The sacred Relics of the Buddha enshrined in the National Museum, New Delhi will travel to Russia’s Kalmykia Republic for an exposition, accompanied by a high-level delegation of 11- senior Indian monks who will Bless the local devotees.

https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2177324

Is Gandhiji still significant? UPSC likes to ask questions on Gandhiji almost every year.

Here is the answer by the recent Nobel Peace laureate Maria Machado. Gandhi is still significant. See the image.

Incidentally, Mahatma Gandhi, one of the most iconic figures of non-violence in the 20th century, was widely considered a deserving recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Gandhi was nominated several times (1937, 38, 39, 47, 48) but was never awarded the prize.

Do you know why the greatest Peace advocate of the 20th century didnt get the greatest Peace Prize of the 20th century?

The suicide of an IPS officer has justifiably caused a storm.

What is noteworthy is that people are discussing caste angle everywhere. Which is definitely a major dimension and should not be denied.

But no one is discussing the other part of the story which is also important. Its the strained mental health of bureaucrats. Scientifically, suicide is always connected to mental health.

At larger level, mental health is a major issue faced by a lot of bureaucrats.

And yet, there is still hush hush about it. People need to speak up. We need to speak up. Until we recognize its existence, we cannot respond to it in a supportive way.

- Nikhil

https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/y-puran-kumar-suicide-dalit-atrocities-in-bureaucracy-cji-gavai-10300770/lite/

Now the book has reached Fareed Zakaria show.

https://www.indiatoday.in/amp/india/story/world-forgot-how-ancient-india-shaped-it-william-dalrymple-tells-fareed-zakaria-2802693-2025-10-14

Deobandi is very powerful. One can choose to see it the way one wants.

Deobandi movement was created post suppression of 1857 to go back to pure Islam. It opposed the modernist/westernizing trend of Aligarh movement.

While Aligarh movement ultimately led to the creation of Pakistan, deobandis had consistently opposed the partition of India in 1947. They opposed Jinnah and supported Akhand Bharat, yes. But why? Because they considered this entire country is supposed to be the country of Muslims also, and they should not be confined to one corner of the subcontinent.

Nonetheless, India was still partitioned. Consequently, a lot deobandi madrasas were left in Pakistan. And then came Taliban movement. This Taliban movement was the outcome of students from the Deobandi madrasas in Pakistan and Afghanistan in 1980s.

Cut to 2025. Recently, the Taliban minister visited the Deobandis during his India visit. Its very much like visiting his alma mater.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/amp/story/web-only/2025/Oct/13/muttaqis-deoband-visit-and-the-soft-power-lesson-it-holds-for-india

There was a time when Indian colleges offered very modern affordable education to third world leaders/their families. Our universities used to be the alma maters of many state leaders from Nepal/Bhutan and Myanmnar to many countries from Africa. That was our soft power. It was in 1950s-70s. And it did help our diplomacy during that phase.

That era is long gone. We dont prefer to send our own children to our colleges anymore. And then this Deobandi alma mater news has come up.

Is it a soft power we should be proud of? I am not so sure.

- Nikhil

There is a controversy over the terms: Lal Ded and Lalla Arifa, which are the names of the same person. Interestingly, TheHindu has covered the full news without informing the readers what is the whole controversy about.

In our syllabus, we study her contribution in the name of Lal Ded or Lalleshwari. She was a prominent Kashmiri Bhakti saint-poet, esp Shaiva.

UPSC has already asked a full subjective question on her in History Optional: Bhakti and mysticism of Lal Ded emerged as a social force in Kashmir. Comment. [2013, 10 Marks]

However, I had not heard of the term Lalla Arifa before this controversy. It seems that Lalla Arifa is the Islamized version while Lal Ded is the local Kashmiri term.

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The Third Episode of Akhyan Diaries Podcast...!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOtskk8Td-U

Five Years of life just passed away. I wouldn't say it was easy. It was not. But it was, as they say in American south, 'one hell of a ride'...!

Apparently, aspirants preparing for Pakistan civil services examination, which is equivalent to our UPSC, are also watching my lectures now.

Having cross border fans, how would you feel about it?

The third Episode is public now.... A lot of insightful observations.
Watch, Take notes, Enjoy.

https://youtu.be/uvs51HPz55s

The Supreme Court has made itself the butt of a joke. So did the Delhi government.

Who thought that they can really regulate the firecrackers - green hai ya nahi, specific time slots me sab jagah hai ya nahi... and how to verify if the firecracker is really 'green'? Bas ek sticker se? Yaha hum paraali control nahi kar paa rahe hai, shahar ke gali gali me fire crackers ko kaise control karenge?

It is ridiculous to expect people to follow the norms and even more fabulous to expect the govt to have capacity to enforce its regulation. Only solution is total and complete ban.

Understand that firecrackers have nothing to do with Diwali. Hinduism was already very old when the first firecracker came to India. Ban on firecracker is not a religious issue. Its public safety issue.

Don't pollute the air any further. Don't terrify children, elderly, patients, animals and birds with noise pollution. Ram is called karunya-sindhu. Please learn an ounce of that compassion from the life of Ram. Live and let live.

My moral outrage has no effect whatsoever when the topmost political leader of Delhi is convinced that firecrackers bring happiness.

PS: I am presuming that the thumbs down to this post means disapproval of the CM's statement, not mine...:) And positive symbols mean approval of my statement, not the CM's.

In Hindi we call it chit bhi meri pat bhi meri...:):)

He is so funny....

"I do understand that Pakistan attacked or there is an attack going on with Afghanistan... that's an easy one for me to solve.... In the meantime, I have to run the USA but I love solving wars."

"Pierre Bourdieu’s notion of cultural capital is a useful entry point: elite schools transmit not just knowledge, but styles, habits, manners, networks, and legitimacy. The “premium” in such schools lies less in marginal improvements in test scores than in embedding a student in elite habitus: peer networks, brand prestige, and social signaling."

The times have changed.

My school fee was 35 rs/month. The value behind Uniform was to ensure equality. No rich or poor gap or upper lower caste gap should be visible. It was like a Gopal Kaala. Its public education for you. It served India okay.

In the 21st century, would I dare to send my child to a public school? Even the CBSE schools also are seen as lower class schools in Delhi. Their condition is not envious. There are very few good exceptions.

Parents tend to want Cambridge curriculum, not CBSE ke NCERTs. After summer vacation, international trips and not mamaka gaon are discussed by children in 8th standard.

All of this is passe. It is so 2010s. Now in 2025, another trend has come. And this newest trend started by the class of parents who became rich after 1991 in LPG. They now aspire to send their wards to the New age British boarding schools.

See these two articles

https://theprint.in/ground-reports/new-british-boarding-schools-latest-accessory-indias-rich/2753964/?amp

https://www.brhat.in/dhiti/inside-the-gilded-classroom-how-imported-boarding-schools-are-redrawing-india-s-educational-map

Its a major trend now. In almost every Indian state there are dozens of such european run/owned boarding schools have opened up in last 5 years. Their allure is bewitching.

They don't teach the values of nationalism. They prefer cosmopolitanism. They don't teach equality and compassion but prefer elitism. Their mile sur mera tumhara song is not about Kashmiri, Telugu, Bengali and Tamil, it is about French, American, German and Spanish.

And we in UPSC preparation keep debating the NEP2020. Its only for us middle/lower class. The rich have bypassed the debate on NEP and they don't bother about the politics of text book revision.

In next 10 years these people will define our youth. And 20 years they will run India. That is, if they stay in India, of course. Otherwise Indian elite appears to have forsaken Indian future largely now.

Kalay Tasmai Namah.

- Nikhil