Mythologist | Author | Speaker | Illustrator
-
Articles
Bandra Mythology
Published on 29th January, 2023, in Mid-day. There was a Marathi film based on caste. The songs were catchy; they set the dance floor on fire. But it was a gut-wrenching romance that ended with honour killing. Despite its dark theme, it was a super hit, so successful that it had to be turned into…
-
Articles
Why Goan Hinduism Is Unique in India?
Published on 18th November, 2022, in Times of India. Goa is a sliver of land between the Western ghats and the sea, divided by rivers opening up to estuaries, much like Kerala, visited by sea traders for the past 4,000 years. Goan Hinduism is unique in India. The village structure that the Portuguese encountered five…
-
Articles
How a ‘Ram Rajya’ Was Established In South
Published on 27th August, 2022, in Times of India. About 700 years ago, on the banks of Tungabhadra, in Karnataka, as per legend, two brothers known as Harihara and Bukka, saw hares turning around and attacking hunting hounds. They realised that land was special – a place of resistance. So they decided to build a…
-
Articles
History of Bharat in Seven Days
Published on 10th July, 2022, in Mid-day. When you compress India’s history to one week, we gain a rather delightful perspective of our past. Indian history from Harappan times till today is approximately 5,000 years, so each day of the week is approximately a period of 700 years. On Sunday, in Northwest India, farming appears.…
-
Articles
From Shrinathji to Jagannath: How Krishna Avatars Change Across India.
Published on 29th January, 2022, in Times of India. Five hundred years ago, when the Mughals ruled north India, there was an explosion of Bhakti poetry across India. From north to south, people expressed their devotion to different forms of god using emotionally charged language. One of these forms of God was that of Krishna.…
-
Articles
Does Hindu Meal Include Dalit Food?
Published on 28th December, 2020, in Mid-day. Have you been offered Hindu meals on flights? What is it? North Indian food, or South Indian? Does it include Dalit food? What is Dalit food? The word “Dalit” homogenises hundreds of communities that are listed as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Some North Eastern restaurants do try…
-
Articles
Will India inc hire gay Tim Cook post-377 verdict?
With Supreme Court of India decimalizing homosexuality in no uncertain terms on 6th September 2018, will companies include ‘sexuality’ as part of their diversity policy?…
-
Articles
Were Hindus always casteist?
Note: the word caste is a European word for clan that is used for the Indian system of jati. The word jati, in turn, is confused with the Vedic system of varna…
-
Articles
Did arrival of Muslim invaders a thousand years ago destroy Hindu culture?
Published on 31st May, 2017, on www.dailyo.in . The arrival of Muslim invaders a thousand years ago dramatically transformed the Hindu culture. Like in any invasion, there was destruction, mayhem and trauma. Hindu Kush in Afghanistan literally means ‘killer of Hindu (slaves)’ during early phase of this invasion and the ruins of Vijayanagara by a…
-
Articles
Virgin Mary in Vailankanni
At her shrine in Vailankanni, Tamil Nadu, devotees bow to her, stretch out their hands and crawl to her shrine to express their devotion and faith…
-
Articles
Moved by bhakti
Pilgrims make the long journey to Pandharpur singing songs of revolution, their affection for Mother Krishna syncopated to a beat of social reform…
-
Articles
Unlimited Choice
The Ramayana is not a text; it is an evolving tradition; the many versions only enrich it further. You can choose the one that appeals to you…
-
Articles
No fish for Gauri this year?
Myriad oral explanations indicate that the ritual is locally rooted and organic to the community; a ceremonial household expression of emotion, not based on any particular scriptural injunction…
-
Articles
When audience was customer
In an Indian classical music and dance performance, the artiste blooms as the audience responds to the performance…
