Ancient Indian Tradition—Or Twentieth-Century European Export?
Evidence suggests that today’s common yoga practices were inspired by a popular 1924 Danish gymnastics manual.
India
14 articles
The Soldier and the Revolutionary
The contrasting lives and ambitions of two major figures in the fight for Indian Independence: Kodandera Subayya Thimayya (“Timmy”) and Subhas Chandra Bose.
Podcast #295. War and the End of Empire
Iona Italia talks to historian and film-maker Phil Craig about the latest in his series of books about World War II: ‘1945: A Reckoning: War, Empire and the Struggle for a New World.’
Snakes in the Backyard
Pakistan is failing to control the terrorist groups that are headquartered within its borders and pose a serious threat to both India and the West.
The Women Excluded from Parsi Life
The Zoroastrians of India are a tiny and rapidly shrinking group. Yet they exclude women who marry out and their offspring from their community.
Podcast #243: The Freedom to Blaspheme
Jonathan Kay speaks to fellow podcast host Kushal Mehra about the ‘eerie similarities’ between censorship campaigns in India and Canada.
A Different Way of Doing Atheism
Indian philosophical traditions such as Nāstika and Nirīśvaravāda offer the West’s angry ‘neo-atheists’ a more nuanced model for channelling their religious disbelief.
Bad History at the BBC
A new radio series about the 1943 Bengal famine favours culture-war polemic over rigorous scholarship.
Swastikas of Both Sorts: Hindu Nationalism's Fascist Nostalgia
Hindu nationalism is nostalgic for a golden age that never existed, before the invasions of first the Muslims and then the British.
India’s Illiberal First Amendment
The Indian government’s tendency to crack down on speech of which it disapproves dates from the founding of the republic.
The European Union Is Finally Coming Around to Gene-Edited Seeds
For a quarter century, activists such as Vandana Shiva have opposed GM crops that can help feed the world. Now, more than ever, it’s time to reject their Luddite demands
Imagine There’s No Svarga: Rediscovering Cārvāka, India’s 2,700-Year-Old Atheistic Tradition
The Cārvākas considered only matter—that which could be sensed—to be real.