My Perspective

In ancient Indian scriptures, specifically yoga philosophy, OM is considered a sacred syllable or mantra whose repeated prolonged utterance as in a form of meditation is associated with positive and beneficial effects on humans. What is the science behind it? Here are three studies that scientifically investigated the effect of OM chanting.

In the name of tradition, people waste lot of food resources - both in the west and in the subcontinent. It is a Halloween tradition to carve a big pumpkin to make it look scary. But then they throw it away afterwards. It leads to a lot of food waste. Instead of throwing away a good Pumpkin, try to make a pumpkin pie or soup instead?  If you insist on carving then there is a better alternative. Try carving a smaller turnip instead of the bigger pumpkin. Turnip carving also happens to be a old tradition in some places in northern England for that matter. Similarly, in the Indian context, I would discuss ash gourds. There is a tradition of hanging ash gourds or breaking those at the entrance of a house during religious ceremonies to ward off evil spirits. It is just a waste of ash gourds. Instead make a sweet dessert? In this regard small lemons are a better alternative to ash gourds. People typically quench lemons under the wheels of an automobile to ward off bad luck. Being sm...

Have you heard of "Tragedy of the commons"? In the context of Diwali, 'Tragedy of the commons' can be interpreted as that if each person or family does what is best for themselves (bursting fire crackers) even if it is bad (pollution) for the common resources (atmosphere) then the long term outcome is degradation (air quality) of these common resources. However, supporters have argued in the Supreme court of India that bursting of fire crackers is a religious activity. Hindu light the way to heaven for the forefathers to return back. So any suggestion to the effect of avoiding fire crackers is seen as anti-Hindu religion. The only solution to this conundrum is self restraint - it is essential to preserve the air that we breathe. Don't forget the millions who died gasping for a breath of oxygen during the pandemic. Diwali is a festival of lights not sound. Avoid bursting crackers for the sake of our environment.   Happy Deepavali or Diwali!

In the commentary on the Rig Veda by Saayanacharya, a line translates as "Salutations to Sun-god who travels 2202 Yojanas in half a Nimisha". Some proponents interpret this to conclude that people during vedic age knew the accurate speed of light. We will now discuss the accuracy of this claim. This is how they come to this surprising conclusion.

It is clear to me that adopting a purely plant based diet is essential to reduce carbon footprint [1] of our species. However, given the popularity of food from animal sources like dairy, poultry, meat and fish, it is hard to think of a way to bring about this large scale societal change. Here is my idea. Many centuries ago, contrary to popular belief, Hindu brahmins were

In a recent paper [1], that studied 21 professionally qualified Sanskrit pandits, it was discovered that memorising Vedic mantras increases the size of brain regions associated with cognitive function, including short and long-term memory. The term the ‘Sanskrit Effect’ was thus coined. In short, this study showed that

I had come across this forward message that made tall claims for hanuman chalisa. The forward read as follows: Any one knows the Hanuman chalisa? In Hanuman Chalisa, it is said : "Yug sahastra yojan per Bhanu! Leelyo taahi madhur phal janu!!"   1 Yug = 12000 years 1 Sahastra = 1000 1 Yojan = 8 Miles Yug x Sahastra x Yojan = par Bhanu 12000 x 1000 x 8 miles = 96000000 miles 1 mile = 1.6km 96000000 miles = 96000000 x 1.6km = 1536000000 km to Sun NASA has said that, it is the exact distance between Earth and Sun (Bhanu). Which proves Hanuman ji did jump to Planet Sun, thinking it as a sweet fruit (Madhu phal). It is really interesting how accurate and meaningful our ancient scriptures are..Unfortunately it is barely recognized. The estimate of 1 astronomical unit (au) - the distance between earth and sun has a long history. The first estimate only came during the transit of Venus in the 18th century. Before this event, we did not have any estimate for the ...