Renuka Narayanan is a commentator and columnist on religion and culture.
Articles by Renuka Narayanan
Death of a river is the death of an ecosystem
In human terms the death of a river or a lake or a sea is as though somebody important in the family, somebody central to its well-being, has suddenly died.
Updated on Jun 04, 2016 08:52 PM IST
Two otters and an expectedly wily jackal
The moral of a Jataka tale that still rings true.
Published on Apr 24, 2016 02:31 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Renuka Narayanan
Yamuna: A very foolish, humane and loving river
Over the years I built up an impression of a charming, wistful sweetness about the Yamuna compared to her grand sisters.
Updated on Mar 20, 2016 03:17 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Renuka Narayanan
What lies beneath that moral policing?
It seemed yet another sorry instance to me of the way anger has become the sthayi bhava or dominant mood of our public life, says Renuka Narayanan.
Published on Feb 14, 2016 04:28 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Renuka Narayanan
If we exhaust our health capital, we will suffer a burnout
The moral of the ‘goose with a golden feathers’ still holds true. If we exhaust our health capital, we will suffer a burnout.
Published on Jan 31, 2016 03:10 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Renuka Narayanan
Why shankh (conch) is so important in Hindu consciousness
From stories of how Krishna’s Panchajanya who strike terror in the enemy’s heart to its recent mention at the Indian Science Congress for its curative and meditative properties, the conch occupies an important place in collective Hindu consciousness.
Updated on Jan 17, 2016 04:56 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Renuka Narayanan
Hazrat Moosa and the ‘errant’ shepherd
A story that went straight to my heart years ago and that I like retelling comes from Maulana Jalaludin Rumi’s ‘Mathnavi’, which is hailed as the Persian Quran.
Published on Jan 03, 2016 05:15 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Renuka Narayanan
Another chance for us to get it right
This year, as a New Year pro, I know what I’m not going to do, which includes sneaking into the shrubbery on a winter night in Delhi. I’m not going to make New Year resolutions
Published on Dec 27, 2015 01:26 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Renuka Narayanan
Enduring eloquence of a poetic race
In normal circumstances, I would have read aloud my verses in English at the ninth Chennai poetry festival last week, but the event was naturally cancelled following the terrible calamity of the floods. A far greater ‘poetry of life’ poured from the hearts of the Chennaivasis through calls and posts offering free practical help to one another.
Published on Dec 13, 2015 05:04 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Renuka Narayanan, New Delhi
The Big Idli sets a fine example in citizenship
These boring, dark Madrasis of Madras who don’t eat and speak so funny and were the first to compensate their Sikhs for losses caused in ’84 have shown utter and absolute grace under pressure.
Updated on Dec 06, 2015 02:07 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Renuka Narayanan
A caring reaction is the best one for Paris attacks
My grandfather’s early cross-cultural camaraderie made him a very liberal father to his three daughters. It made his daughters very liberal in their outlook and they in turn raised liberal children who liked people of all backgrounds and participated comfortably in life across cultures. Such people make it easy to reject hatemongers. Just saying.
Updated on Nov 22, 2015 03:30 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Renuka Narayanan
An eye made quiet by the power of harmony
Is it not strange that foreigners are free to eat the fruit of Indian culture like yoga, dance, music and cyber-smarts while our children may be denied the best of world culture.
Updated on Oct 25, 2015 12:33 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Renuka Narayanan, New Delhi
Ancestral musings on an Arabian sunset
This year, Ashura falls on October 23. It is the culmination of ten days of mourning held every year during the Islamic month of Muhurram to commemorate the Battle of Karbala.
Published on Oct 18, 2015 03:18 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Renuka Narayanan, New Delhi
And strangely, thereby hangs a tail
Some people seem to get along well with monkeys and I don’t think I’m in their happy number; although I love going to Vrindavan where the monkey menace is so strong that the only way to deal with it is to treat it as a game, as a lila within the lila.
Published on Oct 04, 2015 03:01 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Renuka Narayanan, New Delhi
Myths and legends of the broken tusk
We were taught that the gods love to twist the odds for men just to see how they will react, since all creation is their divine play or lila. Since Vyasa was clever, he made a counter-condition that Ganesha had to understand every word before he wrote it down.
Published on Sep 20, 2015 12:17 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Renuka Narayanan
Myths and legends of the broken tusk
We were taught that the gods love to twist the odds for men just to see how they will react, since all creation is their divine play or lila. Since Vyasa was clever - he composed a long and complicated epic like the Mahabharata - he made a counter-condition that Ganesha had to understand every word before he wrote it down. Ganesha was pleased to agree, secretly delighted. He broke off his own tusk to write with, as proof of goodwill, and they began the task.
