Rajeev Balasubramanyam was born in Lancashire and studied at Oxford, Cambridge, and Lancaster universities. He is the prize-winning author of In Beautiful Disguises. He has lived in London, Manchester, Suffolk, Kathmandu, and Hong Kong, where he was a Research Scholar in the Society of Scholars at Hong Kong University. He was a fellow of the Hemera Foundation, for writers with a meditation practice, and has been writer-in-residence at Crestone Zen Mountain Center and the Zen Center of New York City. His journalism and short fiction have appeared in The Washington Post, The Economist, New Statesman, London Review of Books, The Paris Review, McSweeney’s, and many others. He currently lives and works in Berlin.

Connect with the Author:

https://www.instagram.com/the.mind.revolutionary?igsh=dDd3YjR5NGlnNDls

--Topics Discussed: WHAT ROLE DOES OUR INNER CHILD PLAY IN OUR ADULT LIFE, AND HOW MAY WE ATTAIN ACCESS TO GETTING IN TOUCH WITH OUR INNER CHILD?

HOW DOES INTERGENERATIONAL TRAUMA IMPACT THE WAY WE NAVIGATE FAMILY RELATIONS? HOW MAY WE ADDRESS, ACCEPT AND CREATE COMPASSION FOR EACH OTHER, ESPECIALLY WITHIN FAMILIES? WHAT ROLE HAS PATRIARCHY PLAYED IN YOUR LIFE AND HOW HAS THAT INFLUENCED BOTH YOUR WRITING AND EXPERIENCES IN FATHERHOOD? AS SOUTH-ASIANS, WE EXPERIENCE DYSFUNCTION WITHIN OUR FAMILY SYSTEMS REGARDLESS OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS- WHY DO YOU FEEL WE OFTEN RESORT TO MASKING AND SUPPRESSING EMOTIONS? INTERSECTION OF POLITICS AND SPIRITUALITY – ACCORDING TO RAJEEV: “WE NEED HEALED WARRIORS, HEALED ACTIVISTS AND HEALED HEALERS IN POLITICS” : WHAT IS THE PATH TO ACHIEVING THIS? HOW MAY ONE VIEW POLITICS DEVOID OF HATRED, AGGRESSION AND FEAR? THE CONCEPT OF : ‘MYTH OF THE NATION’ AND THAT NATIONS ARE A CONSTRUCT – IT MAY BE EASIER SAID THAN IMPLEMENTED. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE FOR OUR CIVILIZATION TO UNLEARN CENTURIES OF OUR OWN WRONGDOINGS? WHEN YOU SAY THAT ONE OF THE GREATEST ACTS IS TO HAVE COMPASSION FOR ABUSERS ON A MICRO LEVEL OR FOR OPRESSORS ON A MACRO LEVEL- HOW MAY ONE DEVELOP THIS AND MORE IMPORTANTLY SUSTAIN IT? HOW DID YOU GET TO PRACTICE ZEN AND HOW HAS THIS IMPACTED YOU AS AN ARTIST, HUMAN-BEING, PHILOSOPHER AND NOW FATHER?