ARGUMENTATIVE INDIANS PODCAST

SPEAKER:
Professor Pechilis is a Historian of Religions and serves as Chair of the College of Liberal Arts History department, where she teaches courses in global history, the history of Asian religions in the U.S., historical research methods and gender and history. Recent work includes reflections on the body in Indian traditions, theorizing the relationship between bhakti and Tantra, and ethnographic study of women and their perceptions and experience of work. She is the Author of the influential book, 'The Embodiment of Bhakti'.

#indianhistory  #bhakti #bhaktimovement #historyofindia #bhaktiyoga #kabirdas #gurunanakdevji #meerabai #ramanujacharya 

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DISCLAIMER:
We invite thought leaders from across the ideological spectrum. The guests in our sessions express their independent views and opinions. Argumentative Indians does not profess to subscribe, agree or endorse the same or be in anyway responsible for the stance, words and comments of our guests.

SPEAKER:
Prof. Patton E. Burchett
Patton Burchett is an assistant professor of religious studies at William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Professor Burchett's research focuses on (a) early modern devotional (bhakti) and tantric/yogic religiosity in north India and (b) the interrelations of magic, science, and religion in the rise of Indian and Western modernities. His first book, released in May 2019, is titled A Genealogy of Devotion: Bhakti, Tantra, Yoga, and Sufism in North India.

SYNOPSIS:
Far from being at the periphery, #tantra  was the dominant form of #religiosity in large parts of the Indian subcontinent for many many centuries. According to several scholars some of the most salient features of Indian culture such as #yoga , #puja , #meditation , #mantras  and even the Hindu temple originated not in the #vedas  or #upanishads  but in Tantra! It’s influence on our contemporary beliefs and practices is immeasurable. Then why and how did Tantra become synonymous with blackmagic  in India?

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DISCLAIMER:
We invite thought leaders from across the ideological spectrum. The guests in our sessions express their independent views and opinions. Argumentative Indians does not profess to subscribe, agree or endorse the same or be in anyway responsible for the stance, words and comments of our guests.

SPEAKER:
Ambassador Kishan S. Rana is Professor Emeritus, and a Senior Fellow at DiploFoundation. He was Ambassador and High Commissioner for Algeria, Czechoslovakia, Kenya, Mauritius, and Germany; and consul general in San Francisco. He served on staff of PM Indira Gandhi (1981-82).
Author of the forthcoming book - Churchill, and India: Manipulation Or Betrayal?

Explore More at - www.argumentativeindians.com

DISCLAIMER:
We invite thought leaders from across the ideological spectrum. The guests in our sessions express their independent views and opinions. Argumentative Indians does not profess to subscribe, agree or endorse the same or be in anyway responsible for the stance, words and comments of our guests.

SPEAKER:
Disha Ahluwalia is an archeologist currently pursuing a PhD at MSU Baroda. She has worked as a field archaeologist for a decade including at sites like Binjor, Sinauli and Rakhigarhi.

Explore More at - www.argumentativeindians.com

DISCLAIMER:
We invite thought leaders from across the ideological spectrum. The guests in our sessions express their independent views and opinions. Argumentative Indians does not profess to subscribe, agree or endorse the same or be in anyway responsible for the stance, words and comments of our guests.

Speaker: Nilakantan RS trained as an engineer at Clemson University and is the Chief Data Scientist for one of India’s largest fintech firms. His primary interest is designing stable decentralized systems – be they political entities or business-related processes.He has written for publications such as The Caravan, Wire.com and The Hindu.

Explore More at - www.argumentativeindians.com

DISCLAIMER:
We invite thought leaders from across the ideological spectrum. The guests in our sessions express their independent views and opinions. Argumentative Indians does not profess to subscribe, agree or endorse the same or be in anyway responsible for the stance, words and comments of our guests.

Across the globe, #brands are becoming more vocal about #social  and #political  issues. This wasn't always the case, till a few decades ago, brands considered any form of advocacy as 'bad business' and prospered on playing it safe. However, as employees and customers become ever more environmentally-conscious, socially-aware and politically-engaged, it has become increasingly challenging for brands to remain silent on raging culture wars. As they say, with great power comes great responsibility - with the kind of influence they assert, brands are expected to speak out.

