- University of Delhi, International Relations, Faculty Memberadd
- Sunil Sondhi is a distinguished scholar in the field of intercultural relations and organization. After completing do... moreSunil Sondhi is a distinguished scholar in the field of intercultural relations and organization. After completing doctoral research from the University of Delhi he did post-doctoral research at the George Washington University and the University of Toronto. During his research and teaching career spanning over three decades, Sunil has received many international research awards, which include: J. William Fulbright Fellowshipedit
The unifying vision of reason and intuition in Indian linguistic tradition as established in the Vedas, Upanishads, and the works of scholars and sages like Panini, Patanjali, Bharatmuni, Bhartrihari, and Abhinavagupta, embraces levels... more
The unifying vision of reason and intuition in Indian linguistic tradition as established in the Vedas, Upanishads, and the works of scholars and sages like Panini, Patanjali, Bharatmuni, Bhartrihari, and Abhinavagupta, embraces levels and structure of language, objective reality, and the absolute reality. The search for general rules underlying the diversity of languages is ultimately an exploration of the very nature of human mind and its relation with reality. It reveals the interconnections between language, thought and reality. Panini's grammar, Bharatmuni's view of dramatic performance as an integrated entity, and Bhartrihari's view of sentence as a meaningful unit reveals the unifying relationship of the parts and the whole, between the objective reality of the world and the Absolute Reality, and between reason and intuition. The essential message of Indian classical texts with regard to language and communication is that there are different levels of language between the two extremes termed as Vaikhari and Pasyanti, which correspond to different levels of consciousness of the Absolute Reality. The Absolute Reality lies outside human perceptions of space and time and is, therefore, is not expressible in ordinary language. The experience of that reality can only be indicated by words that try to go beyond words. Meaningful thought and communication requires constant interplay of lower and higher levels of speech, symbolizing constant interplay of the relative and Absolute Reality, and reason and intuition.
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The idea of legal culture has had an important place in major recent debates about the nature and aims of law. The concept of legal culture means that law should be treated as embedded in the broader culture of society. In a sense, law is... more
The idea of legal culture has had an important place in major recent debates about the nature and aims of law. The concept of legal culture means that law should be treated as embedded in the broader culture of society. In a sense, law is culture. Concept of legal culture encompasses much more than the professional juristic realm. It refers to a more general consciousness or experience of law that is widely shared by those who constitute a nation. Culture is fundamental — a kind of lens through which all aspects of law must be perceived, or a gateway of understanding through which we must pass so as to have any genuine access to the meaning of law in society. Cultural concepts of law that emerge out of the several frames of reference in the dharmasastra, the republican governments in ancient India, and the constituent assembly debates enable us to view the law in India in an integrative perspective that is closer to Indian cultural tradition. The innovative value of historical and s...
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The complex web of Indian life and culture with its historic background of hoary past presents ceremonies, customs, and institutions which well-nigh defy the attempts of the anthropologist, sociologist, or the philosophical historian at... more
The complex web of Indian life and culture with its historic background of hoary past presents ceremonies, customs, and institutions which well-nigh defy the attempts of the anthropologist, sociologist, or the philosophical historian at anything like a systematic and satisfactory account of their sources and careers. For a proper interpretation of the institutions and practices obtaining in India at the present day the scientist has thus to lay under consideration the data of archaeology, ecology, as well as ethnology. But the study of Indian social facts and phenomena is yet in its nonage. We are yet in the stage of collecting materials about the manifold aspects of our socio-economic, socio-religious, and socio-political usages and theories. The science of Indian sociology is only in the making.
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The recent clashes between and India and China in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh region have once again brought to fore simmering border disputes between the two countries. This article highlights the proactive approach that Modi... more
The recent clashes between and India and China in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh region have once again brought to fore simmering border disputes between the two countries. This article highlights the proactive approach that Modi administration has adopted towards the long standing dispute.
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Kalakalpa IGNCA Journal of Arts.
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The problem of corruption in India has been widely documented and discussed. However, recent initiatives to establish institutional framework to combat corruption need further discussion. This article is an attempt to analyse the... more
The problem of corruption in India has been widely documented and discussed. However, recent initiatives to establish institutional framework to combat corruption need further discussion. This article is an attempt to analyse the governance initiatives required to address the corruption issue in India.
