Ākāśāt Patitaṃ: Many Forms, One Reality

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Adi Shankara: The image that's stayed with me forever Sanskrit and shlokas have always fascinated me. The sheer vastness of Sanskrit literature is humbling. There are enough verses, texts, commentaries and traditions to occupy many lifetimes, and still leave one feeling that one has barely scratched the surface. But I didn't think much about any of this when I was growing up. I would recite shlokas in the morning and evening without fail. They were simply part of life. The words were there, the rituals were there, the temples were there—but much of it happened in the background. I was busy with academics. There was no time for Sanskrit or Vedanta. At least, that is what I used to tell myself. Of course, time was never really the problem. I could spend five days watching a Test match from morning to evening and somehow consider that perfectly legitimate use of my time! The truth was simpler: Sanskrit and Vedanta had not yet become priorities. Gr...
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Media - What a mockery!

You just have to open any Indian news website and the headlines scream forth - Abhiwarya Wedding, What happened in the last one hour, Sangeet at the wedding, Men jealous of Abhishek...and so on the nonsense continues. I just wonder why the media has to give so much publicity to a private wedding affair. Is anyone really interested in finding out what they are upto? There is a limit to all the idiosynchracies and after a point, it really gets on your nerves. It is also apalling to see a new comment everyday from Amitabh Bachchan proclaiming his son to be a demigod or something, praising his acting skills and what not. Why in the world should the world be interested in whether Aishwarya is a good daughter-in-law for the family or not? What is the need for Jaya Bachchan to issue such statements? The front page of every Indian newspaper is hogged by the wedding as if there is no other important issue to tackle at this point of time.

To top it all, the coverage continues as to who the invitees are and why some people are left out. The Shahrukh-Bachchan scandal was taken to new heights with each of them mud slinging the other. The media hyped it beyond proportions though. So what if they are the big guys, what is the need to attach so much importance to a private function? It just does not augur well for the media to give centerstage to such a miniscule event when there are other important issues to attend to. Nowadays, I just refrain from going to some of the Indian news sites for fear of getting bogged down by the unnecessities.

Who cares whether Salman Khan and Vivek Oberoi are invited for the event or not? Who is bothered about how much is spent for the wedding? Who is worried about their honeymoon plans? Who cares whether Aishwarya plans to act after marriage or not? Who cares....

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