Many corporations have begun to evaluate their impact on the community and the environment. Through their brands they try to proactively show that they care about more than just minting profits. When big brands choose to take a moral stand, it can count for potent messaging too. This can be evidenced in popular advertisements, campaigns (such as #nike  ‘For Once, Just Don’t Do It’ campaign with respect to #racism in #america  or P&G's ‘We See Equal’ campaign designed to fight #genderbias ) or even in the choice of brand ambassadors, which are quickly absorbed into public conversation. Some have welcomed this #corporateactivism, for it is these organisational values that in turn form a big part of their overall identity and cultivate an authentic brand promise.

PANELISTS:

1. Jessie Paul
Jessie Paul is a marketing specialist and the Founder/ CEO of Paul Writer,  India's leading B2B consulting firm. With over 18 years in services marketing, including a stint with Ogilvy & Mather Advertising, Ms. Paul is considered an expert in brand globalization and has been named one of the most influential business women in the Indian IT industry.

2. Dr. Daniel Korschun 
Dr. Daniel Korschun is an associate professor of Marketing at Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business.His areas of expertise include brand and corporate reputation management, corporate social responsibility, internal marketing, marketing strategy, relationship marketing and country reputation.He is co-author of the book Leveraging Corporate Responsibility: The Stakeholder Route to Business and Social Value (Cambridge University Press).

3. Dr. Prakash Bagri
Prakash Bagri is currently Associate Dean – Corporate Engagements & Clinical Associate Professor of Marketing at the Indian School of Business.He has three decades of experience bridging industry and academia, including leadership positions in Unilever and Intel. He has been adjunct/ visiting faculty at the Indian Institutes of Management in Ahmedabad, Bangalore & Calcutta. 

4. Dr. Madhu Visvanathan
Dr.  Madhu Viswanathan is a Senior Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Indian School of Business (ISB). Prior to joining ISB, he worked as an assistant professor at University of Arizona. Professor Viswanathan’s research work focuses on the role of distribution channels, B2B relationships, salesforce compensation and its impact on marketing mix elements like prices and assortments.

Explore More at - www.argumentativeindians.com

DISCLAIMER:
We invite thought leaders from across the ideological spectrum. The guests in our sessions express their independent views and opinions. Argumentative Indians does not profess to subscribe, agree or endorse the same or be in anyway responsible for the stance, words and comments of our guests.

SPEAKER:
Disha Ahluwalia is an archeologist currently pursuing a PhD at MSU Baroda. She has worked as a field archaeologist for a decade including at sites like Binjor, Sinauli and Rakhigarhi.

EXPLORE MORE:
Find out about upcoming sessions and learn how you can join them live and become a part of the conversation - https://www.argumentativeindians.com

Explore More at - www.argumentativeindians.com

DISCLAIMER:
We invite thought leaders from across the ideological spectrum. The guests in our sessions express their independent views and opinions. Argumentative Indians does not profess to subscribe, agree or endorse the same or be in anyway responsible for the stance, words and comments of our guests.

SPEAKERS:

Amb. Kishan S Rana
Ambassador Kishan S. Rana is Professor Emeritus, and a Senior Fellow at DiploFoundation. He was Ambassador and High Commissioner for Algeria, Czechoslovakia, Kenya, Mauritius, and Germany; and consul general in San Francisco. He served on staff of PM Indira Gandhi (1981-82).
Author of the forthcoming book - Churchill, and India: Manipulation Or Betrayal?

Dr. Sanjoy Bhattacharya
'Sanjoy Bhattacharya is a historian of South Asia in 19th and 20th centuries, and also works on national, international and global health policy analysis. He is current Head of the School of History at the University of Leeds, UK, where he holds the additional role of Professor of Medical and Global Health Histories.'

Dr Madhusree Mukherjee
Madhusree Mukerjee is a writer and journalist. She is the author of The Land of Naked People: Encounters with Stone Age Islanders (2003) and Churchill's Secret War: The British Empire and the Ravaging of India during World War II (2010). She is also a contributor to the People's Archive of Rural India and an editor with Scientific American.She documents the role played by the policies, as well as the racial and political worldview, of the war-time Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his trusted friend and advisor Frederick Lindemann, in the death and devastation caused by the Bengal famine of 1943 and the partition of India.

