Post-truth Apostate

 The first modern European to discover the sea route to India, Vasco De Gama, set out in 1497 to discover the fabled land of India. It was generally accepted with the most solemn conviction, for instance, that the Biblical Garden of Eden was located in the East and that there thrived all sorts of absurdly exotic creatures like unicorns, men with dog's heads and supernatural races called " The Apple Smellers".  In July 1497 Gama arrived at Kappad beach, Calicut. His fellow crew members were actually prisoners released from jail by King Manuel, as nobody else had the guts to embark on such a long and treacherous sea quest, which many believed was a one way trip. Upon reaching the shores Gama sent one of his mates to go, investigate and give a first hand report of the land.  The following are narrations of eyewitness accounts by the sailors of what all they saw in this strange new land.  Gama was entrusted on a mission to find 'spices and Christians'. Since the inhab...

  The Transition to Hydrogen Economy: Prospects of The National Hydrogen Mission On India’s 75th Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi  announced the launch of the National Hydrogen Mission (NHM) with an aim to make the country a global production and export hub for green hydrogen.  The National Hydrogen Mission was first announced in the Budget (February) which said the mission will draw up a road map for using hydrogen as an energy source. There is no doubt that hydrogen is the fuel of the future,  why else would the EU, as part of its Green Deal, plan to shovel 470 billion euros into electrolyser infrastructure? Why else would China, Japan and South Korea be placing huge bets on the gas? In the Asia-Pacific, Japan and South Korea are on the front foot in terms of hydrogen policy making. Our neighbor China too has made huge advancements in this sector. Currently, India  imports 85% of its oil and 53% of gas demand, s...

Long gone are the dreaded school days when teachers used to carry meter long flogging machines, often customized for the perfect blow, and the boys coming to class wearing military grade trousers on the days they anticipate a good scourging. Well this was a cherished custom in most Indian schools a few decades ago and most often one can hear the ones who have had first hand experience of this narrating the innumerable benefits of a good old whipping. Many even give long lectures on  how it can help in your character formation.  They often complain of how the new educational system has ruined our boys. Of course as always it was only the ordinary folks who had to go through this austere form of character formation. So a question that naturally comes to our minds is whether the royals too had to go through such ordeals to reach adulthood? It seems that the answer to this is no, well at least in medieval Brittannia . British royal heirs with their 'Divine Rights' were definitely ...

 We Keralites are notorious for politicizing even the most mundane of things, may it be films, dress, customs or even festivals. The left and the right are almost always are divided, coming up with their own interpretations and ideological brandings,  when it comes to sensitive matters pertaining to the above said fields and more. Onam too hasn't been spared by both, while the left proclaim it to be a harvest festival the right wing are adamant that it is purely a religious festival for commemorating Lord Vamana. Many of us choose to believe one or the other version but can it be possible that both these narratives hold parts of the truth.  Recently I came across an interesting version of the many Onam narratives by the prominent historian Vellanad Ramachandran which gave me some enlightening insights on the topic. Here I present before you some of the points raised by him on why he believes Onam is not a harvest festival as it is popularly known. There are around eight m...