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Shop SEWA Livelihood outlet in Thiruvananthapuram

How SEWA Livelihood initiative in Kerala supported women through the pandemic

SEWA opened food counters and a food cart to support women who lost their means of livelihood due to the pandemic

Off-Centre Society

To stranger, with love: When requests to write romantic letters came my way

Saikat Majumdar

Nehru likened democracy to religion, although organised religion, its priesthoods and dogmas were all anathema to him.

Glimpses of Nehru Nehru worried that elections always brought out the worst in people

Madhavan K. Palat It irritated him that the focus of elections was always himself rather than policies and programmes

Organic farmer G Thangavel with Ponni

How Mattu Pongal is celebrated in Tamil Nadu

Akila Kannadasan Farmers celebrate the cattle that keep farms running by massaging them with sandalwood paste, rubbing their horns with castor oil and decking them out with garlands

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Watch | Devdutt Pattanaik speaks on 'dharma-sankat'

Women from Adichilthotti, a tiny hamlet in the Edamalayar valley in Kerala, are adept at weaving reed bamboo into exquisite products

Tribal communities in Kerala’s Chalakudy and Karuvannur river basins find new markets for forest produce

Faith

Ahamkara, virtue and vice

Adherence to Truth

The Sastras speak of adherence to Truth or Satya, as the highest dharma. The Ramayana shows how Truth is Supreme in all the worlds. In the Mahabharata, Draupadi talks highly of Satya as the dharma that is not tainted by selfish ends. It is this commitment to truth that is exemplified by the devotee Nam Paduvan, whose story is related in the Varaha Purana with reference to the observance of the Kaisika Ekadasi vrata, pointed out Sri B. Damodhara Dikshitar in a discourse. The main purpose of the

Resumption of good deeds

Sage Vashishtha praises Aditi, the presiding deity of the star Punarvasu. Aditi is Goddess Mahalakshmi, and Vashishtha says She is Savitri and Gayatri.She is also Jagati, that is, the entire Universe is a personification of Lakshmi. Vashishtha then describes Aditi as katamaa. In Sanskrit kam means pleasure or joy. Commentator Sayanacharya explains that katamaa means She who gives superlative happiness. It is not a cheap joy, but it is a lofty joy, said V.S. Karunakarachariar, in a discourse.The

History & Culture

History & Culture

A walk to mark the 88th year of inauguration of Vizagapatnam Harbour

Nivedita Ganguly

Unearthed debris throws light on Kochi’s colonial past

PRIYADERSHINI S Fancy a local antiques roadshow? Meet the history enthusiasts rummaging through debris, unearthed as part of public works, to collect objects that throw light on Kochi’s past

This Christmas, spread the jolly festive spirit with handcrafted decorations

Nivedita Ganguly With Christmas kits and decor this year taking a turn towards sustainability, startups are bringing festive cheer to shoppers with handcrafted toys made by local artisans from across the country

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Faith

Ahamkara, virtue and vice

Faith

Adherence to Truth

Are community dogs made for gated communities? A tale with O Henry-ish twist in the tail seems to offer an answer

Faith

Daily Quiz | One nation, many festivals

Faith

Resumption of good deeds

Off-Centre Society

To stranger, with love: When requests to write romantic letters came my way

Nehru worried that elections always brought out the worst in people

It irritated him that the focus of elections was always himself rather than policies and programmes

Expert play?

Today’s deal is from an all-expert team match. Both East-West pairs bid to the cold six hearts and both North-South pairs judged well to sacrifice in

Green Humour

How Mattu Pongal is celebrated in Tamil Nadu

Farmers celebrate the cattle that keep farms running by massaging them with sandalwood paste, rubbing their horns with castor oil and decking them out with garlands

Into the feminiverse: The world of K-dramas is full of women

One reason why K-dramas are so popular in India is perhaps the fact that they are largely by, for and of women

Cursive writing, without curses

Katta’s ‘h’ looked like ‘b’ and ‘y’ looked like a tape worm crawling out of an ‘e’ that looked like a ‘c’ with teeth in its open mouth

Daily Quiz | Words and their etymology

With the online game Wordle becoming a viral sensation, here is a quiz on words and their etymology (origins). Compiled by: Srinivasan Ramani

Delightful Krishna leelas

There is a verse not part of Srimad Bhagavatam or any of the Puranas, which talks of Yasoda’s reaction when she tried to frighten Krishna away from

Daily quiz | Swami Vivekananda

A quiz on Swami Vivekananda, the Hindu spiritual leader, and reformer. His 159th birth anniversary was celebrated on January 12, 2022. Complied by V.V. Ramanan

Chennai rapper Nigavithran’s ‘Dishonored’ talks about the politics of the indie music space

Rapper Nigavithran’s new EP ‘Dishonored’ discusses the rejection that budding rap artistes face in the now-crowded indie music space

