A Glimmer of Hope this Diwali Recently I was in Mumbai, the city where I grew up when it was called Bombay, back in an era where life was much simpler, and the air was relatively pristine! This was the first time in more than three decades that I was back in town to celebrate Diwali, the Festival of Lights https://www.boloji.com/articles/54072/a-glimmer-of-hope-this-diwali

The Forgotten Womb That day is as fresh as the morning dew on grass—the day Pitaji had to give me away like an object. He had taken a loan from the Lodhi emperor to expand his goldsmith business into neighbouring villages but could not repay it in time. In a fraction of a moment, I was taken by the Lodhis. That day, I emerged from my la-la land and became an empty jar, devoid of emotion. https://www.boloji.com/articles/55277/the-forgotten-womb

Lighting the Inner Courtyard of Women's Lives A Review of Banu Mushtaq’s Heart Lamp In Heart Lamp: Selected Stories, Banu Mushtaq, translated with sensitivity and quiet power by Deepa Bhasthi, brings into English a body of work that glows with emotional intelligence and social insight. Published by And Other Stories in 2025, this collection introduces a wider readership to a distinctive voice from Kannada literature—one that is at once intimate, ironic, and unflinchingly political. The stories, originally written across decades, revolve largely around Muslim households in small-town and semi-urban Karnataka. Yet their concerns—marriage, motherhood, female desire, education, dignity—are universal. The opening story, “Stone Slabs for Shaista Mahal,” sets the tone for the collection. Narrated by Zeenat, a young, educated woman negotiating the expectations of marriage, the story gently dismantles romantic myths around love and devotion. In a conversation about the Taj Mahal as a “symbol of love,” the characters debate whether it comme https://www.boloji.com/articles/55276/lighting-the-inner-courtyard-of-womens-lives

Made For Each Other The four of them lived together in the same room for two years, cooking their food. The final year degree examinations concluded. During their stay together for two years, they became very close to each other. They had to vacate the room in two days and go away to their places. https://www.boloji.com/articles/55275/made-for-each-other

Exploring the Kali Gandaki River and Muktinath Temple Join our writer’s remarkable journey up the Kali Gandaki River, source of the Shalagrama fossil stones sacred to Lord Vishnu, […] The post Exploring the Kali Gandaki River and Muktinath Temple appeared first on Hinduism Today. https://www.hinduismtoday.com/magazine/january-february-march-2026/exploring-the-kali-gandaki-river-and-muktinath-temple/

From Splendor to Silence:Vijayanagara’s Grand Arc Colonel colin mackenzie (1754–1821) was stunned as he encountered, in what is now central Karnataka, an immense landscape filled with […] The post From Splendor to Silence:Vijayanagara’s Grand Arc appeared first on Hinduism Today. https://www.hinduismtoday.com/magazine/january-february-march-2026/from-splendor-to-silencevijayanagaras-grand-arc/

Kashi Reimagined: a Corridor through Time An ambitious new walkway links the Vishwanath Temple to Mother Ganga, raising questions of what is gained and what is […] The post Kashi Reimagined: a Corridor through Time appeared first on Hinduism Today. https://www.hinduismtoday.com/magazine/january-february-march-2026/kashi-reimagined-a-corridor-through-time/

When Courts & Hospitals Become Debt Traps Across the world, legal costs and medical costs are rising, not linearly, not rationally, but disproportionately, almost obscenely. They rise faster than wages, faster than inflation, faster than social security nets can keep up with. And unlike discretionary spending, these costs are rarely optional. You do not choose a lawsuit when your land is encroached, your inheritance denied, your reputation destroyed, or your liberty threatened. You do not choose a medical emergency when cancer arrives, an accident strikes, or a chronic illness tightens its grip. https://www.boloji.com/articles/55274/when-courts-amp-hospitals-become-debt-traps

Interpreting the Philosophers of the Soul Laxmiprasad: It is a journey of many experiences and challenges. In fact, I still learn new things. My great-grandfather, late Puram Ranga Rao, was a Telugu writer. From him, I drew inspiration. He was a scholar with many milestones to his credit. I think I have inherited his genes into my blood. As for the books, I can say that the number of books is not enough. It is quality and merit that finally speak about the writer. I have published 45 books as of today. It has been a journey, but not a destination. It has been fulfilling and rewarding. https://www.boloji.com/articles/55273/interpreting-the-philosophers-of-the-soul

Derozio: My Native Land My Native Land by Henry Louis Vivian Derozio (1809-1831) is one of the most widely read and appreciated poems composed by Henry Louis Vivian Derozio in which the love for the motherland is so strong and the longing to serve it as a true son of the soil. A Eurasian by birth, one of some mixed descent, his father was an Indo-Portuguese and his mother an Englishwoman. Having been schooled from David Drummond Dharmatala Academy, he left it do some work. His poems fond favor with John Grant’s journal and were published in various periodicals and papers. https://www.boloji.com/articles/55272/derozio-my-native-land