Vikram Seth decodes the 'mesmeric hold' of 'The Hanuman Chalisa'

IANS | June 21, 2024 10:43 PM

New Delhi, June 21 (IANS) Acclaimed novelist-poet Vikram Seth got introduced to the poetic cadence and eternal philosophy of 'The Hanuman Chalisa' when he was writing the character of Bhaskar Tandon, the Kapoor family's boy genius in 'A Suitable Boy' who had memorised Tulsidas's adulatory ode to Lord Hanuman at the age of five.

Devdutt Pattanaik decodes the words 'tirtha' and 'marga' - and much else - in riveting talk

IANS | May 30, 2024 3:01 PM

New Delhi, May 30 (IANS) Mythologist and best-selling author Devdutt Pattanaik explored the uncharted terrain of infrastructure in mythology in a talk that covered an incredible range, from the rationale of the location of the shrines of Kedarnath and Badrinath to the fact that the Harappan Civilisation was a mercantile society where armies were conspicuous by their absence.