How SEWA Livelihood initiative in Kerala supported women through the pandemic

SEWA opened food counters and a food cart to support women who lost their means of livelihood due to the pandemic

Dharma triumphs

Often it seems as if adharma is winning, but in the end it is dharma that triumphs, said Kidambi Narayanan in a discourse. Before we take up a cause

How Indian states revel in the goodness of jaggery

Sankranti, Pongal, Lohri... no harvest festival in the country is complete without the use of ‘gud’ or jaggery. Fans know that the texture and taste of this traditional sweetener differ from region to region, lending a distinct flavour to festive dishes. Travel around India with us to sample some well-loved heirloom recipes

How Tamil Nadu’s farmers revived heritage rice varieties over decades

The past two years have seen a surge in the demand for heritage rice in the State. This Pongal, we look at the decades-long movement behind this revival, and the farmers, researchers and entrepreneurs who affected change at the grassroots

King among ascetics

Lord Ranganatha of Srirangam gave the name Ramanuja darshana to Visishtadvaita, in honour of Ramnujacharya, who was responsible for giving the

Visionary poet and saint

The Tirumandiram of Tirumoolar is placed as the Tenth Tirumurai among the Twelve Saiva Tirumurais. He is a visionary and a Siddhar who is aware of the

Sunday quiz: Easy like Sunday morning

‘Never give up, for even rivers someday wash dams away.’

Extra chance missed

Today’s deal is from a team competition some years ago. Both tables reached four hearts and both West players led the five of diamonds. Paths diverged

Green Humour

The reporters who cover the remotest parts of rural India have now reached the Oscars

As a documentary on news network Khabar Lahariya makes it to the Oscars, we look at a few news networks that report from the most neglected parts of rural India

Civic sense beyond the backyard

Here are two examples — one from Mylapore and the other from Manali — of what you can do for the betterment of neighbourhoods not your own

135 moth species documented from aChennai neighbourhood, largely from one apartment

Three millennial naturalists prepare a paper on these 135 lepidopterans, which sees the light at threatenedtaxa.org

Imprinting a sustainability message

Corporate house saves printers from being scrapped, donates them to the needy

A lake sustains local residents during lockdowns

Agaramthen lake illustrates how a waterbody can be a blessing to the local community; and the time to protect it from possible future ills is now

God and His bhaktas

The essential dharma or duty of the jiva is ‘Seshatva’ or ‘Dasatva’ to the Lord and hence unconditional service to the Lord is central to the

You’ve been covidised

As the pandemic rolls along, here’s a list of words that might burrow into our vocabulary and outlive it

On a wing and a prayer: Pigeon fanciers of Kashmir are getting ready for the annual race of their birds

Kashmir’s pigeon racers have begun prepping their birds for this year’s edition of a much-loved sport

The jiva’s swaroopa

Sastras say that the relationship of the jiva with God is eternal and unbroken. Visishtadvaita philosophy explains the nature of the association

How country sugar or ‘naatu sakkarai’ is made at Erode’s Kavindapadi

With Pongal around the corner, we visit Kavindapadi in Erode district, famous for organic country sugar, a flavourful substitute to commercial jaggery and white sugar

Around the country on cycles in a year and a half

"Cycling is perhaps the safest thing to do during an epidemic.”

Hallmarks of bhakti

Bhakti is derived from the root ‘Bhaj,’ and primarily manifests as adoration, and loving, selfless service to God. What is the reason for bhakti?

Open mics and poetry events pick up across Chennai

Spoken word poetry sees a growing community in Chennai, aided by open mics and slam poetry events, which promise to be safe spaces for personal exploration

Relief from sorrow

Human birth is far superior to others since man is gifted with the capacity to analyse the purpose of his existence. He can hence try to seek a way

Bengaluru creative Shubhashree will guide you on how to pause and reflect to prep for 2022

Illustrator Shubhashree Sangameswaran shows how visual journaling helps reflect on the year gone by and set a personal planner for this year

Faith, belief and service

At a time when the prevalence of many faiths kept people confused, the advent of the Saivite Nayanmars inspired the spirit of service to Siva and the

The name Ramanuja

Ramanujacharya was an avatara of Adisesha. When the time came for him to be named, it was his maternal uncle Thirumalai Nambi who gave him the name

These homegrown initiatives are helping people find pen pals to connect with

The pandemic is pushing more people to take up letter-writing

Sunday Quiz: animals and their species

This world is like Noah’s Ark. In which few men but many beasts embark: Samuel Butler

Hindutva’s caste masterstroke

Hindutva has unabashedly embraced caste and the success is there for all to see

Magical spot cards

West’s pre-emptive bid put North under pressure. North felt that two aces and four-card heart support entitled him to bid four hearts, but East

Green Humour

The butter thief

Among Krishna’s leelas, three get special attention from the Azhvars — the killing of Putana, the killing of Sakatasura and Krishna stealing butter.

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