Modern Mythmaking
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The Unpredictable Animal
Relationships are never predictable. And this has been the bane of the corporate world.
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On Stories we Tell
Humans tell stories, because we need to. They tell us who we are in this world by giving the world a structure. Stories transform us into heroes, villains, victims and martyrs.
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Violence and Gita
Ramayana and Mahabharata valorise not war so much as the pursuit of social obligation, even while engaging in long discussions on the morality of war.
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New avatar for old crusades
For the Muslim world secularism, rationality, liberalism and democracy are just new avatars of their old Christian foes.
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What’s your Sanskaar?
Sanskaar refers to upbringing in India. It is the Key Performance Indicator of parenting to most Indians. It is an indicator of family values. It shows how civilized and cultured we are.
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Ramayana when it Rains
In Kerala, the traditional month of Karkidakam that falls in July-August is associated with heavy rains. It used to once be a time of scarcity, wetness and disease. There was no work in the fields and staying at home doing…
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Karta versus Yajaman
The two words are often used interchangeably but they mean very different things. They represent two levels of leadership.
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Differential Values
Everyone assumes they have values. Problem is that their values are different from other people’s values.
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Objective fact vs subjective truth: A textbook fight
A quick look at some (not all, one must repeatedly clarify) of recent books about Indian culture authored by Western scholars reveals a rather disturbing tilt in the interpretations of objective data.
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Never-complete and Ever-Changing truths
The world is constantly changing. Nothing lasts forever. Nothing is fixed. Seasons change. Societies rise and fall. Contexts change. Reasons change. Values come and go. Meanings shift. So ‘the truth’ is never complete and always changing.
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Pink Things to Good People
We are conditioned to believe the mythology of ‘fairness and justice’ popularized in recent time, and yet despite the complex of well-meaning laws, bad things continue to happen to good people.
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Cradle of Monotheism
When empires came into being, emperors believed their god was the greater god, and he was the chosen man, and his people were the chosen people.
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Measuring Awareness and Attention
Modern management is based on the principle that only that which can be measured can be managed.
