thinking about the day last month when i pointed out to gopal guru how his distinction between thinking/feeling and the sentimental/scholar played against so many besieged groups, effectively removing them from any independent political action or thought. guru said, 'if you want

to think, send your emotions on a holiday.' i had given an example of how so many muslim near-intellectuals were constantly coming up with basic theoretical takes while being under tremendous emotions, and that one could see a wave of new muslim intellectuals in the next 10

year solely by the fact that we were being put under unprecedented emotional distress. this was more important becs these near intellectuals were making use of new media to theorize their own condition, something we can't allow others to do just bcs they are able to distance

themself from the domain of immediate experience for a dispassionate meditation on things. guru's point about the academia privileging abstract, dispassionate language made sense but not his dismissal of emotions as catapulting sophisticated mental activity that translates into

what can be very soon seen as complex theory. but the takeaway was that two professors complimented me on my question later that night during that dinner, including my favorite professor. the former said that guru couldn't get the question or was just evading it and my prof

sent a message over whatsapp saying that the question was important and we would take it up in class. this thread is not about guru or the debate it's me remembering campus days and me missing my profs and me missing that academic space that is so dear to me.