In the penultimate episode of our Ramayana series, we reach some interesting turn of events where the war between Ram and Ravan seems inevitable.

Continuing our Ramayana series, I narrate the sequence of events that take place during the exile period. Here we get introduced to another major character. Ravana.

In this episode of our Ramayana series we follow the life of Rama after his marriage to Sita. Keep following the podcast to listen to the entire series.

Ramayana is one of the major Hindu epics. In this series I am going to narrate the key parts of this story. For this I am going to take help of the original text by Valmeeki and the abridged English version by C. Rajagopalachari. Stay tuned.

In this episode, I pick two books and discuss how tea reached us from the mountains of China. These books are: The Classic of Tea (Cha Ching) and Empire of Tea. I would love to hear your thoughts too. You can write to me at [email protected] and share your feedback.

Bringing some interesting myths and legends from ancient China to tell you more about the origins of tea. Please check out our latest Kindle book on the subject: The Tea Philosophy: A Modern Guide to the Ancient Way https://amzn.eu/d/3llUsh6

‘Teaism is a cult founded on the adoration of the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday existence,’ wrote Okakura Kakuzo in The Book of Tea. 

I discuss this book in today's podcast. You can get it from the link below. Let me know your thoughts.

Amazon Link: https://amzn.to/3N5M45l

To conclude our theme of Himalayas, I am going to narrate a few passages from Rabindranath Tagore's memoirs where he describes his childhood experience in the Himalayas.

Himalayas have always inspired the spiritual seekers of the Indian subcontinent. The mighty, majestic mountains fill you with a feeling of mysticism. This was true in the 19th century as well, when Swami Vivekananda, the famous Indian monk, pursued his spiritual yearnings. In his biography Swami Vivekananda on Himself, the monk recounted his travel experiences. I narrate some passages from this account in today's podcast.

The year was 1894. Mark Twain, the great American writer, had gone bankrupt due to some poor investment choices. Therefore, in order to extricate himself from the debt, he undertook a journey through the British Empire, which, back then, meant pretty much the entire world. The route provided a wonderful opportunity for Twain to deliver his lectures and also write a book, which was published in 1897 as Following the Equator: A Journey Round the World. I narrate some of the passages from this book where Mark Twain describes his train journey to Darjeeling.