The postmodern scenario of the ‘disappearance’ of the European Enlightenment’s centred essentialist, rational self has replaced the modernist fragmentation of identity, which was the inevitable result of Cartesian dualism. As frontiers of accessible spaces expand between cultures, what is witnessed is a plurality of perspectives regarding identity, which often lead to conflict arising from the natural human desire to assert and safeguard cultural and other spaces. Vedanta in its modernist emergence as neo-Vedanta (whose one such exponent is Sri Sathya Sai Baba), has highlighted the pluralistic aspect of Hindu philosophy, while basing this pluralism on a fundamental unity of human consciousness. This phenomenological emphasis on direct experience rather than a mere hermeneutic dependence on scriptural authority has brought forth several pathways to experience a humanistic unity and engenders hope for a more peaceful form of co-existence, transcending fragmentation. Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s philosophy of Consciousness views differences in perspectives as a journey from duality to unity, involving three stages, namely – conscious, conscience and Consciousness. This article traces the origins of these terms to the Enlightenment, wherein philosophers such as Descartes, Locke, Rousseau and Kant, ‘secularised’ these terms, in keeping with the developing empirical shift. Their emphasis on provable epistemological processes failed to account for the transcendental origins of the Self, which by contrast, Advaita Vedanta has demonstrated with brilliant phenomenological clarity. Neo-Vedanta further enhances this clarity, through unifying different Vedantic perspectives, relating them to the present. This paper seeks to demonstrate this, both from a theoretical perspective, as well as a practical application through a reading of Tagore’s Gitanjali.

There is an intersection between ecology and queer theory. Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar’s My Father’s Garden subverts the telos of nature and heterosexuality in terms of accessibility to resources and reproductivity. The novel grapples with homoerotic friendship between two men, Doctor and Samir who indulge in friendship of ‘Oscar Wilde sort’. It was more than ‘passing’ liaison; the spark of homoeroticism snowballs into erotic relationship of serious magnitude. They part ways and become part of heteronormative politics in an otherwise domestic space of family and patriarchy. There is no camouflaged surveillance of heteropatriarchal panopticon in the pastoral hinterland of Jharkhand. Pasture does not judge us; family does. Patriarchy uses family as state ideological apparatus that sustains this politics of surveillance on sex, gender and desire. But nature becomes a site where this panopticon remains dysfunctional; the lovers, as a result, get away with their ‘unmentionable’ eroticism. The wilderness brings the best of friendship between Doctor and Samir. Nature and homosexual lust flourish in the wilderness of Pakur. As soon as the lovers get back to respective family, they suffer the inevitable consequences. City returns, family returns, bourgeoisie Stockholm Syndrome returns, ‘loyalty’ of relationship return; so does the heteropatriarchal surveillance. Landscape and queer desire give way to cityscape and heteronormativity of bourgeoisie family. Heteronormative family falls apart. Homosexual lust of the green pasture lingers on. The possibility of homosexual union ensues even within the panopticon of cityscape. The lovers are no longer free from the gaze of urban space, domestic panopticon and heteropatriarchal family. Patriarchy and anthropocentrism take ascendancy; love and friendship suffer subservience to heteronormative family and urban capitalism. Plethora of discourses of sexuality go hand in glove with comprehension of green consciousness. The resilience of Doctor and Samir lies in the planetary precarity of Jharkhand and vulnerability of homosexuality. Otherwise, ecocide becomes inevitability along with amicicide. Anthropocene continues to remain ironic witness of how forests have always already been queer; of how friendship has always already been queer.

Expanding Michel Foucault’s concept of “biopolitics”, which refers to the political interference in individual lives at the population level, Achille Mbembe develops the sociopolitical theory of “necropolitics”. Mbembe’s concept of necropolitics refers to ways through which the state and political power structures exert control over the life and death of citizens. The necropolitical authority not only controls the ways of life but also decides who must die for the sake of a greater social and cultural order. The authoritative mechanism of necropolitical order is not solely restricted to the state or political powerholders but usually, its aggressive expansion can be perceived in the varied socio-cultural dimensions of our lives. In this context, different aspects of social life in terms of class, caste, race, and gender are often used as detrimental resources by necropolitical power to formulate a homogenized socio-cultural identity. Against this background, this study analyzes Bali Rai’s novel entitled Rani and Sukh, published in 2004, to investigate how honour killings are legitimized by patriarchal structure in their pernicious approach to suppress socially demarcated “deviant” behaviours. Set in modern-day Britain and the 1960s Punjab, the novel is usually considered a modern retelling of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Honour crime and honour killing are not contemporary phenomena; throughout history, around the world, many countries and communities have used deleterious mechanisms in the name of protecting their cultural honour. This study highlights how the legal and social structures fail to prevent honour-based crimes and thereby contribute to the reinforcement of the necropolitical hierarchy. Moreover, this study further seeks to point out the biased notion of the sacrificial subject in the name of retaining honour.

National Education Policy 2020, aligning with Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) of the 2030 Agenda for SDG, highlights the importance of giving every citizen access to education. For this purpose, NEP outlines the necessity of imparting education in one’s mother tongue. One of the major goals of NEP 2020 is to promote multilingualism and multiculturalism by bringing historically disadvantaged and left-out groups to the limelight. Moreover, to uphold the multilingualism of the country NEP also emphasises the need of incorporating the ‘three- language formula’ into the curriculum, under which a student will learn his/her mother tongue, a regional language, belonging to the 8th Schedule, and English., NEP stresses on promoting diverse regional languages as medium of instruction at the primary level of education. Assam is a land of many languages and dialects belonging to Indo- Aryan, Tibeto- Burman, Austroasiatic and Tai- Kadai language families. Even though, the dominant language of the state is Assamese, Assam also has other languages such as Bodo, Karbi, Mising and various tribal languages. This makes Assam one of the most linguistically plural states in India. In Assam, Assamese and Bodo are the two of the official language for the entire state and Bengali and Meitei are also considered as additional official language in Hojai district and Barak valley area. In such a multilingual situation, Assam is in need of a carefully laid out implementation policy to meet the guidelines of NEP 2020 which will also equally cater to different linguistic groups. In this study, an attempt will be made to discuss the challenges that lies in implementing NEP 2020 in Assam’s government as well as private schools. Another objective of this work is to highlight the possibilities that the State may have in developing textbooks, syllabi and teaching methods in its regional languages.

