Ram Puniyani India has been the victim of divisive-sectarian violence from more than a century, more particularly after the British implemented their policy of ‘divide and rule’ and encouraged communal formations to flourish. These communal formations, Muslim and Hindu both, in turn spread hatred against the ‘other religious community’ and violence in the name of…

Abraham Kovoor (Selections from the Writings of Abraham Kovoor) My interest in Rathib ceremony was first aroused when I read a reference to it in the book “Far Off Things” by Dr. R.L. Spittel. In that book he mentions how he, in the company of Messrs. R.H. Basset and J.R. G. Bantock, witnessed a Rathib…

Abraham Kovoor In Richmond, Virginia, one Mrs. C.D. Fonda owned a horse named ‘Lady Wonder’ reputed to possess psychic powers. In the journal of ‘Abnormal and Social Psychology’, Volume 23 (1929), on page 449-466 there appeared an article headed “An investigation of a Mind-reading Horse” by Dr. J.B. Rhine and Dr. Lousia E. Rhine of…

Abraham Kovoor (Selections from the Writings of Abraham Kovoor) “What really are manthras? They are a certain co-ordination of words, sounds and phrases which, when chanted a required number of times, harmonize to produce an ethereal vibration. This vibration causes ripples in the Pancha Maha Bhutha (five elements). As all living beings are composed of…

Ram Puniyani Pakistan and India, these neighbors got Independence in the mid August 1947. Today 55 years after the Independence where do these two major countries of the subcontinent stand vis a vis their religious minorities, is the question which we need to answer to ensure a better and more democratic area. On August 11, 2012, a mob of…

We reproduce a communication received from Atheist Centre, Vijayawada which is celebrating the Birth Centenary of Saraswathi Gora on September 28 – 29, 2012. Saraswathi Gora Centenary International Conference Atheist Centre is celebrating Saraswathi Gora’s Birth Centenary by organizing an international conference on the theme, ‘Be Bold Be Human: March towards Equality’, at Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh,…

Abraham Kovoor In an article on Sai Baba Dr. T. Nallainathan, President of the Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba Manram, wrote in the Tamil daily Thinakaran (4.11.1966) thus:- “A yogi is capable of leaving his physical body in one place and appearing in a distant place in his spiritual body. It was like this that…

B Premanand About one thousand nine hundred and odd years ago, when St. Thomas visited Kerala, he saw Kerala Brahmins (Namboodiri Brahmins) performing shraadha ceremony. He enquired as to what they were doing throwing water upwards. They replied that they were sending water to the Pithrus, the dead ancestors. St. Thomas smiled and said that…

Ram Puniyani The horrific violence in Assam has once again brought our attention to the malaise of communal violence in India. In the recent times one has witnessed such a violence in parts of UP, (Kosi Kalan, Barailly, Pratapgarh) and also in Gopalgargh in Rajasthan. In most of these acts of violence one has to…

Ali Sina I am often asked, Why I left Islam? As absurd as it may be, some Muslims cannot even allow themselves to think that leaving Islam is an option, or even possible. They rather think that those who leave Islam are paid Jewish agents than accept the fact that people have freedom to think…

Ram Puniyani There has been mixed response to the BCCI’s decision to host Pakistan Cricket Team in December-January for a limited-over’s series (July 2012). Ex cricketers like Sunil Gavaskar and Kirti Azad are critical of this decision of BCCI, while many others on both sides of the divide have welcomed this idea. Imran Khan, ex-cricketer turned…

B Premanand (Note: Some of the items described in this series should be performed only under proper expert guidance. One should never try them on one’s own) Experiment No. 49 Effect: A thread is put in one nostril and taken out through the other. Props: 12″ twine thread. Method: There is a connection between the…

Ram Puniyani In the wake of the various acts of terror and Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur’s motor cycle being traced, it became clear that the investigating agencies are acting on the wrong thesis that ‘all terrorists are Muslims’. A Pandora’s box opened and the link of ex-ABVP activist, Pragya Thakur, Swami Dayanand Pandey, retired Major…

B Premanand In the history of miracles Jesus Christ is said to have walked on water without any props. In 1968 Hata Yogi L.S. Rao, with the connivance of Blitz Weekly, set out to fool a gullible public. Week after week articles published by R.K. Karanjia, told of the supernatural powers of this Hata Yogi.…

B Premanand Pilot Saba of Delhi is an expert in live burial. In 1988 he was to perform an underground samadhi for 7 days at Nagpur in a pit of 10′ x 10′ x 10′. He was challenged as to why he needs such a big pit if after samadhi all his body functions came…

Ram Puniyani Communal violence is the sad reality of South Asian states. India in particular has been witnessing this violence more so after the coming of British. British in pursuance of their policy of ‘Divide and Rule’, introduced communal historiography and sections of population who wanted to preserve their feudal privileges, picked up this version…

Abraham Kovoor Kerala, the land of my birth, is very similar to Lanka in its topography, climate, fauna flora and even the cultural and ethnic qualities of its peoples. The phonetics of the Malayalam language is more similar to the spoken Tamil of Jaffna than that of South India; yet, the morphology of the Malayalam…

B Premanand The Godman of this century is Maharishi Mahesh Yogi who has exploited thousands of his disciples by offering to teach them levitation. In 1978 he held the first levitation demonstration of his students at New Delhi. The Supreme Court judge Y.R. Krishna Iyer had written an article that he had himself witnessed levitation…

Ram Puniyani Electoral politics is a strange game. We can observe that with the present weaknesses of electoral system many alliances are made up, which do not have much ideological basis. Amongst many flaws of the present system is the system of first past the poll. This prevents the true representation of people in the…

Godmen claim that when they are in samadhi all their bodily functions also stop like the pulse, heart-beat etc. The yogi asks the doctor to check his pulse. Then he goes into ‘samadhi’ and the doctor is surprised to find there is no pulse. Experiment – 42 Effect: Stopping the pulse.  Props: Two lemons or…

B Premanand Patanjali Yoga Sutras explain the method of awakening the sexual energy – Kundalini Shakti – from Muladhara Chakra through Sushumna Nadi and the six chakras: Swadhisthana Chakra, Manipura, Anahata, Vishuddha, Ajna to the ultimate Sahasrara Chakra, where the union between soul and super soul (atma and paramatma or Shiva and Shakti) takes place…

Ram Puniyani In Kalyan a Muslim youth Bilal Shaikh was slapped with a non-bailable cognizable offense (May 2012) under section 333, after he jumped the traffic signal. He was assaulted brutally by the police for having arguments with them, suffered a fracture in right arm and was in jail for eight days. The policemen who…