The Marathas were never in possession of the Bombay group of islands. These were the territory of the Sultan of Gujarat. He was forced to give Bombay to the Portuguese. Unfortunately, these very proselytizing Portuguese murdered Sultan Bahadur Shah of Gujarat. There was no Indian ruler claiming ownership of these soggy, disease-prone islands of Bombay. Not only the Moguls but also [...]

When Adi Shankaracharya asked for directions to the house of Mandana Mishra, who was a highly learned scholar and ritualist, he was told the following… “You will find a home at whose gates there are a number of caged parrots discussing abstract topics like — ‘Do the Vedas have self-validity or do they depend on [...]

Adi Shankaracharya re initiated India around 400 BC (?) into the Vedic lore and way of life. He re instated the then lost art of doing Poojas and Yagyas. He expounded the Advaita philosophy. Though He was the one who gave much emphasis on Pooja, He also, in a series of brilliant verses totally rubbished [...]

Adi Shankaracharya brought back the Vedic Lore to India by masterfully defeating in debate renowned Buddhist scholars of that time. He spread the Vedic way of life along the length and breath of India and established the four matths with the help of His four beloved disciples. The five people sitting right in the middle [...]

With the advent of Buddhism in India, for many, many years, the Vedic lore of performing Poojas and Yagyas was lost. Buddhism said that all these rituals didn’t make any sense, and that all you need to do for Enlightenment was to meditate and drop everything else. For many hundreds of years there was hardly [...]

Churchill was Prime Minister of Great Britain. He was also awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. He has surely played pivotal roles in the various trials and tribulations of Britain… but i remember him for his superb sense of humour 3 incidents: He was asked to give an after dinner speech on sex. But was [...]

Then one after the other, the gopis tell the Sage the story of how they got to Him. Of what Krishna had told them and how the waters had parted to let them through. They obviously couldn’t tell the River that they had to go and feed a hungry Sage. Could He please help them? [...]

Sage Durvasa had come to Vrindavan and was very hungry. The gopis joyfully made all kinds of delicious food for the great Sage. There were different types of rice, many types of vegetables, savouries, rotis, papads, sweets of many, many varieties, steaming hot food, cold, cold food, and everything in between… Food enough for more [...]

Shiva had granted a boon to Ganesha that before anything auspicious is begun, Ganesha’s name would be invoked… So Ganesha also represents the beginnings of anything good. When light passes through a prism and breaks into its constituent colours, Red is the first colour visible to the human eye… The beginning! Lord Ganesha’s signature colour [...]

Ganeshji is the remover of obstacles… Obstacles are there because there is no Knowledge and awareness… as soon as wisdom dawns, all obstacles and problems just vanish like dew in the sunlight…And really what obstacle can stand in the way of an elephant?! He has a huge stomach which signifies an all accepting nature… He [...]