I am not an expert on Sabarimala. I am not an expert on anything. If anything, I am a generalist. I dabble with whatever comes my way. So for this post, I am exploring a question that may interest you as well: Why does the Sabarimala tradition deem the presence of women within the fertile […]
A THOUGHT ON SABARIMALA Read More »
There is a quiet revolution taking place in the world, but as is usual with most good things, it is passing India by. This movement, about fifteen years old but gathering momentum, is variously known as Rewilding of Rivers or as Dams Decommissioning. Its premise is that dams belonged to a different era of environmental
Recently I read the book “In Praise of Slow: How a Worldwide Movement is Challenging the Cult of Speed” and was totally captivated by it. Partly, I suppose, because it resonated so deeply with me and how I live. From my childhood, I have been chastised for being slow for most of my life. I
Slowing Things Down Read More »
This last week has been a bit of a traumatic experience for us, the residents of Puranikoti village, as far away from Khargone and Jehangirpuri as Sabarmati Ashram is from the BJP headquarters in Jhandewalan. Now, PK is a tiny village with just 192 “souls” ( as the PWD board proclaims), we don’t even have
THE BULLDOZER BLUES Read More »
Einstein had once famously remarked that the only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance. A surfeit of either is minacious. A mixture of both, however, can be disastrous. The elected government of Himachal is now displaying that it has both attributes in abundance and it is the residents of the state who are paying
SHIMLA : GOING, GOING, GONE! Read More »
Familiarity is the deadliest religious disease. We feel at home with the familiar, because the familiar does not make any demand on us. It excludes the need to think. Thinking has the potential to unsettle us in our settled ways. It is when the unfamiliar hits us that, thank God, our brain begins to tick!
IN THE IMAGE AND LIKENESS OF GOD? Read More »
From childhood, whenever I heard that ‘there was no room in the inn’ for Jesus when he was born in Bethlehem, I used to feel sad. It is only recently that I realized how stupidly wrong I was! Here is the reason, in case you are interested (it will take only2 minutes of your time).
THE COCOON VERSUS THE HIGH ROAD, OR THE INN VERSUS THE WAY Read More »
Last week I received a draft petition to the Election Commission of India from a well known writer and activist of civil society about the use of EVMs, with the request to obtain endorsements for it. I forwarded it to about twenty contacts, all well read people, engaged with and concerned about the state of
THE BJP IS WINNING ANYWAY, ELECTIONS ARE A SIDESHOW. Read More »
The Hindu family in Bengal that I was born into represented a gentle, tolerant faith. Admittedly because of the aftermath of the partition in which Bengal too was affected, there was some unease towards Muslims, particularly among those who had to leave behind their roots and memories in what is now Bangladesh but not much. Most
Transforming a People Read More »
