Rodevra Republic

Nataraja, the cosmic dancer, embodies creation, preservation, and dissolution in a single eternal rhythm Today’s art session is something very dear to my heart. I am sharing an extract from the essay The Dance of Shiva by Ananda Coomaraswamy. This essay is part of a collection of fourteen pieces that engage deeply with Indian art, aesthetics, philosophy, and music. Coomaraswamy was a remarkable scholar—widely regarded as one of the greatest interpreters of Indian art. Notice his language. He expresses ideas of great depth with effortless grace and quiet elegance. There is a natural beauty in his writing that draws you in without ever appearing laboured. In my twenties, these passages had struck me so profoundly that I typed them out on a typewriter and preserved them. Revisiting them now, after so many years, I find that the words return almost as if they had been waiting—alive, familiar, and deeply resonant. In today’s world, perhaps not many pause to savour language in this way...

An endurance of body and mind—each stage a step towards something larger I recently came across the story of someone whose journey stayed with me. A school friend mentioned his wife, an accomplished sportsperson, whose achievements are nothing short of remarkable. She has completed some of the most demanding endurance events—the Comrades Ultra Marathon, several World Marathon Majors, and even the Ironman. What makes this story truly inspiring is not just the scale of these accomplishments, but when they began. All of this was achieved after the age of fifty. In her younger days, she had been a runner, representing at the district level. But as life unfolded—with work, family, and responsibilities—this part of her life quietly receded into the background. Years later, she set herself a simple goal: to complete a half marathon at fifty. That one step changed everything. From there, the journey expanded—half marathons to full marathons, then ultra marathons, and eventually the Iron...

This is a story of the previous century’s most enduring, appealing and successful advertising slogans, "Does She or Doesn’t She?"  See pictures of the ads  below. It was the time in the 1950s and 1960s when hair coloring was a stigma and most women found it difficult to hide the few strands of off-colour hair. All this changed when the modern hair coloring revolution came not through a safer product, or through a one-step, easy-to-use formulation, but through clever, image-changing advertising that captured the feminist sensibilities of the day. In 1949, the single-step Miss Clairol Hair Colour Bath was introduced to the American beauty industry. In 1956, Clairol launched an at-home version of Miss Clairol Hair Colour Bath and became a household name. Clairol’s one-step home colour was a breakthrough in the beauty industry as was its advertising campaign. Clairol hired the advertising firm Foote, Cone & Belding, which assigned the account to a junior copywriter, Shirley P...

Here is a story I came across some time ago: A small trader from a village used to sell butter in a nearby town. A shopkeeper there was his regular customer. Every month, the villager would deliver butter in one-kilogram blocks and, in return, buy provisions like sugar and pulses from the shop. One day, the shopkeeper decided to check the weight of the butter. To his surprise, each block weighed only 900 grams instead of a kilogram. When the villager came the following month, the shopkeeper confronted him angrily and asked him to leave. The villager replied, gently: “Sir, I am a poor man. I cannot afford proper weights. I place the one kilogram of sugar that you give me on one side of the scale and weigh the butter against it.” The story is simple, yet it carries a quiet insight. What we give often finds its way back to us. It prompts a question—what are we really putting out into the world? Are we carrying doubt, irritation, and restlessness? Or are we able to bring a measure of calm,...

A Tiffany lamp—where light, colour, and craftsmanship come together in quiet harmony Can you guess what is unusual about this lamp? No, it is not its value—though an original can command very high prices. Nor does it derive its appeal from precious stones or jewels. What you see here is a Tiffany lamp . These lamps were designed and crafted in workshops led by Louis Comfort Tiffany, where a significant part of the design and assembly work was done by women artisans. There is an interesting reason often associated with this. Most of us are what is known as trichromats —we perceive colour through three types of receptors, sensitive to red, green, and blue. However, a small percentage of women may possess a fourth type of receptor. These individuals, called tetrachromats , are believed to perceive a far richer range of colours—possibly many more than the average person. While this does not apply to all women, it is a fascinating possibility that some may see colour with far greater nuance...

