The tailor-poet who carried Vitthal's Name across India. BACKGROUND Born to a family of tailors (shimpi), devoted to Vitthal from childhood. He grew close to Dnyaneshwar and travelled with him on pilgrimages. A wandering bhakta, he took the devotion of Pandharpur far beyond Maharashtra. PLACE OF BIRTH Narsi Bamani, Hingoli district, Maharashtra. His family later moved to Pandharpur. KEY CONTRIBUTIONS Hundreds of Marathi abhangs of tender, intimate devotion Hindi padas that tr

The voice that made Pandharpur's door open to all. BACKGROUND A Mahar by birth, then considered untouchable, who laboured as a village servant and a wall-builder. He lived with his wife Soyarabai, son Karmamela, sister Nirmala and brother-in-law Banka, all of them poets-saints. Barred from entering the temple, he worshipped from the outside, and Vitthal's love reached him there. PLACE OF BIRTH Mehunaraja, near Deulgaon Raja (Buldhana district), Maharashtra. He later lived at

The shopkeeper-poet whose abhangs became Maharashtra's heartbeat. BACKGROUND Born in a Vani (trader) family, the Mores. He lost his parents and first wife in the famine of 1630-31, and his business collapsed. He turned wholly to Vitthal, composing abhangs on the hills near Dehu. He faced opposition from orthodox Brahmins yet his songs spread among the people. Contemporary of Shivaji Maharaj, who is said to have revered him. PLACE OF BIRTH Dehu, near Pune, on the Indrayani riv

The householder-saint who made scholarship common property. BACKGROUND Great-grandson of the saint Bhanudas, orphaned young and raised by his grandparents. His guru was Janardan Swami of Devgiri (Daulatabad). He lived as a married householder and showed that grihastha life and sainthood can coexist. He stood against caste discrimination, famously sharing meals and kindness with the so-called untouchables. PLACE OF BIRTH Paithan, on the Godavari, Maharashtra. KEY CONTRIBUTIONS

The child-saint who gave Marathi its Gita. BACKGROUND Son of Vitthalpant and Rukmini Bai, a Brahmin couple outcast by society because Vitthalpant had left and later returned from sannyasa. The four children, Nivruttinath, Dnyaneshwar, Sopan and Muktabai, grew up shunned, yet became luminaries of the Nath-Varkari lineage. Nivruttinath was his guru and elder brother. PLACE OF BIRTH Apegaon, on the Godavari near Paithan (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, Maharashtra). The fami

Key idea: When the world wobbles, Vishnu steadies it. He holds the cosmos together through order (dharma), returning in avatars whenever balance is lost. Symbolism Shankha (conch): the primal sound of creation, Om made audible Sudarshana Chakra: time and dharma, always turning, never late Gada (mace): discipline and the power to protect Padma (lotus): purity that rises above the muddy water Temples East: Jagannath Temple, Puri West: Dwarkadhish Temple, Dwarka North: Badrinath

Key idea: Shiva is destruction in service of renewal: ego dissolved, space cleared, new beginnings made possible. He is the ascetic and the householder, stillness and cosmic dance. Symbolism Third eye: insight that burns through illusion Ganga and crescent moon in the hair: grace and time held lightly Trishula and damaru: the three gunas mastered, and the rhythm of creation Ash and serpent: detachment from the body and fearlessness before death Temples East: Lingaraja Temple,

Key idea: Laxmi is prosperity with a conscience. She arrives where there is effort, integrity and generosity, and tends to leave where those are missing. Wealth, in her view, is meant to circulate. Symbolism Lotus: purity and prosperity untouched by greed Four arms: the four human goals: dharma, artha, kama, moksha Gold coins flowing from her hand: wealth meant to be shared Elephants (Gajalakshmi): royal power, rain and fertility Temples East: Laxmi shrine within the Jagannat

Key idea: Saraswati is knowledge, speech, music and the arts, the flow of learning itself. Her message: wisdom is not hoarded, it is practised and passed on. Symbolism Veena: harmony of mind and creativity Books (Vedas): knowledge as the highest wealth Mala (rosary): concentration and disciplined practice Swan and white sari: discernment, which separates truth from noise, and purity Temples East: see note below West: Saraswati Temple, Pushkar North: Sharada Peeth (Kashmir, hi

