Search

This is a Written Word Art presentation which, among others of its kind, created over the years, has been an endeavor to explore various experiential subjects using the art of what I call as Graphic Verse. The work presented here is intended to show-case this particular manner of expression. While not being aware of anything of this kind that has been brought out earlier, I presume Ultimate Hero, Zero Times Zero is the first of its kind that is being presented under the aegis of JOSHA. My predilection for the Written Word Art, since my early years, drew my attention to the fact that my interest in poetry would often make me the odd man out among my circle of friends and acquaintances. Poetry did not appear to catch their fancy; probably because most of them would not get absorbed by or attracted to its substance by merely hearing or reading it. This happened more so when the thought-images woven into the fabric of this artform took to abstract verbal or visual postures.

Dr Milton Rokeach brought together three psychotic patients at Ypsilanti State Hospital in Michigan for a study. The patients had one notable feature: they all believed they were Jesus Christ. Rokeach specialised in belief systems: how people develop and keep (or change) their beliefs. Read the article to find out if the experiment was successful or failed.

This is the third part of a three-part article that seeks to critically examine the All India Bar Examination, one that law graduates need to necessarily pass to practice law in India. In the second part (which can be found here), the authors brought to light the issues of the centralised All India Bar Examination such as the fee and associated costs along with the unfamiliar methods and processes of the exam in itself. The first part can be found here. In the current third and last part of the article, we highlight the poor quality of questions papers in the only qualifying examination for legal professionals in India. We also address the inadequate grievance redressal system of AIBE. This article was first published in LiveLaw (https://www.livelaw.in/columns/all-india-bar-examination-aibe-bar-council-of-india-bci-197405) in April 2022.

M.K. Gandhi arrived in Champaran, Bihar in April 1917, to inquire into the conditions of peasants growing Indigo for European planters. For this, he required his local associates to go out and record what the peasants had to say about their plight. The enthusiasm generated by this novel move resulted in a vast storehouse of peasant-speak, untouched by scholars so far. Translated on the spot from local Bhojpuri into English, these remarkable first-person narratives, preserved in India's National Archives, have now been edited with explanatory notes by Shahid Amin, Tridip Suhrud and Megha Todi. ‘Thumb Printed’ is a rare collection of what ordinary peasants experienced, recalled and authenticated, by affixing their thumb impressions as a sign of veracity. When peasants speak, an entire world speaks.

The book, “Kashmiriyat at Crossroads; The Search For A Destiny”, by P. Parimoo is based on the diaries of his father, Late Pandit Dina Nath Parimoo. The book is filled with vivid descriptions of his first-hand experiences in Kashmir during the first half and the middle of the 20th century. It takes the reader to the early days of Kashmir with rich glimpses into the culture, history, society and economy of the valley through the accounts of an ordinary Kashmiri. “Genesis: And The Lord Created A Paradise Called Kashmir” is an excerpt from this book that throws light on the creation of the ancient civilisation that inhabited the valley and the historical events that followed.

'Of the European Spirit' Jaspers consequently concludes, "If we want to live on European ground, we must let a deeper origin become effective." And he adds: "We must go back deeper into our historical origins, to where all those powers that have become weak once had their strength." In this paper I would like to take a look at the modalities of such a return to a deeper and more fundamental origin of the European spirit, my point of reference being the questions posed by the hosts of that conference: What is Europe? Where does Europe stand in the changed world? And what can we want out of European self-awareness? Previously published in Ordnung der Wissenschaft 03/ 2022 Karl Jaspers, Vom europäischen Geist, 1947, S. 10-16 (gekürzt).

In our current volume, we introduce our new JOSHA team member and would also like to draw your attention to the upcoming Demetrios Awards of the International Academy of Sciences, Humanities and Arts. As usual, the josha-journal offers a wide range of topics.

Building from existing theories about ethics and the origins of our moral framework, in this paper I will argue that cinema and literature, through character and plot development provide us with an insight that only ethical theories cannot provide. I will argue that because humans are social creatures a lot of our knowledge comes from social conditioning. Censorship in art and literature are important because they are mediums through which ethical theories can be delivered to large numbers of people. I will illustrate how censorship and obvious portrayal of devious characters in stories we consume as children play a big role in developing our moral framework. Through the example of the Harry Potter movies, I aim to illustrate how censorship and portrayal of devious characters has evolved, how the character development and back story of Snape provides ethical conflicts demonstrating how to apply ethical theories.

This is the second part of a three-part article series that seeks to critically examine the All India Bar Examination, one that law graduates need to necessarily pass to practice law in India. In the first part (which can be found here), the authors brought to light the issues of exorbitant registration fee and other costs related to the AIBE. In this article, we have attempted to map out the complex and inaccessible processes associated with the Bar enrolment such as lack of uniform and outdated guidelines and ambiguities in break-up of fees. It also captures an unpopular narrative regarding the hindrances faced by non-English/non-urban candidates in attempting an open book exam with an OMR answer sheet. This article was first published in LiveLaw (https://www.livelaw.in/columns/all-india-bar-examination-aibe-bar-council-of-india-bci-197405) in April 2022.

This paper is an analysis of the global agricultural sector as the epitome of the Precariat class amid climate change. Building on Guy Standing’s concept of the Precariat, this article discusses how climate change vulnerability, labor vulnerability, inaccess to resources for climate change resiliency, and the dissolving of industrial rights increases precariousness and exacerbates sociocultural, economic, and political marginalization. Examples from Madagascar are used to illustrate the severity of these crises and to make a case for the sense of political urgency they command, but are too often denied. The final analysis invites discussion on the need for accountability and proactivity in applying just solutions for the Climate Precariat, and on what those solutions (could) look like.