Introduction to Indian Conservatism
This Indica Course, based on the best selling book The Indian Conservative : A History of Indian Right-Wing Thought can be seen as an attempt at homage to enduring Indic traditions.
It focuses on the conservative intellectual tradition of considerable antiquity in India, going back to the Shanti Parva of the Mahabharata, the Tirukkural and the Apastamba Sutra of the Yajur Veda.
Faculty
4 May 2022 - 27 July 2022
06:00 PM-7:30PM IST
Every Wednesday
This Indica Course brings to focus the importance of a strong and persistent conservative intellectual tradition to counter any bias in academic programs that appear to have a visible preponderance of Marxist and Post-Modernist scholars.
Modern political conservatism traces its origins to the English thinker Edmund Burke. Modern economic conservatism traces its origins to Adam Smith and the Scottish enlightenment.
While acknowledging these roots, this Indica Course focused on the conservative intellectual tradition of considerable antiquity in India going back to the Shanti Parva of the Mahabharata, the Tirukkural and the Apastamba Sutra of the Yajur Veda.
Modern Indian conservatives must be credited for combining these strands and demonstrating an amazing synchronicity across time and space. While the bulk of the interest would tend to be in the political arena, this course will spend a fair amount of time on conservatism in the economic, social and aesthetic realms.
This Indica Course, based on the best selling book ” The Indian Conservative : A History of Indian Right-Wing Thought “ can be seen as an attempt at homage to enduring Indic traditions.
*Please note that if the number of registrations is less than 15, this Indica Course will be offered in the self-paced mode. The change of format shall be notified through email. Learners will also be notified when pre-recorded lectures are available for their perusal on the learning portal. There will no change in the course fee. Learners not interested in pursuing the self-paced format can either request for a transfer into any existing or upcoming course or a credit voucher redeemable in future for another course.
Faculty
Jaithirth (Jerry) Rao
Jaithirth (Jerry) Rao holds a Master’s degrees in Business Administration from the IIM-Ahmedabad and the University of Chicago and a PhD from IIT Bombay. He has been a visiting faculty member at IIM Ahmedabad and at IIT Bombay. He has been honoured Distinguished Alumnus Awards from Loyola College, Chennai, IIM Ahmedabad and Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago. Rao has been Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Harvard Business School.
He was the Founder, Chairman and Managing Director of Mphasis during which time he was awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award twice in 2001 & 2004, and the Karnataka State Rajyothsava Award in 2005. In the past, Rao has served as chairman of NASSCOM. He was with Citicorp for 20 years in various capacities, including the Head of Citibank” Development Division. Before that, Rao worked on building the bank’s retail and credit card franchises, apart from working in various parts of the world.
He is on the Board of VBHC Value Homes of which he is a founder.
Rao is a columnist who has written for Business India, Business World, Business Today, Times of India, Indian Express, Economic Times, Financial Express, Swarajya, Tehelka, Seminar, Economic and Political Weekly, India International Centre Quarterly, Harvard Business History Review and Theprint.in. Penguin India published Gemini II in 1995. This was a book of poetry which included Rao’s poems and the poems of another poet. His prose publications include: Notes from an Indian Conservative (Rupa), The Indian Conservative (Juggernaut) and Economist Gandhi