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  • Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

    Omar Khayyam (1048 – 1131) was a Persian polymath. Born at Naishapur in Khorassan (today’s Iran), he made significant contributions to the fields of mathematics, astronomy, philosophy and poetry. His poetry collection, translated by Edward Fitzgerald under the title Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, contains a selection of quatrains. The book remains one of the most…

  • Socio-Religious Reforms in 19th-Century India

    “I regret to say,” wrote Raja Ram Mohan Roy in 1828, “that the present system of religion adhered to by the Hindus is not well calculated to promote their political interest. The distinctions of castes introducing innumerable divisions and sub-divisions among them has entirely deprived them of patriotic feeling, and the multitude of religious rites…

  • In Praise of Drinking Wine

    Throughout recorded history humans have made life bearable by taking intoxicants. And, while societies differ over which intoxicants should be encouraged, which tolerated and which forbidden, there has been a convergence of opinion around one all-important rule: that the result must not threaten public order. The Native American pipe of peace, like the Middle-Eastern hookah,…

  • Show, Don’t Tell. What’s That?

    SHOW, DON’T TELL. If you are someone who writes stories, you are going to get this advice all the time. However, those who offer such advice don’t always care to explain what it really means. Does it mean that we narrate a story as is done in a play or movie-script? Not necessarily. Let’s see…

  • The Story of First Philosophers

    Nobody will ever be sure who started it. It could be that some poor genius invented philosophy and then fell into the abyss of unwritten history before he could announce himself to posterity. There is no reason to think that such a person, but then there wouldn’t be. Happily, there are at least records of…

  • How to Travel in Lockdown

    It’s not easy. You’ve been hoping to get out and see the world but it’s been months, perhaps a year, or more. Every time you plan or even think about it, the Covid cases start to rise and… there comes the lockdown, yet again. And once again you are restricted to the confines of your…

  • Imran Khan 1.0 and 2.0 According to William Dalrymple

    There are a few matters where Imran Khan’s admirers and critics would disagree. But there’s one interesting aspect about Pakistan’s current prime minister which brings all of them on the same page. That is, they all would agree that they have seen two Imran Khans: a bachelor-playboy who was a cricket star and a fundamentalist…

  • A Brief History of Islamic State – Khorasan

    A lot has been happening in Afghanistan. USA withdrew its forces along with its NATO allies. Ashraf Ghani, the president (now ex-president) of Afghanistan, escaped the country. The Taliban captured almost all its territory and formed the new regime. The transfer of the power though, as you could tell from the sequence of events, has…