R. Radhakrishnan's Blog, page 22

The Pani Puri and the Mahabharata

Panipuri is one of the most popular street foods in India. It is known by different names in different parts of the country. But I grew up in Mumbai and we call it Panipuri.

The dish consists of crisp small puris, you punch an opening on the top and fill it with a little bit of boiled potatoes, sweet chutney, and spicy chutney.

You pop it into your mouth, and when you bite into it the various flavors fill your mouth.

The chutneys are watery and the spicy one is virtually spiced water. ...

Memories of growing up…looking into my soul..part 1

I grew up in what by today’s standards would be said to be difficult circumstances maybe even a deprived childhood but we did not know it then.

This lack of knowledge of the modern thought process was bliss and we had a very happy childhood in reality.

There was no mobile, no internet, and horror of horrors no TV even. So the evil in the world never entered our living rooms.

We did not have a living room, we had a multipurpose room where we lived, ate, and slept. A one-room kitchen fl...

Shakuni, Mahabharata villain and a back story.

Shakuni, the maternal uncle of the Kauravas, in the popular imagination, is a slimy-crooked criminal cackling his evil laugh as he leads his nephews to destruction.

But that is an image created by television serials, in the original Mahabharata Shakuni is an intelligent man, well versed in politics of the day, devoted to his sister and a brave warrior who dies, in the end, fighting for his nephews. He is an embodiment of the times he lives in.

But there are other stories from folklore and...

The Temple to Shakuni and a back story.

Shakuni, the maternal uncle of the Kauravas, in the popular imagination, is a slimy-crooked criminal cackling his evil laugh as he leads his nephews to destruction.

But that is an image created by television serials, in the original Mahabharata Shakuni is an intelligent man, well versed in politics of the day, devoted to his sister and a brave warrior who dies, in the end, fighting for his nephews. He is an embodiment of the times he lives in.

But there are other stories from folklore and...

Avial the iconic dish from Kerala and the Mahabharata.

Avial

Avial is a mixed vegetable dish, iconic popular and essential in a Kerala feast, the Sadhya.

It is also popular in Tamil Nadu and coastal Karnataka.

It is made out of a mix of vegetables, curd, and coconut, goes well with rice and today even with chappatis, puris, and bread.

It can be thick with little gravy or thinner, most of the time curd is also used for the gravy but it can be made without curd also.

In modern times the mix has changed and you will find people adding v...

Shadows and Sorcery…a Mahabharata tale from Kerala.

From Kathakali, the dance drama, Krishna, Malayati, and Kunti.From Kathakali, the sorcerer begins his work as Duryodhana watches.

We know the Mahabharata has many local legends added with local cultural flavors in it.

Kerala, God’s own country, as we call it, is in the southern part of India, it is a beautiful land with swaying coconut palms, sea-washed beaches, soaring mountains, verdant forests, and lush paddy fields, and stories of sorcery and magic.

So it was inevitable th...

A mother’s strength, A Mahabharata story.

Airawat being brought to Earth from Heaven by Bhima.

As we saw earlier, many stories were added later to the Mahabharata, this is my retelling of one of them. A tale of pride before a fall. The pride of Airawat, Arjuna, and Bhima all meet their Nemesis in this tale.

The Pandavas had built a wondrous new capital, Indraprastha. Now they planned to have a grand function, a sacrifice, a yagna as it is called.

There would be kings from all over the land as guests, there would be other impor...

Akbar and the Jesuits, a tale of tolerance.

The Jesuits at Akbar’s Darbar, from Wikipedia

When we look at the sweep of history, we should not judge events with the prism of hindsight or current ideas or thoughts, but we should still try to learn lessons from those past events. 

Today many look at western civilisation as the fountainhead of secularism and tolerance but a glimpse into events in history makes for interesting reading.

Europe in the 16th Century (1501 to 1600) was undergoing changes which would have implications for t...

Lighting the Lamp of Hope

Lamp Revival

From my book the Colors of Life.

Lock-down silences

Fear fetters

Eyes hooded

Masked mouths

Rains lash

Whip broken lines

Flickering lights

Shivering trees

Silent crows

Croaking frogs

Darkness in light

Empty mind

Devils not kind

Phone pings

Old friends

Fear flees

Mind awakes

Spirits renew

Young again

Happy and free

Namaste till the next time.

The Temple at Malanad to Duryodhana the kind prince.

Duryodhana strides the Mahabharata like a raging colossus. A villain who has a public image of being a black and jealous villain who coveted his brothers property.

This image is a later creation of popular pulp fiction, movies and TV serials.

In the Mahabharata of Vyasa, he is a better-etched character with a lot of good in him and justification for his stand.

Alas, as they say history is written by the victors.

As he lies helpless and dying after being unfairly attacked by Bhima, D...