A R Mishra

Blessed are the men who hold their own by doing the bidding of their wives. That’s how Lord Shiva held his head high against an irate Goddess Parvati by appearing with a begging bowl before her kitchen in Kashi for food. Again, had Tulsidas forced himself on an unwilling Ratnavali, his wife, there would have been no Ram Charitra Manas. She chided him saying,

"अस्थि चर्म मय देह यह, ता सों ऐसी प्रीति!

नेकु जो होती राम से, तो काहे भव-भीत?"

Among the many manifestations of womanhood revered in Hindu mythology the one of Shakti, the embodiment of divine powers of purificatory destruction, is uppermost in our national consciousness just now.

This piece is illustrative and lays no claim to factual authenticity.

Did I hear a similar refrain some time ago somewhere? Oh, yes, it was Virendra Sehwag tweeting - he did not score triple centuries, only his bat did. That’s pretty witty play of words that even @mrsfunnybones would love. But stay put, Mr. Jaitley is a Finance Minister who is fully ‘immersed’ in his job, he won’t exchange pleasantries over matters as grave as foreign exchange. So, what did he mean?

I am greatly beholden to PM, so is this nation of 'ek sau pacchees krore deshwasi', for inviting suggestions for his Independence Day speech. It's a privilege no other PM ever accorded us. They spoke their 'mann ki baat' at all times, only Mr. Modi uses such national moments to elicit 'jan ki baat'. This emboldens me to open up my heart in this short piece. Though he will receive millions of suggestions which may even include the ones I make here, still I dare to go ahead, if for nothing, then for the edification of my soul.

I visited the 24th Patna Book Fair at its new venue, the newly-built commodious Gyan Bhawan on 8th December with an element of curiosity aroused by the change - a shift from the dusty outdoors expanse of Gandhi Maidan to an indoors Convention Hall.

If all goes well a technological marvel, bullet train, with 750 passengers on board will zoom out of Sabarmati station on 15th Aug 2022. And Mr. Narendra Modi would have kept his tryst with Indian history.

Janata's United, Modern and Liberal Awaaz, or JUMLA, felt jittery. With 2019 Lok Sabha elections less than two years away, the party had not yet picked on a Prime Ministerial face to challenge the puissant, Narendra Damodardas Modi. It's creme de la creme, brooded, brainstormed, belaboured for days but found none. Nothing comes out of scraping an empty barrel. Mr. Modi stood leagues in front of any competition.