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 [...]
The book India for a Billion Reasons, edited by Amit Dasgupta, is an effort to celebrate Indian-ness, imagined and articulated differently by over a billion Indians. This finely-crafted book, adorned with rich and spontaneous photographs, unravels the beauty and enigma of the country and its people in an unusually simple and uncomplicated manner. Excerpts from [...]
Pandit Pandharinath Kolhapure is one of the eight rudra veena players in the country who, without much media attention, is striving to revive people’s interest in the instrument, writes Ekta Alreja Kapoor His eyes light up at the mere mention of veena and his tone gathers urgency as he laments on how the Indian musical [...]
Dr Arvind Sharma How astronauts experiencing no gravity are like realized souls experiencing no karma Karma is a key Hindu concept not always easily explained. Comparing it with the gravity, however, helps to illustrate how it works. Obviously, the law of gravitation existed before Newton discovered it. Similarly, the law of karma was actively at [...]
Was Krishna unfair and biased in the way that he dealt between the Pandavas and Kauravas? Were his war ethics, which involved a disregard for the pre-ordained rules of warfare, justifiable? These are common questions that are brought up against Shri Krishna, particularly with regards to the unflinching help he gave to the Pandavas in [...]
By Anwar Manippady Cow and her progeny sustains the health of the nation by giving life an essential ingredient of a scientifically balanced diet. Bullocks are essential for our agricultural based economy for obvious reasons. In a Muslim colony if a pork shop (pig) is put up we would definitely protest as the pig is [...]
By Rachana Kamat I treasure you singing me a song; I never wanted to hear, And when I did a little jig and you couldn’t see me near. Walking through the hallway I, posing important, You giving me a push, and acting as if I was redundant. Awaiting my chance to speak, talk and impress; [...]
Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand and Dilip Kumar were the heroes of the Nehruvian era. Amitabh Bachchan reigned supreme during Indira Gandhi’s time. And, in between came Rajesh Khanna, who sparked the film industry with a number of mega-hits. Since the mid-1980s, however, there has been a complete mishmash in the true texture of Bollywood and [...]
Sometime in the mid-1970s when Shashi Kapoor announced four films — 36 Chowringhee Lane (Aparna Sen), Junoon (Shyam Benegal), Vijeyta (Govind Nihalani) and Utsav (Girish Karnad) — to be made under his banner ‘Filmwala’, all that the media wanted to know was whether these films were going to be art house films or mainstream movies. [...]
Built on a sprawling 14.3 acre plot on the Esselworld plateau in Mumbai, the Global Vipassana Pagoda is a monument to promote peace. A 21.5 feet tall statue of Lord Buddha has become the talk of the megapolis. Carved out of a single piece of stone, the statue has enhanced the splendour of the complex. TN RAGHUNATHA tells you more about this architectural marvel
