AS I See It

SHOULD RELIGION KILL WORK CULTURE?

Valson Thampu I might as well start by stating what experiences in Kerala have taught me in the last seven years, after a long stint in Delhi. The more explicitly religious a person is, the more dishonest and lazy at work he or she is apt to be. On the contrary, those who are spiritually […]

JESUS, RUSSIA AND UKRAINE

Valson Thampu Russia and Ukraine are countries presumably Christian in their culture. They are embedded in Orthodox Christianity. Zelensky is Jewish, but Putin is Orthodox enough to want a cease fire at Christmas. So, it is not outlandish to ask, ‘Where does Jesus figure in what is happening between these Christian countries?’ Ever since the […]

DECODING A CONFRONTATION AND WHAT IT IMPLIES?

Valson Thampu From a spiritual point of view, nothing happens randomly, or by chance. The duty to understand the meaning of what happens is, hence, basic to spiritual discipline. It may so happen that, on occasions, the proverbial ‘writings on the wall’ seem un-decipherable. The un-decipherable is still significant. It’s just that we are unable […]

RAHUL: THE KEATS OF INDIAN POLITICS

Valson Thampu There is a place for symbolic gestures in politics. But politics is a domain not of art but of artfulness. So, effectiveness counts most of all. Rahul’s BaharatJodoYatra is the latest flapping of his luminous wings. But the party, as such, is losing confidence in its capacity to fly. Admittedly, the yatra has […]

KERALA UNDER SIEGE

Valson Thampu With the head-on collision between the Governor and the Government –the head at loggerheads with the body- Kerala has entered an unprecedented stage of ill-health. It is an additional problem, not a solution of existing problem, when it is assumed that issues can be sorted out only publicly enacted confrontations. In this process […]

PRIYA HIGHER EDUCATION

Valson Thampu The High Court of Kerala has spoken on the Priya Varghese appointment matter. The decision of the court is more significant in what it proscribes than in what it prescribes. Her selection through a skewed process by the concerned university is a symptom, not the disease. The disease is that we lack a […]

KERALA: RITUALISM VS. WORK CULTURE

Valson Thampu Surely, no one can say that Keralites lack religiosity. Rather, we suffer from its excess. Why do we, for all our ponderous piety continue to degenerate as a people in this, our ‘God’s-own-land’? The plight of Kerala cannot be understood without understanding the religiosity in vogue here. Contrary to what we are told, […]

THE CONTOURS OF PRACTICAL ATHEISM

Valson Thampu The most haunting word from the Cross on Calvary, for me, is ‘Father, forgive; for they know not what they do’. What was it that they did? They tried to save their religion. A goal, no doubt, laudable on the face of it. But in the process, they killed what they were trying […]

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

Goans oppose tourism project near 16th century basilica