Department of Sociology GLDM GDC Hiranagar organizes webinar on Vishwa Guru Bharat: Challenges and possibilities

Hiranagar 24-08-2022: Department of Sociology GLDM GDC Hiranagar organised a webinar on the topic Vishwa Guru Bharat: Challenges and possibilities through a Sociological lens. The keynote speaker of the webinar was Dr. Shivam Singh, Assistant Professor Department of Sociology, University of Rajasthan. The webinar was presided over by Dr. Pragya Khanna Principal of the College.

India has been described as land of wisdom, knowledge and prosperity from the ages. The great knowledge centres of India like Nalanda, Takshashila, Vikramshila, Vallabhi, Vidisha, Kashi etc. hadtrained the scholars world over on disciplines such as Yoga, Ayurveda, mathematics, economy, agriculture, politics, astrophysics, surgery, military, music dance, art and literature.

India is also the birthplace of the great scholars of the time like Aryabhata, Abhinavgupta, Adi-Shankaracharya, Apala, Bhaskaracharya, Brahmagupta, Chanakya, Charak, Gargi, Kanad, Kalidas, Lilawati, Lopamudra, Maitreyi, Madalsa, Patanjali, Panini, and many more who bestow a great intellectual legacy to the nation. 

Based on the the ideas and practices sprawling from Indian culture and philosophy the claim of India to be regarded as “Viswa Guru” was debated and discussed by the Department of Sociology under its initiative named “Vimarsh” . Vimarsh is a platform of the Department of Sociology, GLDM GDC Hiranagar to organise seminars, webinars, workshops, debates, quizzes and book talks on the topics of sociological relevance.  

The speaker of webinar Dr. Shivam Singh who hails from Rajasthan is a well known scholar who has specializationin the field of diaspora, migration, culture, sociology of India, sociology of cinema and rural sociology. He discussed in detail the challenges and opportunitiesIndia is going to face in the project of making India into a VishwaGuru. 

India’s freedom from British rule is a hard-earned liberation however the clutches of western modernity, language and literature still which could be relevantfortheir time and context is still strongly held in India. While discussing the historiography it was debated that the history of medieval age and ancient time has been subjected to ideological violence resulting in gross distortions and self-denigration and it is further convincingly believed that certain motivated acts of omission and commission have taken place in the process of history writing.

Many contributions remain unacknowledged. The revival of the ancient literature and the tales of the national heroes have also to be retold and made an important part of the ancient literature. The best of what India is has to be made the integral part of the education system of India. It is an onus on the shoulders of the present generation of historians and sociologists to tell the nation its true history and sociology.

Earlier the webinar started with the welcome address by Dr.Arun Kumar Head Department of Sociology. Dr. Arun Kumar highlighted the activities of the department and also addressed the theme of the webinar to the audience. He described project ofIndia’s transformation as aVishwa Guru that is a reformer and teacher to the entire world a grand endeavour.

Everybody yearns for this glory of those days when our people reached the pinnacle of thought, achieved great understanding of the divine, and invented excellent ways of living. However, such a position cannot simply be claimed but it has to be earned afresh. A necessary tapasya once again, with new thinking for modern times is required to instill the same amount of confidence and wisdom. 

The claim of gurudom cannot be thrust upon the world but global community has to acknowledge as such. It was followed by a musical performance by Dr. Mukesh Kumar, Assistant Professor in Music which enthralled the audience. The formal introduction of the speaker and moderation of the webinar was made by Dr. Ravinder Singh, faculty Department of Sociology.

Dr. Ravinder Singh added that India can claim Guruship because of the three important reasons: firstly, India’s unique worldview emanating from our civilisational culture; secondly, our remarkable achievements during the last 75 years; thirdly, our intrinsic strength to offer something that the global community so very critically requires. the programme ended with a  question and answer session and the formal vote of thanks to the speaker and audience by Dr. Arun Kumar.

The entire event was conducted in support and consultation of The Principal of the College, Dr. Pragya Khanna. The Department of Music and Department of Physical Education and Sports were also part of the organising team of the Webinar. 

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