Author: Rhea
Holding an Interfaith Dialogue Forced me to have a dialogue with myself We confronted a wall, At the boundary of thought. Was religion and faith the same – No. Was dialogue and discussion same? – No Was my truth and your truth same? – No We skirted, like we are used to, Around the issue of this pseudo sameness For sometime The boundaries of time and space, Made sure we didn’t. Phew !!! When the discomfort of the pseudoness started to close in People started to squirm out of the comfort shells Of stories we told ourself To make sense…
Last 4 months I have been in the process of learning Psychodrama. Definition : Psychodrama is an action method, often used as a psychotherapy, in which clients use spontaneous dramatization, role playing, and dramatic self-presentation to investigate and gain insight into their lives Having experimented and tried out talk therapy, I find this method use more body and spontaneity. I got attracted to it for two Important reasons. One – it is about ACTION and not just talking about actions, which can be exhausting after repeating the saaaammmeee story again and again. I have often found the talking very…
Last night, after a particularly difficult conversation I reached home, and was really looking forward to the Moonlight whirling session with Zia Nath. I am new to this-but this is not new to me. I realized now as a child, as most children intuitively like to do, I loved whirling. Remember, ring-a-ring-a roses. I was transported to a very different state, just going around, yet keeping the gaze on my hand, even while the rest of the world was moving in a dizzy, I could still be in one place ..centered..mostly. and somehow, there was a doorway there that peeped…
Having just concluded another “Re-imagining Community” gathering at One Design, I am taken aback by something I noticed yesterday. A friend was showing me an apple gadget that lets you connect and know where other gadgets are. And I was amazed to see how “technology” and devices are connecting to other technologies and building a growing “community”. They are literally “talking to each other”, and figuring a way out to know where others are and how to connect; They KNOW that connecting with each other is important for their own growth. And just how IMPORTANT this is to the sustainability…
Travelling to Delhi and back is an ordeal in itself. To top it my flight was at 9pm. I had been working back-to-back from 8.30 am. And I had had a few really hard days emotionally and physically. All in all I wasn’t in any mood for gay. After randomly browsing through people, on a very crowded airport, reminding me of Kolkata train station. People sitting on the floor with their bags..eating etc., I gave up. I was reluctantly and rebelliously hungry, so I ordered a Pizza (eye roll).. Waited for 25 minutes and then answered to a butchered version…
My birthday is around the corner, and I have been waiting to turn 50 for last 3 years. And somehow end up miscalculating. My son keeps correcting my calculations. Age is just a number, is not TRUE. ‘So how old are you’, a friend asked yesterday. Somehow people hesitate to ask this question. Understandbly. I paused , to get the “right” calculations. But in the pause, the question …deepened in my mind and entered my body. How old AM I ? How OLD am I ? This could also be the effect of “Systems thinking” that I have been trying…
Last month we had a session at One Design on Heartistree, offered by Kiran Gulrajani. Exploring what makes our heart sing and what holds it back. One of the facilitators was a young very talented singer, Vishrut. He sings with his whole being and one cannot, not be affected by it. Everyone joined, of course. And at some point the conversation drifted to lullaby’s. And everyone was animatedly talking about the ones they sang for their kids or the ones their mothers singing to them.. and so on. It made me wonder what was so touching about this…. While the…
Part of explorations of the few weeks with different groups was the idea that “Artists” have to suffer. Suffering is the golden badge almost. Suffer from “lack”. Lack of money, lack of love, lack of resources, lack of acknowledgement, lack of means etc etc. It is such an Unshakeable reality for many. Ofcourse knowing Van Gogh’s story does not help. Mental note :We need more, different stories. I have often struggled with this as a dominant paradigm. And I have seen many “true cases” that affirm this idea. And yet I find myself challenging this assumption. Surely, if one is…
As much as I don’t like the sound of it, it is a reminder that everything heals over time. It leaves a mark, yes. Like a calling card Of memories that something was important, Very important Once. The scar is sometimes lumpy, sometimes tough and other times tender To touch. I have a few. Sometimes my finger touches them, In an absent minded remembrance And I think, of the times, I didn’t think I could make it through But I did. And I have the scars to show for them. Like my life trophies That Not only did I survive…
I was watching a documentary of collaboration in the various animal species. And how they know to come together beyond their difference, for the sake of the whole. And it made me think, yet again of our specie. And our need for Community. One of the things I am learning at One Design, is that Designing for a Community is an Emergent process. Constantly evolving and yet not random. Emergence needs Synergy. They are both two sides of the same coin. It takes a discipline of design to think about how we can help foster the Emergence of a self-…