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First Published in Corporate Dossier, Economic Times, 18 July 2008
As Ravi entered his cabin, he suddenly felt lost. What was he supposed to do next? He set up his laptop and went straight for the email inbox. Maybe there were emails there to respond. And in the midst of responding to the emails, maybe he […]
First Published in Corporate Dossier, Economic Times, 11 July 2008
With ten heads, twenty arms, a flying chariot and a city of gold, Ravan is one of the most flamboyant villains in Hindu mythology. He abducted Sita, the wife of Ram, and was struck down for that. Ravan is the demon-king of the Ramayan, the lord […]
First Published in Sunday Mid-day 'Devlok' on 27 July 2008
It is said that the Mahabharata should not be read inside the house because it is the tale of a household divided. But incredible as it sounds, Mahabharata is not the tale of war or violence – it is the tale of the futility of war […]
First Published in Sunday Mid-day 'Devlok' on 20 July 2008
The Hindu cosmos or Brahmanda is visualized as a skyscraper. In the centre stands Bhu-lok, earth. Above are realms of increasing happiness, the topmost floor being Dev-lok, where all day people do nothing but enjoy the song and dance of Apsaras, qualifying it to be Swarga, […]
Published as No Right Answer in Corporate Dossier, Economic Times, July 4 2008
Vikramaditya, king of Ujjain, pulled down the ghost or Vetal who swung upside down from the branches of tree that grew on the edge of a crematorium ground. “If you can bring this creature to me,” a sorcerer had told the king, “I […]
Published as One Man Army in Corporate Dossier, Economic Times, on June 27 2008
Duryodhan, the Kaurava, went to the city of Dwaraka seeking Krishna’s support in the battle that was to be fought against the Pandavas. But he found Krishna asleep. So he sat close to the head of Krishna’s bed, waiting for Krishna to wake […]
Published as 'The Right Spirit' in Corporate Dossier, Economic Times, 20 June 2008
Of the five tenets of Islam, there is one that forces the believer to take cognizance of others around him. The first tenet is about the faith one must have – faith in one God and his final prophet, Muhammad. The second is […]
Published in Corporate Dossier, Economic Times, 13 June 2008
In Vedic times, life was divided into four stages: the first quarter was Brahmacharya-ashram, the stage when one is a student; the second was Grihastha-ashram, the stage when one is a householder; the third was Vanaprastha-ashram, the stage when one retires from active household duty; the fourth […]
Published on 6 June 2008, in Corporate Dossier, Economic Times
According to the Shiva Puran, Daksha-Prajapati sought worthy grooms for his many daughters, men of substance, gods who helped life on earth, like Indra, the rain-god or Agni, the fire-god. He was quite horrified therefore when his youngest daughter, Sati, of her own free will, chose […]
Published in Corporate Dossier, Economic Times, 29 May 2008
If there was no Mahish-asura, the gods would not have invoked the warrior-goddess, Durga. If there was no Tarak-asura, there would have been no need for the divine warlord, Kartikeya. If there was no Ravana or Kansa, Ram or Krishna would not walk the earth. Demons and […]
Published as 'By Hook or By Crook' in Corporate Dossier, Economic Times, on 23 May 2008
According to Brahmavaivarta Puran, Kuber, the king of Yakshas, had a gardener called Hema, whose duty it was to gather fresh fragrant flowers every morning with which Kuber performed his daily worship of Shiva. One morning, smitten by desire for […]
Published on 16 May 2008 in Corporate Dossier, Economic Times, as 'We are the World'
Vishwaroopa is the form taken by Krishna in the battlefield of Kurukshetra when Arjuna asked him to reveal his true form. In this form, Krishna no longer looks familiar. He is neither cowherd nor charioteer. He is a magnificent being with […]
Published on 9 May 2008 in Corporate Dossier, Economic Times, as 'The Cursed Gossip Monger'
Randhir was very happy with his bonus until someone told him that his colleague, Sukant, had been given a higher bonus. “Its not fair,” he said and stormed to meet his boss. Despite every attempt of his boss to explain his […]
Published in Corporate Dossier, Economic Times on 2 May 2008 as 'Work it Out'
In the forest, Ram met an old lady called Shabari who invited him to a meal in her house and offered him her meager fare: berries she had collected in the forest. Lakshman who followed his brother was horrified to see the […]