Dr. Mark Tauger
Mark B. Tauger is Associate Professor of History at West Virginia University, USA. In 2016-2017 he was a Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. He has published on agriculture and famines and has won the Eric Wolf Prize of the Journal of Peasant History and the Wayne D. Rasmussen Award of the Agricultural History Society. He is the author of "Agriculture in World History"

Dr. Tirathankar Roy
Professor of Economic History at Department of Economic History, at the LSE, and the author of India in the World Economy from Antiquity to the Present. He is one of the most influential researchers of the Economic History of South Asia and India, having published over 25 books and numerous articles.  His work spans the fields of Economic History, Business History and Social History, particularly studying the effects of British colonialism in India on its economic development. His recent publications include Law and the Economy in Colonial India. The book discusses the diverse influences that shaped British Indian law and shows why it delivered rather poor value to the users.


FURTHER READINGS:
1. https://penguin.co.in/book/churchills... - By Madhusree Mukherjee
2. https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2011... - By Dr. Mark Tauger
3.

Explore More at - www.argumentativeindians.com

DISCLAIMER:
We invite thought leaders from across the ideological spectrum. The guests in our sessions express their independent views and opinions. Argumentative Indians does not profess to subscribe, agree or endorse the same or be in anyway responsible for the stance, words and comments of our guests.

A #policy  of No First Use (NFU) of nuclear weapons has long characterised India’s #security  doctrine. Official declarations of that policy can be dated back to at least 1994, when the Government of India delivered a non-paper to #pakistan  that included, among other things, an agreement on no first use of the nuclear capability. The country’s formal #nuclear  doctrine from January 2003 includes a no first use pledge, albeit with caveats. The #Indian #diplomats  have often advanced the country’s commitment not to use #nuclearweapons  first as a proof of the country being a “responsible” state and thereby a way to resist any pressures to sign any treaties that would affect its #nuclear arsenal. It would seem then, that the NFU is a core element of India’s nuclear weapons posture.

On the other hand, the #NFU commitment has constantly been challenged and reviewed by various quarters, including no less than the Indian leadership. On several occasions, various high-level officials have frequently floated the idea that India should revisit its commitment to such a policy. Indeed, at the very time that the Government announced that it had adopted a formal doctrine, the #nationalsecurity  Advisory Board, as it was constituted then, had recommended that the country -

“may consider withdrawing from this commitment as the other nuclear weapons states have not accepted this policy”

Additionally, India is wedged between two nations with territorial ambitions and which maintain a strategic alliance - Pakistan, a nuclear-armed state with no clear doctrine or policy and #China, a world hegemon in waiting with an expanding nuclear arsenal. 

In that context, does the No-first-use nuclear policy even make sense for India when looked at from the operational perspective?

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DISCLAIMER:
We invite thought leaders from across the ideological spectrum. The guests in our sessions express their independent views and opinions. Argumentative Indians does not profess to subscribe, agree or endorse the same or be in anyway responsible for the stance, words and comments of our guests.

Intriguing temples dedicated to the worship of #yoginis  , group #deities  symbolising the sacred feminine force, are scattered all over Central and Eastern India, but remained largely unknown and unstudied by scholars till mid-20th century. Even today the beliefs and practices of those who worshiped in these temples remain steeped in mystery. 

Who built these temples? Why were they hidden away in forests and deserted areas? Why do they diverge so drastically from the Indian architectural norms? For what sort of powers were the Yoginis worshipped? Is it true that the  rituals involved alcohol, blood, and corpses? How prevalent were such beliefs? Were lower caste and tribal people allowed inside these temples? And finally when and why were they abandoned? To answer these and many related questions about the Yoginis we have with us one of the best scholars on this subject. 

Explore More at - www.argumentativeindians.com

DISCLAIMER:
We invite thought leaders from across the ideological spectrum. The guests in our sessions express their independent views and opinions. Argumentative Indians does not profess to subscribe, agree or endorse the same or be in anyway responsible for the stance, words and comments of our guests.