Sharan | ಶರಣ

Random (≠42) brown walker.

[ಬೆಣ್ಣೆ ದೋಸೆ propogandist 2 🇵🇸🇮🇳 @psps_enthusiast]

Top 5 worst humans to ever come out of karnataka up there with smita prakash and umesh reddy

[Kunal Kamra @kunalkamra88]

You’ve heard a lot about Umar Khalid through the media. But amid the media witch-hunt against him, there has been very little space for him to speak for himself, especially since he’s spent the last six years in jail.

So I want to tell you a little about my friend Umar, in his own words, as shared with his family and friends.

[Sharan | ಶರಣ @sdotkdots]

incredibly thought-provoking

[Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand]

Extremely wise words by Shivshankar Menon, India's former Foreign Secretary and National Security Advisor.

Asked by the host what worries him about India - what is a burden of history for India - he replied that "there is such a thing as excessive pride in your past."

He explains that talking of "your glorious golden ages in the past" to "feel good about yourself" is ok - a normal aspect of building an identity for yourself - but "when you then carry it on into victimhood and into revenge for history" and when that becomes a driving force for today's actions, then it becomes "dangerous."

He takes the example of people in India speaking about "a thousand years of slavery" (meaning Muslim and then British rule) or of Chiang Kai-shek writing every night in the top right of his diary "never forget national humiliation" (I checked and he actually wrote 雪耻 - xuě chǐ - which means "avenge the humiliation": https://t.co/6y1P9HUMfC, he did it from 1928 until his last diary entry in July 1972).

It's a wise point in general: when you think about it, nationalism isn't necessarily destructive in and of itself. But it becomes so when you convince yourself as a nation or people that you are a victim and that there is a guilty party. Because, as Menon puts it, it makes you "stop dealing with reality as it is" and leads to "counterproductive policy and ideas."

All the more dangerous because it’s so easy: nothing easier as a people, or as the ruler of a nation, than to blame others for what’s wrong. It spares you the much harder work of looking at your own failings, and absolves the rulers of responsibility.

And the inverse is really hard: nothing harder when you have indeed been a victim than to resist turning that grievance into a political program, and to instead focus on what you can actually build today - which often involves working hand in hand with the guilty party.

Which is, incidentally, why what China did was so impressive. It could have turned national humiliation into policies of revenge and hatred but instead chose to define it largely as China's own mistake for having been weak enough that foreigners could take advantage of that (Xi Jinping himself defines it that way in his book: https://t.co/kmmdYdWSjm). Which is constructive, because then the objective isn't revenge but building yourself, and China did that working hand in hand with the West.

We’re seeing some version of victimhood drive policies in too many countries around the world. Europe is, sadly, a case in point: Russia and China have become the all-purpose explanation for almost every problem on the continent, from energy prices to deindustrialization. Very practical for EU leaders who never have to answer for their own choices...

It's a good rule of thumb to have: if any politician builds his message around blame, take it as a red flag. That's what you reach for when you won't build.

This is the source video, by the way: https://t.co/qUCnMB8Qed On the WorldView Postcast of my friend @Hansong_Li

[Rahul Gandhi @RahulGandhi]

Waving the Tricolour at Jantar Mantar in a peaceful protest is not a crime. Jailing youth for it is an act of cowardice.

Students. Youth. Journalists. The INDIA bloc. Different banners, one cause. All protests are one: citizens demanding their constitutional rights.

Jantar Mantar belongs to the people of India. We will reclaim it.

[Daniel Moncada @DanielMoncadaTV]

RIP RJ👼
I love you and I'll miss you little
brother 🫶

[Sharan | ಶರಣ @sdotkdots]

Terrible news

[DiscussingFilm @DiscussingFilm]

Bryan Cranston has written a tribute for his ‘Breaking Bad’ on-screen son RJ Mitte who tragically passed away due to suicide.

“We were texting each other just a few weeks ago - figuring out when we could meet for lunch. I don't know if that lunch would have changed his future... But I do know that I loved him.”

[Abhijit Majumder @abhijit_MLab]

My friend Priti’s sister in USA got a massive heart attack. She is on life support and family needs to reach ASAP. However, their emergency visa application has not been processed yet.

Please retweet for amplification.

It’s urgent and a truly life-defining situation.

[Road Scholarz @roadscholarz]

It would take *one million years* for 100 workers working non-stop at the minimum wage to earn as much as Adani already has - Jean Dreze explains.

[Uma Mahadevan Dasgupta @readingkafka]

Those of us who have access to multiple devices - laptop, iPad, phone - take them for granted. But for so many, rural public libraries can offer a way to learn how to navigate the digital space. Here, a woman learns to type on the computer in the rural library. 🌷🌱🕊️

[Sharan | ಶರಣ @sdotkdots]

Indian right wing. No one is spared.

[Sanitary Panels @sanitarypanels]

Darpok

[Sharan | ಶರಣ @sdotkdots]

If someone says Indians are protesting against the government and another person says they are not, it’s not your job to just quote the latter. Your job is to look outside the window and find out what is true.

[Sudhir Chaudhary @sudhirchaudhary]

View from my office window right now.

[Mathieu @miniapeur]

Fields medallist Hugo Duminil-Copin was deeply shaken by OpenAI’s release of more than 700 AI-generated mathematical manuscripts, including work on 16 questions directly relevant to his research.

“On Tuesday night, I cried, and it woke up my daughter”

“They have annihilated my field of research.”

https://t.co/RQliNgxjS8

[Purvi @shayar_ka_khwab]

He is Jean Dreze. Crores of Indians don't sleep hungry becoz he helped shaping two of THE most imp govt policies acting as safety net, which has helped millions not fall below poverty line- MGNREGA & NFSA.
Bjp uses these schemes to beg votes.

[Rofl Gandhi 2.0 🏹 Commentary @RoflGandhi_]

पूरा वीडियो अंत तक देखिए

निहत्थे छोटे छोटे बच्चों को 6-6 बैरिकेड लगाकर रोकने वाली दिल्ली पुलिस हथियारों और डंडों से भरी गाड़ी को गुंडों समेत सेफ्टी से निकाल रही है।

पत्रकार और पास खड़े लोग बार बार पुलिस के जवानों को गाड़ी की तलाशी लेने को कहते हैं, लेकिन वो उसे भगा देते हैं।

[Pratik Sinha @free_thinker]

It is quite clear that mass illegal surveillance is happening in India, otherwise how do you detain people travelling in trains?

[Dhruv Rathee @dhruv_rathee]

I was not arrested or detained, I was KIDNAPPED.

Thank you for your support, here's the full story 👇

[Cockroach Janta Party - CJP @Cockroachisback]

Abhijeet Dipke’s grandmother has passed away, yet his family cannot even inform him of this loss.

His whereabouts remain unknown, and even his lawyers cannot reach him.

Delhi Police must release him immediately!

@AjinkyaCJP

[Sharan | ಶರಣ @sdotkdots]

Apt for the day. Bekhauf!

[Rajat Pandit @IamRajat_Pandit]

Reposting this classic R K Laxman cartoon!