Self and Society

About

This discussion examines the tension between personal autonomy and collective life, as explored across two novels, The Convert and Bhiku and His Bowl. In this moderated session, the two authors come together to reflect on what they see as a quiet loss of spirituality within modern communes, set against the growing dominance of organised religion, followed by questions from the audience. Both novels draw their ethical frameworks from native religious histories, treated not as systems of divine order but as moral architectures for imagining harmonious, communal life. Their relevance lies in their optimistic vision of secular eco-villages, spaces that continually negotiate individual expression against collective responsibility. They share the philosophical question: how much of the self must be yielded to a community in exchange for its survival, equity, and well-being, and how much spiritual search can remain a private, individual pursuit even within a shared life? What does it cost a self to belong to something larger than itself? Venue: Seminar Halls A Discussion of Two Novels RSVP here (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdxqcawnPIoq2lS5yHGtbMZOhmvkUxkfTp_m5f5Kgt2bkQJdA/viewform?usp=dialog) *Speakers*: M. K. Shankar, M.S. Murthy, N. Vidyashankar *Event Categories*: Books, Faith, Fiction, Philosophy

Links

• Details on bangaloreinternationalcentre.org