TalkHistory

Who is Karna ? Sure, he is the son of Kunti, brother to the Pandavas and Arjun's nemesis. But is that all ? Or is there more to this phenomenon history acknowledges as the 'Son of the Sun God' ?  Karna isn't just another character in the Mahabharata, he is perhaps the unluckiest character in Indian mythology. His detractors might feel otherwise, but no one has or ever will doubt his ability. He had everything going for him but somehow everything managed to work against him. He had all the elements of a hero, but was never allowed to be one ; first by his mother, then his teacher, his brothers and even God. Karna, is only biologically the son of Kunti, as his sorry tale begins with her. Back when she was princess Kunti, letting her curiosity get ahead of her she decided to summon the Sun God(Agni Devta) using the magical powers bestowed upon her by a sage. Upon being summoned, and appearing before the princess, the sun God was compelled by virtue of the m...

The 20th century will be best remembered for a lot of things ranging from Einstein to Hawkings, from Hitler to Gandhi, from Stalin to Gorbachev. It lay witness to the two world wars,oversaw the rise and fall of the Soviet Union, watched ideological differences create a wall that divided a city for a good part of 40 years and watched as Hiroshima and Nagasaki crumbled. It was a century of revolutions and political uprisings, of assassinations and murders, of sex, booze and drugs. But among all other things the 20th century was the century of football. Beginning with the 1930 world cup, football grew in stature and over the course of the subsequent decades consolidated itself as a global sport. Whilst it was always a part of popular culture, football really began growing into a global phenomenon in the 20th century, most notably in Europe and South America. What began as a source of entertainment quickly transitioned into a hobby and ultimately into the one platform for global repres...

Ravana : Mythology's Anti Hero Throughout history, the world has had its heroes, the quintessential babyfaces who fight through insurmountable odds, always walk on the right path and no matter what comes up, they never back down from a challenge. And quite frankly, the world needs heroes. The world needs a feel good moment to believe that Good overcomes evil, that finally there is a time of reckoning when what's evil succumbs to the forces of good. And history has from time to time given us these heroes, the good guys who shoulder the responsibility of representing a million voices and fight evil. Sometimes these heroes can be fictional and yet have such an impact that they have a deep rooted influence on how people think and how the system works. Amitabh Bachchan is essentially one such example of how a fictional character influenced a country of 125 crore people. Given the moniker ' ANGRY YOUNG MEN' he basically set the bar for what's considered the Indian H...