The Great Ideas of Indian Civilization - Michel Danino -

About the Speaker: Michel Danino

Born in France in 1956, Michel Danino has been living in India since 1977 and is an Indian citizen. An independent student of Indian civilization, he authored The Lost River: On the Trail of the Sarasvati (Penguin India, 2010), a multidisciplinary study of the Vedic Sarasvati river, and Indian Culture and India’s Future (DK Printworld, 2011). The Dawn of Indian Civilization and the Elusive Aryans is under preparation.

Michel Danino has lectured across India on many aspects of Indian civilization and culture. Twice a scholar-in-residence at IIT Kanpur (2011 and 2014), he was a visiting faculty at IIM Ranchi and since 2011 has been guest professor at IIT Gandhinagar, where he has assisted the setting up of an Archaeological Sciences Centre and given courses exploring ancient India’s heritage.

Michel Danino co-edited (with Prof. Kapil Kapoor) a two-volume textbook on “Knowledge Traditions and Practices of India” for a CBSE elective course for class XI and XII. As convener of the International Forum for India’s Heritage, he has been coordinating a project to produce a multimedia educational DVD on Science and Technology in Ancient India. He is also a member of the Indian Council of Historical Research.

His other interests include nature conservation, a field in which he was especially active during his stay in the Nilgiris (1982–2003).

TIMELINE:

00:00:00 – Introduction
00:03:41 – Patriotism vs. National Pride
00:06:13 – Stereotypes and Misconceptions about India
00:08:41 – The Indus-Sarasvati Civilization
00:08:57 – Highlights of the Harappan civilization
00:14:14 – Early Experiments in Democracy
00:19:14 – Peaceful Cultural Integration across India
00:19:55 – The “Unity” of “Unity in Diversity”
00:21:29 – The Institution of Pilgrimage
00:22:14 – Features of India’s Cultural Integration
00:24:45 – Ethnographic Data in Mahabharata
00:26:05 – Was India created by the British in 1947?
00:26:29 – Early Political Unity
00:28:00 – India’s Interface with Other Civilizations
00:33:06 – India’s Perspectives on Nature
00:38:30 – Practical Attitudes of Indian Ecological Traditions
00:40:41 – Svabhava and Svadharma: Spiritual Freedom and Acceptance, Pluralism
00:42:22 – Scientific & Technological Advances
00:44:40 – Spiritualization of Art and Literature
00:46:30 – Systems of Yoga: Self-Exploration, Self-Discovery, Self-Fulfilment
00:48:48 – The 19th-Century Awakening in Spirituality, Art and Science
00:50:20 – Rejuvenating 19th-century Western Literature, Thought and Humanism
00:51:28 – Indian Spirituality is Compatible with Modern Science
00:53:47 – Resilience of Indian Civilization
00:54:44 - Few things India did not contribute to the World


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