Jijnasa - Charcha - 15 Dec 2012

Jijnasa

under the series Charcha, organizes a debate on

"Perspectives in Studying Indian History"

Date: 15 Dec 2012 
Time: 5 PM
Venue: Seminar Hall, Legislator's House, Bangalore

Debate will follow a talk by Sandeep Balakrishna.

Speaker Profile:

Sandeep B has been an IT professional for more than 16 years in various roles as a user experience specialist and communications professional. He is a columnist with Kannada Prabha. He has in the past written for Pioneer news-paper too. He runs a popular blog "Rediscovering India" (www.sandeepweb.com) which has been around for 13 years. 

Speaker's write-up on the topic: 

Ever since the British started studying india's history the discipline has been almost wholly Eurocentric. For the last century or so Indians have been learning about India using theories, tools, methodologies, & indeed the very approach, given to them by the West. 

This has predictably led to confusions & compounded by wholesale distortions by Marxists, the scenario is grim today. As someone said, whoever controls the past also controls the future. The protracted battle to control the history department in the HRD ministry in the 1990s shows how well people in power understand this.

It's therefore urgently crucial to try & change how we even approach the study of Indian history by exploring a few basic, alternate perspectives in this direction. 

Note: This event will not be telecast live on Jijnasa Ustream Channel. We encourage our audience and interested folks to please come to venue in person and join the debate.


About Jijnasa:

The literal meaning of the word Jijnasa in Sanskrit is Inquiry. Jijnasa is a platform under the aegis of CESS, which is an effort to promote the quest for knowledge.
It is hard to obtain the company of the noble.
It is easy to obtain the company of the ignoble.
Pebbles are available in plenty; but it is hard to obtain the precious diamond.

India is not just a nation state but a civilization state. A civilization that prides itself for the spirit of inquiry, and is not based on a contrived belief system or historicity. A civilization that is firmly rooted in Dharma. A civilization that has much to offer and inspire the world.

However, our ignorance about ourselves is profound. It is therefore Jijnasa’s desire to invoke the spirit of inquiry, which can set people on the journey of self discovery. Its aim is to provoke and equip people to see things beyond the limited mainstream discourse on issues of national importance and seek solutions to contemporary issues facing the country.

It is important to understand ourselves before we can understand the issues around us. Enlightened individuals make for an assertive society, which has the womb to carry traditions along with modernity. Jijnasa’s attempt is to make fellow travelers discover the heterogeneity of the Indian traditions yet the cohesiveness that has stood us in good stead for several thousand years. At the core of Jijnasa, is the desire to build an innate ability to see the world from an exalted position, which is so essential for a country aspiring to play center stage in world affairs.

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