Category Archives: Commentary

There are many indices one can use to measure the shocking failures of education, even as it is conventionally understood, in India today. The stories of state-run schools that are in absolute shambles are legion, and have been documented by thousands of researchers, journalists, and social workers. More than seventy years after independence, the effective countrywide literacy rate is less than 50%; in some districts of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Madhya Pradesh, female literacy rates still hover at 10%. The best public universities have been gutted; all that is left is a shambolic display of awards of “excellence”, a word as shorn of content as any. In one instance the award has been to an institute of higher education that does not even exist. Yet all this is far from what Gandhi had in mind when he pondered over the ruins of education and I wonder how he would have struggled to even comprehend the “hardheartedness” of the educated in India today. Let there be no mistake: what really ails Indian education is the fact that at its center is the “undeveloped heart.” – Vinay Lal, Professor of History & Asian American Studies, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
https://vinaylal.wordpress.com/2019/10/15/the-undeveloped-heart-gandhi-on-education/

Linguistic diversity and multilingualism – Interviews with Prof. Ganesh Devy

Posted on 11/11/2019 by website administrator

Devy has worked incessantly to establish the linguistic diversity and numeric strength of subaltern cultures in India. In a politically resonant statement during a public lecture last year in Bengaluru, he said the most beloved stories of mainstream Hinduism start … Continue reading →

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Sacred groves protected by India’s tribal communities: Fostering a sense of togetherness and harmony

Posted on 27/10/2019 by website administrator

Living in harmony with Nature has been an integral part of Indian culture. This has been abundantly reflected in a variety of traditional practices, religious beliefs, rituals, folklore, arts and crafts, and in the daily lives of the Indian people … Continue reading →

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Learn more about tribal communities in the “Seven Sister States”: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland & Tripura

Posted on 27/10/2019 by website administrator
Posted in Anthropology, Childhood and children, Colonial policies, Commentary, Community facilities, Crafts and visual arts, Crocodile, Customs, De- and re-tribalisation, Democracy, Dress and ornaments, Eco tourism, Ecology and environment, Economy and development, Education and literacy, Elephant, Fashion, Figures, census and other statistics, Forest Rights Act (FRA), Games and leisure time, Government of India, Health and nutrition, History, Homes and utensils, Languages and linguistic heritage, Literature and bibliographies, Maps, Modernity, Multi-lingual education, Museum collections - India, Music and dance, Musicology, Nature and wildlife, Organizations, Performing arts, Revival of traditions, Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Seasons and festivals, Seven Sister States, Success story, Tiger, Tips, Tourism, Trees, Video contents, Women, Worship and rituals | Comments Off on Learn more about tribal communities in the “Seven Sister States”: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland & Tripura

Audio | CBC Unreserved on “Decolonizing the classroom: Is there space for Indigenous knowledge in academia?” – Canada

Posted on 16/10/2019 by website administrator

Priyamvada Gopal on the rights of indigenous peoples (Adivasi in India): Colonialiality is a dynamic we need to be alert for as much in the present even within so-called independent, decolonized countries [quote from 31:30 onwards] Listen to the full … Continue reading →

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“Air, water and grains are essential to human nourishment” – Mahatma Gandhi 100 years ago

Posted on 27/09/2019 by website administrator

Gandhi spoke of Swaraj’s three basic khorak. But he also gave, in the same 1918 speech, a fourth khorak for Swaraj. And that lay in his words, “we have a right to question.” | Read the full article by Gopalkrishna Gandhi, titled “On … Continue reading →

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