Reflections from the Village Bard
Queen Lakhsmi Bai of Jhansi in the battlefield Lakhsmibai was born on November 19, 1828, in the holy city of Varanasi in a Brahmin Marathi family. She was named Manikarnika and was nicknamed Manu. Her father was Moropant Tambe (a retainer of Chimnaji…
One of the famous artists of India is Raja Ravi Varma who is well-known to the world. His dazzling style and color, use of middle class Indian women for his paintings and his depiction of religious figures of Radha and Krishna puts him in a category all by itself. Raja Ravi Varma (29 April 1848…
There are strong indications based on the economic growth rate of India that it is well on its way to be the next economic superpower on this planet. The astonishing growth in the industrial output, power generation using renewable sources like solar, wind, hydro, geothermal and nuclear that is fueling this growth makes India very…
Women protest against the patriarchal system in India I have written a few times about the patriarchal system practiced in India and its effect on the people who grow up biased against women from their childhood. Today I would like to expand on…
Often the true worth of a person is not realized when he is still living and some even after death. Human history is full of people who were not given their due accolades for their contribution to humanity. The dead do not seek recognition, and noble people are called noble because they do not…
India and Cambodia have ancient historical ties. I visited the country a few years ago with my wife. We were very impressed after visiting the World famous Angkor Wat temple and many other temples in Siem Reap. Today I want to write something about Cambodia that has suffered immense damage due to its long war…
Ram bridge was built with the help from ethnic tribes We have learned that many myths around the world contain a grain of truth in them that get obscured over a long period of time but do not diminish the value of…
There are over 645 tribes who are the original inhabitants of India. Most of them remain poor and isolated due to their lack of education and skills that are required to get jobs and a way out of their poverty. But they remain resilient and proud of their culture and heritage that they try to…
Hunger has no national boundaries. It is found in every country but the number of hungry people varies from country to country and depends upon the national resources to fight hunger. There is no doubt that hunger is a global phenomenon that needs answers and concrete ways to fight it. A documentary by Karolina…
The tailor used to make your clothes but no more He was our tailor when we were young, but I saw the disappearance of personal tailors with the change of times, when the ready-made and second-hand clothes have diminished the role of traditional tailors like Suleiman. I still miss him. He was our tailor while…
The story of Lucknow is unique in the annals of history because it occupies a very special place, where the first battle for the independence from British rule was fought in 1857. Sometimes I get nostalgic about the country I left behind so long ago, but I follow very keenly all the development that is…
Udham Singh was a patriot who took revenge for the massacre in Jallianwala bagh One sunny morning on April 13, 1919, a huge crowd of several thousand peaceful people gathered in a park in Amritsar called Jalianwala Bagh to celebrate a Baisakhi festival and to protest the British occupation of India. There were women and…
During my recent visit to Lucknow in India I came to know about the struggle of peacocks to survive in the vicinity of the RamaKrishna Mission hospital where feral dogs and cats were attacking and killing the beautiful birds when they were young and most vulnerable. It made me sad to think that…
Unsung heroine Ram Pyari Gurjar The historians often overlook the great people who saved mankind and heap praises on the butchers and marauders like Taimur, Genghis Khan and Alexander by calling them great.…
The Supreme Court of India made a landmark decision when it decided that the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya was illegally built on the foundation of a Hindu temple of Ram several centuries ago under the rule of Mughal emperor Babar so the Hindus are now free to build their temple there and the Muslims will…
Khudiram Bose was the youngest revolutionary from Bengal who decided early in his life to fight the injustice done by the British on Indians. Young Bose observed how the troops and other British people maltreated the Indians without provocations and with total impunity. In 1906, when Khudiram was engaged in distributing a revolutionary…