WIDE ANGLE

 Raouf Rasool

Time to learn from Bushmen

Time to learn from Bushmen

Sitting by a campfire listening to a song of Bushmen somewhere deep in the Kalahari Desert, an American Anthropologist William Ury thought he recognized a word or two… When the lyrics were translated to him, it turned out that the song was: “Mama, please buy me an Appollo Eleven…” Far from the urban civilization, these […]

 Raouf Rasool

God bless those who say what they feel must be said!

God bless those who say what they feel must be said!

Those who think they know everything and believe with complete certainty that they possess the right knowledge and theirs is the ultimate wisdom of thought and action, are dark inside. Now if this is the trait of an ordinary individual, a commoner, it may not affect many beyond his or her self, and may be […]

 Raouf Rasool

Kashmir needs more than promises and pledges

Kashmir needs more than promises and pledges

Political promises alone don’t suffice the need, certainly not in Kashmir which has been torn apart by decades of conflict – a civil war like situation. Any government, whatever its composition and complexion, as some important studies conducted into the conflict situations world-over indicate, here will be confronted with two major challenges. First, Kashmir has […]

 Raouf Rasool

Finding meaning in meaningless political speeches

Finding meaning in meaningless political speeches

Recall that old story of a man who converts to Catholicism and decides to emulate as far as possible the life of a saint — St. Francis of Assisi. Filled with the zeal of a convert, he withdrew his life’s savings from the bank and took this money out in $5 notes (bills). Armed with […]

 Raouf Rasool

‘Highest good is pursuit of rational self-interest’

‘Highest good is pursuit of rational self-interest’

A little research into the word ‘sacrifice’ reveals that it means offering of something, animate or inanimate, in a ritual procedure which establishes, or mobilizes, a relationship of mutuality between the one who sacrifices (whether individual or group) and the recipient — who may be human but more often is of another order – God. […]

 Raouf Rasool

Political expediency and deliberate deceit!

Political expediency and deliberate deceit!

Thanks to the raging controversy about the Article 370, the two regional majors — National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party — otherwise facing political irrelevance, get an opportunity to engage in some rhetorical warfare every now and then. And they do without fail – blaming all but themselves for the continued dilution of the Article […]

 Raouf Rasool

E=mc2

E=mc2

Politics, according to Webster is “the science and art of government”. Though it is generally viewed in a context of corruption, interestingly, however, its dictionary synonyms are “discreet, provident, diplomatic, wise….” So if politics is the art of doing a ‘thing’ wisely, then wisdom also lies in knowing when not to do a ‘thing’. If […]

 Iqbal Ahmad

The traditional Jewelry of Kashmir

The traditional Jewelry of Kashmir

The earliest evidences of jewelry items were found in the archaeological sites of Harwan, Ushkar and Litpura sites (100-400) AD, where the exhumed material showed the human pattern of men and women wearing brilliant ornaments.

Like other arts and crafts, Kashmiri’s had no less expertise in producing some of the finest and exquisite items of jewelry. Massive workshops were set up in various villages, towns and cities for this purpose and people would toil hard to beautify metals into relics of beauty. The community dealing with manufacturing ornaments is locally […]

 Raouf Rasool

They won’t change, yet they want change! 

They won’t change, yet they want change! 

Somewhere in mid-sixties, an American political organizer after finishing his lecture at the Stanford University was approached by a Soviet professor of political economics from University of Leningrad. Since both these people shared diametrically opposite worldviews about the global politics and its core definitions, the opening of the discussions between the two was obviously illustrative […]

 Raouf Rasool

Simplistic inferences won’t help

Simplistic inferences won’t help

The very low voter turnout during the just concluded Lok Sabha elections in Kashmir may not have surprised any – for the political realists had anticipated it to be so. As always the separatists had also called for boycott and their calls were endorsed by a wider cross-section, including the vocal civil society actors who […]

1 2 3 6