Author: akshay
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“If the Majority Are Suffering, Don’t We Need a Radical System Transformation?”
That was one of the comments* which came up after the panel discussion in EPHP which I was part of. I’m glad that my reciting of how wealth is distributed in India hit (some of) the audience and provoked this response. I had said my thumb rule of knowing where you are: Money Position Below…
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Companionship in Left-Wing Politics
One needs silence to write. Silence inside, not outside. Earlier I used to write to get clarity. Now my fingers aren’t able to keep up with my thoughts. I wrote a poem the other day. Can you believe it? I. Wrote. A. Poem. I was like, aren’t poets supposed to be the tortured souls? Don’t…
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Growing Up in a Casteist Kerala Family
My mother and father, and all my grandparents belong to the Kerala caste called Nambeesan (and evidently married within their caste). It’s supposed to be the caste of people who do kazhakam in temples, i.e. making the garlands required for the deity (and possibly other odd-jobs inside the temple?). I know a couple of relatives…
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Giving Love A Chance
There were 3 JCBs working on a single section of road in Indiranagar today. The section which contains metro entrance A. I exited the metro today via the same entrance. But I did not go to the road where the JCBs were. I hadn’t had lunch. So I went on the main road under the…
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The Search for Meaningful Work
People who are stuck in a paradigm of work that they don’t believe in will often have a vague feeling of discomfort and discontent within them. This can take the form of a frustration, or a question. When it is framed as a question, they’re able to ask and explore the answer to the question.…
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Two Kinds of Frustrations with Progressive Spaces
By “progressive”, I mean what’s popularly referred to as “progressive”. The movements, the NGOs, the protest sites, and the like. It is easy to find people frustrated with progressive spaces. But there are two kinds. One has the not doing the right way frustration. The other has the not doing the right thing frustration. Not…
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Irreverence is the Only Cure to Traditionalism
All challenges to progressive change come from an unwillingness to question and rewrite traditions. Power — capitalism, caste, patriarchy, etc — is kept alive by traditions around who does what kind of labor, whose opinions count, whose solutions are considered useful, and who is considered capable of doing what. While traditions like gender roles and…
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No Matter How Rich You Are, You Won’t Be Able to Afford a Hospital Visit in 2030 — Here’s How It Will Play Out
From 1947 till 2025, the government healthcare system has constantly been hollowed out, albeit slowly. But in the next 5 years, there is going to be a sudden shift towards extremely expensive, insurance-based healthcare system (like the horrible system of USA) in India. And it is going to make it impossible for you to afford…
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The Diary of a Revolutionary Person Working Inside the System
Day 1 of being a revolutionary person working inside the system I saw injustice being meted out by the system today. I decided to stand up against it. I was thrown out of the system.
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Stop Fixing Problems
I read the book “Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus” long ago. There’s one chapter or so in the book that talks about how women talk about problems and how men try to “fix” them immediately, and how, often, it is not a solution that’s needed, but just space to talk. Many feminists…