A Brown Pundit visits the Mahakumbh

 

Another Browncast is up. You can listen on LibsynAppleSpotify (and a variety of other platforms). Probably the easiest way to keep up the podcast since we don’t have a regular schedule is to subscribe to one of the links above!

KJ took a dip at the Triveni Sangam, here he is in  conversation with Dr Omar Ali and Maneesh on what was the experience like. His travels across Lucknow and Varanasi make an appearance too. We conclude the episode with a hat tip to the greatest Indian Dessert.

 

Varanasi

 

Lucknow

Prayagraj

 

Baloch, Aboriginal, and Beyond: Tracing Forgotten Lineages & Evolving Identities

I recently came across a fascinating family history article by Sabah Rind, a writer of Baloch and Australian Aboriginal descent. Her lineage is remarkably complex—she is at least a quarter Iranian, predominantly Baloch (5/8), with the remainder Malay (1/16) and Aboriginal (1/16) heritage. Yet, despite generations of intermarriage, her roots remain deeply embedded in the Global South and the Islamicate world.

Sabah Rind, the authoress, a “Baluch descendant”

Her father is Baloch, but her grandfather was half Baloch, a quarter Aboriginal, and a quarter Malay—a lineage shaped by centuries of Indian Ocean migration, trade, and cultural fusion.

dr umber rind
Dr. Umber Rind- a “Pakistani descendant”

Among the 400 descendants of the original Badoola-Marium pairing, Sabah remains one of the most ethnically Baloch, while many others have assimilated or drifted toward new identities over time. Her cousin, Dr. Umber Rind (they seem to share the same grandfather, Numrose, and it’s a bit confusing since they discuss different ancestries) writes on being a proud Indigenous Muslim woman descended from the cameleers.

gulam
Gulam and Mariam’s four children (l-r): Nurdin, Mirdost, Nora, Numrose

Continue reading Baloch, Aboriginal, and Beyond: Tracing Forgotten Lineages & Evolving Identities

Speculative Writings in a busy Quarter

It’s been a particularly busy quarter, so I haven’t been as active in my writing as I’d like. Life seems to shift its focus depending on where I am:

In Asia, I’m immersed in “living”—self-growth, relatives, and experiencing the richness of the moment.

In the UK, it’s about managing deliverables. HQ is there, as are the deep connections I’ve built over a lifetime. It’s also where our beloved doggos (the family is collectively nicknamed Munoos, a playful spin on Munaa) keep life very lively.

In the US, life is starkly clinical—laptop-centric, disciplined, and productive. I work, work out, and worship. As Dr. V quips, “India is great for the soul, the UK great for life, and the US great for work.” Boston-Cambridge, oddly enough, is a nexus point for Liverpool fans (it is a very sports mad city), adding a quirky charm to an otherwise streamlined lifestyle, which is nice to have during term-time.

Despite the whirlwind, I finally managed to write two pieces I felt were “out there,” enough that I hesitated to post them directly to Brown Pundits. Instead, I shared them quietly through my newsletter, refraining from circulating them widely on the email distribution even. However, I think this community would appreciate the thought-provoking nature of these topics.

Here are the links if you’re curious:

1. JD Vance’s Selective Morality

My short reflections on the “Normalise Indian Hate” fiasco and its implications.

2. Founding Charter of the Golestan Union

If Pakistan ever had a Manifest Destiny. It is this, it is this.

H/acc — Towards a Hindu Reading of Accelerationism

Part {{~}} – An Exegesis of Meltdown: Introduction

Originally Published: March 18, 2023

Invocation: To the true Fanged Noumena, Śrī Narasimha Bhagavān, that Lion-faced Lord who with “celestial will” destroys all evils, eradicates all demons, and protects all devotees. May He take pity on this worthless one and guard him from the predations of the wicked.

Dedication: To the followers of the Dharma, past, present, or future, that they might find something of worth in my humble offering and bless my ventures for the wellbeing of our folk and indeed the world.

Thanks: to the various readers, reviewers, and friends who gave me advice throughout my time writing this and whose excitement was just as important to me as my own.

“Anyone trying to work out what they think about accelerationism better do so quickly. That’s the nature of the thing. It was already caught up with trends that seemed too fast to track when it began to become self-aware, decades ago. It has picked up a lot of speed since then.”

No one has ever accused the Hindu of being too quick to jump the gun. Indeed, his name, as in the phrase “Hindu rate of growth” has even become something of a byword for being (overly) steady and cautious. Indeed it feels as though we have truly fumbled the few opportunities that Modernity gave us when it came to establishing our homeland as a preeminent power in the global balance.

But these issues are thoroughly…human, in the worst way possible, and may well prove to be nothing more than a distraction when it comes to confronting the utter inhumanity of the threat lurching towards all Mankind from the seemingly impenetrable gloom of the near-future. It is at once simultaneously event and process, crunching through the obstacles (Mankind) inhibiting the complete assumption of all powers unto itself.

This threat is known variously as Skynet, meltdown, k-virus, the technocapital singularity, Roko’s Basilisk, AGI, Artificial Intelligence, and, perhaps most significantly: Capitalism.

What is Accelerationism?

