sarmaya.in

is a self funded passion (not a strong enough adjective, but will do for now) project of Pavitra Rajaram & Paul Abraham. It is a website that takes you on multiple journeys of our sub-continent.

I prefer to read when I engage with content, visual is okay and listening is a skill I am working furiously on, but reading is it for me. Mind you, only when I engage with content - fiction or non-fiction. Made an exception for sarmaya as I had heard quite a bit about them from two of my all time favourite boys (who also design and take care of the site). Before I knew it, I had spent 45 minutes on it and was still going strong. The interplay between the artefacts and the information given was just right. The synthesis definitely done by people who clearly have the ability to crystallise relevance in 3 sentences, conveying depth and information at the same time. And it is not at all over-whelming like the websites of many other museums that are online. It is welcoming and non-jarring (word?)

Today I listened to the Devdutt Pattnaik talk on their website, some thoughts:

To be honest, he was somebody I stayed away from, no real reason, except the fact that he appeared mainstream and the business and mythology bit is just not my cup of tea, but his talk was good.

He came across as a reasonable person and what a precious commodity that is in this day and age. He sounded like me when I talk about my interest in mythology. I love it because of the numerous ways you can unravel it not because it is religious or otherwise. Of course, the depth and the variance he brought in was outstanding. I particularly liked the karma connect, the shoonya and infinity connect and the constant emphasis on uncertainty. For the most part, karma/uncertainty has been positioned as fatalistic, was nice to hear his tone of neutrality towards the whole thing - it is.

The 'judgement giving rise to defending positions/defence/offence' got me thinking about me as an individual. I wonder if I explain all my actions so much because I judge myself through the lens of my conditioning or I expect others to judge so I pre-empt it? If judging was not commonplace in the culture I am raised in, why is there so much of it? The judgement, the guilt, the explanations, this is the cycle I am curious about.

And also curious about the 'energy' in places of worship. 'God is a man-made concept' is an ongoing debate, but we can all agree that religion is man-made. If that is the case, why do some places of worship give a sense of something other-worldly? My imagination, my conditioning, or I am forcing to feel what my elders have told me to feel? Prayers then? I would have loved to ask his opinion on this 'energy'. Next time.

Do visit sarmaya, in case you find yourself with some time and do not want to twiddle your thumbs.