Into India: Spiritual Stereotypes And Mysticism

In the West, it seems that mysticism gave its dying breath eons ago. But is that really true?

Faux Feminism? An Ad In India

Feminism and women’s empowerment – two concepts that seem to be taking the West by storm. You can find these terms in various debates in the US – from the right birth control to the right to wear/or not wear clothing. But how does it fair in India? What do people associate with feminism? What are the variants?

Well, that question is far too complicated to answer now. But that doesn't mean there aren't brief slivers of information. A more recent one I've noticed is a frequent ad for OLX – the Craigslist of India.

Into India: Happy Holidays

Nestled at the foot of the Western Gnats, the controversy over at my alma mater, the University of Tennessee appeared pitiful at best. I don’t mean that the students and faculty are wasting their time fighting for a more inclusive environment. But rather that our representatives are making a mockery of the citizenry once again – by claiming that respecting all folks regardless of belief is discriminating against Christen values. I say this, not to be political, but because, quite frankly, from the other side of the globe, the idea that saying “holiday” rather than “Christmas” devalues the latter is absurd. And often “holiday” is the perfect blanket term.

Into India: From Delta to Dust

India reminds me of nowhere I've been, and everywhere at once.

In high school I sat bent over a desktop screen watching Jab We Met, my initial contact with Bollywood. What caught me was an iconic scene – that of a train speeding away, and the protagonist (Kareena Kapoor) rushing to jump on. Years later, when I arrived in India, I hit the tarmac racing through customs, baggage claim, to the next gate. My runaway train was my connecting flight to Pune.