Articles by R Srivatsan

Hinduism’s structural tension between monotheism and polytheism is examined. The interweaving of polytheism and monotheism could be seen to constitute the more and less oppressive phases of Hinduism’s history. Three contemporary impasses have been examined: B R Ambedkar’s proposals to modernise Hinduism in Annihilation of Caste, Hindutva’s attempts to develop an authoritarian version of Hinduism, and Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd’s Post-Hindu India. A democratic politics needs to work with the contradictory practices that constitute Hinduism.

While welcoming the report of the High Level Expert Group on Universal Health Coverage for India for its comprehensive vision and many well-conceived recommendations, this article focuses on the conditions needed for its promise to bear fruit. Towards this, it explores the political dimension, which comprises the forces and interests that come into play to shape and reconfigure administrative policy and its implementation.

 Writing Degree Zero R Srivatsan Mostly in the genre of the short essay, these Notes on Caste, Culture and Politics spanning the period 1992-2007 are interventions in ongoing debates that bring historical and conceptual insights to illuminate the immediacy of the moment. They bear witness to the turbulence and fertility of new forms of political thought whose emergence is hopefully not yet a finished episode in the unfolding of Indian history. I, first went through them in a serial fashion (slightly stunned by the prolific tropical jungle of Tamil journals, and forums for discussion in which they first appeared), as immensely readable, sensitive, touching, angry, bitter and more often than not brilliant, accounts of struggle against caste oppression, economic injustice and cultural hegemony. As I did so, I began to perceive a deeper architecture in them, anchoring a specificity of perspective, concept and approach. In this review I would like to share my understanding of the framework of reflection and intervention that seems to inform and motivate Ravikumar

The notion of seva may traditionally have been associated with a normally menial, demeaning or polluting act of service. This article, however, seeks to develop this concept further to describe a node of political discourse and practice in the freedom struggle. It traces the idea of service as propagated during various stages of the freedom struggle: Seva and how it was defined by the social reform movements of the 19th century; the Servants of India Society and their notion of seva; in Vivekananda's teachings; the early 20th century use of the term; as later enunciated by Gandhi in his early ideas of constructive work; the concept as it developed in interaction with Christian missionaries; the sevak's view of the tribal; Ambedkar's contestation of the term and his Constructive Programme and finally, the Nehruvian take on service. In each instance, the concept of seva was defined and sought to represent an interest group or community's position as the politics of the freedom struggle unfolded.