Latest news with #Indianness'
The Hindu
2 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
'Bharatiyata' only solution to all problems world facing today: RSS chief Bhagwat
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Tuesday (July 22, 2025) exhorted people to imbibe 'Indianness' and show the world the answers to all problems it is facing. Addressing an event here, Mr. Bhagwat said the world is facing a plethora of problems due to materialism and now looking up to Bharat for answers as all the efforts taken over the past 2000 years to bring happiness and contentment in people's lives based on Western ideas have failed. All the advancements in the field of science and economic progress in the world brought things of luxury and eased people's lives but could not end sorrow, he said. 'Exploitation increased, poverty increased. The gap between the poor and the rich kept increasing day by day,' Mr. Bhagwat said at the event jointly organised by IGNOU and Akhil Bharatiya Anuvrat Nyas. 'After the first world war, several books were written advocating peace, a league of nations was formed so that there is no war again in future but the World War II broke out. After the second world war, UNO was formed. But we are (today) thinking if there will be a third world war,' he added. Bhagwat said 'Bharatiyata' (Indianness) is the only solution to all the problems the world is facing today. 'What does it mean to be of Bharat? Bharatiyata is not citizenship. Of course, citizenship is required. But, one has to have Bharat's 'swabhav' (nature) to belong to Bharat. Bharat's 'swabhav' thinks about the whole life. There are four 'Purusharth' (four goals in Hindu philosophy)...'moksha' (liberation) is ultimate goal of life,' he said. Bharat's nature is based on 'dharma drishti' (vision), Mr. Bhagwat said. It is due to this discipline of dharma, Bharat was once the most prosperous nation and the world knows it, he said. 'That's why the world looks up to Bharat, hoping that it will show a new path to them. We have to show the path to the world. For this, we have to prepare our 'rashtra' (nation), starting with ourselves and our family,' Mr. Bhagwat said. 'See if we are following our 'drishti' (vision) in our daily life or not, and make amends,' he added. Exhorting the gathering to 'gear up' for transformation, Mr. Bhagwat said, 'The history that we know is taught by the West. I am hearing that some changes are being made in the syllabus in our country'. 'For them, Bharat does not exist. It appears in the world map, but not in their thoughts. If you look at books, you will find China, Japan, not Bharat,' he added.
The Print
4 hours ago
- Politics
- The Print
‘Bharatiyata' only solution to all problems world facing today: RSS chief Bhagwat
All the advancements in the field of science and economic progress in the world brought things of luxury and eased people's lives but could not end sorrow, he said. Addressing an event here, Bhagwat said the world is facing a plethora of problems due to materialism and now looking up to Bharat for answers as all the efforts taken over the past 2000 years to bring happiness and contentment in people's lives based on Western ideas have failed. New Delhi, Jul 22 (PTI) RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Tuesday exhorted people to imbibe 'Indianness' and show the world the answers to all problems it is facing. 'Exploitation increased, poverty increased. The gap between the poor and the rich kept increasing day by day,' Bhagwat said at the event jointly organised by IGNOU and Akhil Bharatiya Anuvrat Nyas. 'After the first world war, several books were written advocating peace, a league of nations was formed so that there is no war again in future but the World War II broke out. After the second world war, UNO was formed. But we are (today) thinking if there will be a third world war,' he added. Bhagwat said 'Bharatiyata' (Indianness) is the only solution to all the problems the world is facing today. 'What does it mean to be of Bharat? Bharatiyata is not citizenship. Of course, citizenship is required. But, one has to have Bharat's 'swabhav' (nature) to belong to Bharat. Bharat's 'swabhav' thinks about the whole life. There are four 'Purusharth' (four goals in Hindu philosophy)…'moksha' (liberation) is ultimate goal of life,' he said. Bharat's nature is based on 'dharma drishti' (vision), Bhagwat said. It is due to this discipline of dharma, Bharat was once the most prosperous nation and the world knows it, he said. 'That's why the world looks up to Bharat, hoping that it will show a new path to them. We have to show the path to the world. For this, we have to prepare our 'rashtra' (nation), starting with ourselves and our family,' Bhagwat said 'See if we are following our 'drishti' (vision) in our daily life or not, and make amends,' he added. Exhorting the gathering to 'gear up' for transformation, Bhagwat said, 'The history that we know is taught by the West. I am hearing that some changes are being made in the syllabus in our country'. 'For them, Bharat does not exist. It appears in the world map, but not in their thoughts. If you look at books, you will find China, Japan, not Bharat,' he added. PTI PK PK KVK KVK This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
The Print
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Print
RSS-linked Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas to discuss ‘Indianness' in education at 4-day Kerala meet
