• Dealing with Romantic Expectations

    Dealing with Romantic Expectations

    The central fantasy behind all the noise and anguish of relationships is to find someone we can be happy with. It sounds almost laughable, given what tends to happen. We dream of someone who will understand us, with whom we can share our longings and our secrets, with whom we can be weak, playful, relaxed… Read more

  • The Rational and Irrational Nature of Humans: Excerpts from Steven Pinker’s Book

    The Rational and Irrational Nature of Humans: Excerpts from Steven Pinker’s Book

    Man is a rational animal. So at least we have been told. Throughout a long life I have searched diligently for evidence in favour of this statement. So far, I have not had the good fortune to come across it. ~ Bertrand Russell Homo sapiens means wise hominin, and in many ways we have earned… Read more

  • Are You Emotionally Healthy?

    Are You Emotionally Healthy?

    Emotional health is the sense that what is happening, is happening now. It is experiencing the world as first-hand, immediate, rather than only knowing what was experienced when you reflect upon it later. You are, as the sports commentators put it, ‘in the zone’. You feel real rather than false. You are comfortable in your… Read more

  • How to Think About a Kiss

    How to Think About a Kiss

    Let us begin by picturing a couple in a cafe at eleven o’clock on a Saturday night in a large city, eating ice cream after seeing a film together. There is doubtless a biological explanation for the sexual excitement this couple are feeling, connected to an unconscious narrative about reproduction and genetics, but the man… Read more

  • Tibet and China’s Contrasting Narratives

    Tibet and China’s Contrasting Narratives

    No struggle in the world is as unequal as the one between Tibet and China. Beijing’s position in Tibet is unassailable, reinforced by a network of all-weather roads, airports and an expanding railway line that are integrating the world’s highest, largest and remotest plateau more closely to the mainland. China uses its economic weight to… Read more

  • The Educational Heritage of India

    The Educational Heritage of India

    India’s earliest teachers were the Gurus who taught in gurukulas and ashrams located far away from the hustle and bustle of towns. It is no surprise that the Vedas, which are the earliest known oral books containing the thoughts of a highly civilised society, are replete with exquisite references to Nature and the concept of… Read more