Srinath Rao
@srinath
Srinath Rao is the Founding Editor of The ArmChair Journal.
Would Andhra Pradesh understand that democracy is more than elections?
Why should the government silence such a small opposition in Andhra Pradesh? Is it the insecurity of the ruling party about the fragility of its public finances? Or, is it the desire to rule the state without any opposition?
Listening for Well-Being: A Discourse for Democracy
I would like to make it clear at the outset that my objective is to engage with the ideas in the book, rather than providing a book review. I adopted a style to amalgamate sentences taken from the author and apply them to my own experience.
How COVID mask is transforming politics into a personal habit of all
Face masks became a part of life. if I knew God already existed, it would have been easier for me to believe. If I knew the virus existed just around my body, it would have been easier for me to justify wearing the mask.
Ashoka University- Of the elite, for the elite, by the elite
If Ashoka University is accepted in its current form and looked at as a model to be replicated for many other universities like Krea University, such an acceptance is the final nail in the coffin for social justice and economic equality.
How Meritocracy traumatized Justice at IIT Madras
George Floyd’s murder in the United States served as the trigger to share the experiences of his SC/ST students at IITM who were subjected to judgement by meritocracy.
Janata curfew and the face of hope in times of death
Death is an intriguing idea. It is a metaphysical space of comfort to escape from the boredom and meaninglessness of daily life. When we are alive, a feeling of helplessness and death is among the secret moments of desire. As long as it is metaphysical, it appears desirable as it offers a space to loathe…
Indian politics and four challenges facing it today
The recent protests related to CAA claiming lives in the national capital have reminded people of horrific times like the 1984 Sikh riots. I was not born at the time of sikh riots, nor am I witness to the Delhi riots. All I know about it is through social media. In this context, the following…
CAA: The final nail in the ‘Liberal’ coffin?
If one wanted to understand how far political polarisation could reach in reality, one perhaps could not be in a better time than today. Not that one must wait for times like these to understand political polarisation, but when the times are so, one can feel the thrill of observing things, which can’t commonly be…
How the Telangana police encounter killed Disha forever
Several years ago, the SP of Warangal headed an operation that killed three men in an encounter. Those men were charged by the police to have poured acid on a lady. A few days ago, the same policeman also headed the encounter, which shot the four accused in rape case of Disha. Let us now…
Hyderabad veterinary doctor Disha’s last call: English Translation
A government veterinary doctor was brutally murdered on the outskirts of Shamshabad, near Hyderabad, who went missing on the night of Wednesday, 27th Nov 2019. The voice call is available here on popular media. The victim, Disha, made a call to her sister explaining her situation moments before she was trapped by four lorry drivers/cleaners,…
How much fee should JNU students pay?
Needless to introduce either JNU, or the recent protests by students that have been happening about fee hike. There will not be much dispute if one says India is an opportunity-scarce society. Meaning, there is a substantial amount of its population living in poverty, it observes exponentially rising inequality, and there are social barriers like…
Joker and Mahatma: What should one remind us of the other?
These topics become mine, for articles on Gandhi have occupied my Facebook wall more than any wishes of ‘Gandhi Jayanthi’. Perhaps this is so because of the increasing online publications in India. On a different note, the movie ‘Joker‘, which hit Indian screens on Oct 2nd, 2019, also opened to excellent reviews. “I am fortunate to have…
How disruptive is the ‘Dream Girl’?
“The era of good content is here, and audiences want to see the most disruptive, different content in every genre. I am glad that people are connecting with the kind of cinema that I am doing, and it only motivates me to be braver with my film choices,” Ayushmann Khurana said about the success of…
Why Greta Thunberg’s privilege should not be criticized
The viral activist concerning climate change, Greta Thunberg, is apparently the highest paid activist (it was disputed though). She is also from a privileged family of artists from Sweden. Though she appears to be popular since a year after a protest in front of the Swedish parliament, she attracted more popularity after the recent “How…
Is there a root cause for the Kashmir issue that needs to be addressed?
Under the just lit fluorescent street lights and in the midst of a busy city bus stop at Mehdipatnam in Hyderabad, I was once slapped in my face by a person whose religious identity I did not know. After slapping me twice, the person warned me saying, “Hyderabad musalmaanon ka hein…Hyderabad mein muslamaanon hi rehna hain”…
Why all is not well with student politics in India
The end of the students’ union elections (2017) at the University of Hyderabad (UoH) coincided with the beginning of protests at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) against an alleged case of sexual violence. Social media, which had served as an important platform for campaigning during the UoH elections, was flooded with appeals from students at…
The intimacy between politics and truth
I wrote what was on my mind on my profile and posted it over Facebook. In the beginning when I was not used to writing, a few questions concerned me as and when I posted anything. What was the truth of the matter? Why am I posting things at all? To take it little further,…
Can democracy tame capitalism?
Capitalism always wanted data about us, about how we behaved. They know more about us than what we know about ourselves. They want to nudge our actions towards consuming their products step by step. We feel we are autonomous and we are choosing our choices. But we are not. We are being nudged step by…
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