The world understands Yoga today mainly as a system of physical exercise. Modern yoga is the offspring of 'Hatha' yoga, which we can break down as ‘ha’- the sun and ‘th’-the moon. It is the yoga of balance and harmony in the body-mind, just as the sun and moon balance nature.

The love for Yoga has spread like wildfire across the globe. So much, it seems to me there will soon be more Yoga studios than coffee shops in the world's major cities.

India’s caste system is a curse. Dr. Payal Tadvi, a young, 26-year-old gynaecologist of ‘lower’ caste was its latest fatality last week. Rohit Vermula from Hyderabad, Dr. Mariraj from Tamil Nadu and many others were claimed by this curse only sometime ago.

​Nationalism has become a bad word. No wonder. It has come to mean not only xenophobia, hating foreigners, but also sectarianism. Intolerance for sections of one’s own country. That is ugly nationalism, and should be shunned at all costs.   

​The pictures of PM Narendra Modi meditating in a cave in Kedarnath have gone viral over the weekend. He has been photographed dressed in saffron, sitting in the typical lotus position for a meditation session that is said to have lasted for fifteen hours.

The stale retelling of ancient texts with a fervor of holiness fails to inspire you. Why now? What’s the lesson in these millennia-old texts you need to know? Why must the overtone of holiness be enough for not only respect but your trust and attention?