Current affairs, spirituality, heritage & lifestyle.
Many years ago a young penniless man with barely a possession in the world sailed out to the West, armed only with the intense desire that the spiritual wisdom of his motherland should be known and respected throughout the world. He was the first Hindu in the modern age to travel to the West and […]
Recently(*) the Indian state of Rajasthan, supposedly the “Land of Kings”, was host to one of the worst bouts of “caste riots” that India has seen in recent years, leaving at least 9 dead and many more injured. Eventually the Indian armed forces had to be brought in to quell the situation. What is particularly […]
“The will of a single hero can breathe courage into the hearts of a million cowards “ (Sri Aurobindo, 1920) Sri Aurobindo was one of the greatest philosophers, mystics and visionaries of modern history. He was a major leader in India’s freedom movement. Later in life he became a sage and scholar. His teachings have […]
(originally written September 2006) (17/03/2013 – image removed, as this page was being blocked from some search engines browsers for being “adult content”) Recently, an article in The Times (a supposedly quality newspaper), carried a story provocatively titled ‘Why is a Hindu temple like a Soho phone box? Must I draw you a picture?’ The article was […]
The ‘Aryan Invasion Theory’ Pick up any textbook on Hinduism, and chances are that the beginning of Hinduism is identified with the ‘Aryan invasion of India’, dated around 1500 BCE, and their composition of the Rig Veda. According to this viewpoint, the ‘Aryans’ were a tall, fair skinned people who originated from outside India, and […]
In my second year at uni, a few friends and I restarted up the Hindu society, which had not operated for a year or two before us. One of the first events we held was a ‘Charity Garba and Dandia night’. Being the first big event that any of us had ever organized we were […]
(Originally published in Hindu Voice UK – July 2009) “Intelligent Life” (?!) Recently I received a copy of “Intelligent Life” (Spring 2009 Edition), a quarterly lifestyle magazine from The Economist Group. As its name suggests, the makers of the magazine fancy it to be a particularly intelligent magazine! The Economist Group of publications is a […]
Were Lord Krishna’s war ethics, which involved a disregard for the pre-ordained rules of warfare, justifiable? Was Krishna unfair and biased in the way that he dealt between the Pandavas and Kauravas? These are common questions that are brought up against Shri Krishna, particularly with regards to the unflinching help he gave to the Pandavas in […]
An excellent and rare article on the Guardian website, by Afghan author Reza Mohammadi, gives a brief account of the present day state of the country’s Hindu minority. Says the author: “Hindus are clearly among the oldest inhabitants of Afghanistan. They are the native people, whom Islamic fundamentalism has turned into unprotected strangers. Strangers, who […]
Related articles: Eating of meat & beef in the Hindu tradition Lay off meat eating Hindus One of the most common questions about Hinduism is “Why do Hindus worship cows?” Be it eight-year-old kids or schoolteachers, there is a fascination with Hinduism and the holy cow. Sometimes the question is asked in a mocking tone, […]
An article published on a Chinese think tank’s website suggested that it would be in China’s interests to break up India into 20-30 smaller states, and this could be achieved with just a minimal push. The website called ‘International Institute for Strategic Studies’ said: “To split India, China can bring into its fold countries like […]
This is what we hear about AUM: The past, the present and the future are AUM, And That beyond these three is also AUM (Mandukya Upanishad) AUM is the most popular and universally recognised Hindu symbol and also the most popular word in Hindu chants and prayers. It is the Divine Word and the originating sound of […]
Kalidas is widely acclaimed as the greatest poet and dramatist in classical Sanskrit literature. The biographical details of his life are shrouded in mystery, but popular legend as well as the odd clue from his poems hints to us that he lived in the Gupta Era, and may have enjoyed the patronage of Vikramaditya (Chandragupta […]
A small band of Indian journalists, activists and politicians, all of who parade themselves as “Secularists” continuously malign Narendra Modi as being a symbol of everything bad in the world; to these same individuals Emperor Akbar, the third Mughal emperor of medieval India, is one of the great icons of Indian secularism. If we look […]
At one point in the Ramayana, Indrajit (Ravana’s eldest son) launched a massive attack against a section of Rama’s army, causing massive slaughter. When Jambhavan (the commander) arrived at the scene to survey the damage, the first thing he said was, “Is Hanuman alive?” Hanuman subsequently arrived at the scene and Jambhavan was glad to […]
We have all seen the image of Kali at a temple or in a Navratri shrine. She is well known but poorly understood. This article provides a fascinating philosophical insight into who Kali really is! Kali is one of the best known, but poorly understood Hindu deities. She is dark destructive and terrible in image. […]
(image removed, as this page was being blocked from some search engines browsers for being “adult content”) ‘I am the lust (or Kama) in human beings that is in harmony with Dharma’ (Gita 7:11) Classical Hindu thought recognises four basic aims of human life, called ‘purusharthas’. These are kama(sexual pleasure and other enjoyment), artha (material prosperity), dharma (duty and harmony) […]
The present generation of Hindus owe much to Shivaji. Although he is famous throughout the length and breadth of India, in the West many Hindus, will not even have heard of him. This article is a tribute to the great King, whose life has had a profound impact on history, and who was an emblem […]
There are numerous hymns in the Vedas that deal with the social customs than prevalent and from them one can form a broad idea as to how girls and women were looked upon, treated, and the status were accorded upon them by society. We begin with the field of education. Several hymns in the Vedic […]
Standing on a packed train on the way home from university, I was feeling terrible. It had been a hard week, I was annoyed with several colleagues, the train had been delayed and everybody nearby seemed to be coughing and sneezing on me! In the rush to get onto the train people were barging each […]
Hindu Perspective 