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High Court verdict on the controversial Ram Janmabhumi – Babri case is out. The court has established that the land on which the disputed structure and mosque stood, was the actual land on which Lord of Ayodhya, Raja Ram was born. First of all it’s a relief that the court verdict has finally come out. And I also believe that if the court verdict had come a bit sooner, there won’t have been any blot on the Hindu population with reference to the Babri demolition. I have a few observations to make, which I think are far-reaching in consequences. After Babri-demolition, the Hindu pride suffered hugely. For the secular Hindus who had never attacked or harmed people from other faiths in their history spanning ages, the blame of destroying a mosque, even if abandoned, was a shame. In fact the Hindus had even never attacked their violators by virtue of their faith; and their toleration and peaceful co-existence over a thousand year of atrocious rule by foreign faiths is a shining example for t...

We often use the word ‘personal’, but at one time I wondered if there are things in our life which could be called ‘personal’ to us in real sense. I would start with the closest guess. Are our feelings really personal to us? There are people who can guess our feelings accurately by looking at our face or into our eyes. And then we by ourselves show our feelings in many ways, unconsciously. And then there would be people close to us who would feel a part of our own feelings – out of empathy. Our life itself is also not personal. There are interferences from our parents and friends which we can’t avoid. In fact if we look back into our life, we would realize that most of our life was shaped by external events and circumstances. What if my parents didn’t have money to fund my education? What if I was born into a remote location with no school? What if my wife said no to the marriage proposal? What if I missed that train to attend that interview on time? Our life is definitely not entirely...

I was watching a movie. The story revolved around a father searching for his abducted daughters. A gang of organized criminals used to traffic women and his daughters had fallen into their trap. The man was an ex-detective. The only thing he had to start his search with, was the voice sample of the abductors. He sent the sample to an expert, who, noticing the accent and choice of words, identified the criminals to belong to a particular nationality and origin. Now matching their ‘way of doing crime’, he guessed that they belonged to a particular gang (gangs were formed also on the basis of the area from which the members had migrated from). This gang was found to be more active at airports, so the man concluded that he would find the culprits there. And he was right! He laid a trap for the abductors to come out again and nabbed them. What interests me is the fact that the detective’s predictions were based on some common traits existing in the communities and groups. If a particular s...

By C Rajagopalachari Publisher: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan It’s a very interesting book on an equally interesting and puzzling topic of ‘Our Culture’. C. Rajgopalachari is one of the enlightened Indians who have presented ancient Indian/Hindu wisdom in the simplest yet very scientific language for the future generations to come. I recommend this book for anyone and everyone, especially those who are interested in knowing India and Indian culture better. - Rahul

This is a very good biography of the divine saint. There are many incidents from his life which are beyond explanation by conventional ways. His experiences make him a unique person, a Guru which every one of us would long to have. There is so much to learn from him and his teachings. This is a very short biography, yet complete in some aspects. I highly recommend this book to everyone. - Rahul

“Deshis suck big-time!” this is how he began. And then he went on saying, “Indian migrants show little willingness to integrate with the local culture and to mix with the other country’s people. On the other hand, migrants from many other nations do mix with locals and adopt their ways of living. For example, why can’t they (Indians) dress according to the local flavour?” To me, the most shocking part was to find that the writer was an Indian. A Westernised Indian, if I borrow the phrase, because I see the same thinking in him what has been systematically taught to us since the British times: the thinking which curses us with an inferiority complex as a nation and as a culture. I will explain how. Let me start with asking one question. Which other set of migrants do you think ‘integrate well’ with local culture? Here, I would ask to specifically consider the migrants and visitors from other countries to India. Do you think the British integrated well with India when they came in? Did t...

Someone asked if there is any difference between killing a hen (chicken) or a cow (beef) for our food. His underlying challenge was to prove both were equal because both have souls. Here is my reply: “No one justifies killing hens for food. But when you are forced to eat non-veg because nutritious veg food is not available to you, you would obviously choose the lesser evil. A cow, in its utility and in its service to us, is a far superior animal than a hen. I am sure you would know this too. Spiritually too, we can't say that since both cows and hens have souls in them, both are equal. I believe, and I suggest you should think about it too, a cow is a much more evolved animal than a hen. We keep on rising as species of higher evolution along our birth cycle if we do good karma. Therefore, it is a lesser evil to kill a hen which is much less evolved animal than to kill a cow which is much higher on the hierarchy.” - Rahul