Viswanathan K's Thoughts

My mom commented on the title and tone of Barbara Tuchman’s wonderful book, The March of Folly , that it was so different to see a history book that was judgmental rather than just narrative. And that reminded me why I loved Freedom at Midnight : it too had strong views on the main characters and the events that played out leading to India’s freedom and partition. Both books made me realize that judgmental history is so much interesting than the one we’re taught history at school, what tech blogger Venkatesh Rao describes as “an extremely dull, non-analytical version of history which is just one damned fact after another”. Of course, judgmental history is a double-edged sword, as Rao warns: “In countries like Pakistan or Saudi Arabia, it might be much more deliberately political.” So I think that it’s better for schools to teach it the way they do in liberal democracies like the West and India (“it’s a bit more open” most of the time, even if it too inevitably “serves c...

Everybody tells white lies. We usually don’t feel bad or guilty about them. But do we have the right to lie ? The question is rooted in free speech. If everyone has the right to free speech, does that also include the right to lie? Outside of committing perjury, that is. An America judge, Judge Kozinski, spoke very well about this: “Saints may always tell the truth, but for mortals living means lying. We lie to protect our privacy ("No, I don't live around here"); to avoid hurt feelings ("Friday is my study night"); to make others feel better ("Gee you've gotten skinny"); to avoid recriminations ("I only lost $10 at poker"); to prevent grief ("The doc says you're getting better"); to maintain domestic tranquility ("She’s just a friend"); to avoid social stigma ("I just haven't met the right woman"); for career advancement ("I'm sooo lucky to have a smart boss like you"); to avoid...