In late May of this year, when we were concluding our program Parenting Inside Out, we received a visit from Varsha Saraogi, of The Hindu. A young reporter, Varsha happened to be in the Nilgiris and serendipitously stumbled upon us at Ritambhara. The exchange was a pleasure, allowing us to see the centre through fresh […]
“The modern Indian is influenced deeply by ideas of learning that are based on a western model of liberal education. She / He is also deeply influenced by ideas of autonomy and individual freedom which were the stuff of our freedom struggle. The modern Indian is thus socialised in a peculiar mixture of the traditional Indian […]
Yogacharya Krishnamacharya’s expositions of the Yoga Shastras was always simple, profound and pragmatic. When giving a gist of the Shrimad Bhagavad Geeta he said that it comprised of four parts that form the essential stages for the management of personal crisis. These are: Acceptance, Breathing, Curiosity and Distance. A for Awareness When Arjuna turns to […]
The newest game in Leadership and management seems to be ‘Mindfulness’. There is a lot of research that is getting published, and most of it focuses on CEO’s and how they benefit from 20 minutes of mindfulness practice. I am sure every member of the organization will gain immensely from its practice. One of the […]
How does one imagine the new, or is it a vision that comes to a mind that is neither projecting itself nor meekly following another? Is there an intent that we are born with? These were questions that came up often during the Mahabharata Immersion. So it came as no surprise to us when the […]
We present ourselves to the world through masks. The persona that we call the ‘actor’ is the mask, and this mask is energized by the other personas, namely the victim, the guardian, the judge, the beckoner, the fiend, and the dreamer. The rasa anubhava is closely linked with what is energized/ triggered. The exploration of […]
Our identities are created through an engagement with our world. They are not rigid and hard entities. The mahabhArata is a tale of destruction that ensues when people in power rigidify their identity. One can only feel threatened by reality as it emerges since the ever changing world will only sometimes conform to our needs […]
What of dritarAshtra? The scene the group sought to explore was the one where duryOdhana insists upon vidura taking the letter of invitation to the game of dice to yudhishtra. gAndhAri was the fourth protagonist. A petulant duryOdhana demands that his father do his bidding. dhritarAshtra demurs, and gAndhAri takes the side of duryOdhana. She […]
Yogacharya Krishnamacharya once said that the mark of a healthy person is the ability to feel the nava rasas deeply and appropriately, and then return to shAntam the moment the context has passed. We explored this through techniques used in traditional theatre. This exploration threw up a lot of introspection in the group. The group […]
Madam Blavatsky says in the Secret Doctrine, “…All this is very puzzling, to one who is unable to read and understand the Purana-s, except in their dead letter sense. Yet this sense, if once mastered, will turn out to be the secure casket which holds the keys to the secret wisdom. True, a casket so […]