July 2023 | The Beacon Webzine

The Uniform Civil Code in Nehru’s Vision as Debate & Consensus-Building Praxis

July 30, 2023 The Beacon 0

That’s Life!!!

Once again the Uniform Civil Code has surfaced with Prime Minister Narendra Modi opening that Pandora’s Box as a as a electioneering talking point that does not create consensus through debate on its intricacies and complexities. Compare that with Nehru’s vision on the Hindu Code Bills from the late 1940s on meant to explain the grounds for reform and take the Opposition along. Debate as praxis …[Read More]…

The multi-faceted Impact of Hindi cinema on society: Bharat Dogra and Madhu Dogra

July 30, 2023 Bharat Dogra 0

Visual Spaces

While there have been many books on Hindi films, there is a need to look at the adverse impacts films may have n society. Bharat Dogra and Madhu Dogra attempt this exercise in their book on the subject. What follows is an edited version of an extract from the book. …[Read More]…

Literature as Peace Work: Eyes on Kashmira Sheth’s Keeping Corner. Jocelyn Wright

July 28, 2023 Jocelyn Wright 2

Literary Trails

Jocelyn Wright delves into a close reading of Kashmira Sheth’s Keeping Corner as an example of what she calls Peace Literature preceded by an overview of the conceptual terrain of that term.…[Read More]…

Women By Ashgar Wajahat Translated By Alok Bhalla

July 28, 2023 Alok Bhalla 0

Literary Trails

A searing allegory of the way women are treated in a society governed by misogyny, lax moral codes and a political discourse that sanctifies both. Asghar Wajahat translated by Alok Bhalla.…[Read More]…

The Butcher of Bosnia by H Masud Taj

July 21, 2023 H. Masud Taj 0

Between The Lines

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum reports, “In July 1995, Bosnian Serb forces killed as many as 8,000 Bosniak men and boys from the town of Srebrenica. It was the largest massacre in Europe since the Holocaust.” Calligrapher-Poet H Masud Taj recalls verses from Song for the Besieged that he composed while killings were in progress in 1992-1993 simultaneously in Mumbai and Sarajevo, along with a found poem, The Butcher of Bosnia, based on the subsequent ruling of UN: The International Criminal Tribunal in the Hague…[Read More]…

Man on the Moon by H. Masud Taj

July 21, 2023 H. Masud Taj 0

Visual Spaces

As Chandrayaan-3 heads for the moon, H. Masud Taj recalls as a 13-year-old wannabe poet twirling radio knobs tuning in to the moon landing in a medley ranging from moonrock to alternative rock and featuring Neil Armstrong, Ibn-e-Safi, R.E.M. and Andy Kaufman (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah).…[Read More]…

Can We Count On Electronic Voting Machines? Ashish Ray

July 1, 2023 The Beacon 1

“Electronic voting is unconstitutional because the average citizen could not be expected to understand the exact steps involved in the recording and tallying of votes by the electronic voting machines …[Read in full]…