The Sunday column: festivals and rituals meeting ordinary weeks
Manikandan writes the Sunday column, where festivals and rituals meet commutes, hospital corridors and video calls with parents far away. Each piece closes with one small thing to carry into the week ahead.
Avvaiyar sayings from the Aathichoodi and beyond, remembered from a Chennai childhood and read again in New Jersey: short lines that still settle a busy week.
A gentle guide to immersing ashes in India from abroad: carrying the urn, choosing Kashi, Rameswaram or a home river, and the rites family and priest perform.
What a Hindu funeral in the USA looks like: the funeral home, the priest's rites, cremation and the days after, told gently for families far from India.
Rahu kalam meaning in plain words: the daily period tradition avoids for new starts, how it is calculated, and how to treat it without letting it run your week.
Kala sarpa dosha meaning, told gently: what astrologers mean when every planet sits between Rahu and Ketu, the common worries, and what tradition says helps.
Guru peyarchi, Jupiter's yearly change of sign, explained simply: what the transit means in Jyotish, why families mark it, and a calm way to respond to it.
Business ethics in Hinduism, in plain terms: artha within dharma, the Tirukkural on fair measures, the blessed account book, and what it asks of a modern job.
Holi in the USA, from campus colour runs to temple lawns: an NRI reflection on belonging, explaining Holi to friends, and keeping its story alive in a new home.
Delay in marriage remedies, honestly: what families traditionally do, from Kamakshi temple prayers to Swayamvara Parvathi homam, and how to keep your peace.
Shivaratri fasting for working people: a reflection on keeping the night of Shiva after a long week, with a verse, a small vigil and one thing to carry forward.
A Hindu prayer for a job, to keep while searching: Ganesha for beginnings, Hanuman for courage, the Gita on effort, and a daily rhythm that keeps you steady.
Homam benefits often go beyond the stated wish: watching offerings vanish into the fire teaches something about letting go, grief and trust in ordinary life.
How to celebrate Pongal in the USA from a small kitchen: the boil-over moment on an electric stove, a kolam by the door, sugarcane hunting, and calls home.
Coping with a layoff spiritually when you are far from home: steadiness from the Gita, compassion for visa worries, and small practices that keep a family calm.
A prayer for a sick parent in India, from thousands of miles away: what families abroad can do, from a daily mantra to arranging a homam, and how to cope.
A thiruvathirai kali recipe with the story of Sendanar: roasted rice, moong dal, jaggery and coconut, offered to Nataraja in Margazhi with ezhu kari kootu.
Manikandan ·
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