Sanjay Shukla

Category Archives: Humanity

Why the Word Spirituality Never Existed in India’s Dharma – A Memory from Varanasi

It was twenty-five years ago, in Varanasi. I had run away from Hyderabad, weighed down by debts, confusion and questions. A friend, worried that I might lose myself, took me to meet a sadhu. He said, half-joking and half-serious, “Maybe this man can make you see sense and send you back.” The meeting happened in […]

THE UNVARNISHED TRUTH

They gunned him down in broad daylight—his life extinguished in seconds before his bride’s horrified eyes. His identity as a Dalit, Brahmin, Rajput, Jat, Gujjar or Kayastha? IRRELEVANT. Whether he spoke Marathi, Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil, Gujarati, Bengali,  or Assamese? MEANINGLESS. If he voted for BJP’s Modi, Congress’s Rahul, AAP’s Kejriwal, or TMC’s Mamata? INSIGNIFICANT. In […]

Why Women Don’t Loiter: A Journey Through India’s Gendered Streets

It was just another book on my reading list – “Why Loiter?” by feminists Shilpa Phadke, Shilpa Ranade, and Sameera Khan. Little did I know that those pages would become food for thought and change my perception of Indian cities and the invisible barriers that shape women’s experiences within them. As I delved into this […]

The Formula: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Divine

In the realm of the mystical and divine, words often fall short, and experiences transcend the boundaries of human expression. Such was the tale of the mystic who ventured to the sacred Mountain, seeking to comprehend the incomprehensible, to fathom the unfathomable – to understand God. Upon his return, friends and seekers eagerly surrounded the […]

Voices of the Silent: The Tragic Plight of Animals in a World Unheard

Over one trillion animals are killed each year for human gain. But who tells their stories? In the midst of our bustling lives, surrounded by the incessant noise of progress and self-interest, the cries of innocent creatures go unnoticed, unheard, and ignored. Their suffering, their pain, and their struggle to survive in a world that […]

Dinner At The Indian Wedding Reception

There are rushes, there are stampedes, there are long queues, and then there this anxiety whether you’ll get that coveted seat/plate or not… Yeah! I am talking about wedding reception dinners. It all begins with the guests slowly piling up in the hall, building into an army that cannot wait to unleash its wrath. Everyone […]