Viswaroopam: Kerala Shows The Way!

One of the most redeeming scenes we have witnessed during the current Islamist protest against the screening of the Kamal Hassan film Viswaroopam is the protection offered by the public to the theaters when the film was screened in various parts of Kerala. The Hindu reports that when the ultra-fundamentalist Social Democratic Party of India (what a name for a group still wallowing in the tribal values of the seventh century Arabian desert people!) tried to stop the screening of the film in...

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Shinde on Hindutva Terror: Terminological Confusions

Ram Puniyani Protests are being organized and threats to stall the proceedings of next Lok Sabha session are being dished out to oppose the Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde’s statement about the Hindu terrorism, its links with BJP and RSS. (23 Jan 2013). There are two major components of this statement. One is the use of the prefix Hindu for terrorism, and two about RSS-BJP links with terror training camps. What Shinde called Hindu terrorism has also been called Saffron terrorism or Hindutva...

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Science versus Miracles: Ghostly Fires at Night

B Premanand While walking through fields at night, suddenly one sees fire of 6 to 12 feet high which is considered to be poltergeist phenomena. Experiment: 92 Effect: Ghostly fires at night. Props: Kerosene, a cloth swab on a stick, matches. Method: Learn to blowout water in minute spray from mouth. Then fill the mouth with kerosene, light the stick and blow kerosene over it, sitting in a pit. The fire will rise up to six to twelve feet. Instead of getting frightened and running...

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Stories about God - I

AN Moorthy Rao So far we have considered how the common man has answered the question: ‘Who is God?’ (Or, what is God?) Let us now examine the nature and antecedents of these deities on the basis of the stories put together by people. From the list of deities that we considered above, we may eliminate the Ashwatha (tree), the snake, the monkey, ‘Ammas’ and ghosts. These are third-rate, even fourth-rate deities. We do not even think of them, except occasionally. Nor do we take the nature-deities...

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Science Versus Miracles: Smoke From One’s Fingers

B Premanand To prove that when they concentrate heat comes from their body, persons with the so-called ‘psychic powers’ rub their thumb and index finger and smoke comes from them. Experiment: 90 Effect: Smoke from one’s fingers. Props: Yellow phosphorous and carbon disulphide solution (1:6) Method: Apply a drop of the above solution and rub the finger with the thumb briskly and smoke will be produced.  The more you rub, the more smoke will come from the...

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Science versus Miracles: Lighting Candles by Prayers

B Premanand On Madras television, Rev. Dinakaran, a CST evangelist, lighted candles with his prayers. Experiment: 88 Effect: Lighting candles by prayers Image: Courtesy: Wikipedia Props: Solution of yellow or white phosphorus in carbon disulphide (1:1), and a new big candle. Method: Dip the candle wick in the phosphorous solution and keep it on the candle stand. Chant the prayers, and when the solvent evaporates the candle will catch fire. Experiment: 89 Effect:...

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Poltergeist Phenomena – How Hutments Catch Fire Suddenly?

B Premanand In many villages hutments catch fire and get gutted suddenly which is claimed to be the handiwork of poltergeist or ghosts. Experiment: 85 (Note: This image of a huton fire has nothing  to do with poltergeist phenomenon) Effect:  Poltergeist phenomena. Hutments catch fire suddenly. Props: Wet cow dung, yellow phosphorus. Method: In Indian villages people make cow dung cakes and dry them on the thatched roof to use as fuel. Mix some yellow phosphorus...

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Rising Shadow of Trident: Modi’s Victory in Gujarat

Ram Puniyani The recent electoral victory of Narendra Modi, his third consecutive one (Dec 2012), has drawn lot of applause from a section of society and he is being projected as the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate. It’s another matter that BJP, itself is in shambles as far as electoral arena is concerned and its NDA allies are unlikely to endorse Modi, given his aggressive communal politics and the authoritarian style of his functioning. One knows that this victory of Modi was predicted by...

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India’s Rape Culture:‭ ‬Urban versus Rural

Ram Puniyani While the horrific rape of Damini,‭ ‬Nirbhaya‭ (‬December16,‭ ‬2012‭) ‬has shaken the whole nation,‭ ‬and the country is gripped with the fear of this phenomenon,‭ ‬many an ideologues and political leaders are not only making their ideologies clear,‭ ‬some of them are regularly putting their foots in mouths also.‭ ‬Surely they do retract their statements soon enough.‭ ‬Kailash Vijayvargiya,‭ ‬a senior BJP minister in MP’s statement that women must not cross Laxman Rekha to prevent...

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Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan: Heinous Attempt to Intimidate Smt.Pushpa Bhave

Maharashtra Government, Police machinery and Shiv Sena have joined hands to intimidate Smt.Pushpa Bhave, well-known public intellectual, who protested against the decision to give the name of Bal Thackeray to the stage of upcoming Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan session at Chiplun. In response to her statement rightly opposing Sahitya Sammelan’s decision, Shiv Sena leaders publicly threatened her and ‘prohibited’ her from going to Konkan region. Aligning themselves shamelessly with Shiv Sena, police authorities in Chiplun cancelled a...

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My Pakistan Trip

Ram Puniyani The invitation The invitation to attend the seminar on South Asian Minorities in Islamabad, Pakistan  and other meetings in Karachi, promised to be an exciting affair, as apart from other things it might have been an opportunity to see the ‘enemy country’ in person. I thought of combining the visit to Islamabad and Karachi with a trip to Jhang, the place where I was born, slightly before the tragedy of partition. I realized VISA to Pakistan is quite a difficult task...

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Rape and the Ideology of the Religious Right

In these days when we are flooded with reports of rape and other savage attacks against women in India, we thought people would stop, at least for the time being, blaming the women themselves for atrocities committed against them. But we were wrong. Barely a few hours after the ashes of the Delhi rape victim (it is unfortunate that we still have to call her like this - without a name) were scattered over the river Ganges, the leaders of RSS, BJP and other right-wing outfits have...

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