Former Beatles singer, songwriter and composer Sir Paul McCartney has sent a letter to the Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh asking him to declare January 12th as a meat-free day in India. In his letter McCartney said that “It would be a celebration of life, all life”. Coincidentally January 12th is also the anniversary [...]
Congress Party member Mani Shankar Aiyar said recently in a meeting that “India is prospering, Indians are not”. He added “GDP growth rate is no index of what is happening in our country”. He criticized the Indian government (which is lead by his own party) and questioned the governments economic policy. There is no debate [...]
In December 2008, about 60% of the eligible voters turned out to vote for the state elections in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Despite calls for boycott and threats of violence and intimidation by the separatists groups, the turnout was 17% more than the previous elections. 1354 candidates from 43 parties participated in [...]
My parents are from Kerala. But I consider myself more of a Tamilian since I lived most of my formative years in Tamil Nadu. Some of the most memorable times were when we lived in Madurai. Madurai is the heartland of Tamil Nadu. It is one of the most ancient cities in the world and [...]
Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes (446 BCE) once said “A man’s homeland is wherever he prospers”. Recently I have been thinking about my homeland a lot. I am not alone. Millions of Indians including many of my friends are seriously considering winding up whatever they are doing and heading back to India. This is a tough [...]
Shangri-La is a mythical Himalayan utopia. If you are a fan of rock like I am then I am sure you have listened to the song “Kashmir” by Led Zeppelin. Led Zeppelin is one of the all time bands and Kashmir in my opinion is their best work. The song is a tribute to their [...]
I am from Kerala but I lived in Tamil Nadu (mostly in Madurai and Coimbatore) for a couple of decades. Due to state government policies then I was forced to learn Tamil during my school days. I did not like being pressured to learn a new language but I am now glad that I did [...]
I always wondered about what life would be like for our ancestors thousands of years ago. Imagine the first Indians walking along the shores of Goa and Kerala on their long journey from Africa about 65,000 years ago (scientists estimate that it took human beings about 5000 years to travel from east coast of Africa [...]
It is my nature to be very skeptical of human beings who make extraordinary claims without backing it up with data. History is full of stories of people who spent most of their lives, time and wealth following the so-called leaders only to be disappointed in the end. As Buddha said pain and suffering is [...]
There are approximately 2 million Indians who live and work in Saudi Arabia (in all Saudi Arabia has about 6 million foreign workers). This is a large number considering the total population of the country is only about 28 million. Saudi Arabia like many other nations in the Persian Gulf and the larger Middle-East are [...]
Rev. Joseph Palanivel Jeyapaul is currently working at the Catholic diocese in Ooty (Tamil Nadu). Reports are now indicating that he is a wanted criminal who is accused of sexually assaulting a 14 year old female parishioner at the Blessed Sacrament Church in Greenbush, Minnesota (USA) in 2004. The reverend has indicated that he has [...]
