AS I See It

KERALA AND THE UKRAIN WAR

Valson Thampu For the families of 5000 Kerala students trapped in the war zone, Kharkiv is closer home than Kollam or Kolancherry. Proximity is not always geographical. It is also affective. But for the emerging human tragedy of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Keralites would not have known that so many of our young educational […]

WHY DO GOD-MEN PROSPER?

Valson Thampu Miguel de Unamuno, the Spanish author and spiritual thinker, cites in his famous work, The Tragic Sense of Life, the instance of a doctor in Paris. When that doctor found that a quack was drawing away his clientele, he left the city and settled down far away and began to work as a […]

WHICH WAY SHALL WE TURN, WHO SHALL WE FACE?

Valson Thampu Often it happens that we understand an issue clearly, and less subjectively, when we look away from it. To do so, we must have something similar to regard. Otherwise, ‘looking away’ becomes shutting one’s eyes to the issue concerned. Let us see how this works in relation to the ‘Mass’ controversy. What is […]

A SCHOOL FOR FUTURE RAPE-VICTIMS

Valson Thampu Rape cases are notoriously difficult to prove. By its nature, rape happens in secrecy. The extent of this secrecy, and the degree of difficulty in unravelling it, increases exponentially in rapes involving celebrities. It becomes most acute when religious luminaries armed with vote-bank politics are involved. The fact that judges are human comes […]

THE PATHOS OF BEING BISHOP FRANKO : A Handful of Frank and Fearful Thoughts

Valson Thampu At the point of writing this, the verdict on Bishop Franko Mulakkal is still awaited. In less than three days from now, we shall know if the arraigned Bishop is innocent or guilty. As the fateful day of reckoning approaches, my mind fills with sadness; strangely, sadness for him, even as my solidarity […]

THE UNWITTING THEOLOGY OF P.T. THOMAS

Valson Thampu One of my regrets is that I did not care to get to know P.T. Thomas personally. Aware somewhat dimly of the political landscape of Kerala, I thought he wasn’t in the line of my interest. I had an inkling of his commitment to environmental issues. I had also inferred that he was […]

THE REMEDY IS IN YOUR HANDS, FOLKS!

Valson Thampu My attention has been drawn, in particular, to two recent videos. The first pertains to an innovative and entrepreneurial religious arrangement under the auspices of ‘Spirit in Jesus’. It is christened Yom Kippur prayer, showcased as offering relief to a special category of sorely distressed individuals, who are burdened with ‘weeping money’. This […]

DECODING THE MODI-POPE MEETING

Valson Thampu On the 30th of October 2021, Prime Minister Modi visited Pope Francis in the Vatican. The meeting scheduled to last twenty minutes lasted over an hour. Evidently pleased with the experience, Modi tweeted, embellished with winsome photographs: “Had a very warm meeting with Pope Francis. I had the opportunity to discuss a wide […]

Indian bishops slam terror attack on tourists in India’s Kashmir

No action taken against police who assaulted Catholic priests in India