Renuka Narayanan
Renuka Narayanan is a commentator and columnist on religion and culture.
Articles by Renuka Narayanan
Sermons in stones, and good in everything: Shebaba by Renuka Narayanan
Hindustan Times | By Renuka Narayanan
UPDATED ON FEB 05, 2017 09:56 AM IST
Once, the most important garden in the Gangetic Plain was Jetavana, the Grove of Prince Jeta (Kumar).
A love letter to India about her farthest state: Shebaba by Renuka Narayanan
Hindustan Times | By Renuka Narayanan
PUBLISHED ON JAN 28, 2017 09:25 PM IST
The outpouring regarding the jallikattu issue is of accumulated despair about the health of Tamil Nadu.
A search for dignity and self-respect
Hindustan Times | By Renuka Narayanan
PUBLISHED ON JAN 21, 2017 10:17 PM IST
A school for grannies in Maharashtra is saving elderly women in the villages from facing embarrassment for being illiterate
The best of luck to Aristotle... and us: Shebaba by Renuka Narayanan
Hindustan Times | By Renuka Narayanan
PUBLISHED ON JAN 14, 2017 07:55 PM IST
Some values are enduring and come in handy as we struggle to stay grounded through our times.
This year, show gratitude: Shebaba by Renuka Narayanan
Hindustan Times | By Renuka Narayanan
UPDATED ON JAN 08, 2017 11:02 AM IST
Irrespective of belief and unbelief, plot a personal plan, never mind the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
The boon from the goddess of good fortune
Hindustan Times | By Renuka Narayanan
PUBLISHED ON DEC 31, 2016 09:42 PM IST
A classic parable explains how affection and loyalty among people is the best kind of good fortune
Those lives unparalleled, spirits sublime: Shebaba by Renuka Narayanan
Hindustan Times | By Renuka Narayanan
PUBLISHED ON DEC 24, 2016 08:24 PM IST
Christmas, like Janmashtami, is beloved to us for its spirit of joyous welcome and positive transformation.
A haiku for beauty, health and hap
Hindustan Times | By Renuka Narayanan
UPDATED ON DEC 18, 2016 11:54 AM IST
it’s not only our physical health but also our mental and spiritual well-being that trees profoundly affect
Once again in Chennai, a collective sense of decency
Hindustan Times | By Renuka Narayanan
UPDATED ON DEC 11, 2016 09:55 AM IST
Jayalalithaa’s funeral was a perfect example of the Tamil rule principle of adakkam or public self-restraint.
Ancient wisdom to fight against pollution: Shebaba by Renuka Narayanan
Hindustan Times | By Renuka Narayanan
UPDATED ON DEC 03, 2016 08:35 PM IST
How on earth did they know back in 1,000 BC that sansevieria would reduce pollution at the burning grounds?
Thank you for the food we eat: Shebaba by Renuka Narayanan
Hindustan Times | By Renuka Narayanan
UPDATED ON NOV 27, 2016 10:33 AM IST
If all things belong to the Creator, then to eat without acknowledging the provider is equal to theft, say our sages and saints.
The truth is, truth has many faces: Shebaba by Renuka Narayanan
Hindustan Times | By Renuka Narayanan
UPDATED ON NOV 20, 2016 09:45 AM IST
There are two sides to the demonetisation debate, but then there are at least two sides to all things.
Shebaba by Renuka Narayanan: Please do as you would be done by
Hindustan Times | By Renuka Narayanan
UPDATED ON NOV 13, 2016 08:54 AM IST
Our Constitution mandates equality between men and women, castes and communities. Are we there yet?
Shebaba by Renuka Narayanan: A personal bond with health and sunshine
Hindustan Times | By Renuka Narayanan
UPDATED ON NOV 06, 2016 10:07 AM IST
At the core of the Chhath Puja festival is the idea of acknowledging the sun as the source of life and health.
Shebaba by Renuka Narayanan: A cottage of leaves by the lotus lake
Hindustan Times | By Renuka Narayanan
PUBLISHED ON OCT 29, 2016 07:30 PM IST
The manner in which Ram, Sita and Lakshman built their home in exile can be a lesson to us all.
