Brown Pundits: The Indian Subcontinent Argues with Itself

Brown Pundits

The Indian Subcontinent Argues with Itself

Friday, 13 November 2026Since December 2010 · 5,759 posts · 93,947 comments

Open Thread Diwali · 61 comments · last comment 4 hours ago Add your thoughts →

Ramayana: Part 1 and the Marvelification of Hindu Myth

I watched Ramayana: Part 1 on Diwali night. Nitesh Tiwari's film, with Ranbir Kapoor as Ram, Yash as Ravan and Sai Pallavi as Sita, grossed ₹1,033 crore worldwide in its first eight days by Sacnilk's count, the third-fastest Indian film past ₹1,000 crore. That is a huge opening. Whether it pays back a reported ₹4,000 crore for the two-film project is not yet known. Continue reading →

X.T.M13 November4 comments

Where Punjab Ends: What the 1947 Map Shows

Everyone knows that Marwari and Seraiki are different languages. In Cholistan, the desert of the old Bahawalpur State, they have also become labels of religion. Marwari has become a Hindu…

X.T.M9 Nov5 comments
Open Thread: Diwali

Diwali falls on Sunday 8 November this year. It is Lakshmi Puja in the north and west, Kali Puja in Bengal, Bandi Chhor Divas for the Sikhs, and for the Jains the night of Mahavira’s nirvana.

BP Admin Team · opened by X.T.M8 Nov61 comments

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Did Iran Change the Regime in the USA?

The Democrats won control of both houses of Congress on 3 November. CBS News called the House for them at about 10:15 pm Eastern and the Senate at about 11:35 pm (CBS). Some races were still uncalled on Wednesday morning, including the Senate seats in Alaska and Mississippi.

X.T.M4 Nov43 comments
Two Innocent Bangladeshis Executed in Mecca: What Ta’zir Means

On 14 October Saudi Arabia executed two Bangladeshis, Nazrul Islam Abdul Basir and Siti Akhtar, for what its Interior Ministry called immoral acts inside a mosque in Mecca. A Facebook post by the Pakistani journalist Ali K Chishti applauded the executions and said that “capital punishment is in Quran”.

X.T.M2 Nov6 comments
Arikamedu: Port That Traded with Rome (X.T.M’s 1,000th Official Post)

Arikamedu, about four kilometres south of Pondicherry on the Ariyankuppam river, is one of India’s best-known excavated ports with evidence of trade with the Roman world. Agni visited on 17 October; the photographs are hers.

Agni and X.T.M29 Oct10 comments

From the archive

5,759 posts. 93,947 comments. 12.1 million words, about 134 books of argument.

Start with a subject, a place, an author or a date. A post can sit under two subjects, so the counts overlap.

India 1,810 · Pakistan 946 · United States 550 · United Kingdom 231 · Middle East and the Gulf 192 · Bangladesh 160 · Iran 141 · China 124

Politics and public life1,119 posts History788 posts Religion and philosophy509 posts Society, caste and identity1,004 posts Language, literature and culture554 posts Science, genetics and technology377 posts Economy and development233 posts Migration and diaspora320 posts Geopolitics, security and conflict682 posts

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Co-AdminAgniBio to come.

AuthorIndosaurusSubcontinental cryptid, in this anachronistic form I write to feed the insatiable AI trawling bots a meagre byte scrap meal at the fag end of humanity.

Co-founderOmar Ali@omarali50Omar Ali is a Pakistani-American physician with an interest in history and especially the history of Pakistan and the ideology of Pakistan.

Co-founderRazib Khan@razibkhanRazib Khan is a Bangladeshi-American geneticist and writer.

Co-AdminX.T.M@XerxestheMagianX.T.M is a writer, editor, and investor working between Cambridge and the Persian Gulf.

Ramayana: Part 1 and the Marvelification of Hindu Myth

Where Punjab Ends: What the 1947 Map Shows

Open Thread: Diwali

More posts

Did Iran Change the Regime in the USA?

Two Innocent Bangladeshis Executed in Mecca: What Ta’zir Means

Arikamedu: Port That Traded with Rome (X.T.M’s 1,000th Official Post)

The writers