Mythologist | Author | Speaker | Illustrator
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Articles
Sanatan Dharma: A Hinduism That Defines Itself Through Food ‘Purity’
Notably, the term “satvik” food does not appear in Ayurveda, yet it has become central to the Sanatan Dharma movement. North Indian temples now demand that no meat-serving establishments operate within 15 km of their premises. This dietary politics points to the real character of the movement: Sanatan Dharma is essentially a vegetarian Hinduism, promoted…
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Articles
Today’s Sanatan Dharma prefers ‘trad’ Bhisma
The Trans Bill signed by the President of India aligns with the commander of the Kauravas, not Krishna. The Kauravas were more aligned to Christian Evangelists, not “woke” Krishna…
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Articles
Why Lord Ram Was Painted Green
In Nayaka art, Ram is painted green, the colour of tender leaves that emerge from the earth after rains. Green is not the colour of fear or dominance. It is the colour of renewal, fertility and calm strength. This Ram is not alone. …
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Articles
If Usha Vance became Christian, would she be American enough?
Sensing the shift in public narrative following the killing of Charlie Kirk, now seen as a Christian martyr, Vice President JD Vance declared publicly that he hoped his wife, Usha, daughter of Telugu Brahmin immigrants, would convert to Christianity. But in today’s America, that is not enough…
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Articles
Blood Pacts of Kutch
Priestly role was often performed by Charans. They were bards, negotiators, ritual specialists, poets, warriors, royal companisons and much more. They preserved memory in the old Dingal language. …
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Articles
Can a French man be a ‘civilisational Hindu’?
In New India, an Italian woman with an Indian passport remains a ‘foreigner’, but a French man with an Indian passport becomes a ‘civilisational Hindu’, and is even asked to influence young impressionable minds by creating ‘decolonised’ school textbooks…
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Articles
Can a French man be a ‘civilisational Hindu’?
In New India, an Italian woman with an Indian passport remains a ‘foreigner’, but a French man with an Indian passport becomes a ‘civilisational Hindu’, and is even asked to influence young impressionable minds by creating ‘decolonised’ school textbooks…
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Articles
How Ganesh Became The God Of All Things
To understand why Ganesha is worshipped as the remover of obstacles and invoked before every Hindu ceremony, we must understand—and appreciate—the role elephants have played in Indian history and imagination. …
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Articles
Are vegetarians kinder people?
Vegetarianism has become associated with Jains, Brahmins, Baniyas, Lingayats and with the idea of purity, even though Kashmiri, Maithili, Bengali and Odia Brahmins are meat-eaters. Meat eating became associated with communities considered “untouchable” and “impure”: Tribals, Dalits, Chandalas, Ati Shudras. Over time, diet has become a caste marker. …
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Articles
Brahmin Wars Beneath Vande Mataram
We already have a national anthem, ‘Jana Gana Mana’. Why then the ruckus over a national song, ‘Vande Mataram’? Could it have something to do with the caste of the respective poets, both Bengali Brahmins, but one lesser in ritual stature and the other higher?…
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Articles
Was Macaulay Anti-India Or Anti-Brahmin?
The debate around Macaulay, English, and education is not just about colonialism. It is about whether India wants a future shaped by open inquiry or a past shaped by inherited authority…
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Articles
Six Signs Your Friend Has Been Colonised
Once your friend starts saying things like ‘karma is a b*tch’ or ‘you’ll get your karma’, he’s turned an ancient idea into a moral courtroom. He has replaced karma with justice, a concept that entered India through Christian and Islamic theology — through colonial education that divided the world into good and evil, heaven and…
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Articles
When Billionaires Speak of The Antichrist
Peter Thiel – venture capitalist and PayPal co-founder – recently used the Christian myth of Antichrist to describe everyone who fears and resists technological change. In other words, for him technology is Christ, saviour, God even…
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Articles
Pigeon Spirituality
Who funds these monks who promote non-violence and vegetarian food? Those who make money from industries that pollute rivers, seas, and air. India’s biggest industrialists are vegetarians. …
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Articles
Is Lingayat a caste or a religion?
The Lingayat community today insists it is a separate religion. They refuse to be placed within the Veerashaiva fold, or being seen as a subset of Hinduism. This demand has upset those who seek to unite Hinduism under a single umbrella by referring to it as ‘sanatan dharma’…
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Articles
How Merchants Shape the Satvik Holiness
The richest families in India are strictly vegetarian and belong to the vaishya varna. They are supported by politicians committed to the cause of vegetarianism or Satvikism, a new form of Hinduism. As these rich communities take control of temples and pilgrimage sites, we find them pushing for Satvikism…