Posts by Sai Priya Chodavarapu

Dhīti is a blog for long form essays, expressions of civilizational voice, cinema and literature review, and more.

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Sai Priya Chodavarapu

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The Culture Iceberg - A Discussion and Critique

A review of Edward Hall's model of culture and its limitations, that explains how it doesn't fully capture cultural complexity. Reestablishing cultural context through knowledge systems in education policy can help preserve and revive cultural identity.

Sai Priya Chodavarapu 10 min read

Bodhas

Śiva as Naṭarāja, the Cosmic Dancer - Iconography and Symbolism

It is said that Śiva does not dance in the day but rather, at twilight, the darkness pierced only by his own effulgence and the light emanating from the moon on his head, the licks of the flame in his hand, and the gems on the heads of the cobras that adorn his body.

Sai Priya Chodavarapu 9 min read

Culture And Policy

Kalaripayattu

Kalaripayaṭṭu must be elevated, as a traditional psychophysiological discipline, as a ‘scientific’ system of physical culture, and as an arena of experience and self-transformation: the crucible of the individual’s experience where embodied practice helps shape a self.

Sai Priya Chodavarapu 12 min read

Bodhas

Kāntāra and Universe of the Bhūtas

A review of the massively successful Kāntāra, appreciating the film’s foray into Karnataka’s lesser known Bhūta universe, along with an account of the tradition itself.

Sai Priya Chodavarapu 13 min read

Cinema And Books

Swarnakamalam and the Value of the Performing Arts

A glimpse into the timelessness of the traditional arts, conveyed through superior cinema: Swarnakamalam; and the discussion of modernity threatening the value of traditional systems in its lyrical expositions.

Sai Priya Chodavarapu 6 min read

Cinema And Books

T. S. Eliot’s Conception of Culture

Cultures across the world produce seekers and seers who bring home the truth. In India, this process is a living tradition. In other places, we have a rare T.S. Eliot who breaks the hold.

Sai Priya Chodavarapu 12 min read

Dharma Today