“The Da Vinci Code” is back in the news because its author, Dan Brown, has come out with another bestseller, “The Lost Symbol”. This time he attempts to de-code the secrets of the Freemasons. His earlier work was a cunning mix of fact and fiction, in his botched attempt to de-mythologize Christianity. A Code can…

For all you guys with extra libido, here’s a dampener. If you are having an affair with your neighbour’s wife, you could end up with 5 years in jail, even if it is a consensual sexual relationship. There is a rider though. If your neighbour has no objection to such a relationship with his wife,…

When I first read Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar’s piece “The Pope’s moral blunders on outsourcing” (STOI 2/8/09) I was furious with the Pope for blundering into an area that is not his core competence – economics. I was inclined to believe Aiyar’s opening line that religion and business rarely mix well. I belong to a…

The Delhi High Court judgement on Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has opened up a Pandora’s Box of variegated opinions.  The advocates of “gay pride”, a term of their own choice, are obviously gaga.  The Central Government seems to be in a Catch 22 situation, not knowing whether to say yes or…

Almost everybody from Swami Ramdev and Lalu Prasad Yadav, to assorted Muslim clerics, and Catholic spokesperson Rev Dominic Emanuel SVD have opinionated on gay rights.  Central Government Ministers have gone into a huddle.  Gay activists are ecstatic that the Delhi High Court has struck down Sec 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), as being…

It could be idle, idol or even ideal, depending on what one wants to worship. An idol is something that is fired by human imagination and fashioned by human hands.  Humans create their own idols – what they want to look up to.  The idol is determined by the idolater or adulator.  This may sound…