Jaishankar to launch 'Connecting through Culture', an anthology on India's soft power

By Payal Mehta
New Delhi [India], July 11 : External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will be launching an anthology of essays on various aspects of India's soft power on Wednesday titled 'Connecting through Culture', a first-of-its-kind book that is a joint project of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA).
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan will be the Guest of Honour at this function to be held at Sushma Swaraj Bhavan in the national capital. Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, President ICCR and Sachchidanand Joshi, Member Secretary of the IGNCA have jointly edited this book which contains a total of 23 articles.
From Indian epics to Ayurveda and from Indian dance to cuisines, this anthology covers a wide range of issues. lt also talks about Indian Democracy and the Indian diaspora as ingredients of India's soft power. An independent section in this anthology is devoted to Universal Heroes produced by India and it includes Gautam Buddha, Sri Guru Nanak, Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi.
A galaxy of researchers, academics and artists who have contributed to this anthology include celebrated author Amish Tripathi, researcher Pushpesh Pant, Jaya Jaitley, Christopher Benninger, Kapil Kapoor, and Gandhian thinker Rajeev Vora. Besides Arif Mohammed Khan, both the editors too have contributed their articles in this volume.
'The idea behind this book is to create a structured resource for deeper understanding of the idea of India as manifested through India's rich traditional knowledge, philosophical foundations of our worldview and our vibrant arts' says the editor duo, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe and Sachchidanand Joshi.