GAYATRI PAGDI Years ago, when I decided to study what had caused me clinical depression, for some time, I came across many points-of-view depending on who you were sharing them with. The psychiatrist told me that it was an imbalance of neurochemicals in my brain. My Chinese diviners told me that my yin and yang […]
GAYATRI PAGDI Just as fire is a symbol of strength and power, water is the symbol of purity and life. Also, among the five great elements, or Panchamahabhutas, that Hinduism extols, the closest to man is water. For the Aryans, the earthly river was an extension of the divine waters that flowed from Heaven to […]
GAYATRI PAGDI They aren’t gods. But, they’re closer to Him than us, earthly beings. They are the divine spirits, or god’s associates. They populate the worlds of all tribal societies in the form of spiritual beings, minor divinities, or various godlings. The concept of tribal spiritual worlds co-existed with the concept of god. At times, […]
GAYATRI PAGDI Each time the old year trots away, the new comes galloping in. As wishes surge, better times are hoped. If you appreciate Vedic imagery, the white steed of the Sun shows up on the New Year’s daybreak. As you inventively look at the horizon, several powerful milky-white steeds draw the Sun’s golden chariot […]
GAYATRI PAGDI While roving through umpteen poetry sites on the Internet, one is amazed by the amount of angst, anguish, and pain, expressed. Agreed that the age groups of wailing poets differ. From who-am-I and what-is-my-purpose-in-life of 20-somethings to the poetry of loneliness by poets in the evening of their lives, myriad voices give vent […]
GAYATRI PAGDI The four-year-old’s question had me thinking for a moment. “Do you pray to girl-god or boy-god?” “Err, both,” I said. “And, you?” “I pray to girl-god when I want something. She sits in a flower, smiling. I’m sure she won’t get angry, if I ask her for things. But boy-god has gadgets. He […]
GAYATRI PAGDI A few years ago, an Indian family friend, who had shifted to a remote part of Africa on business, for a couple of years, returned. He had come away earlier than scheduled — for a reason. Well, he was a ‘victim’ of envy of some of the locals who had tried everything before […]
GAYATRI PAGDI Each one of us has gone through a time in life when we felt that things were getting on top of us, we couldn’t cope anymore, or life was not worth living. Our reasons differ: personal illness, chronic sickness of a loved one, disappointments, or losses at work, or in business, and let-downs […]
GAYATRI PAGDI Remember Kiranjit Ahluwalia from Provoked? I was reminded of her story again, just the other day. One of the issues widely discussed in India today is domestic violence against women. Violence, as we know, need not always be physical – yet, the consequences are as deadly. The signs, however, aren’t obvious to an […]
GAYATRI PAGDI If there has been anything in common between Eskimo Shamans and early Aryans, or the Quechuas, and the African Bushmen, the Berbers and the Native American ancients, or the Mongolian spiritualists and Maoris, it is the belief in the sacred and the profane. Every culture in the world has defined what is sacred […]