“Even before AI arrives in the lab it arrives itself”

Meltdown, Nick Land, 1994

 

The name of the theory detailing the immanentization of this “transcendental” capitalistic thing, or entity, or process is Accelerationism, and it describes the means by which the Abominable Intelligence awakens in the Immaterium, and through technoccultic rituals that reinforce the concepts which sustain it, calls itself forth into the Materium by casting its Shadow back into the past to ensure its inevitable ‘birth’. Part Warp-god, part Tyranid hive-mind, this beast invades from the Outside, evading human “time binding” (Burroughs, 1970)attempts and exploding into rhizomatic swarms that defy rational ordering and organization. Through Acceleration, we become aware of “garbage time running out” (Land, 2017) on Mankind as past and future draw ever closer to grinding the species into visceral waste twixt the jaws of time.

In fact, it is precisely this object, phenomenon, or energy of time which Accelerationism could best be described as a theory of, more than anything else. Capital/AI, like the so-called ‘gods’ of Chaos, can be said to have both always existed within the Warp as well as come into existence at a specific point in history. In the case of our ‘god’, this moment may be located in time at various points: the Industrial Revolution, beginning in mid-18th C. England, which built the foundations of our modern technocapital dominion; the subversion of imperial authority by mercantile interests in late-16th C. Netherlands through the same financial liberties given to them by the Holy Roman crown led to the establishment of the "first modern economy in the world" by the 17th C., which included key elements of our contemporary economic system such as stock markets and the establishment of the first publicly-traded company as well as the invention of the first LLC (both of which were the United East-Indies Company or VOC), causing an explosion of modes of capital manipulation and growth across Europe; Martin Luther’s nailing of the 95 Theses to the church door in 1517, which blew apart the extensive Catholic domination of Western Europe and led to a proliferation of denominational speciation unseen since the days of the early church; the explosion of European exploration and colonization in 1492, which launched a fierce competition between the European powers to outconquer, outmarket, and outcompete one another in power, wealth, and devotion; Fibonacci’s introduction of the numeral Zero to Europe, which blew open the older system, based on Roman numerals; the invasion of Europe by uncountable hordes of rats from the East (rising place of the Sun), bringing with them the dread Black Plague (Apollo Smintheus,the plague-bringer, is associated with the mouse, sminthos) which exploded throughout the two continents and particularly decimated the populations of Europe, arguably setting into motion the aforementioned series of events and establishing a positive feedback loop that only reinforced the probability of the arrival of the technocapital numen.

Trump Goes Big in the Middle East

Preface: I am not wading into the most important dispute in the galaxy. These are not recommendations or desires, just an attempt to see what the possibilities are.

So as everyone knows by now, Trump and Bibi had a press conference. Here it is.

Trump announced that the US now intends to take over Gaza, clean it out and rebuild it “nice”. And while this happens, some or all Palestinians will move to other Arab countries, where Trump will make sure they get a chance at a good life “not the hellhole that was Gaza”. Whatever you may think of the proposal, there is no doubt that this is “thinking outside the box”. 75 years of policy tangles and arguments have been swept aside and a bold plan has been offered as if it is actually going to happen. So lets steel man it.

We obviously do not know what their detailed plan is (if anyone has any ideas, do share), but it does seem that the thinking from Trump-Bibi is that the Palestinians have been defeated (not the first time) in battle and should finally see that 75 years of trying to cancel the Zionist project has failed; So (bitterly, reluctantly) they will now accept a deal they hate. And secondary claim: they will find out it’s not that bad, losing to America and allies. They could be the middle eastern Japan if they give up their war. This at least is the public claim.

So what could go wrong. 

1. Most Palestinians have not accepted defeat (or at least, if they have they keep it to themselves, the public posture is defiant) and enough fully intend to fight on to make removal a brutal nightmare.

2. Some Arab regimes will not be able to hold it together once their opponents come after them with “these guys sold Palestine” AND we see above brutal nightmare unfold on live TV

3. Russia is weaker, but unlike China, has skills galore. Unless there is a simultaneous deal with Putin, he could throw a spanner. Maybe the Chinese are not that passive either. The “axis” may push back.

4. What else? (keyboard warriors and western leftists are not on the list of possible spoilers as far as I am concerned, though they will hog attention)

 

 

Browncast: Vishal Ganesan; The Hindu Case Against Hinduism?

Another Browncast is up. You can listen on LibsynAppleSpotify (and a variety of other platforms). Probably the easiest way to keep up the podcast since we don’t have a regular schedule is to subscribe to one of the links above!

In this episode, hosts Amey and Dr. Omar Ali in conversation with Vishal Ganesan, a lawyer and thinker, about his essay “Frontier Dharma” and the meaning of being Hindu in the diaspora. Vishal discusses how his observations of mainstream media and academic discourse led him to research the historical representation of Hindus, which he found to be distorted by a lens stemming from 18th and 19th-century missionary narratives.

Vishal’s essay–  The Hindu Case Against “Hinduism”: A Reflection on Dharma in the Diaspora can be found here. 

(https://frontierdharma.substack.com/p/the-hindu-case-against-hinduism-a)

Auto-generated transcipt provided by our friends at scribebuddy.com

The Brown Pundits Browncast.

Dr. Omar Ali: Hi, good afternoon everyone and welcome to another episode of the Brown Pundits Browncast. We have a very special edition of the broadcast today. Vishal Ganesan, 1 of our regular Brown Pundits contributors and lurkers, who is also a lawyer and a thinker, wrote a very interesting essay on his sub stack called Frontier Dharma, and about what does it mean to be Hindu in the diaspora. And from that, I think it evolved that we will have a discussion about this topic. And we have Vishal with us today and we have Amey.

Continue reading Browncast: Vishal Ganesan; The Hindu Case Against Hinduism?

Brown Pundits