Category: Blog
The Waltz Garden – a place of magic.
It is really my wish from the writing of this piece, that those who read it come to think of The Waltz Garden as having a permanent place among the gardens they know of. That they come to think of it as unique. By no means has this garden reached its zenith. It is still…
The WG magic speaks first, unhindered
While I was taking the time to select from among the postings of The Waltz Garden, there were some starting from the beginning of 2020, that stood out. Actually, there isn’t any that does not stand out. These simply became instances that could be chosen from a list, where nothing deserves to be ignored.
A fondness for the fountain pen, but more so, for writing by hand
“To sit at one’s table on a sunny morning, with four clear hours of uninterruptible security, plenty of nice white paper, and a fountain pen — that is true happiness.” – Winston Churchill
Remembering Sir Roger Scruton
A great thinker does not need the endorsement of others. Before the content of his thoughts, which, if they happen to point to truths, his ability stands itself as the gift exemplified. Sir Roger Scruton (27 February 1944 -12 January 2020) shall be remembered as one such thinker.
Working with artists on Twitter – a privilege, a pleasure
I was just recalling in the last post about how more of my time was spent engaging with others. A lot of that engagement did come through Twitter. As many have found, it is a medium that allows for speed and brevity. Brevity, too, is not so much an issue now because it is easy…
Returning to writing after a gap
There is the possibility for greater communication through writing – much of it finding efficacy and peace due to privacy. Social networking seems to have put all that used to remain private out in the open. Maybe, there is still a getting used to this and a regaining of balance.
The continued need for writing
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”— Maya Angelou (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings) “What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the…
Realization and changes
There is a lot in life that depends upon realization. We have the information before us a lot of the times. The judgments as to whether that information is correct or not are important but remain secondary. The more important factor is to move from interacting with the information and move on to the point…
Keeping some confidence in other human beings
It is difficult to communicate with others if you do not have any confidence in them. One of the things that make being a human special is the ability to communicate. It is the ability to put thoughts into words that make us unique. It is also, thus, reasonable to conclude that we alone are…
A fascination with wrist watches
I remember, as a young boy, this fascination with wristwatches. At the time, there was no deep philosophical reason for it. Watches simply were machines to be fascinated with. The way these were designed; how methodical and systematic was the movement of the hands to show the minutes, hours, and seconds! Specifically, some of the…
The notches on tools and the end of the world
We are surrounded by tools. From the ordinary nail cutter to the kitchen knife, to our smartwatches, mobile phones, Wi-Fi routers, and computers. Tools of all different kinds are all around us as evidence of human ingenuity and entrepreneurship. Somewhere, someone saw a need and decided to create a solution for it. In that creating…
The story of the deaf stonemason
In sharing this story, I take a particular pleasure. What this man did for us is of truly lasting value. He worked diligently at our place for just a few days. In those few days, he endeared himself by the way he worked, his mannerisms, how he paid no attention to supervision, and in all…
The vegetable vendor and his story
I would like to share with you today this short story. It’s true and from this morning itself. This morning, though, is only a passing moment in the story of this vegetable vendor. In this city of New Delhi, on this day after an early morning rain and now the sun shining through brightly, this…
Certain kinds of knowledge and the preservation of sincerity – with some thoughts from Thomas Carlyle
At a certain time in life, and not necessarily as a cause for or a result of an existential crisis, one might be confronted by certain questions. Those questions are about what one perceives of this world and his own attempts at making sense of what is the reality of our personal and collective existence. …
When attention is sustained, a small change can hold the potential for a major shift
Could it rightly be said that small things can hold the potential for a major shift? It is possible that you already understand the possibilities. It is possible, you have seen by way of observation, or experienced in your life when such a thing happens. A very simple, innocuous-seeming conversation, reading a passage in a…
Think Big Sunday with Marsha
For the past few weeks, I have been participating every weekend in a campaign organized by Brand Influencer, Marsha Wright. It goes by the hashtag #ThinkBIGSundayWithMarsha The experience of interacting with others, the opportunity of sharing some ideas valuable to me, seeing the contributions of others, and at the end of it all being able…
The experience of engaging with people – how a change in views is a fundamental need and also beneficial?
