Archive for August, 2011

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and the Art of Living it Up.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and the  Art of Living it Up.

I am amused by the irony of a man who claims to own nothing, zipping by in a gleaming Mercedes while those who can actually afford one, bumping along the Delhi – Agra highway in the less than comfortable bus. I try to ask the followers about this but I am scoffed at for my `ignorance’. ” You will never understand the ways of our Guru”, they concluded.


Hazrat Nizamuddin and its Monuments

Hazrat Nizamuddin and its Monuments

Nizamuddin’s shrine like most sufi shrines attracts not only muslims but a fair share of christians, hindus and sikhs as well. Coupled with its tradition of music Sufi shrines such as Nizamuddin are also on the radar of fanatics who feel music is against Islam.


Anglo Arabic School- Delhi’s Oldest Educational Institute

Anglo Arabic School- Delhi's Oldest Educational Institute

Anglo Arabic School is the oldest educational intuitions in Delhi and one of the oldest in India. It was established in the 1690’s by Ghaziuddin Khan the deccan commander and general of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. It opened as a madrasa and took the name of its founder. Despite it ancient pedigree , it was as recent as 2002 when the very bureaucratic Archeological Survey of India declared it as a heritage monument.


More a Stud than Slut Walk

More a Stud than Slut Walk

But the girls did not oblige. The organisers of Slut Walk Delhi- a motley group of college students, had made it clear. This was India so no revealing outfits. The Slut Walk Delhi was christened Besharmi Morcha and the organisers were at pains to explain that the walk was not just about women’s right to wear skimpy clothes. The only skimpily clad person for miles around was a resting ascetic who sat topless bang in the middle of the Slut Walk route.


Fatehpur Sikri- The Lost Mughal City

Fatehpur Sikri- The Lost Mughal City

I love Mughal Emperor Akbar. I think he was perhaps the first and the last great secular ruler in India. However like most powerful people, he was also given to superstitions. He believed that his wife bore a son because of Sufi Saint Shaikh Salim Chisti’s prophecy. Akbar built his palace in Sikri in gratitude to the saint. He lived in Sikri for 15 long years before realizing it had a chronic water- shortage problem and moved bag and baggage to Lahore.