Published in Corporate Dossier, Economic Times, 18 April 2008
The Olympic motto ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius,’ is Latin for ‘Swifter, Higher, Stronger’. The roots of this ideal of continuous relentless improvement lies in the ancient Greek world, where the Olympic Games were a sacred ritual. Through participation, and especially through winning, the athlete reached the ‘zone’ that […]
Published in First City, New Delhi, April 2008
The people of the Polynesian islands believe that once the sky-father Rangi and the earth-mother Papa were locked so tightly in loving embrace that the children they produced were smothered between them. So the children decided to separate the parents – the trees pushed the sky-father up away […]
Published in Deccan Herald, Bangalore, 20 April 2008
What is the purpose of life? What happens after death? Ask these questions to a young person and he is as clueless as an old person. When it comes to such profound questions the youth today are no different from their ancestors. Yes, they have cell phones, and […]
Published in Corporate Dossier, Economic Times supplement, 4 April 2008
Hanuman plays an important role in the Ramayan, yet in the epic itself, he does not hold any great position. He is just one of the many monkeys Ram encounters in the forest. He is not Sugriva, leader of the monkey troop. He is not Angad, […]
Published in First City, New Delhi, March 2008
Five thousand years ago, the kingdoms of Sumeria and Akkad flourished in the land once called Mesopotamia, the land between the two rivers, and now called Iraq. Inanna was the Sumerian goddess of sexual love, fertility, and warfare. The Akkadians called her Ishtar.
According to one story, Inanna […]
Published in First City, New Delhi, Feb 2008
Muhammad was a simple trader who hailed from the city of Mecca in Arabia in the 7th century AD. He was renowned for his honesty, fairness and piety. When he was around forty, his life changed completely. During one of his many retreats to desert caves, where he […]
Originally published in Corporate Dossier, Economic Times, 28 March 2008
Jain mythology refers to Shalakapurushas or worthy beings who regularly appear on earth to inspire and direct man to live a noble and fruitful life. There are 3 types of Shalakapurushas. The first type is the Vasudeva – a warrior who, advised by a wiser brother […]
First Published in Corporate Dossier, Economic Times, March 21, 2008
In the Ramayan, Ram is asked to string a bow – a feat that will win him the hand of Sita in marriage. Ram, however, bends the bow with such force that it breaks. Since no one until then had even been able to pick up […]
Corporate Dossier, Economic Times, 25 Feb 2008
It is said that when Vyas narrated the epic Mahabharata, the elephant-headed Ganesha served as his scribe and using his tusk as his pen wrote the epic on palm leave manuscripts. But who read this book? Mahabharata typically comes to us, not in the form of a book, but […]
Corporate Dossier, Economic Times, 18 Feb 2008
One day, states the Bhagavat Puran, the earth-goddess took the form of a cow and went to Vishnu with tears in her eyes complaining how the kings of the earth were exploiting her. Her udders were sore, squeezed by human greed. Vishnu promised to set things right and so descended […]
Corporate Dossier, Economic Times, 8 Feb 2008
All cultural behavior is rooted in the subjective truth that the culture subscribes to. For example, the infamous Indian headshake has its roots in Indian philosophy where truth is contextual: depending on the situation, the answer to a given question can be either ‘yes’ nor ‘no’. Likewise, the Chinese obsession […]
Part of this article was published in Consumer Edge, Times of India, 2 Feb 2008
Usually advertising tends to steer clear from controversial social realities like caste and religion. So it is refreshing to see an television ad that addresses it head-on: the now famous ‘What an idea, Sirji!’ ad of Idea cellular. It draws attention […]
Corporate Dossier, Economic Times, 25 Jan 2008
Vishnu is amongst the most popular manifestations of God in the Hindu pantheon. But curiously, there are very few Vishnu temples across India, the most popular, where he holds his four symbols, the conch-shell, the lotus, the mace and the disc, is that of Tirupati Balaji in Andhra Pradesh […]
11 Jan, 2008, 0548 hrs IST,TNN
When a family business breaks down, one is reminded of an old Indian tradition: never read the Mahabharata inside the house, always the Ramayan. For the Mahabharata is the tale of a household divided while the latter is the story of a household united.
