A guru,yet a seeker

With a heavy Spanish accent but an unmistakable Indian countenance,the image of an old man floated on the screen,deciphering the ‘window metaphor’: “We see the world through the window. I call my neighbour to see the same landscape,but he sees it differently… This is how we need each other.” The image was that of Raimon Pannikar,or Raimundo Pániker Alemany ,the prominent Indo-Spanish thinker and theologian,whose first death anniversary was observed on Friday at the Instituto Cervantes in Delhi.

A small audience witnessed the ‘Indian Homage to Raimon Pannikar’ organised by the Embassy of Spain,with prominent figures paying tribute with personal anecdotes and intimate accounts. Dr. Karan Singh,President of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations,said,“There is a Sanskrit saying: ‘The king is honoured in his own country. But the scholar is honoured wherever he goes’. And such a universal scholar indeed was Raimon Panikkar.”

Ashis Nandy,Director of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies,lamented that Panikkar’s death went unnoticed. “Philosophers tend to die very softly and gently,” he said. “And I have not seen any death not covered by the media. But when Panikkar died,there was not even a single announcement in India.”

Other speakers were Dr. Kapila Vatsayayan,Chairperson of the India International Centre-Asia Project; Dr. Bettina Baumer,Director of the Abhinavagupta Research Library; Come Carpentier,Convener of the Editorial Advisory Board of World Affairs ; and Oscar Pujol,Director of Instituto Cervantes.