RIFLE RANGE BOY

A Hidden Life (English/German;2019) Director: Terence Malick This is one of the movies that kept my eyes locked on the screen even after the credits rolled. It presents a long-lasting quandary about divinity and our purpose on Earth. Most movies that we see usually depict Germans as a whole of homogeneous block that unequivocally supports Hitler and what he was doing to uplift Germany from the clutches of hopelessness. For a change, the main character in this film actually stood against German nationalism in the Hitler style. A devout Christian and a conscientious objector to conscription into the Army, Franz Jägerstätter opposes Hitler's rhetoric of a superior race. In his everyday life, Franz is a simple farmer living happily on the hillside of Austrian country, minding his wife, three little daughters, and the unending farm work. So when he is called to serve the Army and state his allegiance to Hitler by instituting the Nazi Salute, he naturally refuses. Franz is arrested and i...

Awakening Bharat Mata: The Political Ideologies of the Indian Right By: Swapan Dasgupta (2019) History tells us of a time when Indian soft powers ruled beyond their lands. Indian (read Hindu) way of living was the only way to live to the East of the land irrigated by the Sindhu Saraswati river systems. The nearest advanced culture to them was the Persians. Now they had an issue pronouncing 'S'. They did not have 'S' in their spoken language but used 'H' in places occupied by 'S'. Hence, the people living around the Sindhu Valley became known as 'Hindus', and their way of living was Hindu. The perplexing thing is that from an era when the whole world was imitating their culture whilst the rest of the world was in the dark ages, at the time of its independence, it was a nation quite apologetic to its way of life and its history. What gave? Perhaps it was the repeated invasions and trans-generational traumas with a tinge of Stockholm Syndrome. Still...

How I Became a Hindu (1982, Third Reprint,2008) Author: Sita Ram Goel Trigger Alert. Readers' discretion is advised.   Sita Ram Goel, Ram Swarup, Koenraad Elst, David Frawley and publications linked to the RSS may not be hailed as literary marvels or considered literature pieces by the mainstream. Yet, the knowledge is there for all to scoop. The mainstream always labels right-wing writers as rabble-rousers out to tip the serenity of public harmony. Everything they say and write is painted in the same stroke, as venomous. I decided to look at one of Sita Ram Goel's early writings. For the uninitiated, Goel is revered as a formidable Indian historian, religious and political activist, writer, and publisher known for his influential contributions to the literature on Hinduism and Hindu nationalism in the late twentieth century. With his direct, unapologetic presentation of facts and provocative book titles, he has stirred the psyche of the Hindus and many Indians to look at India...

Roe v Wade (2021) This movie is often described as the worst film made in 2021 so far. It must surely be a showcase for lousy storytelling, novice acting, and horrible script all put together. Sometimes, we wonder which direction the movie is going, pro-life or pro-choice?  This offering is made by the people who feel the country was hoodwinked by Planned Parenthood in believing that the decision to give women the right over the reproductive function was what the government wanted. The Planned Parenthood's link to Margaret Singer and her work in eugenics and the 'Negro project' (and even Klu Klax Klan as the film suggest) meant that the foundation's intentions are subversive. It is said to have enticed medical practitioners and social workers with fake statistics and media to influence public sentiments. The prime advocate of abortion on demand was a gynaecologist Bernard Nathanson, who allegedly changed the whole pro-abortion issue into a money-making endeavour, later ...