Mythologist | Author | Speaker | Illustrator
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Articles
Is Buddha an avatar of Vishnu?
For Buddhists, Buddha is not an avatar of Vishnu. For Hindus, he may be…
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Articles
If not Valentine, then Kama?
Surely, a more powerful ‘nationalist’ act would have been to reclaim or reframe Valentine’s Day and call it Kama’s day…
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Articles
Question for the Alt-Fact world: Why can’t truth be plural?
When truth is singular, it becomes a territory and thus, a battlefield…
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Articles
What exactly is the Manusmriti?
Many assume Mansumriti to be the law book of Hindus. It is not…
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Articles
The Curious Case Of Two Valmikis
Published on 27th January, 2017, in The Speaking Tree. Rishi Valmiki is known as Adi Kavi, the first poet, who composed the first mahakavya, epic, the Ramayana, that chronicles the life of Rama, prince of Ayodhya. In the final chapter of the epic, Uttara Kanda, we learn how he teaches the story to Luv and…
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Articles
How to spot a lesbian in sacred Indian art
Is it our discomfort with homosexuality that makes us believe that it cannot be part of the sacred?…
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Articles
Do Hindus lose their caste when they travel abroad?
If you value caste, then this thought can be depressing, even terrifying. If you are indifferent, it will not matter…
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Articles
Dayanand & Vivekanand
Both had many critics — some sincere who disagreed with their interpretations; others simply envious of their success, or plain cynics…
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Articles
Epics as Novels
Most people in India are not familiar with the Sanskrit Ramayana or Mahabharata. We read popular versions…
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Articles
A Harappan Parvati?
She could very well be the bangle-seller’s daughter. Or a local princess. Or maybe an exasperated girl-child, because she did not like the food prepared. We really don’t know…
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Articles
What do Manusmriti and Dharmashastra have to say about homosexuality?
Tales, of God prohibiting certain sexual acts but allowing others, are not found in Hindu mythology…
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Articles
A Lotus for a Temple
Built in 1986, an architectural marvel, this iconic shrine in Delhi attracts millions of tourists every year…
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Articles
From Macaulay to Frawley, from Doniger to Elst Why do many Indians need White saviours?
Would non-White Indologists evoke such passions as the likes of Sheldon Pollock and Wendy Doniger or David Frawley and Koenraad Elst do?…
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Interviews
Shiv Visvanathan on the importance of being (and thinking like) Devdutt Pattanaik
‘Devdutt Pattanaik is an exponent of myths, using them to analyse management practice, deepen storytelling, and obtain a sense of life and living.’…
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Articles
Was Harappan civilisation Vedic, or Hindu?
This is an extremely tough question to answer as it depends on what you consider Harappan, Hindu and Vedic…
