Author: Anand Philip
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Our basic nature
“It is one of my fundamental beliefs that not only do we inherently posses the potential for compassion but I believe that the basic or underlying nature of human beings is gentleness. —[Tenzin Gyatso the 14th Dalai Lama] For most of my life, I have held that man is essentially a base, angry, hurtful animal. Gentleness and kindness are acquired through…
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Petition to ban archaic/unscientific procedures during medical examination for sexual assault
Posting an email sent by Sana [CEHAT] Greetings from CEHAT! As you must be certainly aware, the ‘Delhi Gang Rape Case’ has drawn some attention to the role of health systems in responding to sexual assault and rape. In this light, some of us – CEHAT, Human Rights Watch, and academics from JNU – have…
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Not silence but Verse: Call for poetry against Violence
It’s violence against women (VAW) awareness month, and Prajnya is calling you to submit poetry Send us original, powerful, evocative poems in English, Hindi or Tamil (Haikus or Tankas only!) on the theme ‘No Violence, No Silence’ Last date for submissions: 10 November 2012 Email us: prajnya.16days@gmail.com (Download the .pdf version of the call here.)…
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Tag at source
Back in the day when pirating music was a big thing, I too had an impressive 40 GB collection. When I say “back in the day” I am talking about the time when internet was all dial-up and the fastest broadband available was 128kbps. 40GB of mp3s is more than you can listen to in…
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Impossible Choices
“Do the right thing” you were taught as a child, and strive to do so as an adult. But what they didn’t teach you as a child is about impossible choices. Situations that not only have no right choice, but just by their existence change everything. Life loves playing the “heads I win, tails you…
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Forces
“What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object?” A young priest fresh out of seminary once asked me, when he learned that I was a fan of philosophy and other arcane things. I remember the delight on his face, watching me struggle to come up with an answer. He did not give me…
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Non-Negotiable
All of us have non-negotiables. 11 years ago, fresh out of home, when I went to college, my religious beliefs were non-negotiable. “There is one God eternally existent in three persons, the Bible is His word and The Brethren ( my church) understand it best” In a year, the last part eroded away. Then the…
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The glorious battle
Remember that part in the new karate kid movie when Jackie Chan makes Will Smith’s son put on and take off his jacket again and again and again and in the end it all makes sense because he was teaching him the greater lessons about kung fu? And how in the end he uses this…
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Lazy
Every time you do, you become better. When you do the dishes tonight even though are bone tired, your tomorrow begins better. When, after having wasted the whole day preparing to write your assignment, you force yourself to write one paragraph even though you just want to sleep in shame; the assignment has one less…
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Hierarchies
There is a hierarchy of needs. A hierarchy might not imply one is more important than the other, but it often implies one is more urgent than the other.Roti, kapda, makaan, (survival) always gets more attention than freedom and equality. For a society to reach a place where a “higher” goal becomes important, the “lower”…