So, what does really happen if you are an Indian and don't understand Sanskrit? Chances are, you may grow up to be a fake mythologist like Devdutt Pattanaik. It is a matter of shame that Indians grow up reading the interpretation of our mythologies and other scriptures of only western authors and then grow up … Continue reading What happens when you don’t understand Sanskrit
Category: Books
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
How far can one deviate in retelling our Itihasas and Puranas?
In India along with books of chick-lit genre written by the ilks of Chetan Bhagat, the books of another genre that sell well are those based on the characters of Ramayana and Mahabharata. Some authors like Devdutt Patnaik call their books as re-tellings, which of course is nothing new. Retelling is perhaps as old as … Continue reading How far can one deviate in retelling our Itihasas and Puranas?
How I met my books
The Little Clay Cart Some of the interesting books I have read are associated with their own interesting stories about how I came across the books or, in what circumstances I read the books. While helping my father-in-law arranging his home library a couple of years back I came across an Odia version of the … Continue reading How I met my books
To buy or not to buy
The fare comes to Rs. 492. I hand over a five hundred rupee note. While searching diligently for the change to return, the Ola driver smiles sheepishly and says, 'Sir, five star please'.. Let me simplify this for you. There are two kinds of reviews. Influenced reviews and honest reviews. Or, paid reviews and honest … Continue reading To buy or not to buy
A land linked by the footsteps of pilgrims
Post independence we can say our constitution defines the idea of India, apart from its physical boundries carved out through historical corrections and blunders. But the idea of India is an ancient one, as ancient as perhaps when efforts were taken to sanctify its mountains, rivers and all other important natural landmarks and link those … Continue reading A land linked by the footsteps of pilgrims
Are Inspirational Books Really Useful?
In my earlier blogpost- do self help books help - I was very critical of the self help books available in the market. Some thought I was a bit too harsh while sharing the uselessness of the majority of the self help books. I was thinking of writing a sequel, and this week's Insdispire prompt … Continue reading Are Inspirational Books Really Useful?
The age of content overload
This post is in response to not only indspire #273 prompt but also the blog posts written by fellow indibloggers on the topic suggested by Dr. Rekha Rani. It is interesting to note that fellow bloggers have examined the topic from various angles. I have also put my views as comments on their blog posts. … Continue reading The age of content overload
Reading : Out of Love or Obligation?
I am writing this post as a response to the indiblogger prompt #indispire268 which goes as follows: It is not a difficult choice for me to list the three books that I want to read. In fact I wanted to read these books so desperately that I got them one month back from the library … Continue reading Reading : Out of Love or Obligation?
PEBBLES AND WAVES 