Clik here to view.
Why Vivekananda Matters More Today
A COUPLE OF YEARS BACK, ON SWAMI VIVEKANANDA’S birthday tithi according to the Hindu almanac, I found myself through sheer grace at Belur Math, on the outskirts of the great colonial metropolis of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Nayanjot Lahiri: The Time Keeper
FOR THE SERIOUS academic historian that she is, Nayanjot Lahiri, author of works as stellar as Ashoka in Ancient India and Finding Forgotten Cities: How the Indus Civilization was Discovered, has...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Prayagraj and Kumbh
IN THIS COLUMN, I have spoken in the past about infrastructure. I will apparently deviate now, but not entirely. This time, it will be about Prayagraj and Kumbh, and I will link that with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Spiritual Vs Physical
There is a common misconception that the mind and the spirit are in constant conflict. The temporal world takes care only of the physical side of existence. Whatever can be measured using the five...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Kumbh Mela: Leaps of Faith
IN THIS PURPLE HOUR WHERE A cold, howling breeze and coils of cow-dung smoke wrap around those awake like uneasy garments, naked sadhus squat and shiver under taps of flowing water. The temperature of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Blend in the River
Among the faithful at the confluence of Hinduism’s holy waters are those who defy the day-to-day divisions of worldly life, for whom the soul transcends the body every living moment, and who slip...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Travels of a Deity
A FRIEND WITH FRIENDS in the right places had piloted us into the shrine well before daybreak, before the massed crowds of devotees waiting outside its great gateway had been granted entry. Just before...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Awakening Bharat Mata
THERE ARE TWO public faces of Narendra Modi. The first, always in evidence at official functions, is of an immaculately turned out Modi addressing issues of governance with solemnity and with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Still Romancing Jejuri
I stand at the base of a large and imposing hill. Around me are more hills. Each one of them like the one in front of us—dry, scraggly and brown like the shaggy fur of a hyena. There is little sign of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Awakening
Earlier this month, I was on a brief visit to London, a visit that coincided with the 60th birthday celebrations of a close friend from a past life. My friend, a well-known figure in the British media,...
View Article