01 Monday Dec 2014
Posted in Arjun Related posts, Mahabharata
The ONLY philosophical discussion EVER held on a battlefield! 
A friendship so genuine, a bond so strong, a level of thinking so high & so deep, that even a single moment of friction between their ideology gifted us eternal wisdom.
It is fitting that both armies on the entire battlefield zoomed out and went into ‘statue’ mode during this dialogue. They were never the point and focus.
2 December 2014. The eve of Continue reading
24 Sunday Aug 2014
Posted in Arjun Related posts, Mahabharata, My Pencil-sketches, Random Musings
Tags
amitabh bachchan, Arjun Related posts, arjuna, clark gable, feroz khan, howard roark, Mahabharata, maximum comments, rhett butler, shaheer sheikh, sherlock holmes
Do you blur the line between an idolized character and an actor portraying him?
Vanaprastham – The Last Dance is a Malayalam film where Mohanlal, a Kathakali artist finds solace in theatre.
Once, his audience includes Subhadra (Suhasini) of an aristocratic family. In love with the valiant warrior Arjun of Mahabharata, she personifies Mohanlal as her dream hero. The eventual affair leads to the birth of a son. However, Subhadra content to be pregnant with the seed of Arjun – her idolized version, rejects the flesh & blood Mohanlal.
The storyline struck a resonance within me.
I remember going to a late-night Marathi musical Saubhadra, based on Continue reading
01 Friday Aug 2014
Tags
alternate sex, arjun, arjuna, bheem, ghatotkacha, indra, Krishn, Mahabharata, mythology, shikhandi, shiva, transgender
Oven–fresh offering by mythologist Devdutt (which means God-gift; and ironically, is a namesake for Arjun’s conch in Mahabharata)
Devdutt takes up the unexplored theme of ‘queerness’ or alternative gender in Mythology. In Part I, he tracks the universal existence of ‘queerness’ across Indian, Persian, Aztec, Viking, Japanese, Mesopotamian and Greek mythology.
Part II is a carefully chosen plethora of ‘queer’ tales. I could discern an interwoven pattern Continue reading
07 Monday Jul 2014
Posted in Arjun Related posts, Mahabharata, Spirituality
Tags
Arjun Related posts, arjuna, Atheism, bhagvada, Bhagwad Gita, faith, God, ISKON, Krishn, Krishna, Mahabharata, maximum comments, religion, spirituality, temple
Born to a theist Papa and an atheist Mom, I had the luxury of choice. I chose to be an atheist.
Being a science student automatically made me lean heavily towards ‘proof and results’. Temples contributed liberally to my disgust of theism. Think impatient Pujaris (We are the proprietary middle-men to Heaven.) Think lecherous peddlers (A hundred rupees note will get you instant darshan, Madam!) Think repugnant God-men (I distinctly remember meeting one with red eyes, grey beard and saffron robes. When I and my brother refused to genuflect, his eyes darkened in incredulous rage. P.S: The only en’light’ment he saw must be at the end of his ganja–chillum!)
Meanwhile a wily God with a zany sense of humor decided to ensnare me with two most unlikely baits. A man and a meal… Continue reading
23 Wednesday Apr 2014
Tags
arjun, arjuna, bhishma, book review, draupadi, irawati karve, karn, karna, Krishn, Krishna, Kunti, Mahabharata
She wields the pen like a scimitar and her mind like a microscope.
As she dissects various personas of Mahabharata, she is brutal, incisive and decisive. Passionate (in her arguments) yet dispassionate (towards individuals).
Her take on Mahabharata is not linear narrative; but deals with individual personas, as she scoffs at the halo around them and simultaneously humanizes and demystifies them.
Many scholars usually steer clear of Krishna Continue reading
Impractical Dreamer: Sweety Shinde 