The Great Ideas of Indian Civilization - Michel Danino - #IndicTalks

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 For related Indic Talks and Indic Courses, see Website - https://www.cisindus.org/ Facebook -   / cisindusuniversity   Twitter -   / cis_indus   Indic Talks : https://www.cisindus.org/videos/ Indic Courses : https://www.cisindus.org/courses/ Indic Varta : https://www.cisindus.org/indic-varta/