January 17, 2016

It is indeed special to celebrate the start of a new year, and the new beginnings associated with it, but it is even more special when the first few days of the year includes celebrating the arrival of a new baby. The Hindu life sacrament known in Sanskrit as Simantonnayana with the literal meaning “parting of the hair,” has evolved into a baby shower, to both welcome a new baby into the family and celebrate the expectant mother. Hindus, particularly... Read more

January 6, 2016

I was pleased to start the new year off with information about how, in pre-colonial India, Hindu temples were premier educational institutions. January also reminded me of my own pursuit of Hindu studies: several years ago, I wanted to enroll in a Hindu studies program at a local college, and found there are no such classes in our region – especially not one solely focused on Hinduism, and especially not taught by a practicing Hindu. I enrolled at Ecumenical Theological Seminary... Read more

December 29, 2015

Christmas is a time when those of us who are not Christian also get to participate in the festive season – especially because schools and businesses alike give time off.  Over the past several years, I have enjoyed how the automotive industry in my home of metro-Detroit has given me the opportunity to enjoy the season with its shut-down from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Day.  Many of us are able to take vacations, enjoy time with friends and family, and... Read more

December 9, 2015

Editors’ Note: This article is part of the Patheos Public Square on Charitable Giving. Read other perspectives here.                                                                                                                            ... Read more

November 10, 2015

Diwali is a time of love and laughter, family and friends, fun and foods that delight – it is the Festival of Lights, marking the return of an exiled prince, returning home to be King, with a path of clay diyas, that provide him the path to his kingdom and family of devoted subjects. At our local temple in Troy, MI, we mark the holiday with a cultural and social function on the weekend either before or after the holy... Read more

October 22, 2015

The nine days/nights of Navaratri are over:  the celebration of the Goddess in her tamas, rajas and sattva forms  ends with a day marking the victory of good over evil, going beyond the limitations of these three gunas, finding that which we are seeking. The Goddess was first celebrated for three days in her fierce tamasic form, of Durga and Kali, followed by three days dedicated to Lakshmi – the goddess of wealth, representing the Goddess in her golden rajasic glory. And now, after the worship of knowledge and enlightenment,... Read more

October 13, 2015

Today is the start of Navaratri, a nine-night festival that honors the Feminine Divine – Shakti, Devi, Goddess. Hinduism Today’s Festival one pager explains how it is celebrated, and more importantly, its significance. Hinduism is one of the few living religions where the Divine is She, Shakti. Shakti is the Divine Mother, the personification of primordial energy, that which is the source of all and controls all, the power behind divine and cosmic evolution, and exists in each of us. On... Read more

September 24, 2015

The sad news about Swami Dayananda Saraswati – a Hindu leader whose loss will be mourned by millions around the world – came around the time I sat down to write about the Global Goals initiative at One. I was invited to join a circle of faith leaders at Patheos to champion the goals through the practices and teachings of my faith, Hinduism, with a Prayer for Everyone. I felt like it was a sign: Swamiji (“ji” is an honorific appended... Read more

September 14, 2015

Editors’ Note: This article is part of the Patheos Public Square on the Pope in America: Implications, Collaborations, Challenges. Read other perspectives here. A child of immigrants, I grew up with a Catholic “uncle” – a foreign student from Southern India like my parents. He and my father were colleagues in the English department at a university in New York.  “Uncle Ralph,” my father would always say, “is a ‘small c’ catholic” – and to this day, I have not... Read more

September 10, 2015

As most people of Indian origin know, “American Born Confused Desi” – an ABCD – is a special phrase used to refer to a rather “neither here nor there” mentality that we Indian Americans might have acquired while growing up in America, with parents who are immigrants from India trying to provide an “Indian” environment at home. My parents went a step farther – they moved the family back to India when I was in high school, so that I... Read more


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