Two Families
The paths of the De Santis and Cocco families converge in the inspiration to create a meeting point between the West and India, between tradition and progress.
The De Santis family is itself a meeting point.
After finishing his degree in Hindi and Urdu at the Oriental Institute in Naples, Stefano De Santis left for India, where he obtained his Ph.D. in anthropological philosophy at the Banaras Hindu University. He met Vrinda Dar, who was finishing her Masters in Education. They married and had two children Fausto and Gauri, whom they are raising in both the Roman Catholic and Hindu traditions.They came to Rome in 1993 to give Fausto and Gauri an Italian primary education. They sought out people with whom they could share their religious but open approach to life.
Pietro Cocco and the American Kitty Wolf are journalists in Rome who share a passion for India. While raising Irene and Giovanni over the past ten years, Kitty completed her Masters in inter-religious dialogue while awaiting the chance to return to India.
So, when the De Santis blew into town, the Coccos felt the impact of their shakti, and the De Santis took refuge in the Cocco family's spirit. They began to explore the possibilities of their mutual attraction. Together they reflected over religious texts and discovered the wealth of wisdom that is released from these texts when approached from the perspective of a different religion.In light of this experience, the desire arose to have a meeting place where they could invite others to join them in this type of exchange. The De Santis and Coccos stumbled across Ram Bhavan, a lovely house along the shores of the Ganges in Banaras.
This web site is a way of inviting you and other cultural travellers to join their search in Banaras. The two families have arranged Ram Bhavan as a guest house and research base, and have established the Kautilya Society as the organizing body for the adventure.
