Book Review by U. Mahesh Prabhu Engineering and medicine are the two most coveted professions by Indian parents for their kids. It won’t be improper to suggest that: the reason for India to have so many doctors and engineers owes more to parental pressure rather than an individual’s personal pleasure. There are several stories to [...]

The present generation of Hindus owe much to Shivaji. Although he is famous throughout the length and breadth of India, in the West many Hindus, will not even have heard of him. This article is a tribute to the great King, whose life has had a profound impact on history, and who was an emblem [...]

Janmashtami celebrates the birth of Lord Krishna. Krishna’s birth on ashtami, the eighth day of a lunar fortnight or the half-moon, is significant as it indicates a perfect balance between the visible material world and the invisible spiritual realm. This signifies Krishna’s mastery over realms, the seen and the unseen. The personality of Krishna is [...]

When we are able to practise and develop a habit of becoming a witness to our thoughts, actions and their good or bad consequences like a non-reacting observer, we learn to live in the Krishna consciousness. When we develop the awareness of being in the body rather than being the body, we take the first [...]

By Asha Goswami Lord Krishna is the most charming figure in the three worlds (vibhradvapuh sakalasundarasannivesham… tribhuvanakamanam). He is eternal, and is beyond time and space. He is the embodiment of the highest pleasure, beauty, glory and knowledge. He also signifies the ‘one who is tireless in action’ (krishnayaklishtakarmane). Krishna is, therefore, the most celebrated [...]

Indian translator and author Kurchi Dasgupta, who shifted to Kathmandu from Kolkata in 2005 — the tumultuous year that led to a series of sweeping changes in the former Hindu kingdom — will present Bishoy Mahabharat, her second series of paintings interpreting the epic that dates back to the 9th-8th century BC , at the [...]

The book takes a close look at politico-economic circumstances that made China a ‘hard’ power and India a ‘soft’ state, says Anil Bhat As two major civilisations in the Asian theatre began their success story after the exit of the British Empire, they took different paths. While China remains, despite all reforms, authoritarian, India, no [...]

Termed a political history of Delhi between 1998 and 2009, the book ends up focusing on the rise and rise of Sheila Dikshit, and rightly so, writes Rajesh Singh At first glance, the cover of the book is a bit mystifying. It promises us a political history of Delhi covering the period 1998-2009, but the [...]

By Poorwa Kamat Tarkar This is a story of the Moon and the Sun… Luna and the Sol Invictus. Of how their story begins… For aught you have wondered, why the Sun offers its light to the moon each evening, and why during the high noon hours, blistering heat rains down on the soily terrains [...]

Book Review by U. Mahesh Prabhu When Muslims in democratic societies demand for “a room for Islamic prayer”, for “liberty” to wear head scarf or call for newspapers “to refrain from publishing Mohammed’s cartoons”, Islam’s apologists support them by referring to “freedom of faith”. By comparing Islam to other religion(s) and by presenting arguments like [...]