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We are familiar with the Sadhu, usually a saffron robbed ascetic or mendicant. Till not so long ago most Sadhus had little or no worldly possessions, living simple and frugal lives. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi may have been the first to break the stereotype with his Rolls Royces and the stereo music of the Beatles. Madhu…

What the Dickens? This is not the tale of two cities, but a study in contrast of two of the seven sisters of the North East (NE); specifically Arunachal Pradesh (AP) and Manipur, where I spent a few days recently. My wife, Meera, and I, had been invited by Rev V. Kulandai, the former parish…

(A “Practical” Letter to our Beloved Brother Bishops of our Beloved Motherland India) This “practical” letter is a natural consequence of various pastoral letters issued over the last year by the archbishops of Gandhinagar, Delhi and Goa. These pastoral letters have been portrayed as innocuous appeals for prayer for the country, its secular fabric and…

(A sequel to “Men of Letters”) There is a story of a lover who kept writing love letters to his beloved in a village. Since she was illiterate the postman would read the letters to her, and even write the replies. After sometime the man found that the replies from his beloved had dried up….

A recent pastoral letter by Abp Anil Couto of Delhi has stirred up a hornet’s nest. Maverick BJP MP Subramaniam Swamy went to the extent of demanding the closure of the Vatican Nunciature in Delhi. There have been heated TV debates. I also saw a video of a Hindutva group stomping on the images of…

About a dozen hapless children have been killed in the recent past by feral dogs in Sitapur district, adjoining Lucknow in U.P. Not so long ago elderly women in Kerala were also killed in like manner. What was the response of the U.P. Govt? To relocate these dogs in adjoining forest areas. After objections from…

Some Christians of Kerala prefer to be called “Syrian Christians”. Others consider it a misnomer, and would rather be called “Thomas Christians”, because their forefathers were converted in apostolic times itself by St Thomas. I am not from Kerala (though most of my good friends are Malayalees) but I too would like to call myself…

The plaintive cry of a frightened girl fending off an incestuous father, or a son resisting his father’s efforts to make him a partner in crime? Neither! This is what millions of English speaking Christians devoutly, but unthinkingly, say every time that they recite “Our Father … lead us not into temptation”. “Recite” is the…

This is about a cardinal, and his alleged capital sins. It is not about Cardinal Jaime Sin, the 30th archbishop of Manila (31/8/1928 – 21/6/2005) of Chinese Filipino descent, who courageously fought against the Filipino dictators of his time. This is about Cardinal George Alencherry, the archbishop of the Syro-Malabar archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly in Kerala….

It’s that time of year when well meaning people ask us what is good about Good Friday, if it commemorates the death of a great person like Jesus. It is also when people will call up their Christian friends to wish them a Happy Good Friday. Good Friday, for those who don’t know, is probably…