All posts by HHR

An octogenarian engineer-turned-sadhu has staked his life once again to stop the damming of the holy river Environmental engineer and former IIT-Kanpur professor-turned-sadhu, Swami Gyan Swaroop Sanand (formerly GD Agrawal), 81, has not eaten anything for three-and- a-half months. By the time this article will be published, it will be 107 days since he started [...]

For several years now I have identified myself as a believer in Sanatan Dharma. Sometimes I feel comfortable referring to myself as a Hindu, and yet other times I feel quite uncomfortable. I’ll explain why shortly. Embracing the Hindu philosophy has been quite simple for me really. The moment I began reading The Upanishads something [...]

London: Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri has issued his first specific guidelines for jihad, urging restraint in attacking other Muslim sects and non-Muslims and in starting conflicts in countries where jihadis might find a safe base to promote their ideas. The document, published by the SITE monitoring service, provides a rare look at al-Qaida’s strategy 12 [...]

EDISON – Campaign signs for Dr. Sudhanshu Prasad, a town councilman running for mayor, were defaced with racist graffiti over the weekend, his campaign said. “We strongly denounce these deplorable acts,” Prasad and his running mates on the town council slate said in a statement released Monday. “These are cowardly acts of bigotry which have [...]

Today casteism is rampant. It is a new phenomenon. Old India had castes but not casteism. In its present form, casteism is a construct of colonial period, a product of imperial policies and colonial scholarship. It was strengthened by the breast-beating of our own “reformers”. Today, it has acquired its own momentum and vested interests. [...]

If you suddenly found yourself in Germany in the early 1930s, knew what was going to happen in a few short years, and had a chance to prevent it, would you? Even if you were not certain that you could stop it, would you at least try? Adolf Hitler and his Nazis are gone, but [...]

‘I have great reverence for India’s heritage and culture and I am deeply rooted in it’s rich tradition. Once while working for The Times of India, I had the opportunity to witness a quiz contest on Doordarshan (Indian State Run TV). There I saw that the participants could answer questions on Greek mythology but could [...]

The regimes that followed the Emergency (1975-77) did nothing to free the establishment from the stranglehold of the communist mafia. Members of the mafia have continued to occupy seats in the nation’s parliament and state legislatures, and man many other prestigious institutions. It retains control of two strategic states* on the borders with Bangladesh. In [...]

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on idol worship, music, art and ethics in Bollywood and politics. [...]

A devotee of Hanuman was once driving a cartload of grain to the market. On the way, one wheel got stuck and the cart could not be drawn forward. The cart slanted too, and a few bags fell on the ground. The devotee sat on the cart and started praying to Hanuman. He completed chanting [...]