who has published seven books was educated at Don Bosco School, Doom Dooma and graduated from Women’s College Tinsukia, Assam. She is also a post-graduate in English from the University of Pune. Her first novel – Made for Each Other – was published in 2000 and her latest one is the Blue Vanquisher-the second of the Krishna Trilogy 2 that followed ‘The Eighth Avatar’ . In this interview, Manoshi Sinha (Rawal) speaks on her latest novel Blue Vanquisher which narrates the life of Krishn from 14th to his 85th year and she says dispels several myths surround the ‘lord’. The author lives in Ghaziabad with her family. You can also click here to buy her books. She also conducted a Facebook live recently which you could check and her page here. -Interview: Manoshi Sinha 1. How has the online space been a game changer in your journey as a Blogger, travelogue, wordsmith, and author? I have been writing since I was 10. It started off as …

Amish Tripathi

Devi Sita’s Strength is not an Aberration in Our Ancient Stories

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Reading Sita-Warrior of Mithila by Amish Tripathi provides a unique experience of the world of Ramayana. The author’s very rich reimagination takes the reader through an adventurous journey, breaking the medieval and colonial stereotypes built around the character of Sita. This is the second book of Amish’s Ram Chandra Series. His Shiva Trilogy is the fastest selling book series in Indian publishing history. The Immortals of Meluha (2010), The Secret of the Nagas (2011) and The Oath of the Vayuputras (2013), which collectively comprise the Shiva Trilogy, Scion of Ikshvaku (Book 1 of the Ram Chandra Series) (2015) and Sita-Warrior of Mithila (Book 2 of the Ram Chandra Series) (2017), have 4 million copies in print. He tells Saiswaroopa Iyer, author, Abhaya, about his experience of unearthing Sita from Valmiki’s mystical poetry, the Indic way of reforming, its mature and nuanced approach, and his upcoming book on Raavan. Congratulations on the spectacular launch of the second book of Ram Chandra Series. Devi Sita’s portrayal was soul-stirring and fulfilling. Tell us more about defying the popular tropes and stereotypes associated with Sita. Defying is too strong a word. I don’t think I am defying anything. I am only respectfully interpreting the story of Devi Sita. I have depended on the more ancient interpretations of …

Mayur Didolkar

The Dark Road Makes For Great Drama/TV Adaptation: In Conversation With Mayur Didolkar

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Aniket Joshi: Hi, Mayur, please tell our readers about MayurDidolkar, the man. Who is he and what is his inspiration behind writing? What does he do in his Professional life? Give us the works. ? Mayur: I work as an independent investment professional in Pune, India. I have been a precocious reader. I could read a newspaper in Marathi at age 5 and was reading novels meant for adults by the time I was 8-9 year old. My love for writing has come from my love of reading, I think. My job requires me to interact with people from diverse backgrounds. This has always been ground zero for observing a range of human emotions for me. Most of my writing is a quest to answer the ‘what if’ question. What if this person jumped out of this window? What if this woman was having an affair with her boss and his wife knew about it? Aniket Joshi:Can we say that suspense is your favorite genre? If yes, why? Mayur: As a reader I think supernatural and …