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Language as Empire: The Need for Decolonisation in Writing Indian History

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Slavery and Foreign Invasions in the Indian Subcontinent Slavery is broadly defined as coerced labor and the ownership of people, and it has existed in different forms across cultures long before the transatlantic slave trade began. The history of the Indian subcontinent, meanwhile, has been shaped by successive waves of migration and foreign conquest that reshaped its political, social, and cultural fabric over millennia. Early Traces of Servitude in India The earliest South Asian inscriptions from the 3rd century BCE mention obligations of slaves and hired workers.^1 References to dasa and dasi appear in Vedic texts and in Panini’s grammar. Some historians interpret these terms as denoting slaves, while others argue they are referring to servants, dependents, or war captives.^2 Evidence also suggests that individuals labeled as dasa could rise to positions of power, as names like Divodasa appear in hymns as kings or chiefs.^3 In other contexts, dasa is used to describe wealthy no...
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Colonisation (1757 to 1947): The Indian Retrospect of 200 years of Exploitation!

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Colonisation (1757 to 1947): The Indian Retrospect of 200 years of Exploitation!  I was born in the 1980s, 37 years after the Britishers were made to leave India - NOT 'left' because they didn't, they were forced to. My parents, however, were born in the chaotic aftermath of the 1950s, and some of my uncles and aunts were born as the war of independence was being fought. My grandparents, great-grandparents, and most of their siblings were born, lived, and died in colonized India. I had the privilege of spending some time with some of my parents' uncles and aunts who were still alive when I was young, and the stories they held in their hearts, the pain, the challenging times they saw - the horror of it all is something everyone should know because they were not the only ones. India has a complex history of colonisation and slavery, and its academic writing. which has led to misinformed educational practices in India and other parts of the world. The intention of this ser...
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Turning 30 - Keep the child in you alive.

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  NEOTENY  is a trait in humans that causes us to retain juvenile characteristics, enhancing our curiosity and capacity to learn. This "juvenilization" leads to a prolonged childhood, allowing us to absorb more from the environment, including cultural knowledge. Furthermore, our brains are designed for synergistic processing, combining different information types to enable complex cognitive functions like learning and social cognition.  As a 30-year-old, one of the most important questions I asked myself daily was "What did I learn today?" Learning doesn't have to be academic, it doesn't have to have a measure, or even always have a monetary expectation after. Learning to me is to feel alive, to feel like myself. And the best teachers in the world are kids. I hate that the term "childish" has a negative meaning attached to it. When in reality, in my experience, free people are childish, those who allow themselves to feel deeply, to experience life,...
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Armenia - A year to remember

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After spending 4 years in China, we moved to Romania, and after 4 years there, it was time for a change again. I was still doing interviews and wasn't sure what I wanted to do. It was tempting to move back to Asia for a bit, but the transition would be too quick for us both, so I started looking at Egypt and Turkey. The day I had decided to reply and accept Egypt, I received an offer from a very interesting place, Armenia. I immediately knew that I had to go there.  Armenia is a magical, mystical, and almost even mythical place where the ark from the narrative of Noah’s Ark rested last.  In the Book of Genesis, it is here, upon the mountains of Ararat, the ancient kingdom of Urartu, that the ark came to rest. Noah planted the first seeds of grape here when he came out of the ark, and the first wine ever brewed is believed to be here, in Armenia, in 4000 BC! The sky put on a show every morning and evening, changing every few minutes, leaving me in just as much awe as  the ...
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Turning 30: Be Your BFF!

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  Turning 30 was quiet an experience for me.  I wasn't nervous or sad that I was turning 30, I was excited - I always thought that people in their 30s has their shit sorted out and I wanted to be that person. I had had a challenging late 20s due to many factors so 30s felt like a breath of fresh air.  I learnt so many thing about me, my relationships, my body, my health and so much more. If I had to turn 30 again, I would want to know some things so here are my top 5 pieces of advice for those turning 30 soon, as I cross it and move to my 40s.4 1. Your relationship with your body is THE  MOST important one Learn to listen to your body, its limitations, its strengths and what it loves. Mine is a movement body. I need to move whether I am happy or sad, excited or upset - for me, movement is the secret to feeling everything, to feeling deeply and to experience it all. I was diagnosed with  endometriosis  when I was 32 and learnt that I had been living with it ...
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Turning 30 - DayStares to NightMares

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  Congratulations! You are "half" senior-citizen now. You're not very far from being eligible to get money without working (pension) or getting wow percent off on your flight bookings (sp. discounts) or getting the highest order of respect (as grand parents) or high interest rates on fixed deposits (as the elderly) or avail free carrying services at all airports (with wheelchairs) - everything is just half the way farther than it was. Talking about the near future, you are included in the new market segment list of all anti-aging products which would make sure that you don't age gracefully. It will make you look (as they claim) younger than you are, so keep dealing with the same crap for next decade! You are going to be showered with a lot of regimes to be followed from diet to exercise to hormonal pills to medical check-ups, everything! You will be bombarded to get married (if you're still single), or have kids (if you are married but still just two) or have the ...
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Turning 30: Your Body Your Choices!

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 Turning 30, it's not just another year wiser, its also a year older and your body is turning the age too! Whether you like it or not, whether you accept it or not, your body is changing and with it, the need to listen to your body rises. Ignorant Indian Women are we when it comes to our body. Everything is a priority, our children, husbands, relatives, friends - but our body. We have all the time in the world to listen tot he woes of our dear friend and cook a lavish meal for hubby dear but if we are asked to run half an hour everyday, we're like, I don't really need it you know and I also don't have the time and oh yeah I get tired by the time it's evening and the list of excuses is endless. Let's make it clear, if your body is healthy everything will follow but if your body will not support, all your aspirations will go down the gutter! Your hair, skin, bones - everything needs your attention. Healthy Habits to a fitter you @ 30 Understand the nutritional nee...
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