Dwelling on act of questioning at a philosophy boot camp in Uttarakhand

Unsurprisingly, Jahanbegloo's most evocative session was on forgiveness and revenge, and the most hotly contested one on God and religion

It’s 5.45 am. In the Shatabdi Express bound for Kathgodam, I’m thinking about philosophy. As a student, when I’d read some of the works of Sartre, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, they’d sunk without trace in my mind. But today, as I find myself pondering the art of questioning and reflection in everyday life, the upcoming three-day philosophy boot camp in the hills conducted by noted Iranian philosopher Ramin Jahanbegloo seems an exciting (albeit daunting) prospect.

Around me, my fellow attendees, all from diverse backgrounds, seem equally agog as they make nervous jokes about feeling the need to sound “intelligent”. Neena Tejpal