Tomichan Matheikal's blog

Do watch the video.   If you have the time, read the article about it in the Indian Express written by Swami Agnivesh:  Why Baba Ramdev would do well to go into vanvaas . And then decide whether this godman is a patriot.

“The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it,” said one of Terry Pratchett’s characters in his witty fantasy novel, Diggers .   An open mind belongs to the seeker of truth.  Truth being as elusive and deceptive as happiness, it keeps the seeker going on and on endlessly.  Most people don’t like such endlessness.  People like to snuggle down in the cosy warmth of the status quo.   Religion is the most staunch supporter of the status quo.  And religion insists on putting things into open minds.  And shut them. The cosy warmth of the status quo is what turns the BJP and its allies against Jawharlal Nehru University and Hyderabad Central University, says Kancha Illaiah in his article in the Indian Express .  Both JNU and HCU have produced numerous thinkers and scholars because their academic environment encouraged the liberal pursuit of truth. Banaras Hindu University, on the contrary, has failed to prod

Book Review Memories play a vital role in human life.  It is also necessary to forget many things because some memories may be a painful burden.  Kazuo Ishiguro’s latest novel, The Buried Giant , is about memories. Axl and Beatrice, an elderly couple, set out in search of their son.  They don’t remember why their son left them.  In fact, their memories about many things are vague.  It is because of a magic that King Arthur’s beloved magician, Merlin, had performed in order to bring peace among the Britons and the Saxons. The novel is set in those days when the Romans had left Britannia and the Saxons came in to take their place.  King Arthur is no more but his nephew, Sir Gawain, is alive though very old.  Axl and Beatrice will encounter Sir Gawain on their way.  Two other persons who join them are Wistan and Edwin.  Wistan is a Saxon warrior who hates Britons.  His mission is to kill the dragon Querig who is as wise as she is wicked.  Sir Gawain’s mission is to prote

I left Delhi because the school where I worked was demolished by a godman's people who wanted the 15 acre campus for parking the vehicles of their devotees. I ported my phone.  But every now and then I get a call from the phone company about the veracity of my address.  The id proof I had given carried the Delhi address.  Now they can't find such an address.  So for their sake, here it is, the address that has been demolished by a godman's boys just for fun's sake. B 26 Sawan Public School, New Delhi is still the address in my identity papers.  And the address doesn't exist. Thanks to a godman .

Sarita Nair with Oommen Chandy A long-term entertainment in Kerala Sarita Nair is a symbol of the cancerous rot that has eaten into the Indian polity.  She has been levelling allegation after allegation against various political leaders, particularly of the ruling United Democratic Front, in Kerala.  The media would lap up the allegation, hold prime time discussions, call Sarita “a bomb,” and – nothing more.  Sarita became an entertainment for the watchers of Malayalam news channels.  Why does nothing happen to all the people against whom she levels serious charges? Yesterday she went to the extent of accusing none other than the septuagenarian Chief Minister, Mr Oommen Chandy , whom she had not so long ago described as “a father figure,” of having sexually exploited her.  According to various allegations levelled as the opportunity suited her, she has slept with Mr Chandy’s son also as well as almost every important Congressman in Kerala and the Congressman’s cronies.    

Source From the time the Biblical God planted the forbidden apple in the garden of Eden, food has been used as a political tool for bossing over people.  If God really did not want Adam and Eve to eat that particular apple, what was the need for planting it in the garden?  Politics is the answer.  God was playing politics.  “I have the power to make rules and you have the duty to obey my rules.”  That’s what God was telling them indirectly.  “You are my subordinates.  The apple tree is a symbol of my power over you.” We now live in a time when some people who export beef to other countries kill those people within the country who eat beef.  The holy cow is also a symbol just like the Biblical apple tree: a symbol of the power wielded by some over others.  I spent fifteen years of my life in a place where carcasses greeted people every morning.  Beef, pork and mutton travelled in open trailers through the winding roads and streets of Shillong to the various food markets

“A world full of patriots may be a world full of strife,” wrote Bertrand Russell in his book Why Men Fight .  Patriotism assumes that one’s own country is superior to others.  Patriotism is like religion, Russell goes on to say.  Apart from the sense of superiority, it is also founded on a sense of self-righteousness.  The patriot believes that his country possesses the ultimate truths.  There are a few bloggers who have shot to prominence in the last few months – after nationalism became a pet theme in India – who vindicate Russell’s arguments.  There is no truth outside the Gita, there is no epic greater than the Mahabharata, and there is no greater religion than the Hindu dharma, according to these blogger-patriots. My primary opposition to patriotism is precisely the blinkered vision on which it is founded.  It prevents one from seeing the bigger picture.  It withholds one from admiring what is good in other countries.  How terrible a loser I would be if I were to shut my