Had a fun-filled night, playing Rummy with my cousins and brother and, as much as we had fun, we were struck by the conspicuity of some philosophical principles with wider applicability Success brings adversaries – As one of us started getting richer in the virtual currency we used for the game, others developed a common feeling […]
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Mahabali, Yudhishtira, and the Food Security Bill
Mahabali was an Asura king, grandson of the renowned devotee Prahlada, and himself a great devotee of the Lord. He routed the arch-rivals of Asuras, the Devas, and reigned supreme over the three worlds. He ruled ably, was loved by friends, feared by enemies, and respected by all. Under his rule, people were free from […]
Root Cause of Suffering
I recently read that Milkha Singh lost the Bronze Medal in the 400m event at Rome Olympics Games 1960 by just 0.1 seconds. “Such was his mental state”, it said, “that he cried for days after the agonizing defeat”. This set me thinking. I am not at all good at running, and have never even […]
Benefits of Fasting
Fasting, generally defined as voluntary abstention from food and drinks (including water in some cases), is an integral component of many cultures and religions across the world, and is recommended by several others including researchers in modern medicine. The Indian tradition, with its emphasis on simplicity and renunciation of bodily pleasures, prescribes fasting as an […]
Mirage of Gender Bias in Nursery Rhymes
I read an article in The Hindu (newspaper) yesterday, which talked about how Nursery Rhymes were sexist and reinforcing gender stereotypes, and how somebody was working to rewrite them as part of an effort in “gender sensitization”. An example given was the popular rhyme in which Humpty Dumpty falls from a wall and the King’s […]
Weaning – A Necessary Evil
My daughter is passing through a very difficult stage right now – she’s being weaned off her mother’s milk. More than just a source of nutrition, this milk has been, for her, a way to connect with her mother and an assurance of security and support. To lose that possibly means the loss of what […]
Absolute Reality and True Knowledge
In the discussion on reality, we observed that knowledge acquired through the means of senses and the mind is unreliable, and that there is no more reality in the world we see around us than in a dream. We concluded by noting that true knowledge would be one that transcends the mind and the senses, and […]
Misleading Uses of Measures of Central Tendency
Almost everybody knows that measures of central tendency are an important part of statistical analysis, and that mean, median, and mode are the most common approaches to finding a representative central tendency. However, what is often found lacking is an insight into which of these will serve our purpose in a given scenario, and an […]
Is Reality Real?
As part of an interesting discussion on knowledge, belief, faith and religion, I was told these exact words – “Beliefs and knowledge are mutually exclusive. You either have a belief in something or you have knowledge about something. You cannot have a belief in knowledge“. There are many others who have similarly asserted this difference, […]
True Colours
The bougainvillea is an interesting class of plants. When watered well, they do not bloom – instead, they remain green. However, when deprived of water and exposed to the rigours of a harsh summer, they assume diverse and spectacular colours that make them stand out. Similarly, it is when faced with adversity that the true qualities in […]