Mythologist | Author | Speaker | Illustrator
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Articles
A savage civilisation
Published on 20th October, 2019, in Mid-day A few years ago, I had a confrontation with a senior newspaper editor, on stage, which quickly became viral and considerably popular. In the video, the editor insisted on equating Hinduism with Hindutva which is something I do not subscribe to. Nor do I subscribe to the idea…
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Articles
Love in simplified Chinese is without a heart
Published on 18th October, 2019, in Economic Times In China, there are many dialects and a lot of diversity; however, everyone is united by the use of the single script. You can read the same script, in different languages but arrive at the same meaning. This is unlike Indian scripts, where even if different languages…
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Articles
Shakti or Shaktiman?
Published on 13th October, 2019, in Mid-day I was recently trolled by a group of people. This was because I apparently had stated a claim that women are not powerful in India. I tried to figure out from where they had derived this alleged statement of mine and eventually realised that I had made a…
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Articles
Science and yoga
Published on 6th October, 2019, in Mid-day Is yoga scientific? This is a question I am often asked, in various forums. The problem that lies with this question is essentially with the understanding of what yoga is, what science is and the overarching sense of insecurity that is faced by many people relating to the…
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Articles
What Puranic historians won’t accept
Published on 18th September, 2019, in The Hindu A study has shown that there is no evidence of Steppe genes in Harappa according to analysis of DNA found in Rakhigarhi. This has led to the claim that Harappan civilisation was indigenous, 100% Indian, not shaped by any foreign influence whatsoever. Since many Puranic historians are…
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Articles
Harappan and Aryan Roots of Rig Veda
Published on 15th September, 2019, in Mid-day DNA studies are now showing that Harappans did not have genes of steppe pastoralists (Aryans). But these Aryan genes are found in about 30 per cent of the Indian population. This means the Aryans came after Harappan cities had collapsed. They did not invade Harappa, but many Aryan…
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Articles
The Shudra Inside Us
Published on 15th September, 2019, in Bangalore Mirror Bureau The gesture of namaste means to salute the divine within people. It is also a gesture of humility, humiliation, submission and petition before power. Namaste between equals has the former meaning but the latter meaning is evoked through the namaste of a junior to a senior,…
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Articles
Mythology of Harappa
Published on 8th September, 2019, in Mid-day The Harappan civilization thrived between 2500 BCE and 1900 BCE, lasting six centuries, existing 4,000 years ago. In these cities, we find seals with images that give a tantalising glimpse of a mythology that may thrived in those cities before the arrival of Indo-European myths 500 years later,…
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Articles
The spoked wheel
Published on 24th August, 2019, in Mid-day The spoked wheel is an important symbol in India, especially since the image is an integral part of our national flag. This wheel is considered to be Ashoka’s Dharma Chakra and is associated strongly with Buddhism. Unfortunately, that restricts its magical history, which spreads across Hindu and Jain…
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Articles
Equating Paganism With Hinduism
Published on 11th August, 2019. in Mid-day Christian missionaries used the word ‘pagan’ and ‘heathen’ to derogatorily describe all non-monotheistic pre-Christian religions that indulged in nature and idol worship. Hinduism came under this category. Today, many Hindutva followers want to reclaim the word ‘pagan’ for Hinduism. Let us first understand the meaning of these words.…
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Articles
Dharma focuses on empathy, not justice
Who is a Hindu? Published on 4th August, 2019, in Mumbai Mirror Once upon a time, there were two friends in a school. They were the best of friends and they promised to share everything with each other. After they graduated, one became rich and one remained poor. The poor friend went to the rich…
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Articles
Raising Hindu kids in America
Published on 21st July, 2019, in Mumbai Mirror How do you teach a child about Hinduism? There are no easy answers out there How does a child in India learn Hinduism? Unlike Bible classes of Christians and madrasas of Muslims, Hinduism is not ‘taught’. You acquire it by living it — participating in household rituals…
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Articles
Unspoken language of village gods
Published on 21st July, 2019, in Mid-day If you want to understand the village gods of India, you must understand what defines a living creature. The fundamental difference between a living creature and a non-living creature is that a living creature seeks food. Plants seek food, animals seek food, humans seek food. In other words,…
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Articles
Declaration of faith
Published on 7th July, 2019, in Mumbai Mirror Declaration of faith is part of many religions. It means publicly stating one’s belief. In Judaism, which is the oldest Abrahamic faith, it is a reiteration of monotheism, the ‘Shema’. In Christianity, it means making the sign of the cross to show one accepts Jesus, who was…
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Articles
Is Shiva the corporate destroyer or Kalki?
Published on 15th June, 2019, in Economic Times. Kalki, the tenth avatar of Vishnu, is very popular amongst young people, who visualise him as an Avenger, part of a cosmic end game. He is visualised as riding a white horse, brandishing a fiery sword, cutting down people. The story about Kalki is not very wellknown;…
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Articles
Not quite division of labour
Published on 14th April, 2019, in Mumbai Mirror. Many assert that the caste system (jati pratha) is essentially ‘division of labour’. However, this will never be said by those involved in manual scavenging, cleaning sewers without proper gear, being forced to take up this job because that is the only vocation made available to them.…