We are a group of friends who have been on a shared intellectual and spiritual journey over the last few years. One thing that has been common among us is the comfort we have felt in walking the paths away from the speeding highway of modern life. While we also have our share of time in the fast lane, these slow walks in the uncertain wilderness are what have nourished us. Pagdandi is our way of inviting you to come with us on some of those strolls.
Pagdandi Collective is a collective of friends, artists, writers, teachers and fellow co-travellers, interested in asking fundamental philosophical questions about political economy, society, culture, arts, ecology, science, and technology. It seeks to foster spaces of dialogue outside formal institutional spaces.
Our Work So Far…
Prithvi Darshan: An Online Course in Ecosophy
As the Corona Pandemic hit us in 2020, not only did we experience a crisis of health brought by the virus, we were also forced to face an underlying crisis of our times as we saw society spiral into panic, health infrastructure at a breaking point and migrant workers walking to their homes in the villages. Offered during the Lockdown, this course was designed to help us see the ecological, cultural and spiritual roots of the Corona Crisis. As existing paradigms of thought fell short in comprehending the lessons of the Corona Moment, the course laid the foundations of a fresh perspective—that of ‘Ecosophy’. This course consisted of 10 sessions over 5 weekends with thinkers like Sopan Joshi, Ashish Kothari, Suprabha Seshan, Felix Padel, Amar Kanwar, Rajni Bakshi, Alex Jensen and Aseem Shrivastava.
Immersive Learning Experience at Akkhaddhar, Uttarakhand
Building on the online course, we invited the course participants to ground our philosophical explorations and intellectual discourses in lived experience. In 2021, we spent a week in a nearly-emptied out hill village which was not connected by road or a piped water supply. The idea was for a group of city people to live the life of a traditional village to understand rural realities and establish a dialogue between city and village grounded in mutual respect. We spent one week living with an elderly couple who imparted many drops of wisdom from their long life in the forested mountain village. The experience also allowed us to live life in close contact with nature as we spent our mornings collecting firewood in the forest, fetching water from the spring and bathing in the mountain stream.
Nature and Culture 1.0
In March 2023, we organised the first Nature and Culture Workshop, an immersive learning program hosted at Jeevika Ashram in a village called Indrana in Madhya Pradesh. It brought together twenty young people who are carrying out experiments in fields such as architecture, agriculture, crafts and literature. The Workshop involved hands-on crafts practice with the artisans of the village, walks through the forest, the rivers and the village with shepherds, fishers and herdsmen, and discussions on themes related to economy, society, aesthetics and culture. A report of the Workshop can be viewed here.
Architecture Documentation
In September 2023, we organised an Architecture Workshop at Jeevika Ashram that brought together some of the leading young architects working in natural building and heritage conservation from across the country to study the traditional architecture which has stood the test of time in Central India. They spent a week studying the mud houses in and around Indrana and produced a report which can be viewed here, and a short film which can be seen here.
Nature and Culture 2.0
In October 2023, we organised a second edition of the Nature and Culture Workshop at Jeevika Ashram. The second iteration included some new components such as the histories of important economic goods such cotton and steel, as well as the histories of agriculture and education in the subcontinent.
National Symposium on Economics and Indian Society
In November 2023, Jeevika Ashram hosted the National Symposium on Economics and Indian Society in collaboration with the IGNCA at Indrana. The Symposium was attended by 70 participants from across the country including community leaders, business leaders, craftsmen, farmers and professors.
Arthvyavstha: Course on Indian Economy
In January 2024, we organised a course on understanding the Indian economy, titled ‘Arthvyavastha’ at Jeevika Ashram. We had twenty participants from across the country and abroad including corporate professionals, NGO leaders, university professors, school teachers and engineers. The course went into the history of the discipline of economics, into the economic history of India and the world, into the relationship of the economy with society, and into the relationship of the economy with nature. In November 2024, we organised the course for the second time.
Bhikshavritti Utsav
In December 2024, we organised the Bhikshavritti Utsav —a gathering to celebrate the bhikshavritti samaj from across India at Jeevika Ashram, near Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh. This immersive experience, curated by the best of scholars and practitioners of this composite tradition included various performances, conversations, historical philosophical talks and discussion sessions, food, music, dances and a crafts bazaar.
Lokvidya Dialogue
The Lokvidya Dialogue was a three day conversation organised at Vidya Ashram in Sarnath in March 2025 which sought to engage with lokvidya perspectives. The dialogue engaged with friends from some of the communities of Banaras to understand how they think about various public issues. We particularly discussed issues of social and cultural relevance like history and culture of Banaras, urbanisation, industrial development, agriculture, education, etc. In the process, we tried to discuss some fundamental questions about knowledge and ways of knowing.
Food and Agriculture
A seven-day course on Food and Agriculture was organised in Ramgarh block, in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand. The course explored the fundamental questions underpinning food and how it is grown today through farm-work, forest walks, cooking, lectures and discussions. We looked at length at the logic of agricultural supply chains and what they achieve. Over the week we examined the conditions of our food, farmers, the state of agriculture, its history, political economy and ecology.
Jaag Musafir
We are organising evenings of conversation, music, and poetry with elders who we have learned from. The latest were organised in Chandigarh with Dilip Simeon and Aseem Shrivastava and Shabnam Virmani in Delhi.
Gatherings
We have been regularly organising monthly gatherings with young people in Delhi on various contemporary themes.
Economics Reading Circle
In 2024, we did an informal reading circle on Economics.
We are funded by well-wishers like you. To help us continue organising such programs, consider contributing to our fund. To make a one-time contribution you may use the UPI number: 93105 45026 (please mention ‘for pagdandi’). You may also become a long-term patron and contribute to our endowment, please get in touch with us at pagdandi.collective@gmail.com