Key idea: Parvati is Shakti, the power that animates everything. She is devoted partner, fierce protector and nurturing mother, proof that strength and tenderness are not opposites. Symbolism Lion: courage under control Ardhanarishvara (the half-Shiva, half-Parvati form): masculine and feminine as one whole Tapas (her penance to win Shiva): persistence that moves mountains Ganesha and Kartikeya beside her: motherhood and the nurturing of dharma Temples (Parvati and her Shakti

Key idea: Vittal (Vithoba) is Vishnu or Krishna as the patient friend, standing on a brick, hands on hips, waiting for devotees to arrive. No rituals required, just love, song and the long walk. Symbolism Standing on a brick: he waited for a devotee, Pundalik, and never left Hands on hips: calm, unhurried welcome Tulsi garland: devotion and his link to Vishnu Wari pilgrimage with abhangs: equality in song, with no caste or rank on the road to Pandharpur Temples West: Vitthal-

News of a loved one's passing turns into a mirror, and the "I should have" festival begins. But guilt is a cheap receipt for a purchase never made. Nearing fifty, I'm trying to move from "I should have" to "I have," with some help from Gandhi's experiments with truth and the Gita's advice on acting without bargaining for outcomes. Call that person today, before the mirror shows up.

For thirty years, I have understood respect as recognising the dignity of another without surrendering my own. Yet the Dharmic ideas of ādara, mariyādai and praṇipāta challenge me to look beyond equality towards humility and reverence. My struggle is not with dignity, but with learning to bow without becoming submissive, question without arrogance, and recognise what is worthy of reverence. Perhaps respect is ultimately a discipline of the self.

"Every startup founder has a good idea — that's never the bottleneck. The real question is whether solving the problem creates enough economic impact to sustain a business. Two founders taught me this last month: one built an 'AI CFO' while seeking advice from human finance pros themselves; another, building a platform for teachers, had the courage to say it wasn't a startup — it was a nonprofit. Here's checklist item #1 for every founder."

The hidden cost of the American Dream: a grandmother who's never held her 20-year-old grandson, an engineer a decade in with no green card, a father racing a November due date against a layoff clock. For Indians, the wait can now stretch past a lifetime. Maybe 1 in 10 truly "make it." The rest live provisional lives. It's time parents asked harder questions before handing kids a dream built for a different decade.

"If you're the parent of a gifted child, you already know the peculiar exhaustion of it. The kid solves a differential equation before breakfast & melts down over diagonally-cut toast. Turns out we've had a case study for this exact chaos for 5,000 years — his name is Krishna. He never micromanaged the Pandavas' talents. He watched, waited, & intervened exactly twice: when survival was at stake, and when someone's dignity was violated. Everything else? Even the dice games the

"ET Panache's viral story on a teenage 'AI startup founder' with a Burj Khalifa office ignores the one detail that matters: who actually paid for it. This critique argues the coverage conflates a parent-funded venture with a self-sustaining business, rewards spectacle over scrutiny, and misleads young readers about what real entrepreneurship requires. A pointed look at why financial journalism owes readers better due diligence — not just a dazzling headline." Lazy or greedy b

India's trading boom is creating a dangerous illusion of easy wealth. Influencers and fintech platforms increasingly portray trading as a shortcut to financial success, while SEBI data shows that over 90% of retail F&O traders lose money. The real cost extends beyond individuals to families, savings and aspirations, raising an urgent question: are we encouraging young Indians to create wealth—or merely to chase it?

There are some speaking engagements that leave you with a sense of accomplishment. Then there are those rare occasions that leave you with a sense of hope. My recent interaction with the gifted young participants of Lodestone 2026, organized by the Pravaha Foundation at IIIT Hyderabad, belonged firmly in the latter category. I am deeply grateful to the Pravaha Foundation for inviting me to contribute to a program that seeks to shape young minds at such a formative stage of li

Travel wide - travel freely - caravan travel There’s something about Indian highways that doesn’t show up in brochures. It’s in the chai stops that turn into conversations. The unplanned detours. The quiet dignity of small towns that don’t try to impress you. Over the years, Shital and I have discovered that road travel in India isn’t just transit—it’s perspective. And yet, we’ve always felt one limitation:You’re never fully free. You’re always chasing the next hotel, the nex