Society
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Mythology of White Hindus
Published on 5th January, 2020, in Mumbai Mirror We may claim to be free of colonial rule, but we are still spellbound by Caucasian people. We link their skin to beauty and power. So it is not great surprise that…
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Spot the difference between sign and symbol
Published on 16th December, 2019, in The Hindu The symbol of India in Indian passports and Indian currency notes has been a lion and a spoked-wheel or chakra, both from the Ashoka pillar. Now the government has introduced the lotus…
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Measuring Realised Souls: How Does One Know If Someone Is Awakened Or Not?
Published on 15th December, 2019, in The Economic Times Nowadays, India is full of gurus. Most are self-appointed, but their followers insist their guru has magical powers, that he was initiated and anointed by secret mystical forces. There was a…
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Persian Chakravarti
Published on 8th December, 2019, in Mid-day Persia refers to countries now known as Iran and Iraq. In ancient days, Iraq was called Mesopotamia, the fertile river crescent where one of the first civilisations was built around farming. Because of…
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Vedantic attachment and Islamic Idolatry
Published on 21st November, 2019, in The Hindu In Mecca, a large number of historic sites, including mosques, and even sites associated with Prophet Muhammad’s life, are being broken by the guardians of the Kaaba. This is being done to…
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View: Ill treatment of sewage cleaners; how we become participants in a cultural adharma
Published on 16th November, 2019, in the Economic Times Water plays a very important role in Hindu mythology. Every form of water seems to be linked to a god, and to a caste. The sea is called Varuna, the father…
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Pakistani Mythology
Published on 3rd November, 2019, in Mid-day Pakistan was the first modern republic to declare itself ‘Islamic’. It imagines itself as the Eastern edge of Arab civilisation, when in fact, it is the Western edge of Indian civilisation. No Pakistani…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…