Kaveri connections

Since childhood I have a fascination for rivers. Both mine and my maternal uncle’s villages where I spent most part of my childhood were surrounded by rivers. I can write volumes about my adventures and playful activities associated with rivers. The story of the river is also the story of its people. All ancient civilisations … Continue reading Kaveri connections →

From Jagannath to Juggernaut

Google's dictionary gives the meaning of the word Juggernaut as follows: When you try to find out the word origin, the first page of google search results is full of links to sites run by established dictionary publishers like Macmillan, Webster etc. Of course wikipedia also finds a place. The explanation of wikipedia is much … Continue reading From Jagannath to Juggernaut →

The Idea of India

If I were asked to have only one post on the current AtoZ theme, mera gaon mera desh, I would have this one. It is a book review of ‘India: a sacred Geography’. The book was written by Diana L. Eck - an award winning professor of comparative religion and Indian Studies at Harvard University. … Continue reading The Idea of India →

The Missing History of Hindustan

In my first article of this series I have mentioned about the tradition of Boita Bandana and Bali Jatra that commemorate the glorious maritime adventures of Odias in South East Asia. The businessmen who engaged in such maritime trade were known as sadhabas. There is a popular folk tale in Odisha about one of sadhaba … Continue reading The Missing History of Hindustan →

mera gaon mera desh

Having missed the theme reveal post as I was late in waking up to the AtoZ challenge, I hope this post would compensate for that. In almost all Indian languages, a village is called a Gramam or any of its minor variations. Same way the word palli and its minor variations (like in Kannada it … Continue reading mera gaon mera desh →

What about some thoughts for foods?

Having chosen a deshi theme, I will be talking of Indian Foods. Nothing in particular. Some random observations foraged over the years. Disclaimer: I am neither a foodie nor some kind of a Chef- in- the-making taking advantage of the period of lock down. A sweet battle with our neighbour Unlike some Indian states which … Continue reading What about some thoughts for foods? →

we can’t do away with English but …

I had the opportunity of listening to William Dalrymple when he had come to the Times Literature Festival, Bengaluru this year to promote his latest book - The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company. From his account it appears that, unlike the Mughals, the British did not have to struggle either to … Continue reading we can’t do away with English but … →

danda nacha- a religiocultural celebration since time immemorial

It is one of those few memories of my early childhood. Or it could be the first series of events of my life that I am still able to recall in bits and pieces. I am attending the famous Danda Nacha closing ceremony at a village named Gallery with my mother and my grandmother. The … Continue reading danda nacha- a religiocultural celebration since time immemorial →

Can Indian Classical Music Kill Corona Virus?

Myth: Playing of Indian Classic music kills Corona virus in the surroundings. Truth : Forget about killing, there is no evidence to suggest that Indian classical music has remotely disturbed the cellular composition of the virus. A time may come when WHO delivers the above message to our cell phones. I would agree with it, … Continue reading Can Indian Classical Music Kill Corona Virus? →

my B-town connections

Because ‘Bombay’ starts with the alphabet B and most of the Hindi movies borrowed their style and substance from Hollywood, I think the naming of Hindi Film Industry as Bollywood was perfectly logical. The yellow journalists used to call Bombay the B-town, while using it with reference to the glitterati that inhabited the city. By … Continue reading my B-town connections →