Society
-
Menstrual Taboos Are Not Unique to Hinduism
Who is a Hindu? Menstrual taboos are not unique to Hinduism Published on 16th August, 2020, in Mumbai Mirror. In Kerala, there is the story of a group of boys who found a rock bleeding. Those who touched it died…
-
My Father *Cannot* Be Gay
Published on 9th August, 2020, in Mid-day. When I came out to myself and my family in the 1990s, I found great joy in the ‘World of Homosexuals’, a book written by Shakuntala Devi, in 1977, long before HIV-AIDS made…
-
The Missing Horse Of Baghpat
WHO IS A HINDU? – The Missing Horse Of Baghpat. Published on 19th July, 2020, in Mumbai Mirror. Ram rides out of Ayodhya on a horse-driven chariot. Krishna rides out of Vrindavana and into Kurukshetra in a horse-driven chariot. As…
-
How Hindutva Threatens the History of Hindus
Who is a Hindu? How Hindutva threatens the history of Hindus Published on 5th July, 2020, in Mumbai Mirror. Hindutva history makes the history of Hindus fragile — people whose temples were destroyed by Muslims and who need Hindutva politicians…
-
An Unsuitable God
Published on 21st June, 2020, in Mid-day. In Vedic mythology we hear how the Ashwin Kumars were unsuitable gods, not allowed to partake the Soma offering. To get the offering, they approached Dadichi, who said that if he chanted the…
-
Being J. K. Rowling Today
Published on 14th June, 2020, in Mid-day. As long as JK Rowling tweeted against Trump, she was the darling of the liberals. Then, she expressed her views on transgenders, in December 2019, in a tweet that created an outrage. Suddenly,…
-
How ‘Breaking India’ Started
WHO IS A HINDU? How ‘breaking India’ started. Published on 7th June, 2020, in Mumbai Mirror. At the heart of Hindutva is the idea that Hinduism is under threat from external and internal forces and they must be countered at…
-
Did the Harappan know to write?
Published on 24th May, 2020, in Mid-day. Writing in India emerges only in the Mauryan period, 2,300 years ago. It is in the Ashokan edicts that we find the Brahmi script. Vedic hymns and Buddha’s lectures, before that, were orally…
-
Dharma During Crisis
Published on 12th April, 2020, in Mid-day As we go through a global pandemic which demands a major change in our lifestyle and which will have a major impact on the economy, it is a good time to remember a…
-
Mythology As Politics
Published on 22nd March, 2020, in Mid-day As a child in Mumbai, I watched Rajan Uncle perform Chakyar Kootu. My parents were economic migrants from Odisha. My neighbours were from Maharashtra, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. And we got to see…
-
Aryans of the Freedom Struggle
Published on 15th March, 2020, in Mumbai Mirror The British had long justified colonisation using different stories. Before the 1857 Uprising, they said British were saving Hinduism from oppression of Muslim rulers. They propagated the lie that they were using…
-
Mapping mythology, history and art with Wendell Rodricks
Published on 3rd March, 2020 in The Hindu I find it hard to believe that Wendell is gone. The news was a shock. But then, Wendell has always surprised me. From his habit of waking up very early in the…
-
From Square Harappa to Circular Mandala
Published on 23rd February, 2020, in Mid-day Hindutva historians insist that the Harappan cities, that thrived 4,500 years ago across Punjab, Sindh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat, were full of Aryas chanting Vedic hymns and pouring ghee in fire altars made of…
-
The Culture Of Report Cards
Published on 8th February, 2020, in The Economic Times Every child around the world is now living in a culture of report cards. He is continuously being measured for his abilities by his teachers and his parents: Is he good?…
-
Dancing in Krishna consciousness
Published on 19th January, 2020, in Mid-day In America and Europe, one often encounters white men dressed in orange robes, wearing beads and garlands around their neck, vertical marks on their foreheads, holding kettle drums in their hands, singing and…
-
Masculine and Feminine Gods
Published on 5th January, 2020, in Mid-day In mythology, generally, masculinity refers to the human desire to dominate and be territorial like the proverbial alpha male. In a positive sense it protects, in a negative sense it controls. Femininity is…