Kerala governor, education ministers of various states, including Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Puducherry, have been invited for the meeting, he said. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat will attend the meeting at Kalady, the birthplace of the Adi Shankaracharya, from July 25, said Nyas national secretary Atul Kothari on Friday. New Delhi, Jul 18 (PTI) Around 300 educationists, including vice chancellors of universities, will come together in Kerala to discuss ways to revive 'Indianness' in the country's education system at a four-day meeting to be organised by RSS-linked Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas later this month. 'We have been working to bring a change in education. But it is not possible by the efforts of just one organisation. This four-day Gyan Sabha, from July 25 to July 28, is an effort to bring together all those who are working for change,' he told a press conference here. Kothari said around 300 educationists, including vice chancellors of various universities, and representatives from different organisations that run schools and higher education institutions will attend the meeting. Sharing the agenda of the meeting, he said the delegates will discuss various topics, including the 'revival of Indian education (system), identification of elements of Indianness in education and their inclusion in institutional work'. 'Education for a developed India' is another topic to be discussed at the meeting, he said, adding Bhagwat will address the delegates on 'Indianness in education' on July 27. Kothari said a special session will also be organised to discuss how to improve the quality of education in Kerala. Around 200 educationists from the state are expected to attend the event. Representatives from organisations like Art of Living, Gayatri Parivaar, Patyanjali, and Vivekanand Yoga Anusandhan Kendra are also expected to attend the meeting, he said. The four-day meeting will also review the work done by Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas and discuss its future strategy to achieve its goals. PTI PK PK NSD NSD This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
Indian Express
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi is set to return: What Tulsi Virani can learn from Smriti Irani
My grandmother was not exactly the target audience for soap operas. She retired from BSNL after working all her life, raised three children, managed her finances, and held her own with my grandfather's colleagues in academia. But she had her guilty pleasures. One of them was the hypnotic pull of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. Each night, she would retire to the drawing room, coffee in hand, and switch on the show 'just to see what all the fuss is about'. And then she stayed, night after night, drawn by the histrionics and plot twists, like the show itself, impossible to quit. Kyunki became her post-dinner cigarette, something she knew was not good for her, but somehow an addiction. Of course, I was banned from the room when my grandmother was watching the show, but like second-hand smoke, its presence was inescapable. My friends and their mothers and grandmothers debated plot twists with all the seriousness of stock portfolios. With the benefit of hindsight, I can confidently say the show shaped not just what women watched, but their definition of womanhood. When I heard that the show is making a comeback, nearly 20 years after it ended, my first thought was why. Why should we return to an era of over-the-top shows with gratuitous thunderclaps, inexplicable resurrections, and 30-minute monologues about samaaj and sanskaar? But that's not the only thing. Smriti Irani, once Tulsi Virani, now a seasoned politician and until recently a cabinet minister, will reprise her iconic role. It is a moment thick with symbolism. A public figure who spent the last decade shaping national policy, and asserts her identity as a 'full-time politician and part-time actor', now steps back into a fictional kitchen to light the eternal diya of familial duty. Detractors may say why make a mountain out of a molehill — if you have a problem, exercise your god-given right to switch the channel and I would, as a matter of principle, agree, but for the fact that when a show like Kyunki comes with the weight of a politician's endorsement, it stops being just a show. It runs the risk of becoming a cultural ideology. In an interview, Irani has insisted Kyunki was never patriarchal, that it tackled serious issues like marital rape and euthanesia. Yes, it did flirt with these themes, occasionally dipping a toe into these waters, but it did not quite know how to swim in it. Tulsi did what she could in a world built around men and myth. But unless the new show goes beyond lip service, unless it dares to show the complex lives of Indian women, and the very real tension of class, caste, gender and ideology, for a generation raised on OTT diversity, its version of 'Indianness' might not hold interest. Today, thanks to the OTT-driven content liberalisation, we have more choices. We have shows that tell women's stories beyond the kitchen, of their ambitious, flawed, hilarious, heartbroken, and liberated lives. Stories that are set elsewhere but reflect our realities, too. I often wonder what might have been different if my grandmother had had something like Grace and Frankie, a show about two older women who rebuild their lives in their Seventies after their husbands leave them, back in the day. Or, a Fleabag, where womanhood is not painted in virtue, but in chaos and contradiction. I also wonder if Kyunki in its new avatar will draw anything from Irani's real-life story, far more compelling than any television serial arc. From a modest upbringing to a job at McDonald's, to a near-miss at the Miss India pageant, to starring in the most-watched television show in Indian history, and eventually rising through the ranks of the Bharatiya Janata Party to defeat Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, it is an inspiring tale of a woman who beat the odds time and time again and showed her mettle not just as a television star but as a politician of heft in India's patriarchal political landscape. Irani is a quintessential modern woman — she is powerful, complicated, ambitious — but still rooted in Indian traditions. But her Tulsi never reflected a trace of her complexity. As the ideal daughter-in-law and the moral gatekeeper of the joint family, the larger narrative of the show remained unchanging: Women were exalted when they sacrificed, revered when they stayed silent, and redeemed when they forgave. Irani's career — both in politics and entertainment — is a study in how power, visibility, and narrative intersect. But now that she will be back speaking of a woman's duty, the line between the real and the performative stands to blur. So, yes, welcome back, Tulsi. May your saris be sharp and your moral compass unwavering. But please don't leave us — and our stories — behind.
