Yours Sincerely

I know this post is coming super-late, but I had to vent out my feelings on the subject. And thankfully, heartranjan ( link ) has already done the needful so I am just going to share his post - It's hilarious and brilliant: https://heartranjan.wordpress.com/2015/03/11/yo-whats-your-beef/ Emphasis  mine below: // In the continuing absurdity that is Indian politics, another chapter was written two weeks ago when the Maharashtra government banned the sale, consumption and possession of beef. And this has confirmed my staunch belief that religion mixed with politics is a recipe for disaster. As with every stupid government decision, behind every decision, is a hollow, fuck-all logic.  The most common reason stated was that it is hurtful to Hindu sentiments, as the cow is a sacred animal for millions of Hindus. Firstly, Hinduism isn’t a monolithic religion, it does not have one scripture, one set of rules, or norms. And yet, sadly, all the great upholders of religi...

I went through two links which have been shared on this regard in an attempt to argue that the Wendy Doniger episode is not an issue of importance in the context of free speech: 1) Link: http://www.firstpost.com/india/why-the-wendy-doniger-episode-is-not-a-free-speech-issue-1388751.html?utm_source=ref_article 2) Link: http://centreright.in/2014/02/wendy-doniger-academia-racism-and-hinduphobia/#.UwxLEfmSxCi As these arguments are being taken seriously, I decided to post my response here: 1) The first post article claims that the issue is not that of free speech because the book was withdrawn within the framework of Indian law. Also, that the book was withdrawn on the grounds of factual inaccuracies as opposed to making Hindu texts erotic - making this an issue of fact Vs. error as opposed to stifling freedom of expression. My counter-view:  Below is the link for the official statement of Penguin India on why it chose to withdraw the book  only...

Honestly, I'm no horror movie fan as they give me creeps and I just don't enjoy that kind of cinema. Drama is more like my genre as I find it engaging. Anyways, I had to watch The Conjuring thanks to my fiancée (I'm going to ensure that he returns the favor :P). It was a good horror movie (not sure if I can really judge - I don't have any benchmark to compare and besides, I closed my eyes during half the movie!) and you can gather the rest from reviews. This is one review which struck me though and I'm in agreement with it: Andrew O'Hehir of Salon said the film provided "all the scream-inducing shocks you could want, right on schedule", but thought the central conceit -- that the innocent women accused and executed in the Salem witch trials "actually were witches, who slaughtered children and pledged their love to Satan and everything!" -- was "reprehensible and inexcusable bullshit". I'm glad somebody mentioned it! Y...