I often think back to our last day in Delhi, walking through Chandni Chauk, slowly making our way through the crowded bazaars. We were on our way to Jama Masjid, one of the largest mosques in India. The small alleyways and streets of the old city were flooded with goats, decorated […]
Final Night in Chennai!
We had our final celebratory gathering last night in Chennai with Chalapathy and Anitha’s (our program leaders) and their friends downtown. Packing up now to travel in Kerala for the week before heading to Varanasi for the final month of the program.
Cultural Unity
I met with Sathiya Moorthy, the director of the Observer Research Foundation, a public policy think-tank in Chennai, to interview him for my independent research on Hindu nationalism and Indian foreign policy. Sathiya and his wife, Lakshmi, had a lot to say about the BJP, politics, security and defense, and a whole range of other […]
History as Memory: The Qutb and Bakhtiyar Kaki’s Shrine
I was struck by the Hindu and Jain columns at the Qutb Minar. How rare and odd it must be for some people to enter into a space or mosque and see symbols and icons of an opposing or separate religion. What kind of historical narrative does it tell? Is this a symbol of Islam’s conquest over […]
Hindu Nationalism and Modi’s Political Theatre
In international relations, there are always trade-offs. If a head of state concentrates on foreign policy, domestic concerns are pushed aside. If a state’s economic policies are geared toward opening its doors to international trade and foreign investment, in-country workers, businesses and regulation standards may be threatened. Ultimately, international politics and economics are balancing acts between […]