ब्राह्मणीनकुलकथा The story of the Brahmin lady and the mongoose In a village, not so far away from here, lived a Brahmin named DevaSharma. He lived with his wife and their pet mongoose in a small house, and made his living from working at the nearby temple. One year, his wife gave birth to a baby …
Today is Ugādi — the first day of Chaitrā māsā, or the beginning of the new year. Largely celebrated in South India (where I am from), Maharashtra (as Gudi Padwa), Sindh (as Cheti Chand), and Manipur (as Sajibu Nongma Pānba). It is also the start of Navaratri. Unlike New Year’s day as per the Gregorian calendar, the …
तदेष श्लोको भवति ।अर्वाग्बिलश्चमस ऊर्ध्वबुध्नः, तस्मिन्यशो निहितं विश्वरूपम् ।तस्यासत ऋषयः सप्त तीरे, वागष्टमी ब्रह्मणा संविदान ॥इति ।‘अर्वाग्बिलश्चमस ऊर्ध्वबुध्नः’ इतीदं तच्छिरः, एष ह्यर्वाग्बिलश्चमस ऊर्ध्वबुध्नः; ‘तस्मिन्यशो निहितं विश्वरूपम्’ इति प्राण वै यशो विश्वरूपम्, प्राणानेतदाह; ‘तस्यासत ऋषयः सप्त तीरे’ इति प्राणा वा ऋषयः, प्राणानेतदाह; ‘वागष्टमी ब्रह्मणा संविदाना’ इति वागष्टमी ब्रह्मणा संवित्ते ॥ ३ ॥ tadeṣa śloko bhavati |arvāgbilaścamasa …
The Illustrated Ramayana for kids is meant to be read with context – the material is basic, and aims to serve as an introduction to the epic, and not an accurate attempt at a comprehensive translation of the meaning, both in letter and in spirit. You can read the whole series here. And below is …
Read a bit about the origins of some common phrases. Interesting! They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot & then once a day it was taken & sold to the tannery. If you had to do this to survive you were “piss poor.” But …
A year back to this day, I visited one of the offices of a very famous CEO in Dubai. Here is what I wrote then… The business in itself is quite interesting, but even more interesting is the way that it is run. From the time I approached the reception, to the completion of the …
A solar eclipse is imminent… यत्त्वा॑ सूर्य॒ स्व॑र्भानु॒स्तम॒सावि॑ध्यदासु॒रः । अक्षे॑त्रवि॒द्यथा॑ मु॒ग्धो भुव॑नान्यदीधयुः ॥यत्त्वा सूर्य स्वर्भानुस्तमसाविध्यदासुरः । अक्षेत्रविद्यथा मुग्धो भुवनान्यदीधयुः ॥ yat tvā sūrya svarbhānus tamasāvidhyad āsuraḥ | akṣetravid yathā mugdho bhuvanāny adīdhayuḥ || यं वै सूर्यं॒ स्व॑र्भानु॒स्तम॒सावि॑ध्यदासु॒रः । अत्र॑य॒स्तमन्व॑विन्दन्न॒ह्य१॒॑न्ये अश॑क्नुवन् ॥यं वै सूर्यं स्वर्भानुस्तमसाविध्यदासुरः । अत्रयस्तमन्वविन्दन्नह्यन्ये अशक्नुवन् ॥ yaṃ vai sūryaṃ svarbhānus tamasāvidhyad āsuraḥ | …
Did you know that the etymology of the word “hobby” is “hobby”, which meant a small horse? The word then went on to become “hobby horse”, which was a wooden playhorse for children. It then began to be associated with pastimes, something that was practiced regularly but did not necessarily have a financial reward associated …
पिपीलिकाभुजङ्गमकथा The story of the ants and the serpent “This is a short story. At the base of a fig tree not very far away from here, lived a huge black serpent named AtiDarpa (the arrogant one). He was huge in size, and so he bullied all the creatures who lived near the fig tree. No one …
Day 1 – done! Well, was a bit of an anti-climax actually, since it went pretty smoothly – he got up well, ate well, went to school without any fuss and was cheerful when we picked him up. Also, no traffic snarls and no untoward incidents. Phew. Ok, I know that this is just the …
