An English Journey

One of the big questions of philosophy is whether free will is tantamount to free action or not. People’s perception of freedom blurs the distinction between will and action because, unless you have lived in a dictatorship or any other kind of system based on the deprivation of liberty , you may not have been confronted with any situation that could undermine your sense of being in control of your thoughts and actions. Free will is the power of acting without constraints . But will is not action. No matter how much effort you were willing to put in on sunbathing , it would be literally impossible in an overcast winter morning. Many distinguished scholars and renowned philosophers have been trying to unravel the secrets of freedom, and yet the discussion remains inconclusive . On the one hand, the theory of determinism speculates that everything that happens is predestined to happen in a particular way and nothing could be done to avoid the fate . Should deter...

Since the very instant we arrived at New Delhi’s airport I was overwhelmed with mixed feelings . I was fascinated by the display of hospitality so characteristic of these dwellers but at the same time, I knew I would have run into shocking scenes.   We were going to leave the hotel at the crack of dawn . I am not a morning person but that night I did not sleep a wink and decided to wander around the area. A flood of rickshaws ready to be pulled by skinny riders was the first reminder of how different life must be in India.  Being a child is not the same everywhere. My holiday in India, one of the biggest countries in the world, taught me a lesson . The harsh lifestyle that these human beings have to overcome every minute of their lives is miserable . Living in such conditions could undermine anyone. Astonishingly enough, I have not seen so many children grinning from ear to ear in my whole life as I did in India. They probably have nothing bu...

The way something looks can  sometimes   mislead the viewer, making him  get the wrong end of the stick . Appearances can be deceptive and often they are.  Politicians have always lied, that’s a fact, a thing we can't deny. Maybe that’s the reason why post-truth has recently become the Oxford Word Of The Year 2016 with Mr Trump and Brexit being the leading exponent of the collocation “post-truth politics”.  We could define post-truth in layman's terms as 'the art of the lie' although the politeness of the renowned dictionary has defined it as ' relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief'. The problem arises when such a term is the  mainstay  of political commentary. It seems like the concern about fake news has diminished among the public opinion. It ’ s a perilous time for journalism, at least for the kind of journ...