There isn’t a greater art and more of it needed at this time than of engaging with people. Engaging with people should be considered the end of all philosophy, systems of belief, or even the systems of society. When a person engages in thinking out solutions to issues or attempts to foresee the end of…
Remembering what my father said about belief
I remember my father as a wise man. He acquired a wisdom that comes from doing work with his own hands, tinkering with any machine for hours and finding a fix when many others would simply give up. And he had the gift of interacting with people face-to-face with an uncommon familiarity. I don’t know…
To be consumed, yet not be burnt – the gentle illumination
It is that image that has always appealed to me. Yes, it brings back to mind the burning bush, the one Moses saw, and from there, his life changed. This is not about Moses though. This is about the bush. An angel is said to have descended upon the bush, manifesting the Almighty God himself. …
Looking at life the wrong way, no long
By the mind one understands. By an excess of the same mind, one misunderstands. How does one escape the tendency to be unsteadied by the extreme of a habit? For as is one’s occupation, so one becomes proficient. The great discovery since the developments of the sciences has been the tendency toward the mind, even…
The culture of self in societies that appear connected
A true community is not just about being geographically close to someone or part of the same social web network. It’s about feeling connected and responsible for what happens. Humanity is our ultimate community, and everyone plays a crucial role. ~ Yehuda Berg It is a particular trait among thinkers and of their thinking to…
Writing – pen to paper or fingers to keyboard – tradition over modernity
These days, everyone is a writer. That is what technology has done. From the person who composes a short text message and garnishes it with the perfect emojis, to the one who prepares the agenda for an important board meeting, to the one writing in her own journal, everyone is writing. Whether there is some…
Analysis and problem-solving don’t bring real happiness
Happiness is such a basic human desire. It also is one of the foremost pursuits of mankind. Whether we are those who consciously pursue happiness or believe it to be like the light that shines through upon us through the clouds when the time for it has come, we all know the good sensation happiness…
Can real happiness be found through objectivity?
It would be difficult to place an exact event or time when a person experiences happiness for the first time. One would very much hope, it was during the days of infancy, even before the faculties of reason had started to develop. And so, by this way of referencing, happiness or the experiencing of it…
Creating a defense mechanism by assigning all ideas to the intellect
The intellect can seem like a safe realm to keep and examine ideas. However, if human interactions remain at that level, something is soon realized to be missing. Our response to suffering, ability to empathize and connect also are affected. In the age of social networking, what can we practically do to rise above it?
How to compete without being enemies?
It seems the most common of tendencies, and almost instinctive for us to compare ourselves with another. We are competing in appearances, in words, in wealth, education, nation, or some other reason that human society has developed to put a division in the family. Our comparisons produce envy and jealousy, but also the aspiring to…
What is one to do when confronted by stories of evil?
I understand that so many of us would like to find a place of security and comfort, away from all the evil done in our world today. And who are the doers of great evil? Not the wild animals or some predatory birds; it is the people who live right among us, people who look and…
Admiration is only natural to feel
There is so much worthy of admiration in our world. There always was, but we did not have the chance to know the existence of such places and creatures. And now we are in a time when, if we choose to, we can find an endless supply of examples of Godly and of human creativity. There…
Light over fear
Fear is one of the worst enemies of man. Just from where one learns to fear and be afraid of the unknown is hard to say. It is true, to stay with the unknown produces a sense of dissatisfaction within the human mind. Man wants to know. Once the unknown turns into something known, the…
The flow of spiritual waters to heal the human soul
To heal, mankind must become cleansed. Though we desire it, this is not in our power to accomplish. Not by the will of man, but by the will of God such a thing can be done. Eden Restored 22 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of…
