CHARVAKA DESK
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Sri Sri Ravishankar and Art of Politics
Ram Puniyani Ravi Shankar AS ELECTIONS in Uttar Pradesh are nearing, so is the number of travels by spiritual gurus. These gurus are giving their discourses against corruption. (November 2011). The major ones amongst them are Baba Ramdev and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (Sri Sri). Sri Sri has shared space with Anna and played a…
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To Kill or Not To Kill: A Human Rights Perspective on Capital Punishment
Ramesh Nagaragere Time was when a king got angry with one of his subjects and said, ‘Off with his head’ and it was done. Not just that. He would also order the chopped off head to be hung on the walls of the fort. At the gates. The intent was not merely to punish…
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Meeting of Freethinkers in Kerala
Here is a mail we have received from the organizers of a Freethinkers’ Meet to be held in Kerala. Friends, Science trust-Calicut and Yukthiyugam magazine ( to commence publication shortly) invite all interested friends to attend a meet at Thrissur, Kerala on 20th November. For details, please see the attached brochure. Science trust, Calicut
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Communalism Muddies Anti-Nuclear Agitation
Carvaka Hindu Outfits Seek Speedy Commissioning Of Project (The Hindu, November 10, 2011) TIRUNELVELI: Even as the participation of Bishops and priests in the ongoing anti-Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project agitation is growing gradually, Hindu outfits have started their campaign in support of the project. Bishops and priests of Roman Catholic and Church of South…
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Ruining Innocent Lives: Guilt of Investigation Agencies
Ram Puniyani Nine youth accused in Malegaon blast case of 2006 have been granted bail by the MCOCA court. (Nov 6 2011). These Muslim youth were arrested after the bomb exploded on the Shab-e-Barat, killing several people. Immediately after that the Anti Terrorist Sqaud, arrested nine Muslim youth, there was really no evidence worth its…
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L’amour plus fort que la haine
Carvaka “Love is stronger than hate” says the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, in its latest issue – of course, in their own inimitable acerbic style. The magazine was firebombed on November 2, 2011 for satirizing radical Islamists. The cartoon on the cover page of the magazine had depicted Muhammad promising “100 lashes if you don’t die from laughter.” After…
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Lectures in Memory of Dr. Debiprasad Chattopadyaya
We reproduce a mail received from Nava Karnataka Publications, Bangalore: /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:””; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} ಪ್ರಿಯರೆ, ಭಾನುವಾರ, 2011ರ ನವಂಬರ್ 13ರ ಬೆಳಗ್ಗೆ 10 ಗಂಟೆಗೆ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ಚಾಮರಾಜಪೇಟೆಯ ಶ್ರೀ ಕೃಷ್ಣರಾಜ ಪರಿಷನ್ಮಂದಿರದಲ್ಲಿ 2 ಕೃತಿಗಳು ಲೋಕಾರ್ಪಣೆಯಾಗಲಿವೆ . ಅದೇ ಸಂದರ್ಭದಲ್ಲಿ ಡಾ.…
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Evolution of God-Ideas
B Premanand Agni – God of Fire If we go through the history of the gods and religions organized around them, we find that the human mind created these gods and religions by propagating miracles and the belief in fate. The ruling classes and the priestly classes made gullible people believe in miracles and fate…
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Pushpa Yagam to Save the Mother Earth from Earth Quake!
