I visited Mysore this last week. Did not do anything, just hung out with cousins and my aunt, played scrabble, ate the superbly tasty meals my cousin prepared, and pickled some homegrown amla. Felt really good. My aunt is a genius at scrabble and sudoku. At 90+ she enjoys reading. Here, you can see her reading my novel, Devayani, for the 3rd or 4th time! She told me she loved the book. And I love that she enjoyed the book!

This is the 93rd year that Shankara Jayanthi is being celebrated in my grandfather’s house. It has become an institution. Veda recitation starts off at 6 am. On the topmost floor, aruna poorvaka surya namaskaara are conducted. My thigh and calf muscles are feeling the strain 2) on the third. The dress code is strict. Only veshtis and saris!

Downstairs on the main level, sata rudreeyam is recited by more than 50 men.

After breakfast, a huge production number in itself, there are lectures till lunch.

Savarkar explains the reasoning behind #ForcedConversions in his novel, #Gomantak
#Slavery

“Then Anthony turned to his soldiers and solemnly explained his credo. ‘An intelligent gardener will burn those trees that are dried up and don’t yield fruit. + ... He will also burn those trees that cannot be transplanted from his rival’s garden into his own but will not destroy the trees capable of producing a good harvest in his garden. Similarly, however wanton and sinful they might be, women should not be burnt with their men. +

When reading through C Gopalan Nair's deeply disturbing 'The Moplah Rebellion, 1921,' I came across this heartening piece in the midst of the stomach-churning account of atrocities perpetrated on Hindus. The Zamorin Raja of Calicut met with a council of Nambudiri Vaideekans - 1/n + to decide the fate of forced converts during the rebellion. "Our thanks are mainly due to the Arya Samaj Society for effecting re-conversion of forced converts. When the alarming news of a large number of Hindus forcibly converted to Islam reached Punjab, it shocked the - 2/n