Third Eye

‘I don’t believe i‘ll simply die’

Ibrahim Alkazi is the founder director of National School of Drama. He is also a gallerist, a collector and a patron of the arts

‘I would want to come back as an advanced being’

Anousheh Ansari, an Iranian-American technology serial entrepreneur who became an inspiration for millions around the world in 2006, when she became the first female private cosmonaut.

‘God had nothing to do with it’

Mukhtaran Mai was gang-raped in June 2002, as a form of honour revenge in a village in Pakistan’s rural Punjab. She became known internationally when in an unprecedented move, she decided to sue her attackers--and won.

‘The business of business is not that profound’

Pramod Bhasin, President and CEO of Genpact, the largest BPO company in India, and credited to have initiated the BPO industry in India

‘Religion has become politicised’

Margaret Alva is general secretary of the Congress

‘Others shouldn't decide the woman I ought to be, I should’

Anu Aga is director of Pune-based engineering firm, Thermax, and is also engaged in social activities such as education for underprivileged children

‘I have been seeking the meaning of life’

RK Pachauri, Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He received the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for the IPCC, along with co-recipient Al Gore

‘I have felt the presence of a guiding hand’

Dr. Shashi Tharoor is a diplomat, author and journalist. He was the former Under Secretary-General of the United Nations. He is now the chairman of Dubai-based Afras Ventures.

‘I don’t care much for happiness’

Sudhir Kakar is a novelist and a well-known figure in the fields of cultural psychology and the psychology of religion.

‘Painting is an agent for forces beyond me’

Krishen Khanna is a well established contemporary artist. He has been awarded the Padamshree in 1990.

‘Dreams are like being on the Internet with God’

Nafisa Ali Sodhi is an actor and social activist. She was a national swimming champion and also a former Miss India.

‘I don’t try to analyse God’

Lord Swaraj Paul is an Indian-born business magnate based in the UK.

‘Where logic ends, the link with the divine begins’

Ustad Amjad Ali Khan is a sarod player and composer who was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2001.

‘I SEE MY WORK AS SPIRITUALITY’

Rajan Mittal is vice-chairman and managing director of Bharti Enterprises.

‘Life would be dreadful if we believe the mind controls all’

Mark Tully is the author of several books on India, a failed priest and a journalist “made by India”