Mumbai: To celebrate World Philosophy Day 2024, New Acropolis Mumbai on Friday brought together five stalwarts for an evening of enriching discussion at the National Gallery of Modern Art.
With the theme ‘Philosophy: Building Unity through Diversity’, the panellists included Amish Tripathi (author and former diplomat); Inakshi Sobti (CEO of Asia Society, India centre); Lobsang Phuntsok (founder and president of Jhamtse Gatsal Children’s Community; Mandakini Trivedi (dancer and CEO of Shakti Yogashrama; and Yaron Barzilay (Acropolitan philosopher and the National Director of New Acropolis India North).
New Acropolis is a school of practical philosophy that promotes culture and practises volunteering, and it observes a global commemoration of World Philosophy Day in approximately 500 branches in over 50 countries.
The Mumbai event saw around 200 participants who enjoyed spoken poetry and discussions on how philosophy can help us understand and build unity through diversity, offering a path to bring out the best in us.
Sivan Barzilay, branch manager, New Acropolis Mumbai, spoke about the theme, sharing, “The degree of development of an ecosystem is defined by its diversity. All parts that make up the system contribute to its whole, and its unity depends on the links between its parts. A human society with diversity, is capable of greater response to various challenges, as long as all the parts orient themselves to unity.”
The entire event was an expression of unity through diversity, a theme relevant to present times. Author Tripathi, pointing out the diversity in the mythological tales of ancient India, said Lord Ram was an advocate of following the law to the T, while Lord Krishna was known to bend and circumnavigate the rules.
“The thing with mythology is that you will always find tales where one story will contradict the other.. So it all depends on the context. Mythology-driven cultures tend to celebrate different points of views,” he said.
Echoing his thoughts was Sobti who, while speaking about strengthening communities and building connections as a means of development, said, “We need to recognise there is no ‘other’ and we are all part of an integrated whole. The realisation that coexistence is important if we need to develop because we cannot do that in isolation.”
Summing up the sentiment of the enriching evening was Barzilay, who elucidated that perhaps one of the greatest challenges confronting society is how ‘oneness’ and ‘diversity’ can create peaceful coexistence. “For the last 67 years, New Acropolis around the globe has helped forge coexistence and build hope for a greater future.”
