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Akshay Alladi

@akshayalladi

Feb 20

Long thread: The latest brouhaha about Sadhguru- Mahashivaratri sparked a broader thought - on universal versus specific and how that’s a false binary when it comes to Hindu Dharma and hence distancing from Hinduism isn’t the right approach for universalisation (1/n)

S.N. Balagangadhara had an astute analysis of the two ways in which Christian ideas spread - evangelisation, and “secularisation”. Secularisation being the process by which Christian ideas shed their outward Christian visage but get projected as universally applicable ideas (2/n)

That provokes a q - hey can’t Hinduism also “secularise” - remove the Hindu “baggage” and hence increase appeal ostensibly to a wider set of people. This is the line of thinking that leads to “Yoga/ Pranayama/ Bhagavad Gita” are not Hindu/ religious etc. (3/n)

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Akshay Alladi

@akshayalladi

Oct 18, 2022

Unity IN diversity is a deep concept. It is not unity AND diversity, it is recognising that the universal manifests in the specific. One doesn’t have to annihilate any source of diverse identity in order to feel one with the universal identity. See Kantara. The specific resonates

Identity cannot be reduced to a common minimum program like some coalition government. Its richness derives from its rootedness. From the specific traditions, carefully nurtured and passed on through generations. But each of those is a path to the universal truth.

The diversity is a bridge (to the universal) not a barrier. My sense is that people who have high anxiety that it is the latter engage with tradition only intellectually as an outsider gazing in, not as people *living* the tradition as praxis.

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Akshay Alladi

@akshayalladi

Oct 5, 2022

Watched and liked “Ponniyin Selvan”. Mani Ratnam has rediscovered his mojo, ARR sadly hasn’t - music (both the songs and the BGM) were the weak link of the movie. Though I am a fan of both ARR and IR, can’t help thinking how much the movie would have been elevated by the latter

It is a very plot driven movie, given the palace intrigue and the multiple political conspiracies. What Mani Ratnam did very well was establishing the characters with very good storytelling economy, given the high plot density. Even more felt that bad BGM let the movie down….

..After all think of a movie like “Nayagan”. IR’s BGM was so good in the way it linked each character with a audio signature. A movie like PS-1 would have also benefited from that kind of score. Or even a Hans Zimmer in Nolan movies - intricate plots but the moments you breathe…

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Akshay Alladi

@akshayalladi

Sep 26, 2022

Thread: Happy Navaratri to everyone. On this occasion our tradition is to have the Bommala Koluvu - a display of depictions from Hindu lore (1/14)

A section on Sri Krishna - starting with his birth in Mathura, his childhood in Gokul and Vrindavan and ending with Kansa Vadha. Eagerly anticipating going to that region with the family later this year (2/14)

Similarly one on Sri Rama, from the Bala Kandam and Ayodhya Kandams, and thereon to the Aranya, Kishkinda and Sundara Kandams…(3/14)

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Akshay Alladi

@akshayalladi

Mar 26, 2022

@bhoomiputraa

Recommend the book “Light in the Forest” by @bhoomiputraa. Written for people similar to me- who had an upbringing that has significant “modern” Macaulayputra influence BUT also a strong traditional influence, and seek to emphasise the latter for ourselves and our next gen (1/n)

The book is simply written as it should be (as it also targets children)- with an outline of the basic concepts of Hinduism in the first couple of chapters, including what our values for daily life are (2/n)

What follows is in technique and as a pedagogical tool a very Hindu one - the use of legend, fables and stories to illustrate each value. This recapitulates how we were taught - by grandmothers, arts and culture, through storytelling, adding to our repertoire of moral tools (3/n)

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Akshay Alladi

@akshayalladi

Mar 16, 2022

If something, like technology platforms and the economy, is weaponised for one reason (Russia invading Ukraine) it is a very limiting lesson to learn that it means invasions are costly. The broader lesson is these are weapons that can be readily summoned by the US. (1/4)

And like with all weapons, you go by capability, not intent. Intent can change overnight. So today if it was a weapon wielded against an invasion, tomorrow something smaller can be used for a perceived smaller infraction. You can’t expose yourself to a vulnerability (2/4)

But ofc you can’t have quality and competitiveness with autarky across the board. So what’s the route to self reliance? Again as with any de-risking: 1. Mutual, not one way dependence - so that the costs of wielding the weapon are too high 2. Diversification - and hedging… (3/4)

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