MYSURU, India, February 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
Inaugurating the MYRA Annual Student Festival - MYRAGO!, Dr. Ramachandra Guha, a very well-known historian and biographer instilled a sense of awe and pride amongst the students, faculty and others gathered in large numbers, about the audacious experiment in democracy - the Indian Republic. Comparing the evolution of democratic models across different countries such as England, France, and others where the model of one language, one religion and one enemy, united the nation, he pronounced that India, a relatively young republic, has been a successful democracy despite being an 'unnatural nation' and a 'huge gamble'. The uniqueness of India lies in the adoption of 'universal adult franchise' especially in a young nation ridden with poverty and illiteracy. This audacious gamble with many skeptics around the world has not only worked but been hugely successful as well. Drawing parallels across diverse countries such as Great Britain and Sri Lanka, he opined that the plurality of languages and religion is the strength of India and this is primarily due to the farsightedness and vision of our founding fathers such as Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, Ambedkar and others. Unity in diversity in the Indian Republic is the essence of India and which is not just one country but also a confederation of more than thirty states and Union Territories with different cultures, languages, music, dance, drama, art and architectures. He warned against the concept of Hindi, Hindu, Hindustani or one language, one religion, one nation theory citing examples of countries, which have ruined themselves having gone that route.
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For more details: http://www.myra.ac.in/events/eventdetail/143/-/myrago-2016-myra-school-of-business-annual-fest
The diversity of India was well understood by our visionary leaders like Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, Bose and others, who always gave importance to the preservation of our diverse cultural heritage while uniting the nation made of essentially two parts - British India and 500+ princely states. Today, different states of India follow different languages but follow single rulebook called the Constitution of India, which has given equal rights to all citizen irrespective of their caste, creed, region, or religion. He elaborated on the importance of celebration of multiple languages and said history tells us that imposition of one language and one culture will have dire consequences citing the example of separation of East and West Pakistan and civil war in Sri Lanka.
While the first half of Dr. Guha's lecture was all about the celebration of the Indian Republic and its strengths as well as fault lines, the second half was a primer to students on the importance of cultivating diverse interests across arts, architecture, music, and literature. Drawing upon anecdotes and turning points in his life, he extolled the invaluable contribution of interests in classical music - Carnatic, Hindustani, Western. He eulogized the architectural beauty of medieval temples, churches and mosques and urged students to visit these places and develop aesthetic sensibilities. He also applauded the cosmopolitan character of Karnataka - he cited the example of Bangalore where a connoisseur of music, whether of Carnatic or Hindustani or Western, would have opportunities to pursue and enjoy, which is not true of Chennai or Pune.
While bringing up the virtues of work life balance, he underpinned the importance of music, literature, art, architecture and nature. "Work life balance does not mean after office sit at home as couch potato and watch IPL, but explore other dimensions of life, so that one would have a better understanding about oneself and the society in which one lives," he said. Because of historical reasons, places like Bengaluru, Mysuru, Dharwad, Pune etc. are well-known for patronizing our rich cultural heritage and youth of India should develop interests in any of these fields. He also emphasized how young Indians should try to contribute towards solving the problems like exploitation of dalits, oppression of women and defeat the fundamentalist forces, which are corroding the roots of an emerging nation in the world economy.
While responding to questions from the audience about different conspiracy theories about Bose and Shastri, he unequivocally rubbished them stating that Bose died in an air crash in 1945 and Shastri died due to heart attack in 1965. He gave a clarion call to youngsters to celebrate Indian democracy and strengthen the same through their contributions across disciplines and domains.
A well-attended event, the MYRAGO! 2016 began with a welcome address by Dr. Shalini Urs, Chairperson of MYRA and ended with a vote of thanks by Prof. Sumant Bakshi, advisor MYRA. The lighting of the traditional lamp symbolized the inauguration of the student festival.
About MYRA:
The MYRA School of Business is a boutique Global B School located in the royal city of Mysuru - an educational hub and a heritage city. MYRA's unique learning platform blends Indian and Western perspectives and teaching methods to add intellectual diversity in the classroom by bringing faculty from some of the top B Schools in the world such as Cornell, Kellogg, Cambridge, IIMs and others. MYRA's study abroad program partners include W.P Cary School of Business, Arizona State University, USA; Catolica-Lisbon School of Business and Economics, Portugal; The University of Washington, Bothell, US and the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg in Germany.
MYRA offers four academic programs - the two-year-AICTE approved, Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management (PGDM); the one-year Post Graduate Program for executives (PGPX); Customized Executive Education Programs and PhD (University of Mysore) program. MYRA's leadership team with a vision to provide world class business education to young Indians so that they can deliver exceptional value to whoever hires them, is committed to 'excellence' in everything-faculty, pedagogy, placements and campus.
For more details: http://www.myra.ac.in
Media Contact:
Deepa Jaganath
[email protected]
+91-9535423333
Executive Assistant (Chairperson)
MYRA School of Business
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