Ideas We Believe

There are obvious downsides to democracy. When we look at the distribution of opinion on a particular issue, it generally follows a normal distribution. This implies that to achieve the majority, it's theoretically advised to stick to the centre. And this love for mediocrity makes democracy allergic to politically solid decisions.  Along with it, democracies tend to be the rooster for sweet talkers. And that is an outcome rather than a voluntary trait. Primarily because most voters need to be equipped to deal with the complexities of the field. For example, it could be more practical for an electrical engineer to comprehend medical patterns and the pandemic's effect on production. Thus, democratic institutions need people managers who have two keywords to watch out for - sweet talking and status quo. However, democracies have been hugely popular. And people have reported being happier. Whether this is induced, indoctrinated or influenced is another question. But history has cho

The preamble of Indian Constitution does a good job of describing how people of India welcomed this land in the mid 20th century. Except it's a mouthful for s-worded adjectives, something every writer despises. But in its defence, it was only sometimes the case. As the early snaps would agree, there were days when the only adjective was 'sovereign'. The other, secular and socialist, were added using several amendments culminating in 1975. And needless to say, these terms have guided the political compass throughout the later part of the century.  Now that we are as old to the amendments as they were to the constitution, a question on its impact remains. The Idea of secularity, which commands a independence of the state and the religion, seems a streched affair in India. We are a country where even the minority hold pious beliefs close to their heart. So, in India the, unbiasedness is maintained by an equal involvement of the state in all religions. And, thus has there been

The unusual thing about peace is that its true worth is realised only in times of war. As the horrors of the wars begin to fade away from the memoirs, people begin to actively devalue the efforts for peace. this is the true challenge to peace to convince people that war is the worst option. A look at the list of non-fiction booker prize for the last two decades shows a shift from topics of history to that of health and ecology. this brings up an important question. the generation which was apart of the greatest wars ( the military world wars and the strategic cold war) have begun to recede away from the limelight. the modern writers chose to adorn the more sophisticated needs of survivals. A shift from human emotions of anger, revenge and hatred to that of care, concern and altruism. The results of wars, namely democracy and globalism, have begun to wear away as the great wars move deeper in history textbooks. "democracy survives on the virtues of the defeated". As long

Plunged into the darkness, the golden valley of India has no routes of communication with the rest of the world. J&K is experiencing the worst curfew of all times, as we celebrate the independence day. With leaders promising of the changes that the move will usher in, and opposition dazzled by the sudden turn of events, the common media has no means to breach the incommunicado.  I feel I can bet with some certainty about how the world looks at the Kashmir issue. Much similar to how we see the Rohingya issue of Myanmar, or Palestine in Israel (I know I have just pulled in ears of FBI). But yes, Kashmir is the Achilles heel for India's global image. And probably the biggest burden of the Indian army. However, a mother cannot just cut-off a child just because, it is in trouble. Primarily because of two reasons; one that we have a responsibility to help people of the valley and second that if such fate draws upon another state of our country, we would do the same, help them recov

“Power to People” At the heart of democracy lies this promise, a promise to give people the power to decide the course of their nation. In this new millennium, we believe it is the best possible thing to do. However, the major reasons why democracy is considered the best today is that it happens to be the choice of most developed nations. We have lived long enough in democracy that we would readily part with our powers. And it seems a dangerous step to take. But, if we look closer into the functioning of these developed countries, its the functioning of the institutions that actually contributes to its development. The interplay of judiciary, bureaucracy and elected government, in most cases decides the life standard. The irony here is that more independent these institutions happen to be, the better they perform. Which indirectly implies, institutions of bureaucracy and judiciary, need to independent from the control of legislature (the ones people happily elected). Coming to