By Victor Edwin New Delhi: Waris Mazhari is a traditionally-trained Islamic scholar. He teaches in the Department of Islamic Studies, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi. He graduated from the Dar ul-Uloom Deoband, one of the largest traditional Islamic seminaries in the world, and did his doctorate from the Department of IslamicContinue Reading

By Jose Kavi New Delhi: Diocesan pastoral centers must conduct programs to educate Christians in “interfaith literacy,” asserts Jesuit Father Victor Edwin, the elected secretary of the Islamic Studies Association (ISA) that has fostered Christian-Muslim cooperation in India or more than four decades. The 54-year-old teacher of Islam in Delhi’sContinue Reading

New Delhi: Mithilesh Pandey finally caught an acting break this year. The 22-year-old is playing the deity Lord Ram in Ramlila, a yearly folk dramatisation of the Ramayana, a two millennia-old epic revered by Hindus. Ram is the hero of this enduring tale of familial obligations, loyalty, hardships and sacrifice.Continue Reading

By Deborah Thambi Kochi: Koonammavu a tiny village, located 27 km north of Kochi, Kerala’s commercial hub, has produced and exported an item considered integral to the Catholic faith across the world: rosaries. For nearly 150 years, Koonammavu residents, mostly women, have been engaged in the business of stringing prayerContinue Reading