Published inDesire To Think·Apr 30Member-onlyThe Mirror in Indian Art and LiteratureI recently read a fascinating article by Christopher P Jones, ‘Decoding Reflections: The Meaning of Mirrors in Art’, where the author talks about some important European paintings featuring mirrors, and explains the role and symbolism of the mirror in each painting. After reading it, I thought of the depiction of…Art4 min readArt4 min read
Published inDesire To Think·Apr 28Member-onlyWorld Happiness and Indian PhilosophyAs the exuberant celebrations of the ‘Holi’ festival last month were dying down, a slight dampener came in the form of the release of the ‘World Happiness Report 2023’. The report authors managed to rank India 126th out of 136 countries surveyed, far behind countries such as Pakistan (108) and…Happiness4 min readHappiness4 min read
Published inDesire To Think·Mar 4Member-onlyPoetry for the G20This year India holds the presidency of the G20, and is hosting high-level diplomatic and ministerial meetings which are now in full swing. The theme of this Indian presidency is the Sanskrit phrase “वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम्” taken from the Mahā Upanishad, or, in English, it is ‘One Earth, One Family, One…G205 min readG205 min read
Published inDesire To Think·Feb 25Member-onlyOn doubt in science and religionThat doubt is of the greatest value in supporting the scientific tradition has been a fundamental principle for many of the greatest scientists. Richard Feynman has eloquently described how doubt and intellectual humility are values at the heart of the scientific enterprise. “We have found it of paramount importance that…Science6 min readScience6 min read
Published inDesire To Think·Feb 18Member-onlyIndra driving the chariotThe chariot race was one of the most important competitive sports in Greece, Rome and many other ancient cultures. In the Iliad, we read a description of a chariot race held as part of the funeral games. …Indra4 min readIndra4 min read
Published inDesire To Think·Feb 11Member-onlyAnimals and the sacred“Western culture has become more and more exclusively humanistic and ideas of ancient cultures, such as that of ancient Egypt that man and animal are partners and, to some extent, equals as living beings are largely forgotten and neglected.” [Herman te Velde, Some remarks on the mysterious language of the…Animals5 min readAnimals5 min read
Published inDesire To Think·Feb 4Member-onlyOn poetry and the arrangement of wordsThe Indian philosopher Bhaṭṭa Jayanta once speculated on the limits of expressive possibilities as follows - “How can we imagine something new? Here I will just develop variety in the arrangements of words. Having once made a garland of flowers, we can make a new one using the same flowers. Just a new…Poetry5 min readPoetry5 min read
Published inDesire To Think·Jan 12Member-onlyHaruki Murakami and Buddhist philosophyOver Christmas I read ‘The Wind-up Bird Chronicle’, a novel by Haruki Murakami, in the English translation by Jay Rubin. …Haruki Murakami9 min readHaruki Murakami9 min read
Published inDesire To Think·Dec 17, 2022Member-onlyOn the moment of insightI was just reading about how a “grammatical problem that has defeated Sanskrit scholars since the 5th century BC has finally been solved by an Indian Ph.D. student at the University of Cambridge.” The researcher explains - “I had a eureka moment in Cambridge. After 9 months trying to crack…Sanskrit4 min readSanskrit4 min read
Published inDesire To Think·Oct 9, 2022Member-onlyOn poetic understandingEliot, Larkin and the Rig Veda Just as scientists strive to crystallize deeper truths about the world, so too do poets. However, whereas scientists further our understanding of reality through a process of abstraction, poets develop insights that resists abstraction and stays at the level of ordinary things. In The…Poetry3 min readPoetry3 min read
