Once in a Blue Moon Academia (OBMA)

  Crimson Civility: An Epistle on Sindoor, Civil Codes, and the Sanctity of Scars Posted on 23rd June, 2025 (GMT…) Abstract This letter—framed in reverent satire and historical dismay—is addressed to the Hon’ble President of India, Supreme Custodian of Sanskar and Semiotics. It interrogates the symbolic glorification of sindoor as a sacred index of Hindu marital tradition, tracing its semiotic genealogy not to divine scripture alone, but to prehistoric violence and patriarchal subjugation, as hauntingly narrated in Parasuram’s Siddhinather Pralap. The letter juxtaposes this origin with contemporary attempts at cultural homogenization under the banner of Hindu Rashtra and the proposed Uniform Civil Code. By weaving in regional, textual, and ritual variations in sindoor’s usage across India and the diaspora, the writers raise a paradox: How can a nation legislate uniformity on a symbol so unevenly practiced and so deeply soaked—historically and metaphorically—in blood, ritual, a...

  A Snarky Ballad of a Certain Rabble Posted on 14/06/2025, GMT 16.30 ABSTRACT This satirical poem delivers a sharp, biting critique of a dominant socio-political religious faction in India—depicted as a loud, opportunistic “rabble” cloaked in religious symbolism yet driven by greed, division, and authoritarianism. Through mock-heroic verse, vivid imagery, and scathing humor, it satirizes their manipulation of faith, incitement of violence (e.g., “cow cops,” pogroms, “Love Jihad”), suppression of dissent (notably referencing the murders of freethinkers like Gauri Lankesh and Kalburgi), and collusion with media, courts, and corporate interests. The poem also lambasts the distortion of heritage—cherry-picking myths and demolishing sacred sites in the name of “progress.” The critical analysis beneath the poem unpacks its thematic layers—religious hypocrisy, institutional complicity, cultural vandalism—while interpreting its formal elements: mock-epic structure, colloquial tone, s...