An Open Letter in Response to “Letter in Support of Professor Audrey Truschke” Dear Colleagues/Friends, I write to question your claims professing “confidence in Dr. Truschke’s respect for Hindus and Hinduism and its compatibility with a critique of Hindu Nationalism as a social and political enterprise.” One. How does Dr…

Rashmi Samant is Not the Villain Here. It has been truly heart-breaking (but also inspiring) to see Rashmi Samant speak about the barbaric racism that she and her parents have been subject to by various people associated with the University of Oxford. …

The singer-entrepreneur Rihanna recently advertised her lingerie line on Instagram while wearing an image of the Hindu god Ganesha. She perhaps did not quite realize that there was a bigger elephant in the room that was going to get disturbed in the process! In this case, that elephant in the…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ynck7MCDKJM&feature=youtu.be I had the pleasure of speaking on Doordarshan last week on propaganda and Western news coverage of India (my part starts at the 9 minute mark in the video above). I am sharing below my notes for those who are interested. …

When is a murder Hinduphobic? When is Hinduphobia murderous? When is a murder… even… a murder? We live in truly horrendous mental worlds, where our eyes and ears consume the pain of others far away from us constantly, swiping, staring, stabbing a futile bunch of keystrokes in reaction, staring again…

I. How Far? How far will you go for the truth? This question sounds like something you would hear in a movie, or read in a novel. A “Red-pill” rescue from the “Kool-aid.” Perhaps it’s also a line we can contemplate in real-life. In terms of philosophy. In terms of…

Most students these days know that to objectify someone is not a good thing. What about the opposite? …

The Speed Cubers, which premiered on Netflix today, is a moving, sometimes heart-breaking, and yet, hopeful meditation on friendship, skill, passion and fame. It is, somewhat surprisingly, also a potent antidote for the profoundly disconnected and anxious times we are living in now. The subject of The Speed Cubers is…

After reading some of the strange and disturbing responses from Hindus and some Hindu Americans to the storm of outrage sweeping across the United States about police brutality and racism, I believe that some introspection is necessary. Why do we react the way we do about racism towards Blacks? Is…