Society
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Who is a Hindu? The temple as saviour
Our monumental temples, such as Puri’s Jagannatha temple, were a reaction to the arrival of a foreign faith, and a sign of resistance to it.
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Who is a Hindu? The making of Hindu anger
Can a religion be objectively criticised? Whose criticism must be taken seriously — the outsider’s or the insider’s?
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Both Rahul Gandhi & Narendra Modi subscribe to a western, Christian reading of Mahabharata
The villain in Hindu narratives is not evil but is just someone frightened and clinging to wealth, power and throne.
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Who is a Hindu? Life, death and afterlife
Rebirth and liberation are the twin fates that await the Hindu dead, but there are temporary sojourns to heaven and hell as well.
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Gender studies in ancient India
Gender studies was very much part of ancient India. The unique feature was the acknowledgement of the third sex: one that is neither male nor female.
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Emperor Xi a mandate of heaven
Xi Jingping seems to be creating heaven on earth, making China a powerhouse in geopolitics, restoring the glory of China since the infamous ‘hundreds years of shame’ in the 19th century.
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How Call me By Your Name reclaims Eden for gay people everywhere
Luca Guadagnino’s Oscar-nominated Call Me By Your Name, with brilliant use of narrative, visuals and music.
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Who is a Hindu? Economics of being Hindu
The Lingayats socio-cultural demand to be classified as different from Hindus throws up many interesting questions.
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Descendants of Chitragupta
In one story, popular in the Gangetic plains, the god of death, Yama, wanted a scribe to help him keep a record of people’s karma. And so Brahma created Chitragupta (he who knows the secrets of diagrams i.e. scripts), who…
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Is tribalism better than casteism?
While people decry the lower rate of inter-caste marriages in India, they don’t decry the low rates of inter-tribe marriages in India. The former is seen as indicator of casteism but the latter is not seen as indicator of tribalism.
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Even the Gods played sport
We can safely say that sport in India began in both agricultural communities as well as martial communities.
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Who is a Hindu? Diversity unites, homogeneity divides
Unlike Westerners, Hindus have been comfortable seeing unity in diversity for thousands of years.
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Is Hinduism feminist or patriarchal?
In Hinduism, God is not a judge and so feminism is not about judging men.
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Belief shapes our behaviour
Belief shapes behaviour. When we see behaviour we can decode the underlying belief. However, the opposite is not true.
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How to Conduct a Same-sex Wedding Based on Indian Rituals
The idea of ‘wholeness’ in Hinduism is not necessarily a matter of the union of two bodies in marriage or even two souls in love; rather, wholeness or completeness in Hinduism can be understood as rising to the fullness of…
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Who is a Hindu? Hinduism’s DIY kit
It is time to reclaim the diversity offered by the four-spice model of purush-artha.