This paper has an expressed desire to re-invent hermeneutics of suspicion from contemporary Indian realities. In order that our exercise is fruitful, we are challenged to trace the trajectory of desire in our society. Desire was studied by psychoanalysis for some time. Lately, another mode called schizoanalysis has emerged as a profound way of understanding the trajectory of desire....
Hindutva and The Play of Signs
Hindutva has become a war-machine. It is directed against the secular fabric of our country. Most of its adherents like to stay under its semantic glow. It means several things to several people. it is a counter-sign or an empty signifier that changes its meaning depending on the context. To its adherents, it is milk and honey. To its...
Contesting an Edited Reality
We seem to be socially mutating at a fast pace. It appears that we have lost our ability to comprehend reality as it actually exists. We have reduced the love of religion to the love of the nation and are unable to know the difference. We have begun to enjoy and live the simulation of reality. We have lost...
Being Real at the Time of Coronavirus – II
We are facing a killerati in coronavirus. We also have another cultural virus that has been afflicting us for centuries. It is the virus of caste. It has mutated over time and today it has become what we call Hindutva. Both these viruses are lethal and have killer instincts. We may regard them as two sides of the same...
Being a Goan at a Time of Hindutva – II
There is something unique about Goa and Goan-ness. Maybe Pandit Nehru saw a bit of it when he said ‘Ajeeb hai Goa ke log’ . ‘Abjeeb’ meant strange. Hence, his view can be interpreted pejoratively. But it can also be viewed positively meaning differently. Therefore, without taking offence to this remark, we can also look at it as our...
Being a Goan at a Time of Hindutva – II
If we are to use a loose allegory of Salman Rushdie, we can boldly say: ‘Goan’s are not midnight’s children!’ A lot of India was still sleeping when Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru gave the famous speech at the stroke of midnight. Goans were certainly sleeping at that auspicious hour. Because we were not awake at the time of India’s tryst...
Being a Goan at a Time of Hindutva
It is heartening to see that most socio-political and economic issues in Goa have become Goa-centric. This welcome change is a Goa-centric modus vivendi on the horizon. A vigorous Goa-centrism that we can notice around is indeed a fresh breath of life in our society. Several Goans have recognized the wounds inflicted on Goa by our own politicians, industrialists,...
The Dawn of Second Freedom
The violence that erupts from the scission of self and its other is on the increase across the Globe. Identity politics has gripped humanity everywhere. It has led to the rise of what has been named as rightwing populism. Populist leaders prey on the fears of the people and mobilize the public towards their political and economic agendas. Unequal...
