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Happy Deepavali. The following lines from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad remind us of the true essence of Deepavali: “Asatoma sadgamaya ; Tamasoma jyotirgamaya; Mrityorma amritam gamaya” (From ignorance, lead me to Truth! From darkness, lead me to Light! From death, lead me to Immortality!)   Diwali brings us the light to deliver us from the darkness to ignorance to the brightness of true knowledge…

I was at the Patna Sahib Gurdwara (Takhat Shri Harimandir Ji Patna Sahib), Patna City, recently.This historic place is the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singhji, the 10th Sikh guru who formalised the Khalsa, the 5 Ks and the Sikh way of life. Born in 1666 to Guru Tegh Bahadur and Mata Gujri at this very place, he led a life of hardness, constantly having to defend his faith against the Mughal…

Yoga.. introduction and Vrikshasana

Namaste.

Its been a long journey for me thus far, learning Yoga since Haridwar, Phoolchatti Ashram, Jan 2014. Not really a beginner in Yoga anymore after more than 5 years I guess, but we learn throughout our lives. I am still learning and will continue to do so till my last day. Its been a lot of up and downs in my learning curve, as any  process naturally is.

It will be wrong to say I am…

Ahmedabad…contrasts of a booming city

Indian PM Narendra Modi, who hails from Gujarat, has catapulted Ahmedabad, the capital of Gujarat, to a leading Indian city in terms of development and infrastructure.

The innate entrepreneurial instinct of the Gujaratis has ensured that Ahmedabad continues to grow in terms of industry and infrastructure. But Ahmedabad has another side, a neglected one.

The outpost of the Gujarat Sultanate, circa…

This is a lovely hotel situated at the picturesque location of Surajkund, situated near Faridabad on the Delhi Border. The lovely part is the interplay of nature with aesthetic construction. Not to say that Taj service is the benchmark.

Surgical strikes 2..in India

In the aftermath of Feb 26th, Pakistan claims only a lot of trees were felled (ecoterrorism- https://propakistani.pk/2019/03/01/pakistan-to-lodge-complaint-against-indian-eco-terrorism-with-un); the fact is these trees were felled along with the deadly terrorist camps they were harbouring.

Listen to how some brilliant personality was inspired by this scenario:

Me: Bhai, why have you got the tree…

Tiruvannamalai Chronicles: Yoga on the hill

“This Hill is the Self”, so said Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi. Verily, the Arunachala Hill is like the true Self…silent, resilient and without attributes(unadulterated by good or bad) .Once you draw up closer to it, stilling your mind and body, you understand why it is called Siva Himself.It is impossible to resist the charm of this wooded outcrop which has attracted sages since times immemorial. At…

My daughter Kuttlush(Aarshi) recently turned 9, and we had a small celebration at home with Mom and a few close ones.

Like a true gyaani, the small kid already prefers books to toys.

Please join me in wishing Kuttlush a very happy birthday and a long life.

These are the pictures of Birla Mandir, Kolkata from outside.

The temple is a behemoth, and took 26 years, from 1970 to 1996 , to complete.

The temple, dedicated mainly to Radha and Krishna, also houses shrines to Shiva and Durga. It is modelled on the famous Lingaraj temple of Bhubaneswar.

Situated on Syed Amir Ali Avenue, this temple is a must see in Kolkata.

Citadels of faith- Annamalaiyar Temple

Preface

Religion holds a central place in the Indian way of life. In Southern India (Karnataka,Telangana, Andhra Pradesh,Tamil Nadu,Kerala, Pondicherry), several Hindu traditions have existed in relatively pristine form over several centuries, and especially so in the temples that have  a huge religious, social and cultural significance in the lives of people living here. The Early Cholas,…

Tiruvannamalai Chronicles-Annamalaiyar Temple from Arunachala Hill

Situated at the base of the Arunachala Hill, in the town of Tiruvannamalai, 195 km from Chennai,the Annamalaiyar Temple is one of the largest temples of the South. Dating back to the Cholas ( 9th Century AD), this temple complex spread over 10 hectares is dedicated to Lord Arunachaleswara, a form of Shiva, and Unnamalai Amman, Parvati.

This is one of the five principal Shiva temples of the South…

Monsoon magic at RGIA, Hyderabad

Monsoon makes for some interesting travel experiences. Wet tarmacs, flight delays and the like. And for airports under renovation, it can be even more interesting 🙂

I touched down at Hyderabad in the middle of the August 2018 monsoons. These pictures shows the scenario at RGIA (Rajiv Gandhi International Airport) back then.

Tiruvannamalai Chronicles- Arunachala Hill. The Hill is magical, and beckons the Seeker like a magnet.

Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi took me into his Sharanamin April 2018, and my life has never been the same again. I write this with some conviction, because life took a turn for the better after this point, but then I wouldn’t have dreamt of asking Bhagavan for this. To him, pleasure and pain were equally insignificant, though I feel the share of pain in his life was enough to break common mortals, but…

A visit to the city of pearls… Hyderabad

Four years back at Hyderabad

Ode to a city maiden whose name is Hyderabad

I recently visited Hyderabad for work (no, not Bhagyanagar), the city where I spent a formidable part of my life. I have a two-generation connect with Hyderabad, since this is where my father and my uncle started their working lives. I have been coming here since 1995, and I remember , in my childhood, my father used to take bags of Potol(  vegetable popular in Bengal but not available in…