Happy New Year, dear readers. May 2025 bring our land and all of us abundant good fortune—health, wealth, and happiness by the bushel. A new year, even if by an international and not Indian reckoning of time, is always a great calendar opportunity to make a fresh start with renewed hope and energy. Or so it seems to me.
In this regard, there is an old Indian story I like about leaving unwanted and unnecessary baggage behind. Two ascetics, one old and one young, came to a river bank. They saw a young woman flailing in the water. The young ascetic cast aside his vows of strict celibacy and, not looking at, let alone touching, a woman, a greater force called humanity gripped him. He dived in and saved the young woman from drowning. Since she was too weak to walk, he carried her in his arms to the village nearby and handed her over safely to those who could take care of her.
The two ascetics resumed their journey. They crossed the river by hitching a ride with an obliging boatman and walked miles into the countryside on the other bank. The older ascetic was visibly disturbed and kept shaking his head and muttering to himself all the way. Finally, as dusk fell and they halted under a tree for the night, he burst out at the young ascetic, "What you did was very wrong. How could you, an ascetic sworn, hold a woman like that?"
Esta historia es de la edición December 30, 2024 de The New Indian Express Hyderabad.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición December 30, 2024 de The New Indian Express Hyderabad.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Getting to Do Spy Stuff is Fun
Keira Knightley speaks to Sally James on playing a secret agent in her latest spy thriller, Black Doves
A Guilty, Albeit Predictable, Pleasure
In sequels to 'happily ever after' romantic films, the narrative often tests the strength of the lead couple's bond by introducing obstacles—be it physical distance or a potential rival sparking jealousy.
A Story of Uneasy Love
The fast-paced love story between a Muslim girl and a Hindu boy explores the tension between tradition and modernity
Making 2025 Your Best Year
Eleven infallible strategies to transform New Year resolutions into habits
Sax and the City
The best hop, skip and jump spots for aficionados of jazz in its birthplace where the music never stops and feet never stop tapping
Making Her Blush Permanently
A latest beauty trend everyone is buzzing about has a tattoo element
Memorial for Manmohan is a Requiem for a Lost Dream
Dead people never really die. They are kept alive through man's endless need for ritual, both in the private and public realm.
It Maybe the Best of Times, but It is Surely the Worst of Times
Manmohan Singh, former PM and finance minister who launched India's 1991 economic reforms, died last week.
The Winning Edge
Entrepreneur Stuti Jalan is taking the story of Indian women to the global stage
An Eye on the Oppressed
Photographer Jaisingh Nageswaran's childhood was defined by just one incident.
