Showing 36 articles
A Tryst with Mother Earth
Author: Vasant SanzgiriDecember 31, 2019
“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.” – M.K. Gandhi Very often I hear from friends, “I want to be one with Nature.” For most people this means visiting some remote forested place rich in wildlife, or vacationing at some scenic location like a hill station or beach. Usually, [...]
Glimpse into Tagore’s Legacy with Vandana Hazra (Event Synopsis)
Author: Manjula NanavatiDecember 31, 2019
As a poet, musician, writer, artist and educationist, Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore was a visionary polymath. His verses, stories and songs are simple and personal, yet elegant and profound. His lyrical style was capable of focusing a magnifying glass to capture nature’s minutest details, while also throwing a searchlight across the heavens to encompass vast, [...]
Health for the soul
Author: Delia Steinberg GuzmánMay 15, 2019
Concerns about all sorts of issues are increasing around the world, survival is becoming more and more difficult in many countries, and confrontations for the most absurd reasons are on the rise, however important they may seem to those involved. Yet, in spite of all of this, there is a growing desire to achieve a [...]
The Ice Rink
Author: Gilad SommerJanuary 25, 2019
During an attempt at ice skating at the Sculpture Garden in DC, I had one of these wonderful moments where life seems to speak to you through the so-called “ordinary” moments. Watching the happy faces – of every age, race and color – go round and round, I couldn’t help but admire the beauty of [...]
Understanding Gandhi: An Exchange with Dr. Tridip Suhrud
Author: Harianto H Mehta and Manjula NanavatiJanuary 13, 2019
As the architect of a non-violent civil disobedience movement that led to the independence of a nation, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi has been hailed as a spirited activist, a courageous freedom fighter, and an astute politician. For his own deeply ascetic lifestyle, uncompromising ethical code, and strict adherence to human values, he won the veneration of [...]
Haiku: Abundance in Brevity
Author: Trishya ScrewvalaJuly 29, 2018
The Japanese poetic form of haiku, is a very succinct poem that exemplifies simplicity. It is one of the most recognizable and popular forms of poetry today and has travelled far beyond Japan’s shores, with writers composing haiku in Spanish, English and even Bengali as seen in the works of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. It [...]
The Secret Truth of Ceremony
Author: Zarina ScrewvalaApril 2, 2018
Last year we had a very special gathering of philosophers in Mumbai, and I had the privilege of looking after the meals for this wonderful event. A volunteer was helping me and I remember, as we started our first tasting of the many meals to come, she said, “Let’s make this tasting a ceremony!” Suddenly [...]
That Which You Seek
Author: Dipti SanzgiriJanuary 21, 2018
At some points in our lives, many of us face some nagging questions. What manifests is a sense of restlessness, a lack of real happiness and peace – despite the absence of any apparent reason for feeling so. Questions like, Am I doing what I should be doing? Do my actions have any meaning or [...]
Reflections on the Metaphysics of Music with Shubha Mudgal
Author: Manjula NanavatiOctober 19, 2017
“When the soul hears music, it drops its best guard.” – Socrates Music is perhaps the most philosophically puzzling of all the arts. Unlike painting or sculpture it does not culminate in a physical object. Unlike literature and drama, instrumental music has no semantic value. Yet every tune, melody, theme, raga or symphony is steeped [...]
More than Melody – Boethius’ Music of the Spheres
Author: Siobhan FarrarAugust 27, 2017
The Music of the Spheres begins in Ancient Greece with Pythagoras who, upon passing a blacksmiths is said to have heard consonance in the different sounds of the hammer. By this he was inspired to discover the connection between vibration, frequencies and pitch. For Pythagoras the octave ratio of 1:2 is considered a symbol of [...]
The Way of the Artist
Author: Shraddha ShettyApril 20, 2017
“Beauty is truth’s smile, when she beholds her own face in a perfect mirror.” (1) How would you define art? Usually, it is described as a form which is pleasing to the eyes. We call this form ‘beautiful’. Is beauty then related only to the sense of sight, motivated by the viewer’s feeling at the [...]
Harmony and the Art of True Friendship
Author: Ran KremerSeptember 24, 2016
A wise man once said, ‘One close real friend is better than ten distant and estranged brothers.’ Does true and unconditioned comradeship still exists in the 21st century? How different is real friendship from having casual friends or from “Facebook Friends”? Can this kind of lasting and profound friendship be found? How and where? There [...]