Concept Note

Beyond its land, people or state, India i.e. Bharat is a set of timeless and perpetual ideas. These ideas stand for its knowledge and spiritual traditions and long history of accommodation, peaceful coexistence and sustainable development. These ideas of India were, and are, society-centric and not state-centric in nature. Society-centric systems have existed on this land since time immemorial and the India of today has emerged from this remarkable continuity in ideas. The ideas and thoughts that have developed in India in recent decades carry such an echo of thousands of years. These ideas are now influencing India’s present in a big way.

In this proposed International Seminar, an effort will be made to understand the journey of India through ideas that blossomed in the modern times spanning the last 150 years. Undoubtedly, during this period, Mahatma Gandhi awakened not just the Indian consciousness but that of the whole world by enthusing his set of ideas in the first half of 20th century. If Swami Vivekanand unveiled India and its ideas at the world stage, Mahatma Gandhi established India at the global level. The proposed seminar will provide a platform to discuss ideas such as Swadeshi, Vande Mataram, Swaraj, Nationalism, Socialism among others, that took shape before Gandhi but further bloomed under the leadership of Mahatma and others. This seminar will, therefore, discuss the ideas developed both before and after the Independence of India along with those who propounded such ideas.

As a perennial river of ideas, India continues to churn out concepts that respond to emerging challenges. In the contemporary context, the call for ‘New India’ or slogans like ‘Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas’ given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi can breathe life into the dream of a ‘Samriddha (Prosperous)’, ‘Saksham (Capable)’, and ‘Shrestha (Great)’ Bharat. Keeping this in mind and taking a forward stance, the proposed international seminar will also discuss ideas that can guide and guard the future of India.