Indian Snapshots

Taking a broadly interdisciplinary approach, this book provides a unique angle on the COVID-19 pandemic and its implications for global theory and practice. The book bridges two important debates regarding the relevance of quantum theory to the social sciences, and the pressing need for a more global international relations (IR). It brings the parallels between quantum physics and ancient Asian traditions – Daoism, Buddhism and Hinduism – to an investigation of mind, action and strategy in conditions of radical uncertainty. Engaging with both theory and real-world problems, including climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic and economic and racial inequality, this book explores what it might mean to successfully navigate the potentials of a post-pandemic world.

What was imperial honor and how did it sustain the British Raj? If "No man may harm me with impunity" was an ancient theme of the European aristocracy, British imperialists of almost all classes in India possessed a similar vision of themselves as overlords belonging to an honorable race, so that ideals of honor condoned and sanctified their rituals, connecting them with status, power, and authority. Honor, most broadly, legitimated imperial rule, since imperialists ostensibly kept India safe from outside threats. Yet at the individual level, honor kept the "white herd" together, providing the protocols and etiquette for the imperialist, who had to conform to the strict notions of proper and improper behavior in a society that was always obsessed with maintaining its dominance over India and Indians.Examining imperial society through the prism of honor therefore opens up a new methodology for the study of British India.

The manuscript starts with a question how does a country with so much diversities like India claim to be a nation? What glues it together? It then suggests that Bollywood has in the last hundred years acted as one of the glues that binds the country together and that it has represented the feelings and aspiration of the country commendably. It has also become the inner voice that introspects and questions the society and behaves as a collective moral compass. To further this theory, the seventy odd years of post- independence is divided into four periods. Films released in each period is shown, not just to reflect the period but to comment on the need for change. For example the highlighting of problems of dowry in early 1950’s to 1980’s which evolved from a custom to demand due to greed, resulted in legislations to protect women. Similarly, the issue of triple talak highlighted in early 1980’s leading to recent legislation on the subject. Analyzing the evolution of story telling and nature of presentation, the book concludes that since late nineties, Hindi movies have been screaming the failure of the judiciary, with initial movies showing system failure, then corrupt lawyers to now questionable judges. The book thus contrary to recent trends of being critical of the industry highlights the significant role it has played in contemporary times.

Subhas Chandra Bose, 1897-1945, Indian statesman.