Disability has a long and complex cultural history that raises fundamental questions about identity, definitions of normalcy and the social conditions of everyday life. Although some argue that disability “has existed throughout human history, cutting across time and space,” others would locate its emergence as an idea in Western modernity. Tara is one of the most touching plays by Mahesh Dattani. The play revolves around the theme of favouring a boy and frowning upon the girl with exceptional originality of conception. The playwright presents arguments against the parents’ preference for the male child at the cost of the girl child. This paper examines Tara through the lens of disability studies, challenging the dominant medical model that pathologises difference and advocating for a social model that recognises disability as a product of societal barriers. Thus, it primarily explores the representation of disability and the prejudices related to it. It also explores the theme of disability as a social construct in a metaphorical manner by analysing the familial and social dynamics of the characters of the play. In this context, this paper also attempts to explore the so-called notions of ability and disability. This paper further explores the intersection of gender and disability, demonstrating how Tara's experience with her family and society overlaps with her status as a female with a physical impairment. Thus, through a critical analysis of Dattani's work, this paper argues that how Tara serves as a poignant critique of the politics of disability and impairment, highlighting the necessity to the ableist structures and fostering a more inclusive and equitable society that acknowledges and celebrates the diversity of human experience.

Subaltern Perspectives in Indian Context: Critical Responses edited by Dipak Giri comprises 22 divergent chapters and an interview with Dalit writer Sharankumar Limbale on Dalit life, struggle and works interviewed by Dipak Giri. In the Introduction, the subaltern and its meaning, how the term is particularly pointed out of the marginalized group of people has been traced out. From the history of Antonio Gramsci, the Italian Political activist and through the South Asian Feminist critics like Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and her masterpiece “Can the Subaltern Speak?” have been discussed in detail. The book explores and touches all kinds of marginalized groups like peasants, workers, and women.

Aidan Tynan's work ventures beyond traditional approaches to explore the multifaceted symbolism of deserts and wastelands in Western literature and philosophy. The book explores cross-disciplinary domains such as psychology, psychoanalysis, modern literature, myths and philosophy. It takes readers on an unconventional journey exploring deserts and wastelands. While the book is not strictly an ecocritical work, it shares similarities with ecocriticism that seeks to overcome biases in traditional approaches. Tynan challenges the trends in ecocriticism and the perception of deserts as mere physical landscapes, presenting them as rich metaphors for existential contemplation and enlightenment. He examines the desert's portrayal in Western literary and philosophical traditions, drawing parallels with the works of Nietzsche, Heidegger, and postmodern thinkers like Deleuze and Guattari. He explores how writers from various eras, including T.S. Eliot, D.H. Lawrence, and William S. Burroughs, employ the desert motif to criticise the modern society. Tynan emphasises the transformative power of art in reimagining our planet and confronting existential and environmental crises. Tynan's narrative structure integrates themes of existentialism, ecology, aesthetics and cultural identity, inviting readers to explore the desert's rich symbolism from diverse viewpoints. Ultimately, the book offers a thought-provoking journey into the depths of human experience, challenging readers to reconsider their perceptions of deserts and wastelands.

At the end of Donald Trump’s presidentship, George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) which was published almost 70 years back suddenly became one of the best-selling novels in the U.S. One could postulate that Trump’s various repressive racial policies, totalitarian mindset, shared cultural insecurity of the Americans and Orwell’s broad minacious dystopian vision were the reason behind this hasty popularity. This is the process, I think, by which a book becomes canon by rediscovering its significance in every new ‘turn’ of history. Dorothy M. Figueira’s Aryans, Jews, Brahmins: Theorizing Authority through Myths of Identity although was first published in 2002, the book is in similar fashion more relevant at present than ever before especially in the context of India. Why? I would provide an answer to this statement at the end of my discussion.

This book brings a continuous evolution and preservation of refugee community identities, transformation of cultural values and Politicization of linguistic nationalism in Assam and Tripura in postcolonial India. By using primary resources such as central and state government archives, official records, census data, extensive field survey, along with contemporary literature author aims to portray the resistance of refugees for collective community identity and official recognition as a citizen of India. Author tried to question the categorization of refugees' as a fragmented cultural and ethnic identities and present a biased and discriminatory politics of state towards Bengali refugees' in Assam and Tripura during refugee rehabilitation programme. She also highlighted interlinkage of refugee issue also with the identity politics, dispute on boundary demarcations, land resource management and allocation along with preservation of tribal ethnicity and collective community identity values.

The book for review is comprised of eight chapters. Each reverberates around the existence of the Rajbanshi community with their own history, socio-cultural behaviour, and moreover, folktales and folksongs – an oral literature associated with them. As the book is titled the “Rajbanshi Folk Tales and Folk Songs”, the focus is much on that subject matter only rather than on the history of the Rajbanshi community. But unless one gets acquainted with the history of the Rajbanshi community and its own separate socio-cultural identity, one cannot understand the essence of these folk tales and songs associated with this community. So, the author has wisely included a few chapters related to history, location, identity, and language of the Rajbanshi community at the end section of the book.