— Where do you come from?

— Gorakhpur.

— Which locality?

— Not exactly Gorakhpur. Deoria.

— Oh! In Deoria proper?

— No, not proper. Salempur, you know that?

— First you said Gorakhpur. Then Deoria. Now Salempur. Where exactly do you come from? Continue reading →

I will tell you one story — not in full or translation — instead, just a short summary. It was written by Hindi writer Yashpal.

After having worked for several years in any specific field, it becomes generally understood, accepted, and acknowledged that the scholars must be experts in the field. People from other fields, or the same field but having different expertise, as also general public, would look up to them to be educated and get any doubts cleared. Whatever they tell, others accept as truth, without feeling any need to cross-examine the facts. What is the need? — afterall they are experts, aren’t they? In fact, that is one of the rationales behind the enormous investment made by any government into higher education. Continue reading →

I propose that for one full year, all newspapers should change their emblems. Even the electronic media could do the same. All of them would have the same emblem — a skull and two bones — the usual representation of death. Let all people wake up in the morning, and before opening themselves to their daily dose of news and analysis come face to face with the skull, be reminded every morning of the inevitability of their end. All is going to end, all are going to end. In the conclusion, all is either ash or dust. Nothing else matters. Continue reading →