Date: December 4, 2024
Venue: Online
The greatest nations and the most cultured races have always considered art as a part of life and made it subservient to life.
~ The Mother, CWM, Vol. 3, p. 108
As part of our ongoing year-long exploration of the topic – “The Spirit and Forms of Art in India”, we recently invited Dr. Mala Kapadia for a conversation. The focus was on the multifaceted richness of Indian aesthetic traditions and their integral relation with Life. The conversation explored the connection between Indian arts, particularly performing arts and human psychology in the light of the eternal Indian knowledge tradition.
Exploring a text like Nāṭyaśāstra (Natyashāstra) – one of the core treatises on Indian aesthetics – from a psychological perspective was the focus of this session of Insightful Conversations at BhāratShakti, an ongoing research project of the institute.
Insightful Conversations is one of our ongoing projects under which we invite experts working in various domains of activity – individuals who in their own chosen fields have been working to integrate the eternal spirit of Indian civilisation and culture and in essence giving new forms through to this sanatana spirit through their works – to share insights on selected topics related to their field of work. Under this project, 16 sessions have already been conducted featuring conversations with authors, educators, artists, storytellers, thinkers, experts and others, on a wide range of topics concerning India’s past, present and future.
In the session with Dr. Mala Kapadia, we explored why Natyashastra as pancham Veda is said to be the Veda for modern age.; what Natyashastras say about the role of arts, particularly performing arts, in helping an individual become more self-aware and conscious, both from an artist’s perspective as well as the rasika’s perspective; what kind of insights we find in Natyashastra and Indian aesthetic tradition in general from the point of view of deepening our emotional intelligence or emotional well-being.
About Dr. Mala Kapadia
Dr. Mala Kapadia brings a very rich and diverse academic and professional background. She is presently working as Director, Center for Indigenous Knowledge Systems at Anaadi Foundation. She is also member of the Advisory Council of Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems at Chanakya University, Bengaluru, India.
Over her long career she has worked as educator, researcher, coach, research guide for doctoral students, author, curriculum designer in areas as diverse as Psychology, Management and Leadership, Holistic Well-being and Happiness. Her key interests are: integrating Bharatiya Wisdom and Dharmic Frameworks, as well as insights from Ayurveda and Yoga – particularly concepts such as panchmahābhoota, triguna, knowing one’s svabhāva, in areas related to education, organisational leadership, deepening self-awareness, cultivating emotional intelligence, higher order intelligence and holistic well-being.
Dr. Kapadia has worked with various higher educational institutions in India and abroad. She has several publications to her credit. And she has also convened several important conferences in her chosen areas of interest and expertise. In 2023 she was selected by Indic Academy under their initiative Grateful to Gurus and honoured as one of the leading figures, a Guru for her tireless work in spreading the light of India’s ancient wisdom and inspiring young minds.
She has been deeply inspired by Sri Aurobindo since her young days and is a regular visitor to Sri Aurobindo Ashram and Auroville. Over the past few years I have had the pleasure of meeting with her a few times at various conferences and workshops in Auroville.
Given her deep interest in Indian knowledge system, Dr. Kapadia has also been exploring Natyashāstra from a psychological perspective. And that was the primary focus of our conversation with her.