4+ day, 7+ hour ago (621+ words) Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir: In Kashmir's quiet villages, where families once gathered under wooden roofs to share their grief, mourning is now finding its way through phone screens. Across Ganderbal, Baramulla and Kupwara, families sit around kitchen tables, holding smartphones to offer prayers for the dead. What was once communal, marked by presence, food and touch, is increasingly mediated by technology. The reasons are simple but heavy. Travel is costly, migration has scattered families, and in remote areas, even reaching a funeral can take hours or days. For many, a video call has become the only way to be part of loss. "Flying relatives home for a funeral would've cost more than I earn in months," said Ghulam Nabi Dar of Baramulla. "We held the prayer on a video call instead. It helped, but I still felt alone without them…...

3+ week, 4+ day ago (365+ words) Every burst of a firecracker by children today stirs something deep within me. It brings back a flood of cherished memories from my childhood, days filled with innocent mischief, wide-eyed wonder, and the pure joy of celebration. Of course, as I grew older, I began to understand more clearly what our ancestors truly meant by the festival of light. True, there is no scriptural mention of firecrackers in these celebrations, as columnists have rightly pointed out. See Also:Delhi Tests Cloud Seeding as Post-Diwali Pollution Soars'Experts Call It a "Gimmick" One of my neighbours retorted, "how can we call it a puja celebration when the asthmatic next door cries for breath, or sleeping babies and elderly people are shaken out of sleep, terrified by deafening blasts at midnight --or even at one, two, or three in the morning?" Emphasis on…...

3+ week, 1+ day ago (523+ words) American YouTuber Tyler Oliveira, who faced intense online backlash for filming himself at Karnataka's Gorehabba cow-dung festival, has announced that he will no longer release his planned documentary on the event. The decision comes after severe criticism, alleged doxxing, and threats directed at him and his family following the viral teaser video. In a detailed post on X on November 06, 2025, Oliveira wrote "After much consideration, I have decided I will NOT be releasing my documentary capturing India's poop-throwing festival. I have been doxxed and threatened by thousands of Indians over the last two weeks" My family has been attacked in ways I never could have imagined." After much consideration, I have decided I will NOT be releasing my documentary capturing India's poop-throwing festival"I have been doxxed, and threatened by thousands of Indians over the last 2 weeks"Tens of thousands…...

4+ week, 1+ day ago (804+ words) US Vice President JD Vance has come under fire for publicly wishing his Hindu wife, Usha, converts to Christianity. He made the comment on Wednesday, 29 October 2025, at a Turning Point USA event. Vance was engaged in an informal debate with an Indian-origin student at the University of Mississippi at the time. She questioned Vance on his government's stance on immigration before pivoting to his personal relationship. The debate was part of an event organized by Turning Point USA " a conservative advocacy organization founded by the now deceased Charlie Kirk. "As I've told her and I've said publicly, and I'll say now in front of 10,000 of my closest friends:" he said, "Do I hope eventually that she is somehow moved by the same thing that I was moved in by church? Yeah, I honestly do wish that. Because I believe in…...

2+ week, 3+ hour ago (199+ words) Raulane Mela is one of the most distinct and culturally significant festivals of Himachal's Kinnaur, celebrated as the cold bids farewell and spring arrives. It does not bloom suddenly but slowly comes as the sunlight deepens. The Mela goes on for five days as the people bid their gentle goodbyes to winter and to the deities that protect them through the winter chills. See Also: Shimla "Pathar Mela': An Ancient Tradition where Blood Becomes Sacred Raulane Mela acts as a way of acknowledging their presence, expressing gratitude, and bidding them farewell for the year. In neighbouring places like Uttarakhand, such beings are called Aachhris, with similar stories that slightly change as the place differs. See Also: Dip into divinity: The celestial splash of Kumbh Mela The bride and groom walk in a procession through the village, accompanied by drums and…...

3+ week, 5+ day ago (1153+ words) This story by Sonia Awale and Qian Sun originally appeared on Global Voices on November 2, 2025. The necklace beads come from the'Buddha Chitta plant (Ziziphus budhensis),'native to the Temal region of central Nepal. The seeds of this plant are used to make Buddha Chitta mala. According to research'conducted by the Forest Research and Training Center and published by the Ministry of Forest and Environment in Nepal,'Buddha Chitta used to be traded for just NPR 25 in the early days. But the price increased when the'Dalai Lama claimed'that Buddha Chitta found in Nepal is'of high quality. "Twelve years ago, people from Temal gave Dalai Lama a Buddha Chitta mala when he was in Bodhgaya, they told him about its importance, and not long after that, Dalai Lama, while speaking in Taiwan, told his followers that Buddha Chitta has special powers, and…...

5+ day, 2+ hour ago (971+ words) I wrote the following post on X and it got many comments, including a comment from someone with a Muslim name. I replied to him and an exchange developed which I share here. Some Hindus felt, I waste my time in explaining the viewpoint of Hindu Dharma to someone who won't be open towards it. Yet I feel, it is important to make the basics of Vedic wisdom known. We never really tried to put things in the correct perspective, even when so much misinformation is published all around. Moreover, their clergy won't give them correct knowledge. This particular person has probably gone to an English medium school. He probably won't burn cars on the roads, but we also know that education doesn't prevent radicalisation and the educated are even more dangerous if they are convinced that Allah wants them…...