Dhīti is a blog for long form essays, expressions of civilizational voice, cinema and literature review, and more.
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.
Have no doubt; the deities are waking us up to their presence like never before. They are willing to travel from their forests, kśetras onto the screen and talk to us, to tell us: Oh children, don't remain blind anymore to our presence. Take refuge in us. We are here with you every moment.
Dr. Richa Chopra continues her series on Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtras and tells us why 'the quality of life is how the mind perceives it' and how to go about acquiring a better quality of life. By consciously building mental and physical habits that awaken us to the great goals of human life. Step by step, day by day, thought by thought. There is no easy way out.
We celebrate the return of Rāma with a Festival of Lights, for if his journey- Rāma’s Ayaṇa- is recreated within us, it generates within us the Supreme Light. His journey within us is the journey from untruth to truth. From Darkness to Light. It is the rising of Agni from earth to sky, the ultimate union, or Yoga.
Education in post-colonial India, as Ashis Nandy argues, has become a means to inculcate a 'shared culture' in which, ‘the ruled are constantly tempted to fight their rulers within the psychological limits set by the latter.' This demonstrates the durability of the psychological aspect of colonial conquest, one that continues to remain below the surface all this while and cannot be repelled by force.
The festival of Ahoi Aṣṭamī instills the deep sense in Hindus that our actions have consequences; that human civilization destroys Nature by the sheer act of living in great groups and thus has to make extra efforts to respect and protect Nature; and that we have to give back to Nature as we take much from it.
Our individual and social conundrums are as old as time, but civilizational essence is timeless. What can we learn from new arenas of creative activity, to rediscover the eternal essence? This essay is an exploration of the meta and meaning-making significance of culture and Dharma, via game design.
Dharma is sanātana, but civilizational emergence follows a worldly trajectory where the technologies we develop shape and form us in turn. Here we look at an ancient technology, the ratha or chariot, and unpack its significance in the Indian civilizational trajectory.
Madhava Rao is widely hailed as a foremost statesman of nineteenth century India. While there may be differences over his subservient attitude towards the British and his lack of incorporation of Dhārmika elements, it is irrefutable these hints serve as an important beacon for statecraft and the general qualities of leadership at large.