Culture, People and Power deals with a rich tradition of India which has in its long history attracted the world through its cultural wealth and literary heritage. Power of India for its natural wealth could be another story to tell in many a volume. But scholars who have contributed to this volume are focusing mainly on India cultural, intellectual, literary and political relations with the external world for over half a millennia. If the Mughal emperors were trying to reason with Indian intellectual heritage by learning and translating Sanskrit into Persian ancient India literary and legal classics the European and American intellectuals in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries were impressed by India's epic tradition and sophistication of ancient Indian dance, drama and theatre. India's linguistic richness and philological advances, too, had a considerable impact on the world. The independent India and the leaders who shaped its destiny in the second half of the twentieth century have drawn much on India rich heritage to foster relations with and have fruitfully intervened in the international affairs of the modern world. The essays in this volume analyse India past and present by citing decisions, documents and incidents and also suggest how India can continue to influence the world in future through its, what Joseph Nye would like to call, Soft Power.
Indian Council For Cultural Relations: Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first Education Minister of independent India, founded the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) on 9th April 1950.
The objectives of the Council are to participate in the formulation and implementation of policies and programmes relating to India external cultural relations; to foster and strengthen cultural relations and mutual understanding between India and other countries; to promote cultural exchanges with other countries and peoples; to establish and develop relations with national and international organizations in the field of culture; and to take such measures as may be required to further these objectives.
The ICCR is about a communion of cultures, a creative dialogue with other nations. To facilitate this interaction with world cultures, the Council strives to articulate and demonstrate the diversity and richness of the cultures of India, both in and with other countries of the world.
The Council prides itself on being a pre-eminent institution engaged in cultural diplomacy and the sponsor of intellectual exchanges between India and partner countries. It is the Council resolve to continue to symbolize India great cultural and educational efflorescence in the years to come.
Indian Council for Cultural Relations
Azad Bhawan, Indraprastha Estate
New Delhi - 110002
Website: www.iccrindia.net
Message by Suresh K. Goel
Introduction
PART I POWER OF CULTURE
1. The Soft Power of India
Shashi Tharoor
2. India's Soft Power : Culture and Beyond
Jean-Luc Racine
3. Gandhi's Global Influence
David Cortright
4. India's Soft Power in a Globalized World
T.V. Paul
PART II PEOPLE AND LITERATURE
5. Indian Themes, Indian Values: The RÊmÊyaÓa and the Civilization of Southern Asia and Beyond
R.P. Goldman
6. Rethinking India's Past
Johannes Bronkhorst
7. The Changing India: Dynamism of Ancient Indian Culture
Patrick Olivelle
PART III ART AND CULTURE
8. Indian Culture in a Globalized World
Muzaffar Ali
9. Notes from Afar: Sanskrit Literature and the Western Operatic Canon
Sally Sutherland Goldman
10. The Sufi Shaikhs and the Formation of the Early Mughal Regime
Muzaffar Alam
11. Epic Identity and Humanism in Ancient India: A Refined Idea in a Rough World?
Heeraman Tiwari
Notes on Contributors
Index