In July 1996, Edinburgh College of Art offered a Masterclass with the Italian-Scottish sculptor, Eduardo Paolozzi. He particularly wanted to run this course in his home city.
Paolozzi was born in Leith, the eldest son of Italian immigrants. He left Scotland after studying at Edinburgh College of Art to pursue further studies in London and to establish an international reputation as a sculptor.
Plans for two previous classes elsewhere had fallen through. The selection process chose 17 students with widely different backgrounds. Plunged into ten days of unconventional tutoring, each found widely differing responses.
Paolozzi asked the members of the class to keep a diary of their time with him. Ann Shaw, a former journalist with The Glasgow Herald, documented her days and recorded scenes of chaos and progress. Her unabridged account is illustrated throughout with some of the photographs she took as the appointed 'official' class photographer. Paolozzi is seen as human, vulnerable, gracious and rude, inspiring and shy.

Shri Ramakant Maharaj (b. 08 July 1941), is a direct disciple of the late Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj (d. 08 September 1981), and spent 19 years with him. He is an Indian spiritual teacher of Advaita, Nonduality, and a Guru, belonging to the Inchegiri branch of the Navnath Sampradaya. He offers initiation to this Sampradaya.
Ramakant Sawant was brought up in rural Phondaghat, Gadgesakhal Wadi. In 1965, he attended the prestigious establishment of Elphinstone College, Bombay, at the behest of Nisargadatta Maharaj. Following this, he graduated from Bombay University in 1972, (M.A in History and Politics). In 1976, he obtained his LLB qualification, from Siddhartha Law College, Bombay. He worked in banking, in the Legal Department, from 1970 until his retirement as Manager in 2000.
He is married to Anvita Sawant, also a long-standing disciple of Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj. They have two sons.
In 1962, Ramakant Maharaj was introduced by relatives to his future Guru, Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj. After spending a few months with the Master, he took the Naam Mantra, the Guru Mantra on 2nd October, 1962. From then on he attended faithfully, and listened to Nisargadatta Maharaj's discourses regularly. He was present at his Master's Mahasamadhi on 8th September 1981.
During the last decade or so, at Ranjit Ashram in Nashik Road, (Nashik, Maharashtra), Shri Ramakant Maharaj has been introducing students, disciples and devotees from around the world to these teachings and, on occasion, initiating them into the Inchegiri Navnath Sampradaya Lineage. About his life, Maharaj says, "I know my past and where I have come from. I am a miracle. All thanks to my Master, Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj".