Indian Culture-Our Failings TM Krishnahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PlkqMq0M0I 6 Nov 2021
Reimagining India Public Video Lecture Series
TM Krishna describes the present-day situation grappled with intolerance, false news, and hate that has turned into a culture of violence. He discusses the state-sanctioned violence and hatred fostered in Indian society. Mr. Krishna furthermore discusses the urgency of engaging with cultures to counter the current establishment’s divisive communal politics. He addresses the ignorance of Indian liberals to conflicts of and between different religions and faith while presuming progressive and liberalism in cultures in the past without incorporating the political discourse of tight linkage between religion and culture. He highlights the casteist and inequitable nature of the education system that produces these Indian liberals. Mr. Krishna advocates addressing these cultural and religious conflicts and incorporating opposites into the liberal conversations via being more accepting and inclusive.
Some bytes "We are now living in a culture of violence. We have to reflet about what do we mean by sayng we are indian.
India is a complicated place. India is not a seamless, creaseless textile. There is an urgency to change the way we engage with culture. The establishment is ensuring to its fullest capacity that we do not believe in each of us. We are facing an establishment based violence.
We have to face this disturbing truth within ourselves.
India happens in 1947 because that's when we resolve to decide who we want to be. Every diversity we talk about must be under the umbrella of the Indian constitution. On fundamental aspect that we have ignored is faith and religion. What has been the contemporary liberal engagement with these complex ideas. FOf course I can see that many of these things are built on many oppression structure like caste. BUt thats what make our conversation even more essential.
what has been the democratic conversations with those worlds.
Need to think very deeply how to build a respectful, non-condescending conversation with people of faith. Are the two word conservative and progressive opposite? Within the conservative there could be certain progressiveness.
constitution is not condescending of people, it does not typecast people as progressive or conservative. Constitutions does not call itself liberal. It calls itself equitable.
Culture cannot be transactional. Every time there is a problem in a moholla, what happens to the relationships. We should be open to conversation. We change the way we learn about the other and come closer. Our tone of discourse has to change.
How does a believer and non-believer share culture. How does one change the discourse. We are facing this monstrocity from the establishment and people around because of the game of cultural and religious convenience and inconvenience.
Anger is there. It is triggered by something which is more deepseated? How does one change that? that is our challenge. We have failed the Dalits, Muslims and Christians of India. and we have failed talking to the people of faith.
I sing songs of faith, not of faith, of society, of politics, they con-exist. Am I as a singer able to create a bridge between the songs?