Yuval Noah Harai, in his book 21 lessons for the 21st Century, gives a beautiful perspective on Nationalism. He says that the nation is basically a story we tell ourselves. No doubt every nation has its geographical boundary. But without those stories, the collective feeling of belonging to a nation would not come. In order …
protectionism does not pay
I would not call article 370 and 35A as special provisions. I would call them protectionist principles. And in this era of globlisation, excess protectionism does not pay. Like many Indians and non-Indians, I too had not expected this. It was only a couple of days back that in my blog post - A trip …
the little star
It was a fault in the traffic signal that made him famous at birth. While his mother carried him, his father decided to carry her in his own Maruti 800 when the labour became too much to bear and Mrs. Sen felt it was finally time to offload. Mr. Sen did not consider asking for …
watchings of idle hours #9 : mountain
Only three centuries ago, climbing a mountain would have been considered close to lunacy. The idea scarcely existed that wild landscapes might hold any sort of attraction. Peaks were places of peril, not beauty. - Mountain (2017) My fascination for mountains goes back to my child hood days. I was born in a village flanked …
watchings of idle hours #8 : shades of tourism
Dark tourism, dark side of tourism, and the age of selfie tourism What would it be like to visit a museum that displays Nazi era lampshades made of human skin? How does it feel to swim in a lake created as a result of nuclear tests by the Soviets in Kazakhstan? Will your body and …
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watchings of idle hours #7 : in convalescence
Tourism in Bhutan, a freak accident, and the flower pots in our balcony Bhutan seems to have woken up to the reality of over-tourism without suffering the wisdom of hindsight. Its policy of charging $250 per day for foreign tourists (excluding Indian, Bangladeshi and Maldivian nationals) is a big put off for the budget adventurers. …
Continue reading watchings of idle hours #7 : in convalescence
A book that busts many long held beliefs about Hinduism
The specialty about ‘Essays on Hinduism’ by Karan Singh is that it has a balanced approach unlike the plethora of books available on Hinduism that either exaggerate or dismiss Hinduism comparing it to one of the pagan polytheistic religions of prehistoric era without understanding the underlying philosophical foundations of Hinduism as propounded in our Upanishads. My review of the book is published in the Jun 2019 issue of Bengaluru Review. Read on to find out more.
“The author presents the soul of Hinduism, as opposed to its body which are the various rituals associated with the religion, and are the focus point of many western and Indian intellectuals,” writes Durga Prasad Dash.
I read this book – Essays on Hinduism – over a couple of days in a hospital waiting room. Once I started the book or every time I restarted the book, I got lost in no time and forgot about the surroundings, till someone came and tapped my shoulders.
This book is written by Karan Singh, an Ex-Cabinet Minister in the Congress Government. So the book is not coming from a member of the saffron brigade. Nor is it written by one of those so called foreign scholars. Hence, we may expect a fair degree of neutrality along with the right amount of compassion, unlike the contents in the plethora of books on…
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the spy who fascinated me
(Three years back I had written this article which was later included in my book 'Jottings of Idle hours'. At the time when I wrote the article, speculations were going on regarding a female version of 007. I am tempted to share the article here again since the speculations are going to be a reality …
a meal to remember … and the journey
During High School days, I was an active member of the National Cadet Corps (Army Wing). When volunteers were asked for to attend the annual NCC camp of 1982 to be held at the HAL town of Sunabeda near Koraput, I was one of the first batch of students to register. Early one morning I …
Amarnath yatra : down memory lane (Part-3)
Amarnath Yatra : down memory lane (Part-1) This year, the form has become formless. But the priest insists we bow. After a glimpse of the void we retrace our path back to the tenth ox. The story of the tenth ox is like this. Some Japanese Buddhist traditions use a series of ten pictures …