Carvaka Mountain of flowers for the Lord (The Hindu, November 4, 2011) The annual ‘Pushpa Yagam’ festival was held on Thursday at the famous hill temple of Lord Venkateswara amid religious fervour. Over seven tonnes of a wide variety of bright and aromatic flowers were used in the festival. Earlier in the morning ‘Snapana Thirumanjanam’…
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Illusion of Touch (Tactile Illusion)
B Premanand Our sense of touch comprises of five mechanisms registering pain, heat, cold and pressure, as well as physical contact with object at the most basic level. The innermost working of the complex network of nerves that communicates signal to the brain from all part of the body’s surface and the way in which…
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Lord Ram’s Story: Many Tellings
Ram Puniyani Ramayana Javanese Ballet Dance Recently Delhi University Academic Council (Oct 2011) decided to drop the scholarly essay “Three Hundred Ramayanas” of A.K.Ramanujan, on different telling of Ram’s story from the syllabus of ‘Culture in India’ for BA Honors students. Of the four experts on the committee, one of them, whose opinion was…
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Illusion of Smell (Olfactory Illusion)
<!– /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –> B Premanand Every object that we smell throws of molecules, which are wafted by air towards the approximately ten million olfactory cells…
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On Being Rational – An Introspection
P L Rao Image Courtesy: creations.blogspot.com “Why I am a rationalist?” Each time someone asks me this question, it sets me thinking: “Is it a right question?” As human beings, we are gifted with a brain largest among all species, which has been tremendously researched upon and according to this, the left side of…
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Godse’s Children- Hindutva Terror in India – Book Review
Ram Puniyani (Godse’s Children- Hindutva Terror in India, Pharos Media, Delhi, Pages 400, Rs 360, Pb) Terrorist violence has been one of the major problems of recent times. This phenomenon came to popular notice more so after the 9/11 attack on WTC, which was followed by, apart from other things, popularization of the terms ‘Islamic…
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Illusion of Taste
B Premanand The four primary sensations of taste are sweet, sour, salt and bitter. Although some taste buds are situated on the palate, tonsils and in the upper throat, the tongue is the central stage. Its tip is more sensitive to sweetness than any other part because the highest concentrations of sweet taste receptors are…
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Illusion of Hearing
B Premanand The outer ears designed to collect sound waves, and channel them through a can one inch in length until they reach the ear drum, a thin membrane that vibrates in response. These vibrations pass directly on to the adjacent middle ear, a cavity no more than a third of an inch wide and…
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Optical Illusion
B Premanand What happens when we see? Information in the form of light waves is projected from the external world via the opening in the iris onto a highly sensitive screen called the retina, a layer of cells extending over virtually the whole of the inside of the eye. These cells translate the light stimuli…
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Faith versus Universal Compassion – Part III
P L Rao (Part I and Part II of this Essay are here) Flourishing field of Religion Religious field is flourishing today due to the vast scope of earning fame and power. Scandals and Babas sail together. But the institutions survive due to political patronage enjoyed by the community as a whole. None bothers…
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Indian Materialism
August Thalheimer [This essay is Chapter 6 of August Thalheimer’s ‘Introduction to Dialectical Materialism -The Marxist World-View’] August Thalheimer The Greeks played the leading role in the foundation of science and philosophy, and in the detachment of these from religion, but they are not alone in having made this progress. It is no more than just…
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Illusion of the Senses
Chapter II Illusion of the Senses There may be millions of devotees of godmen and avatars who have witnessed the apparent creation of objects from “nowhere” and are prepared to stand witness to the alleged creation. Can their testimony be taken at face value as true? No, because they are unable to see the phenomena…
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Ashta Siddhis through Sponge Balls
Experiment -2 Effect: Making a match box disappear and appear Props: One match box Method: With the movement of the hands and the fingers one can make an object appear, disappear or change to another. Take a match box in the palm between the small finger and the index finger. While moving the hand vertically…
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Creating Holy Ash – Sai Baba Style
Experiment – 1 Effect: Creating Holy Ash – Sai Baba Style Props: Perfumed Vibhui, starch water extracted from cooked rice, a plate to make the pellets with vibhuti. Method: The perfumed ash is mixed in the starch water and made into small pellets and dried. This pellet is hidden between the thumb and the index…
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Kashmir, Ultra Nationalists and Path to Peaceful Solution
Ram Puniyani Prasant Bhushan The condemnable attack on Supreme Court Lawyer and ‘team Anna’ member Prashant Bhushan on 12th October 2011, threw up many a questions. To begin with the attackers were congratulated by ‘ultra Nationalists’ like Bal Thackeray of Shiv Sena, showing the gross intolerance around certain issues in our society, more particularly those…