From shadows to the stars

A few days ago, my friends from University of Hyderabad were outraged. Apparently, someone in the administration had decided that it would be apt to place a statue of a Shiva Ling, Nandi and a Cobra (imagery associated with the Hindu religion) near the main gate. The suspect was of course, the dastardly vice chancellor Appa Rao. "Great way to exhibit our secularism", "University of Hyderabad is supposed to be a secular institution" and similar statements were made in an inspired evocation of secularism. But wait! Don't many departments in the university conduct pujas for Dussehra? Didn't you know that in every kitchen, the first morsel of food is placed before a Hindu deity? Did you never notice the tilaks on computers and other equipment? Where was the call for secularism then? The objection to installing these statues/ idols did not arise from a secular standpoint. It rose from the fact that it was Appa Rao who was installing it. I imagine that if a...

About a couple of years ago, I watched a movie called "The Trotsky". The movie portrays the life of a Canadian high school student, Leon Bronstein, who thinks that he is the reincarnation of Leon Trotsky. Trotsky was a major figure of the Russian revolution and Bronstein thinks that he is destined to bring about a workers' revolution in Canada. He begins this attempt by trying to unionize the students of his school. Although a students' union does exist, the functionality of this union is limited to organizing dances. Unsurprisingly, his quest does not receive much popularity among his fellow students. Leon is faced with a question. Are his fellow peers apathetic or bored? Apathy means that one is indifferent, doesn't care. Boredom is a state in which a person lacks interest, but is not disinterested. Just over a month ago, a student in the university that I am studying committed suicide. He had been persecuted and discriminated by the university admini...