The Ramayan speaks of three sets […]
18 Jan, 2008, 0608 hrs IST
Two childhood friends, one the son of a warrior, the other the son of a priest, promised to share all they possessed even in adulthood. Fortune, however, favoured only the warrior’s son. In desperation , with hesitation, the priest’s son, reduced to abject poverty, decided to approach his rich friend. […]
First City, Delhi, Mythos, September 2007
July this year saw the thirteenth day of the month falling on a Friday. Deemed unlucky, people avoided all kinds of purchase and transactions on this day. Friday the 13 is considered so unlucky that there is even a word ‘Paraskevidekatriaphobia’ to describe fear of Friday 13. It has inspired […]
First City, New Delhi, Mythos, Nov 2007
Just after midnight on August 31, 1997, in Paris, a car carrying Diana, Princess of Wales, went out of control in a Paris tunnel and crashed. She died in a hospital soonafter. The world reacted. In his emotionally charged eulogy, Diana’s brother, the 9th Earl Spencer referred to the […]
21 Dec, 2007, 0444 hrs IST,TNN
Most people in the corporate world have been educated in the modern scientific education system. They have gone through school where they learnt language, mathematics, science , history and geography. Then they went through college specialising either in science or arts or commerce . And yet, despite a relatively standardised […]
First City, Mythos, October 2007
As one reads the Upanishads, ancient Hindu scriptures dated to 500 BC, one realizes they are constantly referring to two truths: a truth which changes and a truth which does not change. The existence of the one points to the existence of the other. In change we seek permanence. In restlessness […]
7 Dec, 2007, 0408 hrs IST,TNN
Marriage is the most important rite of passage in a family, second only to the funerary rituals because it brings with it the hope of children, the next generation, of continuity and renewal.
Organisations are no different from families – people are constantly leaving – either at the end of […]
First City, Mythos, Dec 2007
It is impossible to think of Krishna without thinking of Radha. Theirs is an eternal love story The stuff of romantic songs. And yet, some of the biggest Krishna temples in India do not enshrine the image of Radha. In Puri, Orissa, Krishna is enshrined with his sister, Subhadra, and his […]
First City, Mythos, Jan 2008
Nobody knew of Beowolf until Hollywood turned his tale into a film. Composed previous to the Norman invasion of England around the fifth century, the tale comes from lands now known as Denmark and Sweden, once the land of the dreaded and barbaric Vikings. The story begins in the grand hall […]
30 Nov, 2007, 0510 hrs IST,Devdutt Pattanaik, TNN (Corporate Dossier) When he wants to know the profits of the organisation, the CEO turns to his Chief Finance Officer (CFO). But when it comes to understanding opportunities in the market, the leader turns to the Head of Marketing and Sales (HMS). The CFO knows where investments have […]
16 Nov, 2007, 0449 hrs IST,Devdutt Pattanaik, TNN
In the great epics of India, Ramayan and Mahabharata, war ends not with celebration of victory but with transmission of knowledge . In the Ramayan, Ravan lies mortally wounded on the battlefield and the monkeys are celebrating their victory, when Ram turns to his brother , Lakshman, and […]
November 9, Indian Express (Editorial page)
Diwali is without doubt India’s answer to America’s Christmas, where the religious aspect takes a backseat and secular shopping comes to the fore.
It all began as a post-monsoon harvest festival. But what distinguishes it from other harvest festivals like Pongal (Tamil Nadu) or Bihu (Assam) is that it is […]
2 Nov, 2007, 0501 hrs IST,Devdutt Pattanaik, TNN
According to the Puranas, when Brahma creates the world, the Goddess appears as Saraswati, embodiment of knowledge, serene and aloof, dressed in white, holding a lute and a book, riding a heron. When Vishnu sustains the world, the Goddess appears as Lakshmi, stunning and alluring, dressed in red, […]
