Page 2 - HERE AND NOW Dec 2022

EDITORIAL

As 2022 draws to an end, we sense the world heaving a sigh of relief at having seen the back of the Covid-
19 pandemic. It has been an eventful year around the world – inflation, shortages, conflicts between
nations, new political alignments, change of regimes, protests against religious intolerance and other
trends have marked the year. Alongside we read and hear of stories of coping, even heroism and
innovation in the face of incredible adversities in countries such as Ukraine, Sudan, Nigeria, Haiti,
Afghanistan and many others. People have written about how they reviewed their life up to now and
made decisions to do differently going forward.

This has led us to the theme of this December issue of Here and Now – “Looking back, looking forward.”
Our contributors to this issue have reflected on this theme in the light of their own personal lives, learnings
from having attended an ISABS lab, coming up through loss and intense grief to hope for a better
tomorrow.

Amita Jalan writes of the breakthrough she experienced in an ISABS lab that she returned to after a 7-year
hiatus, and how she is ready to plunge into anything the future holds for her.

Ankur Jayakar remembers the pandemic and both the ugly and compassionate faces of humanity it threw
up. He writes of how he revisited his work and life, got in touch with his feelings and looks forward to the
future as he stands on the cusp of a transition.

Ila Sharma in her review of the animation film Inside Out, reflects on how emotions shape our personality,
how memories are complex and that sadness actually adds depth to our lives, while aiming for undiluted
happiness all the time is not only unrealistic but would also pall.

In her poem My Journey from Then to Now, Neha Gupta speaks of how she ran away from shadows but
then has made the journey back home to her soul and the long way to the future.

Meeta writes on her experience of growing self-awareness and acceptance of things which led to her
experience of de-cluttering her mind (like clearing out unwanted stuff from a house) and Letting Go.

Mukta Kamplikar writes of how she was fascinated by the movie The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless
Mind after watching which twice she pondered on the future, her own meaning making and choices in
life. Read her review which offers a new take on the lessons the movie offers her. Mukta’s poem
Differently reflects on ‘stuff to love and care about’ and even miss someone ‘differently’.

Kantha Rao, in a scholarly article on Ways of Knowing and Working on Self urges the reader to explore
and understand Self at various levels in order to be and become a facilitative person and not just a skilful
facilitator of T-groups.

In BLHP Life-Asana by Priya Nagesh, she opens a window on what her experience of a BLHP meant to her
and the turning point in the lab when she began to look at herself, people and life differently.

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