Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan

Articles by Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan

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  Feb 22, 2020

  Mythology For The Millennial: On the elaborate adventures of Indian Cupid Kamadeva, and his enterprising wife, Rati

  Since we are so conveniently placed between Valentine's Day and Holi, it would be a good time to talk about Kamadeva, the Indian Cupid, god of love and desire, or his enterprising wife, the goddess Rati, who also rules over sex and sexy feelings, but like many happy marriages, her story is entangled deeply with his.
  Krishna Hindu mythology mythology Rukmini FWeekend Mythology for the Millennial Kamadeva Indian Cupid Rati
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  Jan 14, 2020

  Mythology for the Millennial: On the origins of Kali Yuga and the vindictive gandharva who led us into a dark age

  Some of the trademarks of the Kali Yuga are that rulers will become a danger to the world, humans will be angry with each other and that there will be climate change. Kali, the cause of this age of darkness, pops up every now and then and causes trouble by possessing someone or the other. He's the colour of soot and has a long tongue
  Hinduism Mahabharata mythology Pandavas Myth Kalyug FWeekend Duryodhana Mythology for the Millennial MythologyForTheMillennial Gandharva Kali Yuga Damayanti Kalki Purana Bhagwat Purana
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  Nov 07, 2019

  Mythology for the Millennial: From feisty goddess to earthly river, navigating the rich lore of Ganga

  Ganga came into our universe thanks to that little meddler, Vamana, who we last saw torturing Mahabali and making him give up his entire kingdom and die because the gods couldn't handle his success. While the Vamana was counting his steps across the sky, his toenail poked the edge of the world and a hole appeared in the universe, causing a divine ocean to flow out and become Ganga as soon as it reached our atmosphere. The river, not yet a person, stays in heaven until an enterprising guy called Bhagirath asks for it — now her — to come down to earth and wash away people's sins and what not.
  Ganga Hindu mythology River Ganga mythology FWeekend Mythology for the Millennial Ganga mythology Ganga story origin of Ganga Ganga myth
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  Oct 16, 2019

  Mythology for the Millennial: On the absurdity around karwa chauth, and blaming women for every wrong

  Karwa chauth is sanctioned romance, a way for a woman to be the centre of attention in a way that she is not on every other day of her life.
  Bollywood Karan Johar Mahabharata Karwa Chauth mythology Draupadi Myth FWeekend Mythology for the Millennial MythologyForTheMillennial
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  Sep 26, 2019

  Mythology for the Millennial: On Mahabali's fate, and the politics at play behind the story on the origins of Onam

  The gods in Indian mythology frequently show up as more human than human. In the case of King Mahabali, son of Virochana, grandson of Prahlad, yes, that Prahlad, the same one who invented Holi basically, he was, unfortch, also an asura.
  Kerala Onam INDRA mythology Myth FWeekend Mahabali Mythology for the Millennial MythologyForTheMillennial AV Sakthidharan
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  Sep 03, 2019

  Mythology for the Millennial: On Shakuntala, Dushyanta and the one ring that bound them both

  On Shakuntala, the heroine of perhaps one of the best-known love stories in Hindu mythology.
  Mahabharata Indian mythology mythology FWeekend Shakuntala Mythology for the Millennial Dushyanta Sambhava Parva Gandharva
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  Aug 13, 2019

  Mythology for the Millennial: How Lakshmi, a fierce, Beyonce-esque creature, was transformed into a 'good wife and mother'

  Lakshmi was the first Indian woman to be exploited by men — in one of her creation stories, she emerges from the creator god, Prajapati, only to dazzle all the other gods by her beauty and power, who immediately want to murder her and appropriate all her gifts.
  Vishnu indian Jagannath Lakshmi mythology Prajapati FWeekend Mythology for the Millennial Bidyut Mohanty Goddess Durga and Sacred Female Power Laura Amazzone
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  Jul 15, 2019

  Mythology for the Millennial: From Gujarat's folktales, a strange fable topped with backwards feminism

  As someone who likes to look up old folktales, I can tell you all stories are the same, whether they're from Greece or Britain or France or India | Read Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan's new #MythologyForTheMillennial column
  Gujarati FWeekend TheNarrative folk tales Mythology for the Millennial MythologyForTheMillennial Folktales from India Gujarati folk tales
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  Jun 24, 2019

  Mythology for the Millennial: On Devyani, a sage's daughter, and Kacha, an undying man who would not commit

  This is the story of one emotional f*ckwit, all the way back in ancient India, when the world was divided into devas, the gods, and the asuras, the demons.
  Hindu mythology Devyani Myth FWeekend Mythology for the Millennial MythologyForTheMillennial Shukracharya Kacha
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  Jun 10, 2019

  Mythology for the Millennial: The magical power of an old woman's story, and a baby girl who heard it

  In this edition of Mythology for the Millennial, a look at a Telugu folktale about an old woman telling stories in praise of the sun god — and the consequences of not listening to her. Ramanujan's English version is called A Story In Search of an Audience but really, it could also be called You Too Could Be An Influencer, Just Follow This Easy Step.
  AK Ramanujan Surya FWeekend folk tales Mythology for the Millennial MythologyForTheMillennial sun god Telugu folk tales rathasaptami Magha Folktales from India