It looks like a person is reading in the water. When you zoom in, you will find that there is no person, no book, no reading, everything is an illusion. Just like life, it seems to be the case, but it is not the case at all.. A few days ago, a friend shared this image. Beyond the message it carried, what stood out immediately was the artistry behind it. At first glance, it is simply an arrangement of stones. But from a distance, it reveals the form of a man seated in water, absorbed in reading. The art lies not just in the idea, but in its execution—finding stones of the right size and shape, perhaps shaping them further, and placing them with care so that a meaningful image emerges. Most art not only gives joy but also invites reflection. Yet, more often than not, we remain absorbed in its aesthetic appeal, and pause less to consider the meaning it may be pointing towards. Let us, for a moment, dwell on that meaning. The accompanying thought suggests that everything is an illusio...

Ratan Tata—an industrialist guided by purpose, values, and a larger vision With the passing of Ratan Tata, we have lost a true Karma Yogi . One of the clearest signs of this was that his actions were never driven by personal gain, but by a long-term vision for the growth of his organisations. His companies were not seen as isolated entities; they were part of a larger ecosystem—serving their people and contributing meaningfully to society. As an industrialist, he had the foresight to build institutions of enduring value. Profit was never the sole objective; it was a means within a much larger purpose. What further underscores this is his deep commitment to philanthropy. To be described, in equal measure, as an industrialist and a philanthropist speaks volumes about the person he was. With a significant portion of the group’s equity held by charitable trusts, the emphasis was clearly on social welfare over private wealth. He touched millions of lives—not only through enterprise, but...

The debate on letters  vs numbers will continue but while words can express emotions, the sheer beauty of numbers can leave you speechless. For example there is no known pattern for prime numbers and remains a mystery that humanity has not deciphered ever since they were discovered 2000 years ago.  They are indestructible, irreducible, but when combined produce a natural even number. You never know when the next prime numbers will come up and suddenly you will see them coming in pairs separated by an even number (11 an 13, 41and 43, 137 and 139). Is there any parallel to this in letters? Like with words there are palindromes, "racecar" for example, there are "emirp" ('prime' spelt backwards) numbers which we call as a mirror primes. If a number is prime, and the number written in a reverse order is also prime, it is called as  a "mirror prime". For example 13, 31.  Numbers share a love relationship too, and their love affair is no secret. We human...

The Ravi Varma paintings come to life! Thanks to AI and technology! This has been circulating on the WhatsApp circuit. From a technological point of view, it is an impressive use of AI—bringing still images to life with a sense of movement. Yet, when viewed purely as art, something of the original essence seems to be lost. When Raja Ravi Varma created such paintings, there would have been careful consideration behind every element—the proportions, the expressions, the brushwork, and the overall balance of the composition. His work often captured a moment in time, one that invited quiet contemplation. Light, in particular, was not merely incidental; it was integral to the subject itself. In the process of animation, many of these subtleties tend to fade. The stillness that holds the viewer is replaced by movement, and with it, the contemplative quality is altered. To a purist, this may feel like a departure—perhaps even an intrusion into something complete in itself. And yet, there is a...

A gathering of old school friends where time fades and bonds quietly return This one is a little different from the usual pieces—but it has all the elements of a story, especially for those who were part of it. It was a get-together of school friends. The curious part was that, although I was meeting some of them for the first time—with no real recollection from our school days—not for a moment did I feel that I did not know them. There was an instant bond, an easy closeness. These were people one could relate to without effort, as if the years in between had quietly dissolved. The sense of camaraderie was special. In very few groups can you have such uninhibited fun—pull each other’s leg freely, and yet be held together by genuine affection. What also struck me was the delightful mix of people we were, coming from such diverse fields. And yet, none of that seemed to matter. We met at a common level where professions, achievements, and positions had no role to play. That, perhaps, ...