The last Chapter of the ‘Sukla Yajur-veda Samhita’, the Isavasya Upanishad, is composed of just eighteen stanzas. However, this beguilingly short epic is also one of the most profound of its ilk. The essence embedded, and philosophy expounded, by this Upanishad would easily accommodate innumerable text and reference books. Written in metrical form by the … Continue reading Isavasya Upanishad: God in and as Everything – Swami Chinmayananda

Adeline was named after a soap which her mother had stumbled across in a fancy shop. Adeline Lilac soap, for the uninitiated. Nora Ivie’s eccentricities did not however stop at naming her offspring after a substance used for the purposes of washing. Traipsing with a multitude of her ‘boyfriends’ in a tavern, in exchange for … Continue reading Everything My Mother Taught Me – Alice Hoffman

This calming anthology titled “Tea With a Drop of Honey”, is exactly that! An enrapturing, flowing tapestry of life punctuated by tributaries of emotion that instill hope, induce smiles and infuses optimism. The collection of alleviating and ameliorating short stories acts as a much needed antidote to the unprecedented times battering a section of the … Continue reading Tea With a Drop of Honey – The Hive

In June 2019, an app called DeepNude was withdrawn by its creator. His rationale was that the world was not yet ready to assimilate the app. The app, by the way was algorithm-based that employed Artificial Intelligence to ‘virtually’ ‘undress’ photos of fully clothed women. Just before its demise, it was downloaded so many times … Continue reading Stoned Shamed Depressed: An Explosive Account of the Secret Lives of India’s Teens – Jyotsna Mohan Bhargava

Volume 3 in the series dwells at length on the metaphorical cord that tethers the material with the metaphysical. Lest the reader be misled, the employ of the word material is more in alluding to the external and extrinsic elements and vicissitudes of the world that are perceived by the senses, than a reference to … Continue reading Essential Concepts in Bhagavadgita: Volume 3 – Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha

Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, a Master of the Zen philosophy, is also a universally acclaimed global spiritual leader, poet, and peace activist. Author of more than 100 books, Thich Nhat Hanh, after turning 94 on October 11, 2020, voluntarily ceased eating in preparation for the shedding of his mortal coil. Renowned for his powerful … Continue reading Breathe You are Alive! The Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing – Thich Nhat Hanh

This is a book whose reading must be made mandatory in every high school across India. Meghaa Gupta, whose personal involvement with environmental studies has been sustained and storied, has written a compelling and concise book that engages the reader in a purposeful fashion, and succeeds admirably in inducing a sense of introspection and instilling … Continue reading Unearthed: An Environmental History of Independent India – Meghaa Gupta

The year is 2022, and the Seahawks are taking on the Titans in Super Bowl LVI. A home in Newark is abuzz with excitement. Max Stenner, a building inspector has placed a huge bet on the game and is on taut nerves. His partner Diane Lucas, and her former student and now a Physics Professor … Continue reading The Silence – Don DeLillo

“This is a book about the history of ideas in a place that likes to pretend its ideas don’t have any history.” Thus, begins Adrian Daub’s arresting and extraordinary book that is a dizzying concoction of Marshall McLuhan’s prescience, Ayn Rand’s unrelenting obstinance, and everything in between. Silicon Valley’s obsession with resurrecting and resuscitating time … Continue reading What Tech Calls Thinking – Adrian Daub

Imagine you are the captain of a 47 foot sail-boat that has just been swallowed whole by a roiling cauldron of waves. Escaping the sinking boat by the skin of your teeth, you and your two man crew barely manage to haul yourselves into a torn raft that just about manages to stay afloat. Howling … Continue reading A Storm Too Soon: A True Story of Disaster, Survival and an Incredible Rescue – Michael J. Tougias