In India, whenever a case comes to light of violence against women, one of the many reactions people oblige newsmakers with is that there is something wronger than usual about hurting and disrespecting women. Women, they say, are mothers and sisters and daughters and goddesses and caregivers. Thus, the horror one experiences when something like […]
Our evolutionary history, stretching back as it does millions of years, has not been fair to us, and why should it be, when fairness is our own fragile invention? Nevertheless, since, I am human, I hereby give myself permission to complain about it. First, let me tell you what evolution has made you. You are an empathetic
Unless you have been living under a rock, you must know that a bunch of Indian comedians have been called out for making casteist remarks, insulting Dalit-Bahujan-Adivasi figures, and generally being offensive towards marginalised communities. The outrage has been on its way for quite some time and it is heartening to see it land with
Some months ago, Meta announced that it intends to fill Instagram with slop. This would include fake AI-generated video content from fake AI-generated creators. Fake AI-generated commenters would then leave fake AI-generated feedback on these posts and quite possibly, even have a back-and-forth with other fake AI-generated bots like them. This isn’t decorative use of AI for the benefit of
If you want to have a conversation about whether Hindutva and Hinduism are the same thing, don’t have it with random strangers on the web. Have it with your own family on your own dinner tables and in your family WhatsApp groups. Use your voice as a Hindu to say you are against Hindutva. And
I do not believe in the religious claim that a god or gods exist. That makes me an atheist. I am however, not unique in having this position. Plenty of people lack belief in the claim that god or gods exist. Many even make the positive claim that gods do not exist. But it is
The thing that has been on my mind for the last week has been the matter of being an atheist in modern India. I have been, for the last week, putting up videos on my social media about atheism materialism, some amount of skeptic inquiry, some philosophy. I am also the person who, about a
A thing that many Hindus never tire of bragging about is that Hinduism is atheist-friendly. As in you can be a Hindu and not believe in god or gods and its still acceptable. This is true. And though I have written a long essay about why phrases like “Hindu Atheist” are kind of pointless, I