Life

Can you really give anything up?

Renunciation does not mean giving up something, as is commonly believed. Attachment to anything – an object, a person…is rāga. The absence of attachment is Vi-rāga. The condition of being in vi-rāga, is vairāgya. When it comes to Shiva – he cannot renounce anything since everything is in him. Whatever you see around you, and …

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47 cycles around the sun…

And so tomorrow, sometime in the morning, I would complete 47 cycles around the sun, as per the Gregorian calendar. Birthdays are all about wishes. And you get a lot of them. Ever since the explosion of email, one even gets wishes from the bank, the neighborhood e-grocer and your bike servicing company. Everyone is …

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Happy Deepawali!

आप सब को दीपावली की हार्दिक शुभकामनाएँ! जय श्री लक्ष्मी माता! If you chose to celebrate in full abandon, happy Diwali to you! If you chose to have a muted celebration, happy Diwali to you too! And if you choose not to celebrate this year, well, happy Diwali to you too! A celebration comes from …

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The experience of Navratri…

I fasted the whole nine days of Navratri. Warm water during the day, a banana and a date when hungry, and a simple alu jeera around 6 pm post sunset. None of the fried stuff that usually goes into Navratri thālis. No rice, no wheat, no lentils, no dairy, no tea, no coffee. No other …

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Day 6…

Read the previous part here… Seeing Mahishasura fall, the entire legions of the asura armies perished. The devas celebrated and showered flowers on Devi Chandika, and sang praises in her name. The Devi, the mother of the worlds, had brought an end to the tyranny of the all-powerful leader of the asuras. The Devi Mahatmyam is …

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And then there were three…

Started my second newsletter on LinkedIn. Called Three. A newsletter that does not waste time in coming to the point. Three recommendations per week – one book, one song, one article. No lengthly explanations, reasoning, reviews or gyaan. And no particular theme. This week: Book – The Anxious Generation – by Jonathan Haidt Song – …

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On rites of passage…

A rite of passage is a ceremony or ritual of the passage which occurs when an individual leaves one group to enter another. It involves a significant change of status in society. Various cultures around the world, especially the older ones, have detailed rights of passage for both boys and girls. Among Native Americans, for …

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