Updated on Sep 20, 2015 11:56 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Renuka Narayanan
Reclaiming an old and pleasant concept
For those who could not romp comfortably in the public processions for Ganesh Chaturthi, there was an alternative, particularly for little girls.
Updated on Sep 13, 2015 01:46 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Renuka Narayanan, New Delhi
Finding our home in the land of 'om'
I did not think of Dr Kalam as a hero and neither, I may safely generalise, did many other Hindus. I intensely disliked the pictures of him bowing to the statues of RSS ideologues.
Updated on Aug 02, 2015 01:28 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Renuka Narayanan, New Delhi
Remembering Ram the old way
When I asked, I was given to understand that the path of Hara (Shiva) is too stern for most people to negotiate in the wear and tear of daily life. For confidence and courage through it all, regular people, be they literate or illiterate, woman or man, rich or poor, require the doting Beloved who will suffer for our little sakes: the concept of Hari (Vishnu), the One as mystically 'seen' by us.
Updated on Jul 26, 2015 05:13 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Renuka Narayanan
An extra lunar month and a wedding: The spirit of Adhik Maas
Adhik Maas comes by every thirty-two months, sixteen days and eight ghadis (a 'ghadi' is twentyfour minutes) to synchronise the lunar calendar (354 days) and the solar calendar (365 days). It is said to be the only month in which the sun does not move into a new astrological sign.
Updated on Jul 19, 2015 05:01 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Renuka Narayanan
Eat well, stay well and please God
Teaching children a suitably adapted version of 'Home Science' could actually be a matter of teaching practical spirituality and raising self-reliant, well-nourished generations.
Updated on Jul 05, 2015 03:49 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Renuka Narayanan, New Delhi
A love song from Yamuna: The tale of Ras Khan and his poetry
As talks of reviving the Yamuna are abuzz again, columnist Renuka Narayanan revisits fascinating tales about the river.
Updated on Jun 28, 2015 04:55 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Renuka Narayanan, New Delhi
Goodbye dust-devils, here comes the rain
Burning heat and biting cold — if we had to live only with the two, we would not have the economic and cultural history we do or, come to think of it, our political history. Both the dangerous and pleasant consequences of wealth and the stark consequences of poverty come from the rains, and it is because of the rains that we remain (sort of) “sujalaam, sufalaam, malayaja sheetalaam”.
Updated on Jun 07, 2015 03:49 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Renuka Narayanan, New Delhi
The zen of the Gayatri Mantra
It seems wholly inappropriate to speak of the Gayatri mantra this week given how the sun is roasting our brains instead of 'stimulating our intellect'. But do let's talk about it on principle, as free spirits who won't let anyone take it away from or tarnish it for normal, peaceful people.
Updated on May 24, 2015 04:14 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Renuka Narayanan
Nobody is too junior to be brave or too senior to be foolish
Narasimha Jayanti fell on May 2 this year and reminded us that nobody is too junior to be brave or too senior to be foolish.
Updated on May 03, 2015 04:36 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Renuka Narayanan
No one saves us but ourselves
There's been such sad news of people giving up on life last week because of frustrated hopes and overwhelming losses that the Buddha's words come to mind: "No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path."
Updated on Apr 26, 2015 12:02 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Renuka Narayanan, New Delhi
Musical mysteries and mystical melodies
Like others, I've always maintained that classical music is one language that unites creeds. It may not be easy to learn but it is easy listening if we let ourselves float with its current and go where it takes us (usually to a feel-good zone). Our neighbours to the north-west do not permit our artistes to visit them.
Updated on Apr 12, 2015 01:48 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Renuka Narayanan, New Delhi
Easter thoughts for the Indian soul
Was Ishtar, the ancient Babylonian fertility goddess, re-imagined as Easter by the Roman empire when it turned Christian?
Updated on Apr 04, 2015 10:31 PM IST
Thank you Shashi Kapoor for Utsav, the subtle little clay cart in Hindi cinema
The pleasing news that Shashi Kapoor is to receive the Dadasaheb Phalke award for his many contributions to cinema brings back his courage in producing Utsav (1985), the film based on the ancient Sanskrit play Mrichhakatikam or The Little Clay Cart.
Updated on Mar 29, 2015 02:53 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Renuka Narayanan
Stories woven into a Kashmiri shawl
Ram is your soul. Sita is your heart. Ravan is your mind that steals your heart from your soul. Lakshman is your conscience, always with you and active on your behalf. Hanuman is your intuition and courage that help retrieve your heart to re-animate your soul.
Updated on Mar 15, 2015 02:11 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Renuka Narayanan, New Delhi