MEARCSTAPA: BORDER-WALKER

Category Literature & Fiction
Format Hardback
Imprint Rupa
Price 395

ISBN: 978-93-6156-607-3
Pages: 192 pages
Date: 5th January 2025

ABOUT THIS BOOK

A traveller of worlds
A keeper of mysteries
Belonging to none
Belonging to everyone
Without lines or borders
In the manner of smoke
Overcoming jalpa and vitanda
debates and discussions
Transforming vāda into samvāda
arguments into dialogues
And sambhāsha into svādhyāya
dialogues into study of self
Embracing the dialogue of traditions
A maker of bonds
A collector of conversations
This is the mearcstapa
The walker of borders
Mearcstapa (Old English: border-walker) is a collection of poems that embody the spirit of integration, interdisciplinarity and dialogue. The poet believes that these can be wisely traversed, while simultaneously recognizing the differences among us as well as the otherness of people. Because when we treat others as ‘persons’ with agency and freedom, it is only then that we discover our own personhood.

AUTHOR OF THE BOOK

Brainerd Prince is a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society, London, and an Associate Member of the Green Templeton College, University of Oxford. Currently, he is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Centre for Thinking, Language and Communication (CTLC) at Plaksha University.

His book The Integral Philosophy of Aurobindo: Hermeneutics and the Study of Religion was published by Routledge in 2017. He has also co-edited a collection of stories, Campus Lore: An Anthology (2022), written by engineering students at Plaksha University.
Brainerd enjoys long walks, deep conversations and gardening. His dream is to set up a hobby farm, which can also double up as a writers’ retreat centre.