Shebaba by Renuka Narayanan: Dipavali as a time for the traditional
Hindustan Times | By Renuka Narayanan
UPDATED ON NOV 04, 2019 04:27 PM IST
Dussehra with a difference: No smoke or fire but so much fun
Hindustan Times | By Renuka Narayanan
UPDATED ON OCT 16, 2016 10:26 AM IST
The spirit of Dussehra past lingered with a twist, with a laser Ramayana on a large screen with excellent images and sound
![The break-up of Brangelina brings to mind the saying, ’Ram naam saga, baki sab daga’, meaning, ‘Only God’s name is truly ‘ours’, all else is a hoax [an illusion]’.(Mario Anzuoni / Reuters File Photo)](https://images.hindustantimes.com/rf/image_size_640x362/HT/p2/2016/09/22/Pictures/director-husband-premiere-member-hollywood-during-opening_22cb7182-80ab-11e6-a0d9-e435f3f63e15.jpg "The break-up of Brangelina brings to mind the saying, ’Ram naam saga, baki sab daga’, meaning, ‘Only God’s name is truly ‘ours’, all else is a hoax [an illusion]’.(Mario Anzuoni / Reuters File Photo)")
SheBaba by Renuka Narayanan: All we need is love – but whose, exactly?
Hindustan Times | By Renuka Narayanan
UPDATED ON SEP 25, 2016 10:28 AM IST
The idea of everything being an illusion, even love, is actually deep Advaita.
SheBaba by Renuka Narayanan: Trampled, trodden under in the name of God
Hindustan Times | By Renuka Narayanan
UPDATED ON SEP 18, 2016 11:06 AM IST
Do we go templing as a socio-religious combo pack?
Take a moment to think about how words said out of thoughtlessness can hurt
Hindustan Times | By Renuka Narayanan
UPDATED ON JUN 26, 2016 11:19 AM IST
Too much political correctness can be a pain, but it’s worth being a little careful if it means one can escape the sin of unintentionally wounding others
Death of a river is the death of an ecosystem
UPDATED ON JUN 04, 2016 08:52 PM IST
In human terms the death of a river or a lake or a sea is as though somebody important in the family, somebody central to its well-being, has suddenly died.
Two otters and an expectedly wily jackal
Hindustan Times | By Renuka Narayanan
PUBLISHED ON APR 24, 2016 02:31 PM IST
The moral of a Jataka tale that still rings true.
Yamuna: A very foolish, humane and loving river
Hindustan Times | By Renuka Narayanan
UPDATED ON MAR 20, 2016 03:17 PM IST
Over the years I built up an impression of a charming, wistful sweetness about the Yamuna compared to her grand sisters.
What lies beneath that moral policing?
Hindustan Times | By Renuka Narayanan
PUBLISHED ON FEB 14, 2016 04:28 PM IST
It seemed yet another sorry instance to me of the way anger has become the sthayi bhava or dominant mood of our public life, says Renuka Narayanan.
If we exhaust our health capital, we will suffer a burnout
Hindustan Times | By Renuka Narayanan
PUBLISHED ON JAN 31, 2016 03:10 PM IST
The moral of the ‘goose with a golden feathers’ still holds true. If we exhaust our health capital, we will suffer a burnout.
Why shankh (conch) is so important in Hindu consciousness
Hindustan Times | By Renuka Narayanan
UPDATED ON JAN 17, 2016 04:56 PM IST
From stories of how Krishna’s Panchajanya who strike terror in the enemy’s heart to its recent mention at the Indian Science Congress for its curative and meditative properties, the conch occupies an important place in collective Hindu consciousness.
Hazrat Moosa and the ‘errant’ shepherd
Hindustan Times | By Renuka Narayanan
PUBLISHED ON JAN 03, 2016 05:15 PM IST
A story that went straight to my heart years ago and that I like retelling comes from Maulana Jalaludin Rumi’s ‘Mathnavi’, which is hailed as the Persian Quran.
Another chance for us to get it right
Hindustan Times | By Renuka Narayanan
PUBLISHED ON DEC 27, 2015 01:26 PM IST
This year, as a New Year pro, I know what I’m not going to do, which includes sneaking into the shrubbery on a winter night in Delhi. I’m not going to make New Year resolutions
Enduring eloquence of a poetic race
Hindustan Times | By Renuka Narayanan
PUBLISHED ON DEC 13, 2015 05:04 PM IST
In normal circumstances, I would have read aloud my verses in English at the ninth Chennai poetry festival last week, but the event was naturally cancelled following the terrible calamity of the floods. A far greater ‘poetry of life’ poured from the hearts of the Chennaivasis through calls and posts offering free practical help to one another.
The Big Idli sets a fine example in citizenship
Hindustan Times | By Renuka Narayanan
UPDATED ON DEC 06, 2015 02:07 PM IST
These boring, dark Madrasis of Madras who don’t eat and speak so funny and were the first to compensate their Sikhs for losses caused in ’84 have shown utter and absolute grace under pressure.