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Descriptive Spirituality and Prescriptive Religion

 Public discourse often treats spirituality and religion as interchangeable. Yet they operate on fundamentally different principles and serve distinct human needs. Understanding this distinction—particularly through the lens of descriptive spiritual traditions and prescriptive religious systems—clarifies why one emphasizes inner transformation while the other prioritizes collective order. Sanātana Dharma may be understood as a descriptive spiritual framework rather than a religion in the conventional sense. It does not begin with a fixed creed, a singular founder, or a closed canon of unquestionable truths. Instead, it articulates enduring human values—truthfulness, compassion, non-violence, integrity—as patterns observed in lived human experience. These values are not issued as absolute commands but presented as guiding principles, open to debate, reinterpretation, and contextual adaptation. The tradition assumes moral agency and intellectual humility: that human understanding i...
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Sachin Tendulkar, and the Grand Farewell

I have never subscribed to the “ Sachin is God ” cult that many fanboys have been revelling in, for the great man’s swansong. He is a great player, and a humble servant of the game. And some of the magical moments that he has given us Cricket fans will always stay etched in my memory. But is he one of the best players in Indian cricket today? Probably not, in my opinion. Also,   I firmly believe 2011, right after the World Cup win, was the perfect time for him to sign-off. By delaying his retirement, he has done a big disservice to his own legacy. However, ignoring his patchy form in the past 2 years, and looking at his larger contribution to Indian Cricket, and Cricket in general, the man deserves the grand farewell that he is getting. But it is annoying to see every media outlet eulogizing about Sachin for the past few weeks and making a messiah out of a man. For many non-fanatic fans of Sachin, this media frenzy is so overwhelmingly irritating that they have started direc...
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The Future of Cricket

The Year: 2020. The Venue: San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Occasion: World Cup Instant Cricket Finals. Guatemala Vs Samoa. An exciting final awaits the 100,000 screaming audiences and the millions watching on their television screens at home. People of all ages and races have come together, putting their differences and hatred for each other aside, for this momentous occasion. As the cheering grows louder, the two captains take the field. The Guatemalan skipper, in his bright magenta outfit, appears extremely confident of his chances, although the dressing room is full of nervous men in Magenta, biting at their fingernails fearing the backlash from the fanatic supporters back home should they end up losing the finals. At the other end, the Samoan dressing room is unusually quiet, with all the players, dressed in their traditional leaf-skirt and head-gear attire, bowing down in front of their Chief Shaman as he continues to chant a silent prayer to a Pagan God.  The Samoan captain, ...
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Germany 4-1 England: German Blitzkrieg ends English campaign

Watching England fall to a young German team last night brought back memories of the time when I used to religiously follow the travails of Team India . There are many similarities between the English football team and the Indian cricket team.  The popularity they enjoy across the globe, the money they make in comparison to other teams in their sport, the intense scrutiny that their private lives are subjected to by the media, and last but not the least, their continued inability to perform when it matters. Just like Team India was blessed with superstars like Sachin, Azhar, Dravid, Ganguly , and more recently, Dhoni, Yuvraj, Sehwag etc, the Three Lions also have amidst them some of the most recognizable brand names such as Rooney, Lampard, Gerard, Terry to name a few. Individually, these superstars are considered the best (arguably) in their roles/positions. However, put them in a team together, and they are so abject that it is almost embarrassing to watch them play. Althoug...
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The Wonder Years

Every generation has a golden era. For my generation, it was the 90's. Most kids on the cusp of adoloscence found their calling in the eventful period that preceded the Y2K euphoria. As a bunch of early teens just discovering the birds and the bees, the 90's heralded an exciting phase in our boyz-to-men journey. Coupled with the changing political and economical situation in the country, the period was significant for the various influences it had on us. As India, under the able yet eventually discredited P.V. Narasimha Rao, opened its doors to the world in a clear cry of capitalism, the first noticeable change in our lives was the advent of satellite TV. For a bunch that found its entertainment in a single channel on the state run Doordarshan for years, the sudden exposure to a variety of international channels, and the liberal dose of skinshow that they brought along, was a shock that took a while to adjust to. The influences of those early days, after a long period of la...
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3 Idiots- The Review

At long last, after the whole world, and then some, has already watched it, I finally managed to watch the year's biggest hit " 3 Idiots ". On my laptop, mind you. Yet, despite the constraints of the medium, the sheer magnificence of the movie remained unmitigated. There are very few movies that can be called perfect. Even a classic like " Rang De Basanti " had its share of detractors dismissing it to be too preachy and impractical. This latest offering from Rajkumar Hirani, however, is flawless. I know I am sounding like a fresh-off-the-boat fanboy here, but truth be told- the movie is perfect.  While there are conflicting views on how much of the script is based on Chetan Bhagat's novel, and since I have not read " Five Point Someone " myself, I'll be generous and give complete credit to Hirani and his team for such an engaging story and screenplay. Despite the obvious temptation to make it preachy, the director manages to keep it breezy ...
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Book Pyaas

Everyone I know, and their uncles, have either recently published a book or in the process of writing one. Clearly, authoring a book is the " in " thing this season. He has done it, she is doing it. And if everyone is doing it, I too must jump on the bandwagon. The only thing I need now is the genre, theme and topic to start penning my future best seller. I have thought of a few genres to begin with. I could try my luck with fiction since I do have a mean imagination. However, I don't quite have the ability to sensationalize the  mundane, which is a must-have for fiction. Also, I believe in using the least number of words to put forward a point, which clearly does not agree with the fiction genre. Further, fiction requires the author to ramble on for pages describing the scene to create a vivid imagery . I, on the other hand, do not delve on imagery and would rather jump straight into the plot. Clearly, fiction is not for me. Which leads me to consider writing non-fic...
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