Pulse: The Threads We Weave โ
Lately Iโve wondered whether I over-curated the threads. Things feel quieter. Maybe too quiet. But perhaps thatโs the cost of raising the barโof asking for dialogue instead of dopamine. Still, this lull has me reflecting not just on moderation but on why some arguments no longer move me.
Take the Indo-Pak conflict: once electric, now strangely inert. That shift reflects my own evolution over two decades. I no longer inhabit that binary. I carry a layered identityโa South Asian Bahรกโรญ sensibility shaped by Persian aesthetics, grounded in British institutions, and fluently navigated through English. That complexity is my compass. Itโs why I care less about flags and more about forces.
And the real force that shapes our lives? The elite. Not as a pejorative, but as a structural reality. I see it as nested tiers:
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The top basis point (1 in 10,000)
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The 1%, who shape norms
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The 10%, who enforce them
If Earth has ~8B people, then 800,000 are in the top basis point. But who are the 1,000 who actually sit in the room where things happen? Thatโs the real question. The rest of us, in varying degrees, serve that structure or resist it. Race, class, genderโthese are not irrelevant, but they are expressions of a deeper truth: power seeks hierarchy. And society is a cathedral built on that obsession.
So yes, India and Pakistan can still threaten the world with existential chaos. That possibility always deserves attention. But my deeper inquiry is elsewhere: Who gets to make meaning? Who gets to belong? Who sits in the room? Thatโs the conversation I want Brown Pundits to host. Not for noise, but for nuance.
Addendum
Thanks to Kabir for the linksโhis work on Hindustani classical music (in SAMAJ and EPW) is a great reminder of the kind of thoughtful content we want to spotlight more often on Brown Pundits.
That said, letโs be honest: posts like these rarely get the same traction as a fiery Indo-Pak thread. Itโs the old problemโif we over-curate, things go quiet; if we under-curate, it becomes a feeding frenzy. Somewhere between spam and silence lies the balance weโre aiming for: a space that educates and entertains, where masala doesnโt overwhelm substance.
Weโre still calibrating that. Your comments, posts, and tone help shape the direction. Appreciate everyone whoโs engaging in good faith.
โX.T.M
Build it and they will come. The site has some great articles on genetics, history, religion etc.
The frothy comment war social media is just flash in the pan noise. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. The existence or lack of it. Ideally you would like the commentary to fit in with the tone of the site.
I see this place as a blog which fills the gaps. So many of the articles here are expressing thoughts which cannot or will not be published on normal media. From Dr.Omar railing against the 2 nation theory to X.T.M observances on how the diaspora fits into western spaces.
If you try catering towards audience interaction that really just ends up with the social media abominations of reddit or X.
those are good points but I think in a way a “reward” for a writer is a strong Commentariat.
but you are right to “keep” the faith and a good scope of the USPs BP brings to bear
rarely get the same traction as a fiery Indo-Pak thread. Itโs the old problemโif we over-curate,
No question. Ir appears India versus anyone else are hot button topics. What I find most amusing is that most who flame, live elsewhere and citizens of other countries. I guess even Kabir who lives in Pakistan is a US citizen.
Reminds me all those who liven in the US waving country of origin flags and parades. I did not subscribe to the Diversity is Strength theory. To the contrary assimilation is united strength. Now we see fiery riots in the US and many waving Mexican flags. Not good at all
Pakistan and the US allow dual citizenship. Unlike Indians who have to surrender their Indian passports if they obtain foreign citizenship, Pakistanis do not.
Pakistan and the US allow dual citizenship
I know above, as does Sri Lanka and Israel
In my opinion divided Loyalties
One of the many reasons I never even went for Green Card despite living, studying and working in US for 25 years. Student and 3 H1-B visas.
Mexico too allows Dual Citizenship
Now you that becoming an issue in the US.
Many in the violent LA protests are waving Mexican flag. With who do they ally with, US or Mexico.
If these rioters waving Mexican flags are US citizens cant be deported.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/la-unrest-poses-pressing-national-security-threat-us
I don’t think divided loyalty is too much of an issue. Only if say the US and Pakistan were at war would this become a concern.
Most Pakistanis with foreign citizenship have it for pragmatic reasons. It allows them to work and live abroad. Of course people want an out since things in Pakistan are becoming increasingly chaotic. Even if things weren’t chaotic, earning in dollars is more attractive than earning in rupees. Many doctors trained by Agha Khan University (one of the country’s most elite medical colleges) end up practicing medicine abroad rather than in Pakistan. While this of course contributes to a brain drain, it makes pragmatic sense given that doctors in the US are extremely highly paid and can live at a standard of living that probably many of these people couldn’t afford in Pakistan.
In my own case, I got citizenship through my mother. Since I was under 18, I didn’t have to go through the Green Card process. My mother insisted on me and my brother becoming US citizens since this was post 9/11 and she didn’t want us to have to travel abroad on Pakistani passports.
I donโt think divided loyalty is too much of an issue. Only if say the US and Pakistan were at war would this become a concern.
Nver say never
See whats happening to Mexican-US dual citizen and the LA protests
Who will they support the fellow relatives in Mexico or those in the US.
assimilation is best when not pondered on; capitalism tends to be very acidic.
that is true – extremely difficult to travel on a weakish passport.
Not just a weak passport. Specifically, I was going to college in the aftermath of 9/11. Pakistani passport holders were likely to be harassed at airports in a way that US passport holders weren’t.
I still got questioned sometimes but I assume they were a lot politer to me since I was an American citizen.
Definitely – I thought you had grown up in the States ..
I did but I wasn’t a citizen. My dad worked for the World Bank and had a diplomatic visa and as kids we had that same visa status.
Interesting
Between the US and Pakistan, its an asymmetrical relationship; say unlike between the US and a European country for example. The US passport brings far more benefits in the former case and diminishing returns in the latter presumably.
Boris Johnson is a good example, as is Eduardo Saverin both of whom decided that divided loyalties cost a pretty penny and dumped the US passport!!
do you miss the US?
yes it has mixed results..
yes I do think people need to reflect on passport privilege.
Suggestion, would a survey or a poll on topics that may interest the commentariat be useful? Perhaps this would also encourage folks to contribute across different areas of interest?
that’s a good idea to run a poll soon
I was reading over some of the older threads from a couple years ago. I never thought I’d say this but I actually miss Razib. True, his moderation style was a bit acerbic (to say the least) but his posts were always well argued and well written. There was also a thriving commentariat (with most of whom I disagreed vehemently). I wonder why engagement seemed to fall off precipitously around 2022?
Even in BP’s heyday, there were the same old topics that were constantly getting rehashed: Partition, TNT, Islam, Hindutva etc. Also, of course the Aryan Invasion Theory. I guess those are the topics that bring about most engagement.
yes I think I was away from August 1 2019 till maybe 2024. I tend to send out my newsletter less frequently accordingly.
I think it’s about connecting the evergreen topics to the a modern context.