Swami decided to join a protest last weekend. He told me and Jigneshbhai that we are going to have coffee at a protest. But a doubt cropped up. “Is coffee allowed at a protest? Who’s going to get it for us?” Jigneshbhai and I had no idea. We had never been to any protest. “Let … Read more
Thimappa gathered the garbage with his shovel and pushed it on to the cloth sheet. It was at that time that he saw a small object shining through. He lifted one end of the cloth sheet and Santosh held the other end. Together they lifted the garbage, swung the sheet, and pushed the garbage into … Read more
Ten Thousand rupees for every boy she evaluated as her prospective groom was not bad. Six months back, Sanjana’s father had relented to this arrangement. It was a nice new source of income for her. She had never planned to get married. If possible she would never marry, but, in any case, she didn’t plan … Read more
After being exiled, it was but natural that the rest of the Pandavas were filled with anger. Yudhishthira himself had every reason to be angry for the deceit and even more so, on himself for falling prey to it. This simmering anger could have led to instant war even if he had allowed Bhima to. … Read more
Begotten as the son of Dharma, Yudhishthira’s name means stable in war, and his primary virtue was virtue itself. After their return to Hastinapur after the untimely demise of Pandu, it was Yudhishthira and his virtuous nature that led the five brothers maintaining restraint and a low profile. The intentions of Duryodhana and his malicious … Read more
Originally a Yadu, Pritha was the daughter of Shoorsen and sister of Vasudev, the father of Lord Krishna. But she was gifted by her father to his close friend Kuntibhoj, as he did not have any children. Hence the name Kunti, instead of the original Pritha. Like all characters, Kunti had a lot of fantastic … Read more
The importance of how birth could undermine your destiny in the culture of Vedic times, and perhaps even today, is best exemplified by the character of Vidur. Even more exemplary is what one does when the ovarian lottery doesn’t play in your favour. The story of Vidur and his birth is fantastic. In a sense, … Read more
Even though he was physically blind, Dhritarashtra was the real spectator of the war of Kurukshetra. He was a mute spectator metaphorically because he watched it happen without doing what he could to prevent it. But, in a literal sense, he was a real spectator because he actually watched it live, day to day. His … Read more
Now it so turned out that the barren Khandav Prastha was turned into a prosperous Indra Prastha by the rule of Yudhishthira and the Pandavas. To commemorate that and to establish the supremacy of Yudhishthira, a grand sacrifice, the Rajasooya Yagna, was organised. In an act of goodwill, the extended royal family of Hastinapur was … Read more