Stories from India’s sacred traditions, meditation sutras and photo-art from everyday life. An invitation to reflect on life and living.
the first lullaby
1. a humming or murmuring sound used to soothe a child to sleep
2. a lullaby hum; a soft, rhythmic sound that calms and comforts
3. by extension, anything that quiets, consoles and brings ease
[ ā-lo-likā: that which lulls, soothes]
the aalolika mandalas
the story mandala
STORIES
to ease the mind
.png)
each aalolika mandala moves through story, sutra and silence
3 mandalas
16 sets
SUTRAS
to invite reflection
SILENCE
to let it settle
.png)
Lallanwa, the ace jalebi maker of Kashi, is furious with Lord Shiva.
Sage Gautam is torn. He hates Ahalya; but loves her to bits.
Queen Madalasa sings the first lullaby
.png)
Stories from India’s sacred traditions — epics, Puranas and folklore — reimagined for the contemporary mind.
Ma Parvati teaches her husband a lesson on Maya.
Yama, the Lord of Death, feels the pangs of social anxiety.
the sutra mandala
.png)
awareness threads for reflection
Each story is accompanied by a sutra, drawn from India’s contemplative traditions. It does not explain the story. It offers another way of looking at what the story has opened.
.png)
.png)
.png)
An Apabhramsha doha from the Sahajiya / Vajrayana stream, reflecting on the movement of mind.
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
Transcription informed by Herbert Guenther’s research on Advayavajra’s Panjika.
.png)
Each mandala-set completes with photo-art from everyday life in India.
the silence mandala
.png)
to let it settle
“Aalolika is a deceptively luminous book: playful in form, generous in invitation, and unusually serious in its intellectual and spiritual ambitions. It makes India’s philosophical inheritance available as an experience, bringing stories, meditation sutras, reflection, and photo-art into an intimate conversation.”
Dr S. Ravi Rajan
Professor, University of California, Santa Cruz
SOUND ON
TAP OUTSIDE TO CLEAR PAUSE
ālolikā dhāraṇā . 50 sec
Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra
Since childhood, Akanksha has felt compelled to tell stories. Oddly, people would doze off while listening to her.
While travelling through Tripura, this phenomenon started to make sense. The indigenous people, in their melodious Kokborok language, explained:
‘In your past life, you must have left a story incomplete. The spirit of that unfinished tale makes sure that in this lifetime, your listeners are drawn into a restful sleep — It’s your Karma!’
And so, Aalolika — The First Lullaby, is unsurprisingly, an apt name for the book.
Akanksha comes from the world of documentary films. Her award-winning work on climate change and ecology, including Earth Witness, has earned international recognition, as has her work as a cinematographer.
Her feature-length film Hindu Nectar: Spiritual Wanderings in India (2014), an exploration of Hindu philosophy, ends with the words, “My wandering has just begun.” Aalolika marks the next chapter of that wandering.
Meditation has run parallel to her filmmaking, with over 25 years of practice and 15 years of facilitating meditation groups. In Aalolika, these two paths — storyteller and meditation guide — come together.
aalolika's author
The book is the beginning.
Hardcover · 144 pages · 23 × 23 × 2 cm
Watering Can Foundation . 18 March 2026
ISBN 978-93-94127-00-5