Himanshu Rai

Blog

Surviving Violence

The date was December 29, 2012. Hopes were high but prayers went unanswered as the woman who was attacked on a bus, passed on. Since December 17, the Delhi gang rape incident has dominated headlines, public discourse, protests, movements, and even casual, formal, and informal conversations. The dialogue is still on, and I hope it […]

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Traffic Woes!

Traffic Woes!   What is the value of life in our society?¦   Our culture holds life sacred. Our ancient mantras resonate with prayers for safety; the ˜evil eye’ in our society has a staunch antidote in the old lemon-and-green-chilli bunting or a spot of kohl strategically placed, while in more posh settings, a simple […]

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Yuganta-the end of an epoch

I read the Mahabharata because I like it. The Mahabharata is an inexhaustible mine¦ may as well be my own words (those who know me well, even my students, may vouch for it). But, these words are not mine. These are just two of the three things I share with Irawati Karve, a celebrated and […]

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About those days

Apologies, some tricky issues and some plainspeak coming up, that some may find unsettling. Like, sitting through a commercial break with kids, only to have a lady spill a blue-coloured liquid on something she refers to as napkin “ ubiquitous word in your household, just not looking alike. She refers to ˜those days’, wetness, in […]

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Alchemist

˜Your eyes show the strength of your soul.’ “ The Alchemist   It’s hard to take sides on lines that are pregnant with such profundity. Should you be a spiritualist, you think you know exactly what these words mean. Should you be an intellectual, regardless of your religious/spiritual leanings, you know there is some sense […]

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If you can’t feed them, amuse them

The political drama following the presentation of the Railways Budget by Dr Dinesh Trivedi was nothing short of bizarre “ I was looking forward to some show of gumption by the political leaders who stood by him. The Railway Budget was progressive, and promising, the proof being that the Railway Unions have threatened to oppose […]

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Shaping Leaders

I can feel it. I am sure so do you. From one Indian to another, there’s something in the air, if we can only name it. It’s an old feeling of imminent change, with a rather musty ring to it but now, it’s nothing if not palpable. I can’t help being buoyed by more than […]

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The FIRE within

Isn’t the world a mesh of relationships? Relationships with people, those with our possessions, time and space, are what defines our identity here. But hardly any of us get by without feeling the need to scratch the surface in a quest to find and understand what this world really means to us. Ultimately, this bears […]

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Hinduism and Business

Hinduism, on its own, has no origin but has unfolded and developed through stages and is based largely on the Vedic scriptures. To reiterate, the Vedas, which are the primary scriptures this ˜-ism’ is based on, derive from the Sanskrit root ˜Vid’ meaning knowledge.   There are four Vedas: Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sam Veda […]

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World Religions and Business

“If there is ever to be a universal religion, it must be one which will have no location in place or time; which will be infinite like the God it will preach, and whose sun will shine upon the followers of Krishna and of Christ, on saints and sinners alike; which will not be Brahminic […]

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Spirituality

You’re just left with yourself all the time, whatever you do anyway. You’ve got to get down to your own God in your own temple. It’s all down to you, mate.  John Lennon Spirituality. One word that probably unites  as it should, I think  believers and non-believers alike. The religious ones stake a special claim […]

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Happy Birthday Plum!!!

What ho! The day is just right for a swim through the blighted world of ghastly aunts, under whose gaze sprightly young men wilt and shudder, whilst burdened with affectations of love and equally urgent situations to make or break betrothals and engagements with girls who are dashed pretty and charming, but bring it all […]

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