AS I See It

THE PANDEMIC AND THE NEW INDIA

Valson Thampu There are two distinct and divergent readings of who Modi is and what he is out to achieve. Taking note of them has a bearing on how he has goofed up in managing the pandemic and the horrendous price the nation is now paying on account of it. The first view is that […]

WHAT THE CONGRESS SHOULD LEARN FROM ELECTIONS 2021

Valson Thampu It is customary to hail the successful and belittle the vanquished. It is not my intent here to do either. I leave that to those better endowed than me. My purpose here is to consider the recent Kerala assembly elections in light of what the Congress Party could learn from it. It is […]

A COMMON MAN’S PERSPECTIVE ON P.C. GEORGE

Valson Thampu P.C. George faces the rest of us with a dilemma. How is he to be read? Is he a Christian who is a politician? Or, a politician who happens to be a Christian? Can P.C, if he is a politician, be also a Christian? In that case, what sort of a Christian? For […]

TO LAUGH, OR TO CRY; THAT’S THE QUESTION

In times of stress, it relaxes the muscles and de-clutters the mind to look elsewhere. So, Hamlet comes to mind. His soliloquy, ‘To be, nor not to be…’ haunts me these days. When anything haunts you, the best you can do for yourself is to modify it. It is the academic’s version of exorcism. I […]

MIND THE ARISTOCRACY OF YOUR SPIRIT!

Valson Thampu Many of us don’t realize this. We are experts in our own right. We are experts in proving that God got it all wrong. Consider this. God created everything and found it ‘good’. But we find everything just the opposite -wrong. Basic to our religiosity is the inclination to find all that God […]

TRUTH, DOGMA AND DYNAMISM

Valson Thampu A fortnight ago, I wrote about the perils of truth-speaking. This time we take a brief look at what the inhibition of truth entails. It may look a smart thing to do, but there is a terrible price to pay. In this regard I can do no better than quote the words of […]

SHALL I RISK TALKING YOU THE TRUTH?

Valson Thampu Christians are supposed to attach great store by truth. Jesus said, ‘The truth will set you free.’ But, does that mean that we tell the truth, or want to, or are free to? Do you really believe it is smart or safe to tell the truth? Shall we begin truth-telling by admitting that […]

FARMS LAWS IN A FAR AWAY LAND

Valson Thampu Progress reminds me of the crab. It progresses backwards. If so, it makes sense to go back in time to make sense of what is happening today. But here’s a caveat. We can never be sure about the inferences we make. A large margin must be left for error. Nothing of what I […]

Eviction-facing Indian Catholics to fight Muslim charity’s claims

Goans oppose tourism project near 16th century basilica