Stepping Stone

Jun
23rd

Tue

It is a no-win for the state[read left front]. If its forces do not arrive, the state will cede territory to Maoists. Or, there will be a bloody battle. Simple folk will die. Others will be made fearful, resentful, angry. And Maoists will leverage this negative energy

-Sudeep Chakravarti

— The siege of red fort- Hindustan Times

Thus the Mughal empire collapsed not because of the dogmatic religious policy of Aurangzeb and the devastating Hindu reaction to it, as Jadunath Sarkar had taught us, nor owing to the rebellion of the impoverished peasantry against the ever-exploitative state, as Irfan Habib had so eloquently argued in 1963. It collapsed when the mansabdars and zamindars, integrated within the empire, mobilised resources thus obtained and sought to carve out their own independent regimes, much as deputy CEOs of corporate organisations set up their own businesses today.
— Harbans Mukhia

— http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1180333.cms

Apr
24th

Fri

In many parts of the state, even in small restaurants, there is a ‘two-tumbler’ system, one for Dalits and the other for non-Dalits. Even if I go in jeans and an expensive shirt, I will be denied a steel plate and made to eat from paper if they find out I’m a Dalit. It has happened to me.”
-Prof Yendluri Sudhaka, renowned Dalit poet and professor in Telugu University in Rajahmundry

— Caste and politics in Andhra: why these elections matter

Apr
18th

Sat

The villages did not exist “from times immemorial”. The advance of plough-using agrarian village economy over tribal India is a great historical achievement by itself
—DD Kosambhi

— D.D. Kosambi: Kosambi, Marxism and Indian History

Apr
15th

Wed

what had been his greatest difficulty since Independence. Nehru replied: “Creating a just State by just means.” Then he added, “Perhaps, too, creating a secular State in a religious country.”
-Jawahar Lal Nehru

— Tehelka - India’s Independent Weekly News Magazine

Mar
23rd

Mon

The subjugation of women. As women were once used as “trophies of war” by barbarians, in modern times, the housewife also served as a trophy to show off a man’s success. By not allowing their wives to take outside professions, a man could show off her conspicuous leisure as proof of his status and spend money on his wife through conspicuous consumption — Veblen

— The Theory of the Leisure Class - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mar
3rd

Tue

abhishekmittal:

It is a risk…but…

To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget.
—Arundhati Roy

— We. A documentary featuring the words of Arundhati Roy

Feb
26th

Thu

All existential questions, behind your shadow, are a farce, And the universe is your small notebook, and you are its creator. - Mahmud Darwish

— Obama Celebrations and Balls « Uddari Weblog

Feb
23rd

Mon

Ode to the Nice Guys

abhin4v:

Ode to the Nice Guys http://tinyurl.com/6hnnf

This is really nice :)