R. Radhakrishnan's Blog: Timeless Tales from an Ancient Land!

Kaliya Mardana is one of India’s most beloved stories: the child Krishna dancing atop the hood of Kaliya, the fearsome serpent. Every Indian child knows it. But is Kaliya truly the villain we have always been told he is?Mythology gives us facts wrapped in fiction. There is always a grain of truth beneath the hyperbole and imagination. Who were the Nagas? Were they the original inhabitants of the land? Those are questions for another day. Today, let us go to the story of Kaliya the Naga.

There is a particular cruelty in being handed a lie as a child and told to memorise it for examination.In the India of the 1960s and 70s, a nation barely a decade freed from colonial rule, schoolchildren were taught, with solemn authority, about the Black Hole of Calcutta. The story ran as follows: in the sweltering night of June 1756, the tyrannical Nawab of Bengal, Siraj Ud Daula, crammed 146 British prisoners, soldiers and civilians alike, into a tiny, airless dungeon no ...

Rishi Kaushika was, by all accounts, a remarkable man.He had been sitting in meditation for years. Years. No Netflix, no chai breaks, no idle gossip with neighbours. Just him, the forest, his breath, and the slow, burning accumulation of spiritual power. He could feel it humming in his bones like a second heartbeat.

Naturally, he was a little pleased with himself.

Okay ��� very pleased with himself.

He had the quiet confidence that only comes from decades of discipline. The kind that makes a ma...

Ravana, the mighty ruler of Lanka, was no ordinary king. In the epic traditions of India he is portrayed as a paradoxical figure, at once a terrifying antagonist and a man of immense learning and accomplishment. He was a great warrior, a master of the Vedas and scriptures, a skilled musician who composed several hymns, and a ruler whose kingdom of Lanka was famed for its wealth and grandeur.

His queen Mandodari, celebrated in the epics as wise and virtuous, became pregnant with their first child...

Ninety Years of the Ghost Who Walks

A tribute to the Phantom, the Guardian of the Eastern Dark, on his 90th birthday!

On the 17th of February, 1936, a man stepped out of the deep woods in purple tights, a mask across his eyes, a skull ring on his finger, and his underwear worn boldly on the outside. He spoke softly. He hit hard.

He had no cape that billowed in cosmic winds, no alien blood, no radioactive spider bite. He had only his fists, his cour...

My friend, a hardcore nonvegetarian and casual Christian becomes a vegetarian for a short period during the year. I was always intrigued by this.

Lent, Good Friday, and Easter represent significant events in the Christian calendar, observed by millions of believers worldwide. Each occasion carries its unique traditions, customs, and celebrations, reflecting the diversity of cultures and religious practices across the globe.

Lent is a period of 40 day...

Writing is fascinating to me from many angles. It is not just words or the formation of ideas and thoughts once you begin to put them on paper or screen. Sometimes stories take on a life of their own, and it is surprising what you started with and what it became in the end. Each story is a learning experience for the writer too.

The Kumbh Conspiracy started as a simple tale I wanted to write about a man���s redemption��� but there were ideas in my head, a melting point of chaos and ideas, and I ...

A Tragicomedy in Four Acts

It had started as such a promising morning. Kali ��� the Greater Coucal who ruled the coconut palm outside Building No. 4 ��� had woken up with a very clear agenda. Find a fat grasshopper. Maybe a small lizard. Definitely NOT become a subject of wildlife photography.

But then the clouds came. And with the clouds came the rain. And with the rain came… that man with the camera.

Kali turned her back to the lens with the practiced disdain of ...

Goa has always been close to my heart for many reasons. The vibe there is different. I have been there as a very young man just after college on an adventure. That was when Goa was the hippie capital of the world, and we had a memorable trip when Goa was truly laid back and relaxed. Over the years I went back many times, and each time was a fresh experience, a fresh insight. This time was a reunion of old friends from my school days. But I spent some time alone a few days exploring Goa and its h...

Once upon a time, in the ancient land of Bharat where even the crows recited Sanskrit and the monkeys debated philosophy, there lived four young Brahmin friends who had spent twelve years at the greatest gurukul in the kingdom.

Twelve years. Together. Surviving on thin gruel, thinner blankets, and the guru’s enthusiastic use of his cane.

Three of them ��� Vidyananda, Shastrika, and Mantraveer ��� had emerged as scholars of towering reputation. Vidyananda could reconstruct any creature’s skeleton...