Hindustan Times articles

The spiritual world need not be considered far away. The Hindustan Times published this article on November 9th, 2005:

Who's the mother of magic realism

WHAT DO C.S. Lewis, Quentin Tarantino and J.K. Rawling have in common? Maybe nothing, but here's what I think. One, all will have hit the big screen by December 2005; two, all are considered innovators; three, all have written about their characters entering a parallel world.

In relation to this, we can remember the story of Mrgari the hunter. The Hindustan Times published an article I wrote about it, on October 27, 2005:

The Lord giveth and taketh away

A COUPLE from Chennai decided to live simply - by a stream in a one-room hut. The man, Magari, would forego his occupation of hunting while his wife Madhavi would cultivate tulasi instead of selling baskets. Magari would also give up non-vegetarian food.

The following ?Janmastami article? was published in the Hindustan Times on August 26, 2005:

Janmashtami: Who is Krishna?

HERE'S A Janmashtami question. Can God manifest mortal characteristics or is he always super-human? According to the Bhagavata, God is Krishna, who sometimes cries, displays genuine fear and is a naughty child.

I wrote this shortly after the bombings on London?s transport system. The Hindustan Times published it on August 3, 2005:

Religion is not about bombing

THE RECENT London bombings have made me think.
The city became the world's largest in 1825, even though the British empire is now just a history lesson. Yet Oxford still has great snob value. Maybe that is why there's still a Commonwealth of Nations with governor generals yielding political power in many countries (India excluded, of course).

(The following article was printed in the "Inner Voice" column of the Hindustan Times, one of India's largest English language daily newspapers, on 1 March 2005.)

AN ESTIMATED 3.6 billion people in India go to the movies each year. This means that the average adult Indian sees between five and ten films a year.

Filmmakers are often called masters of illusion. They have perfected the art of re-creating reality, making it fun to spend an evening in a surreal world, to lose oneself for a few hours to celluloid fantasy.

(The following article was printed in the "Inner Voice" column of the Hindustan Times, one of India's largest English language daily newspapers, on 12 January 2005.)

ASHA RAMANAN, a young mother in Sri Lanka, grieves for her dead 10-year-old son. Rohit Charnak (31) from Chennai is numbed by the drowning of his wife while on holiday in Thiruvananthapuram.
The UN-estimated billion-plus dollars in aid don't touch the lives of people like Asha and Rohit - whose loved ones lost their lives in the biggest recorded disaster in modern history.

(The following article was posted in the "Off Track" column of the Hindustan Times, one of India's largest English language daily newspapers, on 29 July 2003.)

Watching pilgrims' dandavat parikramas around Govardhan at this time of year is inspirational. Most are elderly and engage in this totally radical form of worship in unforgiving heat. But swelter isn't the real problem. The biggie here is noise pollution, or NP. You say you don't want to know what noiseaholics are like in small north Indian villages? Sorry, but I *have* to tell you.

(The following article was posted in the "Inner Voice" column of the Hindustan Times, one of India's largest English language daily newspapers, on 2 August 2004.)

Choice can be misused. This is the source of pain and frustration for all beings and the cause of environmental degradation. The more we attempt to exploit the resources of material nature, the more we become entangled in complexities.

(The following article was posted in the "Inner Voice" column of the Hindustan Times, one of India's largest English language daily newspapers, on 17 July 2004.)

ANXIETY IS a bummer. When it strikes, some resort to counselling and others to drugs, legal and illegal. Distress is what nobody wants, like garbage in your bedroom.

(The following article was posted in the "Inner Voice" column of the Hindustan Times, one of India's largest English language daily newspapers, on 26 July 2004.)