धर्म एव हतो हन्ति धर्मो रक्षति रक्षितः
तस्माद्धर्मो न हन्तव्यो मा नो धर्मो हतोऽवधीत् ॥

Interests

Meditation

I practise Vipassana meditation as taught by S. N. Goenka in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin. I try to sit at least one 10-day retreat every year apart from maintaining a daily practise of 2 hours. The technique of meditation employed here is quite pragmatic: focussing on one's own respiration to calm down the mind and then observing the various different sensations on the body equanimously to purify the mind. Of course, it takes time and dedication to succeed. I have found that over the years Vipassana has helped me improve myself in all walks of life. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a complete reboot and to get to know a deeper part of himself/herself. Although the original teaching comes from the Buddha himself, the non-secterian, non-dogmatic format of these courses makes them readily accessible to anyone. The courses are conducted in a 10-day residential format and are offered free of cost in over 200 permanent centers (and many more temporary ones) around the world. All the costs in this wonderful tradition are covered by donations coming from grateful old students.

Literature

I am quite fond of Hindi poetry, especially the ones coming from the Chhayawaad period between 1922-1938. The poetic style of this period makes heavy use of Sanskrit vocabulary and uses strict rules of meter/rhyme. My favorite Poetess is Mahadevi Verma, one of the 4 pillars of Chhayawaad. A melodius recitation of her work titled "Jo tum aa jate ek baar" that she wrote for Tathagata, the Buddha, can be found here. My favorite poetic composition is the epic of Kamayani by Jaishankar Prasad, another one of the 4 pillars. A beautiful rendition of another epic poem from this era called Madhushala, composed by Harivansh Rai Bachhan was achieved by the famous vocalist Manna Dey.

Music

I truly relish compositions in Indian classical music, particularly that of Hindustani style whenever I get free time. I find Dhrupad style of vocal singing particularly calming, especially its initial Alaap part. I love to listen to wonderful Thumris & Khayaals by the legendary Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and beautiful Ghajals sung by Mehdi Hassan. I find the compositions of the famous Sitar player Ravi Shankar and Flute player Hariprasad Chaurasia quite shoothing.

Activities

Long distance Hiking (especially in Mountains) and Cycling are two of my favorite adventure activities that I enjoy from time to time. I also enjoy sports like Cricket, Badminton, Table-tennis and Inline-skating whenever time and circumstance permits. In my spare time, I enjoy watching movies and TV series of adventure and mystery genres. My favorite movie is the Lord of the Rings triology and favorite TV-series includes the mind-bending German series Dark followed by the American series Lost.