Share this page!

vakibs Profile picture
Twitter logo
15 Sep, 5 tweets, 2 min read
Population is not at all the problem. This is a Malthusian (i.e, racist) trope internalized by Indians. India’s population density is comparable to Europe.

While Europe has the legacy of centuries of protected and native urbanism, India bears the weight of colonial destruction.
By colonial destruction, I mean not only the British but also the Turkish imperialists. We forget that the second largest city in the world 500 years ago was Vijayanagara, which was completely wiped out by a genocidal massacre. Similar destructions happened all over North India.
The impact of the British Raj on India’s urbanism and civic infrastructure was brutal. For anyone interested to learn more, I recommend the book by Mike Davies “Planet of Slums”.
Here is the list of countries by real population density (i.e, amount of arable agricultural land available per person). We can see India is clearly similar to Europe. What’s more? India has 2 sowing seasons (sometimes even 3) while Europe has only 1 per year.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_c…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with vakibs

vakibs Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @vakibs

vakibs Profile picture
12 Sep
In this thread, I will translate the names of different western religions into Telugu (into Sanskrit, so other Indians can comment) based on their native etymological meanings.

Thanks to @exC_Esther who inspired this with her threads on the meanings behind “Jesus” and “Christ”.
To start off, “Christianity” which comes from “Christ” meaning “anointed person” (via Greek translation of Hebrew “Messiah”). Thanks to @mprafulprabhu who suggested “abhishikta” अभिषिक्त for this.

Christianity can be translated as “Ābhishiktam” आभिषिक्तम् ఆభిషిక్తం ఆభిషిక్తమతము.
“Christian” as follower of Christ can be translated with the same Taddhita derivation “Ābhishikta” आभिषिक्त ఆభిషిక్తుడు/ఆభిషిక్తులు.

Other compound words can be easily created “Follower of Christ” Abhishiktānuyāin अभिषिक्तानुयायिन् అభిషిక్తానుయాయిడు and so on.
Read 10 tweets
vakibs Profile picture
12 Sep
Interesting thread. But I think I am more of an optimist than Śrīkānta. There is also a greater study of the various Śāstras and Hindu value systems happening now. Such people might be a minority, but their numbers have increased. Digital tech also increased the means to do this.
I think political Hinduness is just a phase, a kind of an awakening by the global discourse, which is decisively Hinduphobic. People get annoyed and agitate for a bit. In a previous era, they would have suffered quietly. But not in a rising economy and with democratized media.
I think the importance of political Hinduness is overblown. It is the deeper awakening that is necessary for anybody to make a longer term impact. For this, a systematic practice (Sādhana) and dedication are a must. I think the number of people able to do this has increased now.
Read 6 tweets
vakibs Profile picture
11 Aug
Varna has a meaning only in the context of Yajña, that is collective consciousness and voluntary sharing at the societal and universal level. It is exactly the opposite of individualism. It cannot exist cannot be defined in isolation. Varna implies harmony and mutual cooperation.
There are 4 Varnas as there are 4 Purushārthas. Each Varna is focused on the attainment of one of the Purushārthas. By cooperating as a society, we achieve all of them. This is why it is impossible to separate Varna from the fundamental tenets and ideals of Indian philosophy.
If the Jātis are defined in isolation, it is a recipe for the breaking up of society, a voiding of the social contract that kept them together at the level of shared consciousness. Hence, it is Adharmic. We must get rid of this system “caste” imposed on us by the colonialists.
Read 8 tweets
vakibs Profile picture
9 Aug
The injustice is that Indian judiciary seeks “essential practices”for defining Hindu traditions and refuses to give the status of “denominations” to various Sampradāyas.

In reality, Hinduism is exactly the opposite. All its Sampradāyas are distinct and respected by each other.
This misunderstanding about Hinduism in the Indian law is intentional, and stems from the colonialist agenda of rebuilding India under the covenant of the Bible.

This injustice cannot be corrected until India’s constitution is rewritten with the primary copy in Indian languages.
It is absurd that we are forced to explain what Sampradāyas are, what Dharma is, what Yajña is.. and so on to an entity which refuses to conduct its proceedings in any language except English. How does English have the equivalents for Indic terms and traditions? It doesn’t.
Read 4 tweets
vakibs Profile picture
8 Aug
You are doing your Dharma. 🙏
All of our minstrels, acrobats, bards, musicians and dancers are reduced to the dust and the heat of the street, motor vehicles rushing by and nobody listening to their song.

These people made our memories and thus our identity. Without them, we don’t exist as a people.
We need a strategy to survive as a civilization. The key to this are these communities of Bhikshā vRtti भिक्षावृत्ति who are traditionally recognized and patronized in our villages.

They are made non-existent by centuries of colonial assault, which warped our sensibilities.
Read 5 tweets
vakibs Profile picture
2 Aug
The EU countries have a functional decentralized judiciary that effectively and rapidly resolves disputes and ensures the writ of law. So they can have massive language overhead at the top and deliberate on the tricky cases.

In India, we only have the pretense of Justice.
Until the judiciary is decolonized and forced into Indian languages, we cannot reform our country. Forget about developing a state superstructure in Jambūdvīpa. The English case law is a serious liability. The Judiciary is the most colonized institution in India.
The alternatives are staring at us in the face. Historically and traditionally, we had decentralized and democratized dispute resolution systems - the Panchāyats. We must revive them. We must ban the use of English in courts. The judicial College must be junked.
Read 5 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @vakibs has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @vakibs!

Read all threads by @vakibs

:(