Month: September 2022

Oh Kolkata, where art thou…

The spirit of the Pujo is something else in Kolkata. Kolkata. The name evokes memories of history, heritage, art, food…and Durga Puja. As the flight descends on this city, a breathtaking view emerges. Kolkata, dressed in all its finery, all set to welcome Maa Durga. The festive atmosphere is unparalleled, the enthusiasm undiminished. The taxi …

Oh Kolkata, where art thou… Read More »

What is good, and what is bad?

The concept of bad and good exists only in Western philosophy. Sanātana Dharma only speaks of action, and consequences. Every karmā, or every action, has consequences, which can be good, or bad for you. Depending on what your expectations or circumstances are. You have a choice of right action. That is termed as Dharmā. You …

What is good, and what is bad? Read More »

The enemy within?

You can fight an enemy who is outside, but how do you fight the enemy within? Spirituality is all about knowing yourself. If you are brutally honest in your assessment, you will find a lot that you do not like. You may also be disgusted in some matters – how can I think this way? …

The enemy within? Read More »

The great reset…

Once you observe Ekādashi vratā regularly, Navrātri is a breeze. Conditioning one’s body to work on reduced inputs helps in times of need, but if you keep a track of it, you will observe that you actually eat much more than you have to. Our ancestors used to hunt and farm and collect food, and …

The great reset… Read More »

Of math and life…

In mathematics, summation is the addition of a sequence of any kind of numbers, called addends or summands; the result is their sum or total. So is life – a summation of many moments that we experience. The result of all these moments and experiences is what we call living, isn’t it? So, do you want the summation to consist mostly instances of scrolling through social media and …

Of math and life… Read More »

The significance of number nine…

या देवी सर्वभूतेषु विष्णुमायेति शब्दिता । नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ॥  yā devī sarvabhūteṣu viṣṇumāyeti śabditā ।namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namaḥ ॥ The number nine holds special significance in our lives. In fact, we begin our journey with the number nine – that is the number of months we spend in our mother’s wombs. Yog shastras …

The significance of number nine… Read More »

And it begins…

Tomorrow is Mahalaya, the advent of the Devi… And the day after is Navratri… As always, I will be writing a series for the next nine-ten days, a bit of what has been written before, and a bit about my experiences this time. As before, I will be observing vrata for all nine days, eating …

And it begins… Read More »

Of 14s and electronic q-tips…

The iPhone 14 is here, and so are the done-to-death “sell my kidney” jokes. Do I upgrade? Well, err…ummm….anyone looking for a Gold iPhone 12 Pro Max Fantastic 256GB? The airpods refresh seem tempting too. But then, so does gold, at a yearly low, and equities, that are expected to dip as recession hits the …

Of 14s and electronic q-tips… Read More »

Dheena Karunakarane Nataraja…

Dheena Karunakarane Nataraja…Neelakantane… A few days back I had written about Rohāmrta’s fascination for ‘The Wheels on the Bus’, an American folk song that turned into a rhyme along the way. Read more about it down below. As it turns out, the kid has since turned desi. More precisely, Southern desi. His favorite channel (in …

Dheena Karunakarane Nataraja… Read More »

Om Shanti Gajodhar bhaiyya

Shri Raju Srivastava, best known for his Gajodhar bhaiyya performances, has passed. In an era where comedy is now synonymous with four-letter words and obscene comments, Raju bhaiyya was an exception. He kept it clean, and continued to do so even when many others got ahead by peppering their so-called stand up comedy with expletives …

Om Shanti Gajodhar bhaiyya Read More »