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Book Review: On Philosophising, Philosophers, Philosophy and New Vistas in Applied Philosophy, by Dr. Sharmila Jayant Virkar

A little bit of context before you begin reading this book review. I have recently enrolled for an MA in Philosophy at the University of Mumbai. Philosophy is something I have been getting interested in, over the past few years, as those of you who have been reading my blogs and Instagram posts would know. During the pandemic, I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do next, and this is what I eventually came up with. It has been a challenge, getting back into academics as a student at this age, especially in a subject I have no academic background in. However, it has also been very exciting, especially thanks to my wonderful classmates (who, surprisingly, are of all age-groups, including some quite near my own) and my teachers, who have been very supportive and understanding. How well I will do is something that remains to be seen, but so far, I am enjoying this new journey and look forward to where it leads. Now that you know the background , you probably get an idea of how
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Ganesha on a Govardhan

Today is Ganesh Chaturthi, and with everyone writing about Ganesha in some way or the other, I thought I should do a post too, but related to something I saw on my recent visit to Jaisalmer. Are you now confused? And wondering what connection Ganesha has to Govardhan and that too, Jaisalmer? Well, then, first, let me show you what I am talking about….




And now that you have seen it, let me draw your attention to the ‘a’ in the title. I am not talking about ‘The Govardhan Mountain’ but ‘a Govardhan’, and therein lies the difference! This Govardhan is a stone, a sort of marker, identifying a spot – usually water, in the desert. These markers were extensively used by the Paliwal community in Jaisalmer, to identify special sites. It could be the presence of water, or mark a tunnel, or a site for a temple. These stones were usually aligned with the directions of the compass, and had the figures of deities inscribed on them, usually, Ganesha, Vishnu, Hanuman, and another figure, which could be Rama or Krishna.  Here are some other views of the same Govardhan I showed you before…

Its certainly Vishnu on the left. Am not sure of the one on the right


This pair looks like Rama and Hanuman. What do you think?



An interesting tidbit, wouldn’t you agree? Thanks to the folks at Suryagarh for pointing them out and telling me about them! 

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Location: Jaisalmer, Rajasthan 345001, India

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