Yantra , Tantra, Mantra

 I had promised one of my commenters truthsayer that I would do another write up on Ajit Vadakayil on occasion of his arrest for libel of Bollywood actor Aamir Khan. Work matters however prevented me from concentrating on my blog and while I could whip up something about our dear captain, it didn't feel right. Skewering and fisking other bloggers ,especially easy target such as Layla Anwar and Ajit Vadakayil just seems like cheating if I don't post other content rich posts. It is like reaching for dessert without finishing my broccoli. Feels like instant gratification -a symptom of indiscipline. So I first bit the bullet and finished two essays which to my mind are always a work in progress so forgive me on that regard. So on to Capt Vadakayil What was most interesting to us is that the Captain was arrested in Manipal NOT his beloved Kerala, lands of gods,kings, sages with 12 strand DNA ,land of incomparable beauty and so on.  Now indeed Kerala is nice but I am told Manipa...

Short answer: Post WWII American exceptionalism Long answer: In the previous decade or so , I had been pre occupied with U.S, Indian and Middle Eastern politics and history so I had sort of missed the boat on the revival of Empire apologists We see respectable scholars like Niall Fergusson, Robert Kaplan, Andrew Roberts and William Dalrymple waxing nostalgic about the lost glory of Britannia and her dominions. Is this a last gasp reaction to the ongoing Londonistanizing of Britain?  Is it because the native Brits are unable to stand up to third world thugs in their backyard that they have to resort to such lionizing of what was a very dubious past? Or were they always closet imperialists(albeit increasingly emasculated post 1945)but their impulses received a shot in the arm from the U.S neocon and neocolonial(but then I repeat myself) adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan. It most likely is a combination of both.The neocon role though is very interesting. Prominent ...