Lonely boy and his scribbles

According to the International Council of Museums (ICOM), a museum is a not-for-profit, permanent institution in the service of society that researches, collects, conserves, interprets, and exhibits tangible and intangible heritage. Open to the public, accessible, and inclusive , museums foster diversity and sustainability. They operate and communicate ethically, professionally, and with the participation of communities , offering varied experiences for education, enjoyment, reflection, and knowledge sharing . Expanding on this refined definition of what a Museum is supposed to be, ICOM has discussed the three major pillars of sustainable Museum ecosystems in the rapidly changing world at the recent global conference held in Dubai. Safeguarding Intangible Heritage . The role of the Youth in forging museums of tomorrow. Opportunities for museums to tap into the potential of New Technologies to create new forms of expression, enhance audience engagement, and improve visitor experien...

For Indians of today, the history of Andaman and Nicobar islands usually spring up as an aching and relevant memory for very particular reasons. The notorious cellular jails of Kalapani operated by the British and the atrocities and controversial political developments associated with them are not mere footnotes in Indian history. They reverberate to this day in nationalist politics and propoganda. However, what's often looked over is the fact that the Andamanese people too, whether the natives or the descendants of the settlers from the colonial period, had stories to tell. Stories of oppression, liberation, manipulation and collective trauma. Interestingly, that story cannot be solely narrated through the usual critiques of British imperialism. This time, we shall look eastward, and witness the consequences of the blazing sun rising in the Andaman Sea.  The year was 1942, a momentous period that saw the epitome of Axis aggression in both the Pacific and Atlantic fronts. The seco...

Cheena vala (Chinese nets), Cheena chatti (Chinese wok), Cheena bharani (Chinese pots), Cheeni mulaku (Green chillies)...  The handshakes between the Keralites and the Chinese have a history spanning no less than two thousand years. A bustling trade hub even during the Sangam period, the Malabar coast used to boast about some of the important Sea ports on the ancient and mediaeval world maps. However, although a truly cosmopolitan series of coastal trade pockets in the beginning, the split and eventual weakening of the Roman Empire would cause these locations to be under the influence of only two major groups. The Chinese and the Arabs. This shift in character transformed the chaotic bustling of Kollam , Kozhikode (Calicut) and Kochi (Cochin) into an economic AND political theatre of trade wars, well into the period of the European reemergence.  And bustle they did. From horses and spices to silk, jewellery, precious stones and even exotic animals, there was barely anyt...

  Unlike the cosmic, aniconic beginnings of many Hindu deities whose origins are obscured by layers of mythology, Krishna, particularly as Vasudeva Krsna, stands out as perhaps the only major Hindu deity whose worship can be historically traced in identifiable, datable stages. His early connections to the Vrsni lineage, his gradual transformation from hero to deity, his adoption into a sectarian Bhakti cult, and finally his integration into the Vaishnava cosmological system offer us a rare, layered view of religious evolution within the subcontinent. In other words, Krsna, like many other subjects of apotheosis, is not merely legendary. He is partly historical, cultic, and political. A figure who inspired coinage, architecture, and cross-cultural diplomacy. Therefore, the rise of the Vrsni-Krsna cult from its tribal roots through its post-Mauryan efflorescence and eventual absorption into pan-Indian religious ideology must be analysed with an emphasis placed on archaeological, num...