R. Radhakrishnan's Blog, page 2

A Night with Aswathama

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The darkness was oppressive, broken only by the occasional flash of lightning that illuminated the landscape in stark, terrifying clarity. Thunder rumbled ominously, as if the gods themselves were expressing their displeasure at my journey.

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As I began the ascent up the ghats, my heart racing with each hairpin turn, a blinding flash of lightning revealed a dark figure directly in my path. Instinctively, I slammed on the brakes, the car’s tires screeching in protest as the...

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The year was 1993, and I found myself driving through the winding roads of Mandsaur, a district in Madhya Pradesh, India. My destination was Ratangarh, a small village perched atop a hill. The journey, which should have been routine, turned into an adventure that would forever change my perception of reality and history.

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As I navigated the treacherous path, the heavens opened up, unleashing a torrential downpour. My old Premier Padmini, a relic from a bygone er...

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nIt had been raining for some time. The wind screamed and...

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It had been raining for some time. The wind screamed and water fell in horizontal sheets.

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I started out from Mandsaur after lunch in bright sunlight. Now it was early evening and it was dark and gloomy.

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The rain had started just after I started to climb towards Ratangarh. My car rattled along and as the wind howled obscenities at me.

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It was 1993, and MP was still not developed and retained much of the old colonial legacy.

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The Scams you need to be aware of as a writer.

Everyone has a story to tell, or an experience to share. Most people would like to see their name in print as an Author.

Earlier the process was difficult and you struggled for years to get your manuscript into a readable book.

Technology changed all that and today almost anyone with an internet connection, some typing skills and a lot of patience can get a book out in the market.

Earlier your publisher may not pay you your royalties in time or fudge sales figures or if it was a vanity ...

Snapshots from History. The black hole of Calcutta.

The Black Hole of Calcutta as depicted by the British.

When I was a school-going kid in the sixties and seventies in India, we were taught about the black hole of Calcutta and how the cruel Nawab of Bengal Siraj Ud Daula imprisoned 146 Englishmen, both soldiers and civilians in a small room that could barely hold ten people.

It was a poorly ventilated room with two small windows. There was oppressive heat and when the room was opened only 23 had survived the night and the rest had died of ...

Kaliya, the Naga.

Kaliya

Kaliya Mardana is a favorite story in India. It is about the child Krishna dancing on the head of Kaliya the fearsome Serpent.

But is Kaliya the villain we are all told he is? Mythology tells us facts mixed with fiction. There is a grain of truth in these tales covered by hyperbole and imagination. Who were the Nagas? Were they the original inhabitants of the land? These are questions for another time. Let us go to the story of Kaliya the Naga.

Rishi Kashyapa had two wives, Vin...

Rishi Haha and Rishi Huhu.

Yes there are two Divine beings by this name in Indian Mythology.

There are numerous references to them in many of our epics and Puranas. Who were they?

They are two brothers, the sons of Rishi Kashyapa and his wife, Pradha. They are celebrated celestial musicians, Gandharvas. They sing in the courts of Indra and Brahma. They are also the brothers of the Apsaras and the Celestial singer Tumburu.

Why are they named Haha and Huhu? According to some stories they denote the aspects of t...

Vittal, Vittal!

If you have lived in Maharashtra, you would have seen vast groups of people singing and dancing on their way to Pandharpur. They are so engrossed in their devotion that the heat, the Sun, rains nothing matters to them. There are men and women of all ages in the group, there are children, there are the rich, the poor, people of all castes walking together. They all sing the glory of Vittal and there are chants off Panduranga Vittal as they walk through this ancient land.

The Bhakti movemen...