India though represented as a ‘soft power’ in its benevolent form needs to begin branding and taking credit for its craft. Citing this, the panellist led by Minister of state for Culture of India, discussed on ‘Leveraging the Soft Power of India - Goodwill through Craft, Cuisine & Creativity’ in PBD Convention at Brilliant Convention Centre on Monday.
It’s time to patent ‘Soft Power’ of India
India though represented as a ‘soft power’ in its benevolent form needs to begin branding and taking credit for its craft. Citing this, the panellist led by Minister of state for Culture of India, discussed on ‘Leveraging the Soft Power of India - Goodwill through Craft, Cuisine & Creativity’ in PBD Convention at Brilliant Convention Centre on Monday.
India needs to Brand its Knowledge!
“Whenever I think of India, the first image of Bharat comes into my mind. The first ancient image of dancing girl comes to my mind from Indus Valley. It is a civilisation that is soft, creative and technically sound. The west has learnt that pose from us. The problem is that we did not patent our poses or skills. We believed in sharing of knowledge. The image of a girl standing peacefully also promotes non-violence. If you are an artist, what is that they are working on? Their thought process is engaged with themselves. They are competing with themselves. Thus, we have Harappan civilisation. It was in Ashoka civilisation that we started scripted the land. We have the capacity to adapt but also staying connected with our roots. We all carry that with us. Whether it is entertainment or cuisine, we take it with us. We were millet eaters, but we stopped doing that. That is what costed us our health. We can just go back to our food, yoga and have true preventive healthcare. This system comes from Arthvarved. It went to outside India and came back to us as Unani. This is already written, so nobody can claim that it doesn’t come from India. Sushruta Samhita is the first book of medicine that was written in India, but nobody gives credit to it. This is what India’s soft part is all about. Our soft part is so soft that we forget to take credit. We need to take credit and brand it too. We need to say that it comes from ‘us’.”
Meenakshi Lekhi
Minister of state for Culture of India
Mauritius holds Aapravasi Ghat as a mark of Indians
“Whenever I come to India, I feel like I am in my mother’s lap. I congratulate MP govt to put together PBD. It is a calling of connect to our roots. Our ancestors are more connected to Mauritius. Our ancestors left India about five generations before, but India doesn’t leave our heart. Mauritius has a large Indian diaspora. From 1918 to 1943, British brought Indians to Mauritius with the intention of slaver and now, where Aapravasi Ghat as a World Heritage site. We have tightly clutched to our sankaras and values. Our shared linkage to India has made us proud. There is possible an invisible Ram-Setu between India and Mauritius.”
Avinash Teeluck
The Minister of Arts and Cultural Heritage, Mauritius
Need to connect Public Artist to Contemporary Artists
“One small monument can run an entire city. You can consider Taj Mahal as an example. We call contemporary artist a craftsman when he works in a village instead of respecting their art. An artist is an artist when he is branded as one and other true artists are labelled as a craftsmen. We ignore the true artists and their work. We need to work together. There will be a conflict, but it will find the energy and form what it is meant to. When you visit a temple, there is energy filtration, this process of making is an art. We need to connect public art to contemporary art. Writing on stones is an art now, but it was a communication.”
Adwaita Gadanayak
Director general of the National Gallery of Modern Art which is under the Ministry of Culture
Leverage the soft power
We need to work on how leverage the soft power. We can do it by:
• Take soft Indian power out of the kettle.
• We should explore regional arts and crafts to give variety.
• We need to support propagation of Indian cultures by creating partnership.
Meera Ravi
Writer
Nigeria & India are similar in values
“I am representing Nigeria and would like to talk about the effect of Bollywood to Nollywood. I created Namaste Wahala on similar lines.”
Hamisha Daryani Ahuja
Film maker
India though represented as a ‘soft power’ in its benevolent form needs to begin branding and taking credit for its craft. Citing this, the panellist led by Minister of state for Culture of India, discussed on ‘Leveraging the Soft Power of India - Goodwill through Craft, Cuisine & Creativity’ in PBD Convention at Brilliant Convention Centre on Monday.
India needs to Brand its Knowledge!
“Whenever I think of India, the first image of Bharat comes into my mind. The first ancient image of dancing girl comes to my mind from Indus Valley. It is a civilisation that is soft, creative and technically sound. The west has learnt that pose from us. The problem is that we did not patent our poses or skills. We believed in sharing of knowledge. The image of a girl standing peacefully also promotes non-violence. If you are an artist, what is that they are working on? Their thought process is engaged with themselves. They are competing with themselves. Thus, we have Harappan civilisation. It was in Ashoka civilisation that we started scripted the land. We have the capacity to adapt but also staying connected with our roots. We all carry that with us. Whether it is entertainment or cuisine, we take it with us. We were millet eaters, but we stopped doing that. That is what costed us our health. We can just go back to our food, yoga and have true preventive healthcare. This system comes from Arthvarved. It went to outside India and came back to us as Unani. This is already written, so nobody can claim that it doesn’t come from India. Sushruta Samhita is the first book of medicine that was written in India, but nobody gives credit to it. This is what India’s soft part is all about. Our soft part is so soft that we forget to take credit. We need to take credit and brand it too. We need to say that it comes from ‘us’.”
Meenakshi Lekhi
Minister of state for Culture of India
Mauritius holds Aapravasi Ghat as a mark of Indians
“Whenever I come to India, I feel like I am in my mother’s lap. I congratulate MP govt to put together PBD. It is a calling of connect to our roots. Our ancestors are more connected to Mauritius. Our ancestors left India about five generations before, but India doesn’t leave our heart. Mauritius has a large Indian diaspora. From 1918 to 1943, British brought Indians to Mauritius with the intention of slaver and now, where Aapravasi Ghat as a World Heritage site. We have tightly clutched to our sankaras and values. Our shared linkage to India has made us proud. There is possible an invisible Ram-Setu between India and Mauritius.”
Avinash Teeluck
The Minister of Arts and Cultural Heritage, Mauritius
Need to connect Public Artist to Contemporary Artists
“One small monument can run an entire city. You can consider Taj Mahal as an example. We call contemporary artist a craftsman when he works in a village instead of respecting their art. An artist is an artist when he is branded as one and other true artists are labelled as a craftsmen. We ignore the true artists and their work. We need to work together. There will be a conflict, but it will find the energy and form what it is meant to. When you visit a temple, there is energy filtration, this process of making is an art. We need to connect public art to contemporary art. Writing on stones is an art now, but it was a communication.”
Adwaita Gadanayak
Director general of the National Gallery of Modern Art which is under the Ministry of Culture
Leverage the soft power
We need to work on how leverage the soft power. We can do it by:
• Take soft Indian power out of the kettle.
• We should explore regional arts and crafts to give variety.
• We need to support propagation of Indian cultures by creating partnership.
Meera Ravi
Writer
Nigeria & India are similar in values
“I am representing Nigeria and would like to talk about the effect of Bollywood to Nollywood. I created Namaste Wahala on similar lines.”
Hamisha Daryani Ahuja
Film maker