Bodhi Commons | Liberating Thoughts

Articles by Sreeram Hariharan

I will stop watching cricket the day Sachin Retires

Sreeram Hariharan, 24th January 2012, 5 comments

Current workforce is increasingly alienated socially due to systemic nature of capitalism. We have to sell our labor 5/6 days a week to earn a living. We are increasingly alienated from the work and the product. So we value "leisure time", time away from work. There is an increasing tendency to maximize enjoyment during the time away from work. Increasingly so when you have more disposable income. So that you can maximize your productivity during the actual work week. In addition to that, we are also alienated from the fellow workers. In such urbane middle class settings we are also increasingly lacking a social identity. >>

Note

Saamy and Sandhesham - About genre of satirical comedy

Sreeram Hariharan, 15th July 2011, 3 comments

Humor arguably has the power to subvert seriousness and so when analyzed in such a framework the positive effects of messages through movies like Sandhesham or Saamy is undermined. Moral quality of humor in Saamy or Sandhesam enriches its aesthetic quality however it acting as an agent carrying any serious socio-political message is arguably questionable. >>

Caesar's sport

Sreeram Hariharan, 10th January 2011, 2 comments

The circus called Indian Premier League will soon be in town. Some call it a local hooch served in party of privileged. Some relate it to popular yogic exercise. >>

Listen to the banned

Sreeram Hariharan, 24th December 2010, 1 comments

Music has always been the stuff of rebellion, but under some of the world's harshest regimes singers are increasingly becoming the victims of censorship and threat as much as opposition politicians, journalists and writers. Sreeram writes on "Listen to the Banned" - a compilation of songs by artists facing persecution and censorhip. >>

Pipe dreams of Vedanta

Sreeram Hariharan, 22nd November 2010, 1 comments

A recent Orissa High court ruling quashed the land acquisition procedures of Vedanta University and hopes of Anil Agarwal, billionaire founder of Vedanta Industries, to setup a Stanford model dream university in the resource rich state of Orissa. The ruling was mainly based on irregularities in the land acquisition process which violated various land acts and the status of the Anil Agarwal Foundation that was changed to a ‘public company' from a ‘private company' called Vedanta Foundation in June, 2006 for the very purpose of acquiring land. >>

Note

The Karmic Consumerist

Sreeram Hariharan, 2nd November 2010, 0 comments

Against a picturesque South African mountainous backdrop, from a shoddily parked light private jet in African wasteland, emerges Bono (U2 front man) and his wife Ali Hewson, sporting Edun, their own clothing line of "ethical fashion". Sreeram Hariharan writes on the farce that is karmic consumerism and philantropic capitalism. >>

Review

Peepli is MPI poor

Sreeram Hariharan, 17th October 2010, 0 comments

In terms of Multidimensional Poverty Index(MPI), there are more poor people in eight states of India than in the 26 countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Natha, the main protagonist of Peepli Live, is a small time farmer who is about to lose his land due to unpaid loan and his abysmal conditions. Is Natha, and his village MPI poor? Sreeram hariharan probes into this question. >>