sumangali.org - Part 5

Jun 18th, 2007

Into Great Silence — Film Review

I watched an illumining and interesting film last week. Into Great Silence is surely one of the bravest films ever made. Almost three hours long, no script, no score, no commentary. I was compelled to see such a daring feat of minimalism. Over 20 years before the film’s release, German director Philip Groening applied for [...]

May 29th, 2007

The Smallness and Greatness of Ants

I am no stranger to the inspirations of nature. The loyalty of dogs, the industry of bees, the humility of grass; do they not far surpass our own? Today I read an article in The Independent about the incredible selflessness of ants. Researchers put planks of wood along the feeding route of a colony of [...]

May 24th, 2007

Commuting Meditation

An interesting article called A Commute To Inner Peace by Trushar Barot caught my eye earlier this month at BBC.co.uk. It’s about meditating while commuting to work; making the most of time seemingly wasted, waiting for the bus, or even sitting at the wheel in a traffic jam. Tim Malnick, founder of Meditation at Work [...]

May 18th, 2007

Ramayana Bridge Seen From Space

I first became acquainted with the Ramayana when someone lent me a translation many years ago, written in rhyming couplets. It was originally written in rhyming couplets, but in Sanskrit, by the sage Valmiki. I wish I had taken note of the translator, as I have never found a more charming version. The beauty of [...]

May 15th, 2007

Living Outside The Box

Browsing through GoodNewsNetwork today I found this article about shipping container housing. “Inexpensive and abundant, old shipping containers are turning into good looking affordable housing,” so it claims. Further research brought me to similar programmes around the world, including the UK’s Container City. The second development (pictured) comprises 22 studios over 5 floors and took [...]

May 8th, 2007

Training for the Olimpicks

If you missed (as I did) the National Worm Charming Championships on Sunday, and you have a soft spot for silly British sports, don’t worry, there’s still time to train for the Olimpicks. If you don’t (as I don’t) fancy the competitive Shin Kicking, there’s “the traditional sackrace where the sack is tied round the [...]

May 3rd, 2007

“Who” — A Poem By Sri Aurobindo

Following on from my last post, here is a poem on the same theme. Although I have not read all the poems ever written, I dare say this is one of the greatest in all history. It will not gain anything from my words though, so I shall leave you here to spend a few [...]

May 1st, 2007

Truly… Nothing’s Small

I found this image yesterday on Flickr.com. Not only is it an exquisite shot (one of many exquisite shots by Maureen F), but I find it symbolic. The entire sun is clasped by a tiny fragile petal. It reminds me of one of my favourite pieces of poetry: “And truly, I reiterate, . . nothing’s [...]

Mar 29th, 2007

Acts Of Kindness

A story just caught my eye at Good News Network, in the Inspired! column. A Portuguese man made a will, aged 29. Seems like the sort of sensible grown-up thing one should do at that age. He had no family, but his sense of duty wasn’t about to be dampened so easily; he picked out [...]