High in the Himalayas, surrounded by Gods and legends, life is simple and uncomplicated. The Himalayas hold untold secrets, a zillion attractions. Sacred temples, tarns, hot springs, holy rivers, unimaginable flora and fauna, and a vast palette of cultures, each existing, effortlessly, as part of a whole. The huge effort in the journey up the mountains to the shrine of Badrinath leaves little energy to see much else. Those able to brave the cold, and the steep climb, venture on to Mana, three km away…   more »

Impressions of a journey to the Kheer Bhawani temple in Tullamulla, near Srinagar… The sun is beginning to come through the trees. Before we leave, the jawan takes me to a spot in the middle of the giant courtyard. He points to the sky through a clearing in the trees. “What do you see?” he asks as I look up. Framed by green chinar leaves on all sides, the clouds and the sky are in the perfect shape of the map of India.   more »

Supreme dynamism of the Chinese people with their zeal for work and lust for life is the central inspiration which has maintained its vibrant vitality and sustained its galloping economy. “Work is worship” here, and the super-infrastructure and the magnificent network of roads and easy accessibility of all kinds of transportation make life and work only easier and comfortable. Science and technology have been harnessed to improve the quality of life to an astonishing degree. Everything is executed with meticulous planning… Beijing has always been the seat of imperial dynasties and the centre of power. But now the great metros of Shanghai and Hong Kong are like the two shining jewels in the crown of galloping Chinese economic glory… Today China is a major superpower and occupies a pride of place in the comity of nations. One dare not fool around with its national interests. There is an admirable degree of endurance ingrained in the Chinese character with inner poise and serenity…   more »

The seasons bring variety to my morning walk around Mumbai’ Five Gardens. The quality of light changes, new flowers splash across the branches, and different bird song filters out of the dense foliage. Thus it was that as I walked with downcast eyes, came upon a swathe of purple prose. No, call it poetry. The pavement and the road beyond it had been dyed like a royal robe, though not evenly Here, it was of deep rich hue, there, the fuchsia segued into a paler mauve. I marvelled over this unfamiliar beauty. The end-of summer breezes cover the pavements with the golden blooms of the copper pod tree, and the first showers do the same with the resplendent gulmohur, spreading out a red carpet which might be the envy of Cannes. But that recent morning, the night’s rainfall had changed the accustomed palette, it had brought down hundreds of jamuns...   more »

Poetry is truly a complete expression of beauty because it combines many different kinds of beauty: the beauty of sounds, of images, of thought, of emotions and of expression. And yet, unfortunately, the word “poetry” conjures up only images of school life. Those images often have in the background the voice of an unkind teacher or the stress of having to struggle with incomprehensible or archaic words. Most people think that one bids goodbye to poetry when one steps out of the student life. This may be why poems don’t usually form a part of our general reading. A combination of factors has made the poems of Sri Aurobindo so little appreciated. English poetry was a natural part of his education and therefore helped to form his mental make-up. In the late 19th century, a school like St Paul’s taught Greek and Latin from the lowest level of classes, and the entire focus was on literature. Education for the upper classes in England was structured around acquiring general culture, and this is why poetry was given a place of great importance at school level and was also commonly studied at colleges. It was an age when science, commerce and technology were generally considered to be inferior to literature. Having studied poetry so thoroughly, it was a natural step for Sri Aurobindo to compose his own poems. Yet there is a puzzle, and we could continue to look for less evident reasons to justify why so enjoyable a book as Sri Aurobindo’s Collected Poems remains so little known.   more »

The man who did too much ... Le Corbusier. Photograph: Corbis

An urbanist who lived in a fishing cottage, an iconoclast who invented the highrise, an architect who wanted to be a painter...the man who designed the 20th century. Le Corbusier is difficult to get a hold on. He's still admired, even worshipped, in architectural circles, but practically forgotten everywhere else. He's arguably had more of an influence on the form of the modern world than any other architect - you could even argue there was no modern world before Le Corbusier - but stop someone on the street and ask them to name one of his buildings and you're unlikely to get a correct answer. And if people have heard of him, it's usually in the context of failed 1960s housing estates. All that might change, though…   more »

There are numerous genre of literature, yet more are the schools of criticism aiming at appreciating and analyzing literature. Like every poet and writer differs from each other, similarly every critic and school of criticism differs from the other. The basis of these differences for the poets and writers may be of that of temperament, style and other techniques; critics differ on the subject and method of appreciation. Even in each school of criticism every critic differs from the other due to the subjective elements and temperamental differences that come in. The focus in the present essay is on the method of appreciation more than the subject, the tool of appreciation being consciousness. We see how consciousness plays an important role in creation and reception of a text. The words, as they have power, create the corresponding vibrations and can deliver this vibration into the creation and subsequently into the recipient if he or she is prepared to receive it. We see how beautifully consciousness binds the author, the text and the reader. All the disputes and differences of opinions end when we find these three (the author, the text and the reader) as parts of a continuum and not as distinct entities.   more »

The interpretation of 1857 changed with the emergence of nationalism and the ‘mutiny’ was interpreted as a ‘national war of independence’. The heroes of the British became the villains of the people. However, the families of those ‘loyal Mohammedans’ who were awarded landed properties and cash remained as powerful and influential as before, especially in parts which later became Pakistan. For lack of historical knowledge and perception they are never brought to justice. The result is that there is no anti-colonial approach in our historical narrative. On the contrary, there is great admiration for British rule. What is the lesson of history? History tells us that imperialism cannot succeed in occupying another country without local collaboration. Today, we are facing the same situation in Iraq and Afghanistan on the one hand and Palestine on the other. We are hearing the same arguments that with the help of foreign powers and intervention, religious extremism and terror will be wiped out. Again, history tells us that it is not correct. We cannot rely on others to fight our wars...   more »

A team of physicists has claimed that our view of the early Universe may contain the signature of a time before the Big Bang. "Every time you break an egg or spill a glass of water, you're learning about the Big Bang," Professor Carroll explains.   more »

Reference that prompted this posting is Rich's The Origin of the Words check at http://www.sciy.org/blog/_archives/2008/6/25/3762846.html   more »