Amit's Blog

The Golden Shackles: India's Mythic Past and the Psychology of Stagnation   In India, the enduring myth of a "Golden Age"—an era of unparalleled cultural, intellectual, and spiritual glory—clashes starkly with centuries of mass poverty, oppression, and stagnation. This narrative, rooted in selective historical memory, fosters learned helplessness, a psychological state where societies resign to systemic failures, viewing change as futile. Drawing from psychology, history, and economics, this essay explores how this delusion perpetuates political inertia, hinders revolutionary reforms, and sustains inequality, even as post-independence India marks the first sustained rise in living standards for the common people. Comparing India's evolutionary path with China's radical break from its past, it projects economic growth toward a large economy status by 2065, but warns of persistent disparities. Through examples of societies breaking free and the harsh realities o...

The Cinematic-Taxonomy: Film, Finance, and Power in India   This note proposes a taxonomy of Indian film industries based on their primary economic drivers and political linkages. We identify four distinct but interconnected models: the  Parallel Economy (Bhojpuri) , the  Politicized Personality Cult (Tamil) , the  Corporate-Studio Hybrid (Hindi) , and the  Director-Led Disruption (Telugu) . The growing  Overseas Market  acts as a strategic financial and reputational layer for all models. Underpinning this entire ecosystem is the pervasive use of film production as a mechanism for capital formation, money laundering, and political influence, challenging the traditional notion of cinema as a story-driven commercial art form.   1. The Bhojpuri Model: The Parallel Non-Theatrical Economy The Bhojpuri industry operates almost entirely outside the conventional theatrical framework, functioning as a self-contained financial loop. The I...

From Yajna to Ahimsa: Dietary Transformations in Ancient India and the Pork Paradox   Ancient India’s dietary practices evolved from the meat-heavy Vedic period (c. 1500–500 BCE) to the vegetarian ethos of later Hinduism, shaped by religion, caste, and economics. Vedic rishis consumed beef in rituals, as described in the Rigveda, while the Ramayana and Mahabharata depict meat-eating alongside emerging ascetic vegetarianism. Jainism and Buddhism’s ahimsa (c. 6th century BCE) pressured Brahmins to adopt vegetarianism, formalized by the Manusmriti (c. 200 BCE–200 CE), with the cow becoming taboo by c. 200 CE. Pork, rarely used in rituals, was stigmatized as impure, a trend amplified by Islamic rule (c. 1206–1857 CE), though pre-Islamic Hindu norms and ecological factors played key roles. Early Buddhism permitted meat, but Mahayana sects in China and Japan embraced vegetarianism, unlike Theravada regions. This essay explores these shifts, highlighting the irony of Buddhism’s influe...

From Chariots to Colossi: The Wild Ride of Ancient Indian Warfare and Its Beastly Obsessions Ancient Indian warfare was a rollicking saga of bold innovation clashing with stubborn tradition, a dramatic evolution from the zippy chariots that dominated Bronze Age battlefields like ancient Ferraris to the lumbering elephants that persisted as oversized, unpredictable tanks well into the gunpowder age. Chariots revolutionized mobility and shock tactics but faded with astonishing swiftness, succumbing to terrain challenges and logistical constraints as cavalry rose. Yet, in a uniquely idiosyncratic turn, elephants endured for millennia despite spectacular defeats by foreign invaders, embodying India's singular blend of tactical prowess and deep-seated cultural flair. Pivotal battles like Hydaspes, Tarain, and Panipat—fought on the open plains dictated by strategic and logistical necessity—reveal how agile foreign horsemen often outfoxed mixed Indian armies. Nonetheless, empires from t...