Date: February 2, 2019
On February 2, 2019, I had an opportunity to speak with Maria Wirth about her new book, Thank you India: A German Woman’s Journey to the Wisdom of Yoga, and also about a few other related topics. We met at the Sri Aurobindo Society campus. The free-flowing conversation which lasted for more than an hour, published here in three parts, has been slightly edited (primarily for clarity and flow of thought).
PART 1
Beloo Mehra: Let me first thank you for taking out the time to sit down with me for this conversation. I am really looking forward to it.
Maria Wirth: I am also looking forward to it. I am happy to be here. And thank you for reading the book.
BM: Oh, of course! I really enjoyed your book. It was a delightful read, really. Very inspiring too. Now I do have a list of questions here which I prepared, but I would also rather see how the conversation flows and enjoy the process of learning more from your insights than following a more scripted pattern. Hope that’s okay with you.
MW: Yes, absolutely fine.
BM: So, let me just begin with my first question right away which is about the book itself. One of the most intriguing things about your book is the way your outer journey gets so beautifully fused with the inner journey that you have been on, a journey into the wisdom of India as you say in the title itself. What inspired you to write in this way? And did you hope to reach a specific audience by presenting the narrative in this manner?
MW: Well, after I started living in India, I had been writing for German publications about what I was discovering and experiencing here, and also about the wisdom of India as I travelled to different places. I say this in the book also. But the focus was always more on the inner journey, the spiritual wisdom that I was seeking through my travels, my time in India…
And I am still seeking that, we are all seeking in a way. I primarily wanted to share this inner part with people in Germany. And then I started writing for Indian audiences too about this and also about some other topics. Some people suggested to me that I should put this down in a book, and I also thought it was a good idea. So, this book came about as a result of that.