An exploration of ancient Vedic Text itself is entering into another world of thinking that claims to be a path of Self-knowledge and Self-discipline. And they say it is an ongoing process of stripping away that which is unimportant, reviewing our core values, and seeking to live in greater alignment with these inner truths. It sounds like a Parallel Universe in the time of the social media revolution. This realm of existence and experience is fundamentally different from the one that most humans share now. This project is a photographic investigation of the process that young minds pass through in India to qualify as citizens of that Parallel Universe. A pressure cooker is a sealed chamber that traps the steam generated as its contents are heated. As steam builds, pressure increases, driving the boiling point of water past 212 °F. In general, this higher temperature shortens cooking times and, due to a lack of evaporation, extracts desired flavor more efficiently from foods. Likewise, an indigenous Vedic pedagogy without any access to contemporary temptations in a controlled space like Gurukula system can be capable of shortening the configuration time of young brains. Not only is the source of knowledge, but the system also controls diet, type of clothes, and daily routine. Learning to be is fundamentally connected to identity and value formation processes. Several institutions have played and continue to play an essential role in the formation, reproduction, and transformation of both individual and collective identities and values, not the least educational systems. In a developing economy, where modern education is a shortcut to individual freedom, an escape from poverty as much as from conservative households now, what makes parents to choose this pedagogy for their future generation?
An exploration of ancient Vedic Text itself is entering into another world of thinking that claims to be a path of Self-knowledge and Self-discipline. And they say it is an ongoing process of stripping away that which is unimportant, reviewing our core va...
Sayan Hazra
Sayan is an independent documentary storyteller based in India.
