I picked up my copy of Gibbon to research material for an article on Islam that I want to write. Going through the Table of Contents however I was intrigued by the chapter on the life and death of Emperor Commodus. Commodus was the villain in the movie in the blockbuster action movie Gladiator starring […]
Category Archives: Politics
Role of the Military in the Roman Empire
I had thought of reading Gibbon and writing a series of articles based on his Decline and Fall. But the book speaks for itself much better than I can ever do so. Less is more and I can do no better than to recommend anybody who is reading this article (and who is connected with […]
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
I have had my copy of the abridged version of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon for many years now. But it is only now that I have started to read it. I read just the Foreword, Introduction, Preface and the first chapter and was blown away by the insights […]
A Solution to the Ayodhya Dispute
This article is like locking the stable doors after the horse has bolted. The Ayodhya dispute has ended with the Supreme Court ordering the land to be handed over to a trust to build a Hindu temple. It also ordered the government to give an alternate 5 acres of land to the Uttar Pradesh Sunni […]
More on the Legal System
We have inherited our civil and criminal justice system from the British. The British naturally gave us the justice system that they knew and worked for them. And this system is based – in large part – on the witnesses being men and women of integrity. And that is a very precarious assumption to make […]
The Cause of Religious Persecutions
A cousin of mine and I were discussing religion. I take spirituality seriously and told him that all religious traditions have produced enlightened mystics. “By their fruits shall you know them”, as the Bible says. My cousin countered by pointing out that there have been many wars fought over religion and millions of innocent people […]
The Importance of Integrity
What is Integrity and why is it important? I will start by saying that if you are looking for a job or career then integrity (whatever it means) is very important. I was job hunting some time back and one friend I knew called me and said that he knew of a certain opening. But […]
Some Unpleasant Personal Experiences
I was a very badly behaved youngster when I was in my teens and in my 20s. I had psychological problems which were not addressed at the time and so the malady grew worse. Society – instead of sending me to a psychiatrist – decided that I needed to be taught a lesson. Part of […]
The Only Sound Method of Nation Building
This is going to be a long article of about 2,200 words. But sit tight it will be worth your time and effort. A reader of my blog gave me a WA forward giving the views of one Dr David Frawley on India. Dr Frawley has been awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Indian government […]
Priorities in Afghanistan
This article will give my views regarding what the priorities of the authorities should be regarding Afghanistan. The authorities include the Taliban, the Northern Alliance and governments of other nations. The first priority is to avoid anarchy in the nation of Afghanistan. There is an Arabic saying that states – A day of anarchy is […]