debater

Political parties are busy working out a plan for the upcoming state elections in five of the sates: Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, West Bengal, Kerala and Assam. Sooner you will hear political rhetorics in these states the ruling governments praising their performances and the opposition parties criticizing the government and promising to reform. Often the reformations will include new allowances, free-schemes, and alike. Basically, I think there should be motive stronger than the so called good will of the politicians to develop the country. It is filling their pockets; for we are not unaware of the scams and scandels in Indian Politics. I don't deny that there are sincere politicians even today. I am concerned about the policy makers and those who have direct control over our national interests.  Often the generosity of our leaders are false-generosity with a hidden motive behind. We the citizens seldom realize this fact. The disparity between the haves and have nots is ev...

I believe there is a world of difference between a necessary virtue and a virtue of necessity. While a necessary virtue is a virtue in the proper sense and it's a virtue irrespective of who practices and when it is practiced. For instance, hope is a necessary virtue at all times. We know we are not beings fashioned  once and for all and we time and again hope to better our lives. On the contrary, a virtue of necessity is subjective and conditioned to particular time and to particular persons. In short, it is the justification of one's errors. Let me illustrate with a practical example that you and I are well acquainted with in our every day life. You see some people to be extremely courteous and respectful all of a sudden to your surprise. You begin to wonder what produced such a change in a person who cared not whether you existed previously or not. Some time most probably s/he may come to you for some help or other. Continuation of your relationship much depends o...

At the outset let me acknowledge that  the term "freedom-become-authority" is Freiren term used in his celebrated work T he Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Whether we are young or old one of the things that we find hard to accept is imposition of ideas. In other words authoritarianism. We have the inalienable right to decide for ourselves and direct our lives. At the same time our vocation to be more fully human is impossible by closing ourselves in without communion. Authoritarianism is an anti-thesis or negation of freedom and therefore we have no right to bow down to anyone who does not acknowledge our vocation as a human person capable of thinking and acting upon our own existential conditions. Authority for us humans can only mean that we as free persons who live in communion in a society agree to give certain rights to some persons for a responsible use of all. And therefore, at the core of authority the roots of human freedom must lie. We Christians are set free by Christ...

BIS Mumbai                                     BOSCO INFORMATION SERVICE #2220 RED REALITY – NAXALISM: AN EXITENTIAL DILEMMA Cl. Romero D’Souza sdb DIVYADAAN, JANUARY 13, 2011:  The Masters of Philosophy students (2010-2011) presented a symposium on the topic “Naxalism: An existential dilemma”. The symposium was held in the Divyadaan Academic Hall from 2:00 p.m to 4:00 p.m and was attended by the staff and students of Divyadaan as well the religious from the neighboring community. The Media today is flooded with news of Naxals which brings to our senses the relevance of this topic. In these present times our country is faced with many realities and one of it is facing the Red reality of the Naxalism. This existing dilemma of the Philosophy of the Naxalites has affected every citizen of India in thought and actio...

Something flashed my mind a few days back when reading the news papers on the IPL auction. In the past selling of humans in market places as slaves was a common phenomenon in various parts of the world. I think today we are returning to objectifying or thingifying people in different ways and forms. The tragedy of such thingification is that  the thingified  is praised for lowering down his/her position from being human to being an object of sale and mere usefulness.When I was at home I loved to play Cricket with my friends in the neighbourhood. The word cricket brings to mind a number of things other then the real game itself. We are not commodities to be sold. The price paid in no way make us humans. We perform certain acts for our living but they are far away from our real vocation that is to be full human, capable of creating and re-creating the world around. Today we sense the symptoms of humans becoming mere objects at sale. It won't be a surprise if in th...

‘Naxal violence’ is no more an unheard word as media, both print and electronic, busy echoing it day in and day out. The conflict between the Naxalites and the Indian state is entering into a deplorable phase as both the sides are heavily armed, ready to fight – in some places already fighting – a civil war. It is against this backdrop I intend to reflect whether violence is the only way for either party. Violence and the Tribal Belts of India A careful study of Naxal violence –‘Naxal menace’ as our prime minister calls it – makes us sharply aware of the unheard injustices meted out to the tribals of India. Violence does not emerge all of a sudden. It is nourished by historical memories of injustice and denial of freedom. If justice is giving a person his or her due, injustice is to be defined as ‘thingifying’ of people, stripping off their dignity as persons. Illogical, insincere and short sighted attempts to define development in terms of economic gains alone led not only the Br...

A year back for the first time the Autobiography (The Story of my Experiments with Truth) of Mahatma Gandhi rolled into my hands. Something of what he shares in his autobiography certainly remains with me. One such insight is "the Economy of Words." Forgive me for not quoting the exact context in which he speaks. A few days back I happened to be in the company of some good people (every one is good, of course). Part of the conversation turned towards hurts feelings that we carry along. It then struck me most of the times we are hurt by what someone has said than what someone has done. Words can either build us or break us. Speech is a marvelous gift that humanity is given with.  We all expect or long to hear someone to speak well of us, hardly realizing that everyone longs as we do. Words are powerful, sometimes irrevocable once uttered. The beauty of words is they are free. We are free to use words. Our words can either bring deficit in friendship or boost it. Let us r...