Arna book reading group

painting by artist Bargode displayed at the PRADYOT ART GALLERY - Ratnagiri. The painting, with its vibrant green background, strikingly captures a stylized moment between two fish and a cat. The top fish, a vivid reddish-orange with a piercing red eye, commands attention, while a larger, soft pinkish-orange fish gracefully swims beneath it. Both are nestled among white, leaf-like shapes that evoke delicate aquatic plants. At the bottom, a large, pristine white cat is poised, its head tilted upwards, its gaze fixed on the fish above – a silent, charged observation. The simplicity of the art style, characterized by clear outlines and solid blocks of color, perhaps indicative of a young artist's hand, belies the complex emotions it evokes. While I hold no animosity towards cats, maintaining a comfortable indifference, my affection for fish runs deep. The very thought of a fish drifting endlessly in the vastness of the sea has always resonated with me, symbolizing a profou...

Albert Camus's "The Outsider" (also known as "The Stranger" or "L'Étranger") is a exemplary work of existentialist fiction that explores themes of absurdity, indifference, and the consequences of refusing to conform to societal expectations, a philosophical view point for which the author is well known. I write this note from Hyderabad where during the course of a conference and I  The story is divided into two parts and follows the protagonist, Meursault, a seemingly ordinary and emotionally detached Frenchman living in Algiers. The flow of the story is easy and yet presents unexpected surprises, voiding our anticipatory thoughts into something absurd. Part One: The novel opens with the famous line, "Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don't know." This immediate display of indifference sets the tone for Meursault's character. He attends his mother's funeral without showing any outward signs of grief, a fact ...

Martin Heidegger's concept of death, primarily explored in his seminal work- Being and Time, is one of the most distinctive and profound aspects of his philosophy. Unlike a biological or sociological understanding of death, Heidegger approaches it as an existential phenomenon, deeply intertwined with the very being of human existence, which he calls Dasein (literally "being-there" or "there-being").  Heidegger's concept of death begins by describing death as an essential possibility of Dasein. " Being-towards-death" is the central concept. For Heidegger, death is not merely an event that happens to Dasein at the end of its life, but rather a fundamental mode of being that Dasein is always already for. From the moment Dasein is born, it is "being-towards-death." It's not a future event to be awaited, but a present possibility that structures our entire existence. In his complex stylised writing, Heidegger  explains how deat...

Walk way at IISc, Bangalore. The worn pathway with itseshwork of light and shadow give an impression of the nature of willingness. The capacity to learn is a gift, the ability to learn is a skill, and the willingness to learn is a choice. In today’s fast-evolving workplace, learning is no longer optional—it’s integral to growth, both for individuals and the organizations they’re part of. Some come with natural strengths—analytical thinking, creativity, empathy. That’s the gift. Others refine those strengths through experience, mentorship, and feedback. That’s the skill. But what truly sets people apart is the choice to keep learning, especially when it’s uncomfortable, inconvenient, or outside their domain. This willingness often becomes the quiet engine behind team success, adaptability, and innovation. And when it’s absent, progress slows—not just for the individual, but for the team around them. Over time, it becomes evident, even if unspoken. In most corporate environme...

.              painting by Mr Gurudev Bargode                Untitled - acrylic on canvas This painting by Mr Bargode, displayed at the Pradyot art gallery, depicts a seated female figure, possibly a nude or partially draped figure, rendered in shades of purple or plum against a greenish-yellow background. The style appears expressive and somewhat abstracted, with visible brushstrokes and a focus on form and color rather than strict anatomical realism. The figure's pose suggests a moment of introspection or perhaps preparation, as one hand seems to be tending to a fish in her lap. Based on the visual characteristics, this painting would most likely fall under the academic category of Modern Art, specifically within movements like figurative art and expressionism. The use of bold, non-naturalistic colors (purple skin, vibrant background) and the emphasis on conveying emotion or a subjective experience ...

.   Photograph by Pratyush. The dynamics of humor can be significantly impacted by differences in educational backgrounds. When people with varying levels or types of education interact, their senses of humor might clash, leading to what we can call "discordant humor." I have often got myself into positions where I wouldn't be able to cognise a humorous position. It would deprive me from the transients of happiness related to the event or maybe keep me wondering and consoling the subject matter of fun. This discordance maybe described as anhedonia in the psychology verbiage. Overtime , I realised that it is more of discordance than a aberrant state of mind and hence proceeded to elaborate this perspective. Factors contributing to discordant humor have been studied by many psychologist under different cultural environment. Ability to understand appears to the primary souce of error. They could be due to the following  A. Differing Frames of Reference:   ...

     Cover jacket Forty two years old Bauby slipped into a coma following a stroke and recovered to realise that he was in the worst condition today known as locked in syndrome.  Completely paralysed from neck beneath, this disease keep the mind working and awake and the rest of the body completely defunct. All that remained of his communication ability was the sign language by his eyes. He was a Parisian of considerable repute being the editor in chief of Ellie magazine. Everything was stripped away from him when woke up except his helpless consciousness.  This book describes the feelings and thoughts of a person trapped in a useless body and learned to live with blinking as his only way to dictate short essays , from letters to words at a time. The book fill up the reader with deep fear of experiencing the emotions inthe initials notes. Eventually, the reader feel the perseverance and adaptations of the author and experiences the power to slow down...

Considering the Bangalore stampede deaths from a Derridean perspective involves a deconstructive approach, aiming to expose the inherent instability, contradictions, and power structures embedded within the narratives and interpretations surrounding such a tragic event. Derrida wouldn't offer a definitive "meaning" or a singular explanation, but rather a dismantling of how meaning is constructed and subsequently breaks down . The Unsayable Trace and the Impossibility of Full Presence would have been an initiating point in Derrida's analysis. The Event is an 'Originary Trace'. For Derrida, the stampede deaths aren't a singular, fully present event that can be captured entirely by language or understanding. Instead, it's an "originary trace" – something that leaves an indelible mark but is always already marked by absence and deferral. We only apprehend it through its effects, its aftermath, and the narratives we construct around it...

The hermeneutic circle is a central concept in the philosophical and theoretical field of hermeneutics, which is the study of interpretation. It describes the interdependent and cyclical process of understanding. In its most common formulation, the hermeneutic circle refers to the idea that- Our understanding of a text (or any whole phenomenon) is shaped by our understanding of its individual parts. Conversely, our understanding of each individual part is shaped by our understanding of the whole. This isn't a vicious circle that prevents understanding, but rather a dynamic and iterative process. Imagine reading a book which start with an initial idea of what the book is about (a preliminary understanding of the "whole"). As we read individual sentences and paragraphs (the "parts"), our understanding of the whole book is refined and deepened. This newly refined understanding of the whole, in turn, helps us better interpret the meaning of specific sent...

One of the earliest memories of Ratnagiri and more specifically of my childhood home are of the sprawling coconut "orchards" which no longer exist. It was even before I left for college that these gardens were cut down to make place for humans, so it wasn't much of a shock to see them this time around, yet sometimes I do think about the simpler times when I was a little kid and my parents were a young couple trying to make it in a new town. Ratnagiri back then was extremely quiet. We had many playgrounds before. We kept changing our place to play as every ground was eventually sold to give place for some project, till I finally left. I wonder how kids growing up today perceive Ratnagiri. Is this town still a serene little hamlet where kids roam around in shorts or has social media bewitched kids these days such that they don't even cry about not having playgrounds? Ever at the precipice of exciting change, a young man in his twenties doesn't always look back. Yet ...