India Beckons wishes its readers a very Happy Gudi Padwa!
Gudi Padwa (the first day after the new moon day or amavasya in the month of Chaitra) is celebrated as the New Year day in Maharashtra, while it also is commemorated in different parts of the country as Ugadi (Telugu...
Alibaug (Arunima Takiar, 2019)
Cracked seashells,
your pointed edges
lucidly reveal
intact sand grains
wrapping fervently
around your body parts,
twisted in
unfamiliar time zones
fast-forwarded
from a past
of splinters
that defied
permanence,
trodden by
unknowing feet
on happy sojourns,
(broken)
not lost,
vestiges
in shining specks
of beach shimmer
that defy
impermanence.
When yours truly wanted to escape for the weekend and was looking for inspiration to write a poem, a...
India – a land as vibrant as the strands that make up a tapestry and a land that cradles an ancient civilization where umpteen festivals are celebrated with dance and music. The leitmotifs of many of these dances are unpretentious – taken from everyday rituals: sowing, reaping the harvest,...
The regal state of Rajasthan is on almost every international tourist’s itinerary for its varied landscape, ethnic folklore, delicious food and warm people. Royal palaces and formidable forts apart, Rajasthani thali food seasoned with spices and herbs is visually appealing and tastes great.
The winter harvest festival of Makar Sankranti...
The month of April-May (‘Medom’ in Malayalam) is the season of ‘poorams’ (festivals) in Kerala. For culture enthusiasts, this is the best time to visit Thrissur, the temple town and cultural capital of the state when it gets ready to unfurl the major temple festival called Thrissur Pooram.
Pooram was...
Once considered a rare exotic fruit and available only to a very limited number of people, today we can enjoy the delicious papaya and its benefits all year round. The fruit and its seeds contain ingredients that have medicinal properties and nourish our body on many different levels. Papaya definitely stands out...
Lord Ganesha commands a unique position in the Hindu pantheon and is depicted in the most ingenious and imaginative forms. The colourful, elephant-headed deity of four-armed Ganpati riding a mouse is invoked by every devout Hindu before beginning a new venture or carrying out an auspicious mission.
Antiquity of Ganesha
Historians...
Most Hindu festivals celebrate the avatar of God as a saviour of mankind. It is either victory of good over evil or the birth of divinity in human form. Sri Krishna Jayanti is also known by other names like Krishna Janmashtami, Gokulashtami, Ashtami Rohini, and Krishnashtami. Krishna, the eighth...
In India, Navami is celebrated as the last day of the nine nights of Navratri – the festival in which Goddess Durga is worshipped and revered. In north India, especially amongst the Punjabi community, it is celebrated by holding kanjak or kanya pujan, where young girls, who are thought...
Sometimes we need to make that external physical journey in order to make that inward spiritual journey and connect to our souls. That is the essence of the Pandharpur Yatra (pilgrimage) or ‘Wari’ as it is more commonly referred to.
The Wari
Sant Tukaram was the first one to set out...
The Jaisalmer Desert Festival is an annual event that takes place in February each year in India. It is held in the Hindu month of Magh, three days prior to the full moon. In 2018, during this period, without having any prior knowledge of it, luckily, we were in...
The Parsis, which means Persians, the followers of prophet Zoroaster, migrated to India to escape religious harassment and discriminations by another community (Muslims). As they turned from refugees to residents of India, the Persian sway shrank except for the use of dry fruits and nuts in pulavs.
While Iranian cooking...
International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women all over the world. But this day is also a reminder that we should take a step beyond commemorating the achievements of countless women all over the globe only on a single...
Goswami Tulsidas, or more famously Tulsidas, was an Indian poet-saint, philosopher, composer, and social reformer widely known for his literary work Ramcharitmanas - the Hindi equivalent of Saint Valmiki’s Ramayan.
Life and times
Tulsidas was born into a Hindu Vaishnav family in the year 1532 A.D. in the village of Rajapur...
Tucked away in the quiet suburb of Chembur in Mumbai is this new delectable Sindhi cuisine eatery, finding its way into people’s hearts and stomachs. It’s called Duma Dum Mast Kalandar – quaintly named after the famous Sufi spiritual song, whose beats travel with the wafts of soft breeze...
