Once during his Baroda years, Sri Aurobindo visited a Kali temple on the bank of the Narmada river. Recounting that visit, he later said: “With my Europeanised mind I had no faith in image worship and I hardly believed in the presence of God. I went to Kemali where there are several temples. There is… Continue reading The Great World-Mother
In my ongoing ‘decluttering’ journey, I have decided to clean my blog as well. I have started a process of sorting through old blogs and will be keeping only those pieces which speak something significant to me. There is a lot of stuff in this space that I am no longer able to connect with… Continue reading Unearthing the Path: A Photo-Essay
It was one of those afternoons when you simply don’t feel like doing anything. All you want to do is just be. On one such afternoon, I lazily walked around my home with no purpose or aim in mind, nothing to organize, nothing to sort, nothing to do except just be. My eyes wandered around… Continue reading Of Art, Love and Creation
The intricately carved pillars lead you into the chamber of Beauty and Divinity. Beauty in Divinity; Divinity in Beauty. Your eyes want to linger on the details of the pillars, take in every piece of carving and beauty. At the same time the inner quietude pulls you in. Disciple: Is form inseparable from the experience of beauty? Sri… Continue reading Divinity in Details
The new light is here. Bringing new beginnings, new hope, new energy. May the new doors open. May the darkness be gone, and the light envelop the entire space, within and without. May the heart always remember to be in gratitude. May the wilderness and mist of life not hide the onward and upward path. May the path of beauty… Continue reading Prayer in Pictures
I am very pleased to share today some of the photographic work of a talented, not-yet-18 young man. Pranav is a sensitive, introvert and quieter-than-his-(teen)age type of fellow, who sometimes uses poetry and prose to give an expression to his pondering, questioning and reflecting. On other occasions he relies on his camera. Small animals, ocean and nature… Continue reading Being Human (Guest Post)
Be a traveler, not a tourist. That’s the latest fad, I hear. Of course, like many other things touted as part of the contemporary lifestyle, this travel bug is also mostly limited to the urban middle- and upper-middle classes. [Aside: These are mostly sections of media-fed, westernised, modernised India and strangely most of our popular culture is built… Continue reading Silent Travels
Sometimes when you are browsing through the photo folder on your computer, you come across some old photograph which takes you on a little meditation of sorts. Bringing you to an insight, an understanding or a realization perhaps, but more like a remembrance of something. Something you had read long time ago. Something you thought you… Continue reading Stone Worshipers
A new post in the series When a Picture Leads Let this be my way today to be conscious of the gratitude I owe to the many different things, moments and experiences, big and small. Let this be my way today to express that gratitude. Let this be my way today to remember that… “There is no… Continue reading Gratitude, in Pictures
A Krishna Janamashtami Special For the last couple of weeks I have been reading and thinking about a few things on Indian Art, especially focusing on the theme of spirituality in Indian Art. It has been a wonderful learning so far, and someday hope to go deeper into what is now a very preliminary… Continue reading Hare Krishna
For readers’ comments, click HERE for the blog’s previous version. He knew he had to capture it. That sight. That moment. For his love. Dangling on the chain was that beauty he knew his love would love. A thin little branch, a chain of the big tree of life, and there it was dangling… Continue reading Priceless are the Moments…Part I
This post was re-published in Tamarind Rice, July 2014 For readers’ comments, click HERE for the previous version of this blog. A post inspired by some late night browsing of old pictures; this time from a visit to Cholamandal, an Artists’ Village near Chennai In today’s world where art has become another peg in the… Continue reading Art and Society
Beauty Interprets, Expresses, Manifests the Eternal 