India

Virus notes: May 18, 2020: Arundhati Roy on the pandemic

 

Thanks to the public spirit of the Financial Times, we are free to study this superb article on the pandemic by the great Arundhati Roy. -- blj

 

4-3-20

Financial Times

Arundhati Roy: ‘The pandemic is a portal’ |

The novelist on how coronavirus threatens India — and what the country, and the world, should do next

https://www.ft.com/content/10d8f5e8-74eb-11ea-95fe-fcd274e920ca

The World Wonderful: A bird hospital in Old Delhi and the ancient religion behind it

The bird hospital is one of several built by devotees of Jainism, an ancient religion whose highest commandment forbids violence not only against humans, but also against animals. A series of paintings in the hospital’s lobby illustrates the extremes to which some Jains take this prohibition. In them, a medieval king in blue robes gazes through a palace window at an approaching pigeon, its wing bloodied by the talons of a brown hawk still in pursuit. The king pulls the smaller bird into the palace, infuriating the hawk, which demands replacement for its lost meal, so he slices off his own arm and foot to feed it.

Pages