Discoursing

Though I am not seen like that, the enduring fact is that I am a professional discourser; I am paid basically for that. And, as such, I explain the basics of discourse to my audiences and one of those is this. The first task of discourse is simplification so that you have the foundational understanding, which is a necessity for getting into understanding. And the second task is to complicate: to look for the interplay of realities and possibilities to the limit when our faculty finds itself unable to go further. First is meant to introduce them to understanding, and second to the limits of understanding. These are two ends but the main concern is to identify the takeaways, i.e. to work knowledge to make it work for the general good (general because the basic orientation of my discipline is not imparting some skills). The bottom line to me is to go to the fundamentals and to get back without becoming fundamentalist and to plan the journey in a way so that it is beneficial to one and all.

Stating the obvious but people need to realize this obvious rather badly.

Niraj Kumar Jha

चित्रण है

नाम, अर्थ, और मूल्य,
जो हमने नियत किए हैं,
और जो सीखे हैं,
वही असीम सागर में
जीवन की नाव है ।
ज्ञान-इंद्रियाँ जुटाती है रंगें,
मस्तिष्क उकेरता है तस्वीरें,
तस्वीरें दिखाती हैं प्रसंग;
अस्तित्व-बोध चित्रण है,
गोचर मात्र चित्रित है।
प्रतिबिंब है,
रंगें हैं,
चित्रण है,
चित्रण जीवन है,
चित्रण अभिकरण है ।

नीरज कुमार झा

Children of the Moment

Regeneration of folks, which took centuries or even millennia, not so long ago, is happening in spans of months or years these times. The folks regenerate themselves in their lifetimes only, and in a continuing way. And in their every avatar, they are more children of the moment than that of the past times.

Niraj Kumar Jha

Republicanism

Democratism, as a conceptual category and as practice, gets all the attention. Another very powerful idea, closely resembling this and perhaps for this reason only, has been grossly overlooked. Republicanism has great potential as an idea or concept, and its non-realization leaves civic life much poorer than it could have been in the case of realization. Democratism as an idea is highly susceptible to monarchism on the one hand and demagoguery on the other, and worse it provides cozy nesting of ideologies of all hues. The Republican idea calls for cutting emotions and all such deviations which seek to deprive people of their happiness (or to induce them to opiated bliss). It is the rationalization of order, which aims at ensuring that each one has all the chances of self-fulfillment. It seeks the paramountcy of science and civics in life. Residues of monarchist and feudal forms, norms, and mores are still quite burdensome. They choke human senses and sensibilities.

Niraj Kumar Jha

Aesthetics

The irony is that it was feudalism that nursed 'the finest' what humanity could achieve in arts, aesthetics, literature, and architecture. The values which hallmarked feudalism, like chivalry, honor, glory, paternalism, devotion, loyalty are still regarded highly by so many. All these happened with their monumental glory amidst the perpetration of now unimaginable brutalities and the most dehumanizing denials, The forms, and the values still hold our fancies, and perhaps even define our ideals; win our admiration, and evoke our veneration. What is this? 

There is something utterly disgusting. The displays, constructed, gathered out of the pools of blood,  sweat, cries of pain, sighs of soul, evoke our aesthetic senses; lords' love songs give us a heavenly feel.

There is something utterly disgusting. We must refashion aesthetics,  

Niraj Kumar Jha 

Indian Democracy

India remains a robust democracy. Sections of citizenry freely exercise their right to oppose what they choose to do so and the government shows remarkable restraint in negotiating its way. The majoritarianism, which is spoken about ad nauseam, is apparently not a reality as all possible views are in the public domain, no matter how much one grudges the other view. All these have few parallels in the world.

At the same time, we cannot ever be complacent. National unity is a critical issue, and we must do everything possible for strengthening it. We must counter the designs which seek to disrupt social harmony and economic growth and simultaneously must nurse an ecology that inspires all to partake in the national resurgence.

Further, this is the time we must come up with great ideas: ideas which get not only our country but the whole world, every inhabitant of this planet, to one's best ever. Only we Indians can play this role, who from the very beginning have ideated about non-othering, which is exceptional as ideas are mostly about othering.

Here, I reiterate: India's strength is its democracy. And, yet another reiteration: only de-disempowered individuals and de-incapacitated personal or private agency can give the Indic democracy the vitality it needs to rescue the world from the chaos it has degenerated into. The world after defeating the devilry of Bolshevism got somehow inattentive towards global commons and gradually it is again in a morass. Only India has the momentum now to steer the world to its good.

India is a global cause: a cause of human good. We with the rest of folks of all the continents must contribute to the cause with unwavering conviction.

Niraj Kumar Jha