Impressions and expressions

The Battle for Sanskrit: Is Sanskrit Political or Sacred, Oppressive orLiberating, Dead or Alive? by Rajiv Malhotra My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is the first Rajiv Malhotra's book I read. It concerns itself with criticizing Sheldon Pollock's views on Sanskrit and its social impact on Indian society (I heard his name for the first time in this book). It is indeed a class work of criticism. Malhotra speaks of Pollock respectfully, presents Pollock's views well and gives a dispassionate counter view-point. Rajiv Malhotra mentions that he even met Pollock twice to discuss their disagreements. This is really a very professional and dignified way to approach criticism and I am quite impressed with that! Coming to the core topic of this book, I am surprised that there are intellectuals like Pollock who think that Sanskrit language itself is a "language of oppression"! Of course the Sankrit Kavyas are blamed by people like Pollock for portraying patriarchy, hatred,...

“The day you take up the policy of giving love instead of demanding it - that day you will have rewritten your entire future destiny - Swami Chinmayananda” Today (May 8th) is Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda Saraswati 's 100th birth anniversary. This beautiful doodle created by Chinmaya Mission as a mark of devotion towards him has the words "Chinmaya Sadgurave Namaha" - Chinmayananda, widely hailed as the second Vivekananda, has done a tremendous contribution to spread the real essence of Sanatana Dharma among Hindus. He used English as the main language to communicate his message to the English speaking educated class who were increasingly becoming averse to Hinduism due to their misconceptions. He wrote excellent commentaries on several Hindu scriptures including Bhagavadgita and Upanishads. His vision of making the "family" as a member of the mission and not just the individual, is perhaps his master-stroke. Chinmaya Mission is unique in having t...

In the second part of the documentary " Enemies of reason ", Richard Dawkins evaluates the scientific basis of Homeopathy . I am surprised to learn that Homeopathy believes in " like cures like ". This is exact opposite of what Ayurveda believes (like increases like) and what modern medical science knows. Dawkins explains that this is not the same concept as a "vaccine" which introduces a diminished form of a virus to provoke the body's immune system. Instead, Homeopathy believes that "what causes similar symptoms cures those symptoms". So diluted poison ivy cures skin rash because undiluted poise ivy causes rash! To cure streaming eyes, the medicine is, you guessed it, diluted red onions! Even more curiously, Homeopathy believes that "the more the active ingredient is diluted, the more potent it becomes". Most Homeopathic medicines are marked 30c. This is, hold your breath, 1 part medicine : 100^30 parts water! This is so hu...

In director K.Vishwanath 's masterful creation " Sagara Sangamam ", music and lyrics play a big part. The magic of Ilayaraja 's music is amplified by the wonderful lyrics provided by Veturi . I n this article,  I take a look at the lyrics of the haunting melody song in the movie - "mounamelanoyi ii marapu raani reyi". This simple and soothing composition is wonderfully rendered by SPB and Janaki . The situation of the song is quite unique, something that shows the genius of K.Vishwanath. A married lady (female lead in the movie) who is separated from her husband due to some differences meets a dancer (male lead). Their artistic tastes meet and they soon become very good friends. Their mutual admiration leads to the bloom of love, unexpressed as yet. This song focuses on the feelings of the lady and the conflicts within her given her marital status. She is not yet legally divorced and so she has to decide between her marriage and her new found love. T...

#JustForFun #TrueStory Note: If you do not know what "Fifty Shades of Grey" book/movie is all about, please skip reading this post! Don't ask questions :)  Disclaimer:  This post is for fun only and is not intended to hurt die-hard Fifty Shades' fans (who I know are in plenty!) It was year 2012 and I was waiting in Chicago airport for my next flight. So I did what I normally do at such places - looked for book stores. Browsing through books gives me a joy surrounded by calmness, something every book-lover would know. I guess this is the same joy women experience when they do shopping, although book-shopping is way cheaper and a lot healthier! In the airport book-store, I saw a book being prominently advertised as a best-seller. The book had an interesting cover design - just a classy looking grey tie. It was titled "Fifty Shades of Grey". I thought it was some business book, going by the cover. But I was in for a surprise. It is an "er...

When we have a Guru who strikes a chord with people, there will be always be Guru-haters too who keep spreading lies to damage and discredit the Guru. So it is not surprising that Sadhguru (of Isha Foundation) has his fair share of critics who call him a fraud and his spiritual movement a “cult”. I addressed some of these “cult concerns” in my earlier article . Most of this so-called “criticism” is not worth considering because it is devoid of facts and is full of hate-filled propaganda. But we must keep listening to the critics because they may sometimes dig out a fact that deserves some attention. This article focuses on one such fact. The allegation An allegation I heard long back about Sadhguru is that he got trained under one Rishi Prabhakar of Siddha Samadhi Yoga (SSY), learnt all the yoga techniques from him, left him and started his own organization (Isha Foundation). I discarded this allegation as “silly propaganda” and never really paid much attention to it. But...

Some of my thoughts and feelings after listening to Rahman's latest offering "OK Bangaram" The most touching song in "OK bangaram" for me is " maula wa sallim " which apparently is a traditional Sufi song and so not a Rahman's tune. Rahman's young boy AR Ameen sings this song with such devotion and innocence that I can't help uttering - "God bless you beta, may you shine like your father!" I am big fan of Rahman's classical-based compositions and “Ok Bangaram” has 2 such songs - " edo adagana " and " manase tiyaga ". The tunes sound somewhat familiar but nevertheless good. Chitra does a splendid job in "manase tiyaga" though her voice shows some age. One crib I have in this song is that Sirivennela uses the word "trishna" in the pallavi which sounds too strong and disturbs the soft feel of the tune.  Singer "Shasha Tirupathi" (I am hearing her for the first time) does ...