Articles

In the framework of Europalia India, a string of institutions including my Alma Mater, the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, hosts a series of exhibitions, performances, films showings, conferences and lectures. Last Tuesday and Wednesday, Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal was to speak in Brussels and Leuven, but he didn’t show up, being detained in a sex scandal. [...]

Perhaps surprisingly in a country where so many people view cows as sacred, India could soon become the world’s biggest beef exporter, according to the USDA. DELHI/MUMBAI: Symbols of India’s emergence as an economic powerhouse line the four-lane highway to Jaipur out of New Delhi: a factory owned by the world’s biggest motorbike maker, glass [...]

Hindu texts have discussed variations in gender and sexuality for over two millennia. Like the erotic sculptures on ancient Hindu temples at Khajuraho and Konarak, sacred texts in Sanskrit constitute irrefutable evidence that the whole range of sexual behavior was known to ancient Hindus. When Europeans arrived in India, they were shocked by Hinduism, which [...]

Indians have brains. This news has spread by now. I read about an Indian girl in a school in U.S. who complained that her American peers expected her to excel simply because she was Indian. There are statistics which show that NRIs in U.S. are doing exceptionally well, that their percentage in organizations like NASA [...]

“On Hinduism is a treat. For those who already know and admire Wendy Doniger’s work, this is a handy (if hefty) compendium of many of her essays…. For those who are reading her for the first time, the book is a marvellous introduction to the multiple ways that Hinduism can be approached and understood through [...]

The common language of Hinduism must depart from the dominance of Shankaran Advaita Amidst the globalization of diverse philosophies, Hindus are trying to establish a unique place for themselves. This requires a unique terminology that explains Hinduism, not in a Western framework but on its own terms. Some of our leaders are attempting such a [...]

Scientists are getting close to proving what yogis have held to be true for centuries — yoga and meditation can ward off stress and disease. John Denninger, a psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School, is leading a five-year study on how the ancient practices affect genes and brain activity in the chronically stressed. His latest work [...]

The great Pandurang Shastri once said that that the most adharmic thing that anyone did in the entire Mahabharata was a message sent by King Dhritarashtra to Yudhisthir prior to the outbreak of the Great War. The message was along the lines of: [...]

Chennai: The Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal in Chennai on Thursday halted a move to construct an international cricket stadium at the foot of the Tirumala hills, for which  Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy had laid the foundation stone on Wednesday. The bench, comprising judicial member Justice M. Chockalingam and expert member R. Nagendran [...]

Ahimsa is an important teaching within the Indian tradition. It has also been a term eagerly embraced by many new-age and metaphysical systems throughout the world.  Resulting in almost a placatory mentality toward certain types of action, which is also fueled by misinterpretations of Gandhi’s nonviolent resistance to the British occupation of India.  While ahimsa [...]