IAS Literary Society follows ancient India's 'Vad' and 'Shastrarth' philosophy to bridge gaps between nations

Archana Sharma

Jaipur, April 11 (IANS) Have you ever seen civil servants going out of the way to bridge the gap between nations by holding dialogues on any contemporary issue and organising events to inspire future generations by inviting well-known names from the world of astronomy, literature, science, Bollywood and what not.

The IAS Literary Society, Rajasthan (the Literary Society of the IAS Association in Rajasthan) has been working hard to bridge the gap between nations, presently India and France, by holding dialogues on diverse books, topics etc.

In fact, the society is also working to bridge the gap between civil servants and civil society by organising discussions with famous names from diverse fields to inspire the new generation with their untold stories.

Mugdha Sinha, secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Rajasthan said, "Our ancient civilisation is based on the concept of 'Vad', that is dialogue. In ancient times, 'Shastraarth', that is an Indian tradition of sharing multiple perspectives through discussions and debates, were regular affairs. Now, we are trying to follow the same trend and our aim is to connect, communicate and establish comprehension by holding meaningful dialogues and bring civil servants and civil society together in conversations."

Recently the IAS Literary Society collaborated with the French Embassy under the Bonjour India Festival event and invited Philippe Claudel to discuss 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Questioning Human Vices in Literature'. Claudel is a French writer and film director whose work has won him the prix Renaudot award in France.

The writer spoke on "Brodeck's Report" which is a historic novel about a concentration camp survivor and the effect of Nazism.

"It's contemporary to hold this dialogue during present time when Ukraine and Russia are at war", said Mugdha.

Speaking to IANS, she shared how actively the society organised online sessions on science and health communication during the two years of lockdown.

"We worked with a lot of hospitals namely Kokilaben hospital-Mumbai, AIIMS and many more. In fact, a year back, we invited Wg Cdr Rakesh Sharma (AC) to share his experience on "Mission Space".

"He was the first man from India who went to space representing India and has been my childhood hero. So it was great interacting with him to know his unshared experiences with the audience. We also invited Padma Vibhushan Dr R. Chidambaram, Former Scientific Advisor to the Govt of India and the scientist involved in the Pokhran tests of India in one of our online sessions.

"Recently, we conducted an event which discussed how the father's role becomes important when the daughter starts menstruating if the mother is working.

"In fact, we are trying to cater to all genres", she said adding "We also discussed Didda, the warrior queen of Kashmir, who ruled Kashmir for over 5 decades."

The IAS Literary Society invited Ashish Kaul to discuss his book "The Warrior Queen of Kashmir", which focuses back on lesser know Women of India.

"We have organised sessions with the Haitian poet and French author Louis Phillipe Dalembert on Home and the World- Migration, Identity and Exile.

"In fact, the French embassy has been so welcoming that it donated a huge number of books translated into Hindi or other languages to Jawahar Kala Kendra which is the centre of cultural events in Jaipur.

"Now, this corner is called a French corner in JKK.

"At that time, I was working with the culture department and now I am working with the Science and Technology department. What I know is that France has been giving many scholarships to students and I wish that a few students from our state are selected under these scholarships to spread their wings and fly high," she said smilingly.

Mugdha is the secretary of this society and has been taking the lead in organising such events which have generated a huge demand from the people who don't want to miss this one of its kind festival which discusses literature with science and Bollywood among others.