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Hindu mythologies are full of varying versions of the same stories, yet they all reach the same outcome – the celebration of good over evil. For example, the Navaratri puja is celebrated for different reasons in different parts of the country. In eastern and southern India, this festival is celebrated as Durga puja, to celebrate her vanquishing the demon Mahishasura and emerging victorious. In the northern and western states, Navaratri is celebrated to mark the victory of Lord Rama over the asura king Ravana.
At the beginning of every year, I religiously set a target for myself – the number of books I’m going to read in the year. I’m proud to say till this year I’ve always managed to meet the target and had even surpassed it some years (oh yes!). But this year, I realised that I had not met the target; actually, I was way, way below the mark. My excuse – it’s been a crazy year. I know I used the excuse last year also but this year I’m admitting it. Feeling a little bad about it but no worries I have still managed to read some fantastic books and loved the time I spent with them. Here are the top 5 books of 2021 I super enjoyed.
The excitement was not about the school year coming to an end but the anticipation of the summer vacations looming ahead. Summer vacations meant endless hours of playing in the garden, eating freshly plucked mangoes, swimming, reading endlessly, and most importantly going on the train trips. Yes, the train rides were the highlight of the…
Rejuvenated, recharged, inspired, invigorated and ready to go. This is how I feel after the weekend at Anjarle. The pristine beach, intoxicating serenity, calming greenery and fresh air has infused new life into the morbid souls of us city-dwellers who are forever caught up in the vortex of the race against time. I guess travelling does it for me, always. It gets my head clear and my energies soaring.
This time on Feb 14, Valentine’s day, there was a different tune being played. No mushy music, no poetic verses for the lovers, no romantic serenades. All this change came not because of some right wing extremists who wanted to protect our culture (though yes it did happen because of some other extremists). This year…
Treat the exam fear like the boggarts in Harry Potter. It can be easily dealt with. Just thinking happy thoughts may not do the trick but yes, it’s not that difficult to deal with. All it needs is a little bit of preparation (once again!) and planning.