There is nothing more touching than being 10,000 miles away from one’s motherland and still preserving her ancient rituals with dedication. I was invited to the Upanayana ceremony of a young boy whose parents hail from the Indian state of Karnataka. I had met him on a couple of occasions…

The Indian state of Rajasthan has always been known for its exquisite history and culture. But it is also known for its management of limited water resources with 60% of its land classified as desert. A visit to any of the villages in the deserts of Rajasthan will give insights…

One of the most memorable duets of Lata Mangeshkar that I cherish is “Ghanashyama Sundara”. It is a Marathi song that simply overflows with a sweetness that can only be called divine. Funnily, each time I think of this song, I cannot but remember a zillion things that have nothing…

A few years ago, the word Kuldevi would not have meant anything special to me. Of course, I knew that Kula means family or lineage, and Devi is the Divine Feminine which we Hindus worship in various forms. So, I thought the Kuldevi was just another Devi form that some…

“Would you like to visit our Gurukula at the outskirts of Bengaluru?” The soft-spoken young man who approached me after my talk at the Indian Institute of World Culture had something compelling about him. …

Let’s try and chant this one more time, said my mother. na yasya deva rishayah padam vidur jantuh punah ko ‘rhati gantum iritum yatha natasyakritibhir vicheshtato duratyayanukramanah sa mavatu I tried repeating after her but it was an exercise in futility. These Sanskrit shlokas were so hard to pronounce that…

It was the last day of my India trip and I was struggling with the same old problem — fitting my books, clothes, shoes, spice powders, Ayurvedic products, and other sundry things into my suitcases. There was simply no more space and I wondered if I could somehow stuff a…

Last night I dreamt I went to Sharada Peeth again... My eyes sought out the resplendent image of Sharada, the Goddess of knowledge inside the sanctum of the ancient temple university in Kashmir. She was dressed in a beautiful saree and adorned with jewels. The sonorous chanting of a hundred…