Unseen Paths — a new anthology gathering seekers, scholars, and Himalayan yogis to ask: what lies beyond the visible?

The book launch of Unseen Paths — edited by Romola Butalia — brings together a rare gathering of scholars and spiritual practitioners at the intersection of consciousness, philosophy, and lived experience. Editor Butalia, Himalayan yogi-teacher and longstanding inhabitant of sacred spaces, is joined by musician Himanshu Joshi, governance thinker Prof. Trilochan Shastri, mythologist Sunita Pant Bansal, and Kabir lineage practitioner Umesh Kabir.

Drawing from the Buddha’s call (bahujanahitaya bahujanasukhaya — for the welfare and happiness of people), Vivekananda’s parallel formulation, and the Bhagavad Gita’s insight that all material things are impermanent, the event explores consciousness not as academic subject but as lived enquiry. David Chalmers’ observation — “there is nothing we know more intimately than conscious experience, but nothing harder to explain” — anchors a conversation about what India’s wisdom traditions offer to the global search for meaning.

About The Speaker:
Himanshu Joshi is a singer, music composer, poet, writer, photographer and filmmaker. Greatly influenced by his uncle Mohan Upreti – a folk theatre and music legend – he started training in Hindustani classical music at a very young age. He is a part of Indian Ocean, one of India’s most popular bands, known for its unique compositions.

Prof. Trilochan Sastry is an academic and reformer with a background in Electrical Engineering, Management, and Operations Research. He earned degrees from IIT Delhi, IIM Ahmedabad, and a Ph.D. from MIT. Currently, he teaches at IIM Bangalore and is known for his work in governance and democratic reforms.

Sunita Pant Bansal is a mythologist, a storyteller hailing from Kumaon hills of the Himalayas. Her forte is demystifying Hindu scriptures to show their relevance and application in today’s times. She explores and reinterprets the timelessness of characters from the epics and foundational texts.

Romola Butalia is an Indian writer, a journalist and a website editor. She was born in Kolkata. Her many passions in life have included travel, people, writing, communication and the Himalayas. She teaches Yoga and Vedic Sciences and is a practitioner in the tradition of the Himalayan yogis.

Umesh Kabir is an educator, spiritual mentor, and researcher of theology known for his deep understanding and practice of Kabir’s philosophy. He has spent over 20 years living and teaching at the Kabir chauramath, Moolgadhi Ashram in Varanasi, where Kabir himself spent a significant part of his life.

David Frawley is an American Hindutva activist and a teacher of Hinduism. He has written numerous books on topics spanning the Vedas, Hinduism, yoga, ayurveda and Hindu astrology. In 2015 he was honored by the government of India with the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award in India.