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The poor ability of the western studies in international relations to describe and explain, much less predict, the behavior of states in the global South is recognized as one of their primary shortcomings. This in part accounts for the... more
The poor ability of the western studies in international relations to describe and explain, much less predict, the behavior of states in the global South is recognized as one of their primary shortcomings. This in part accounts for the tepid reception that this body of scholarship has received within countries not counted among the great powers. Both academic and policy-making circles in the developing and less developed world are skeptical about a theoretical tradition whose claims to universalism not only ignore them, but also act to reify a global order within which they are destined to draw the short straw. The South Asian Region exemplifies this breach between contemporary studies in international relations and the multifarious problems besetting states and societies in the global South. Until very recently, the violence and social conflicts found in nearly every country of South Asia were not even on IR's radar screen. In this article I will discuss what contemporary IR sc...
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This monograph is a compilation of my three articles published in Kalākalpa: IGNCA Journal of Arts during 2020-21. The articles are based on research work for the ICSSR-IMPRESS project on ‘Culture and Communication in India: Contemporary... more
This monograph is a compilation of my three articles published in Kalākalpa: IGNCA Journal of Arts during 2020-21. The articles are based on research work for the ICSSR-IMPRESS project on ‘Culture and Communication in India: Contemporary Relevance of Indian Classical Texts’. It is the premise of this project that problems in language and communication within and between different cultures and societies emerge from a complex web of linguistic, social, and cultural factors that go beyond any individual, or event. The hypothesis is that to resolve this problem we need to look within the individual and the society and examine the disconnect between language and culture. India’s rich linguistic heritage is embedded in its composite and integrated culture. It is therefore imperative that problems in language proficiency and competence in India should be resolved on the basis of cultural foundations of Indian languages.
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Sabda Brahma: Science and spirit of Language in Indian Culture Study of language and communication has been an important concern in India’s intellectual and cultural tradition. All streams of Indian philosophical thinking included in their considerations the basic problem of language and communic...more
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ABSTRACT
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This article on the dharmasastra and modern law uses the concept of legal pluralism that has an important place in recent debates about the nature and aims of law. The concept of legal pluralism means that law should be treated as... more
This article on the dharmasastra and modern law uses the concept of legal pluralism that has an important place in recent debates about the nature and aims of law. The concept of legal pluralism means that law should be treated as embedded in the broader culture and tradition of society. In a sense, law is culture. Concept of legal pluralism emphasizes diversity in the professional juristic realm in different countries and societies. It refers to a general consciousness or experience of law that is widely shared by those who constitute a nation. Culture is fundamental-a kind of lens through which all aspects of law is perceived, or a gateway of understanding through which we must pass so as to have any genuine access to the meaning of law in society. 1 In India, the social and cultural concepts of law that emerge out of the several frames of reference in the Veda, Dharmasastra, the constituent assembly debates and the judicial decisions, enable us to view the law in an integrative perspective that is closer to Indian cultural tradition. The value of such historical and sociological approach lies in its unifying vision of the social, cultural and positivist aspects of the concepts of law in Indian tradition. A juridical system that does not correspond to the social and cultural sensitivities of a society can not be owned by the people as their system but will be seen as something foreign and imposed. Without a conducive social and cultural conceptualization mere formal law cannot create willing legal and moral obligation. A holistic concept of law including both ethical and legal perspectives seems to provide a more realistic picture of Indian legal tradition.
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This paper looks beyond the conventional study of international relations in terms of the idealist, realist or constructivist approaches and explores pathways for understanding and explaining India’s foreign relations in terms of... more
This paper looks beyond the conventional study of international relations in terms of the idealist, realist or constructivist approaches and explores pathways for understanding and explaining India’s foreign relations in terms of complementary probability rather than two-valued certainty in Western approaches. India’s approach to international relations is embedded in its cultural values derived from the Vedas, the Upanisads, and the Epics, which focus on proactively engaging and harmonizing empirical paradoxes rather than avoiding or rejecting empirical paradoxes. In this approach uncertainty and interdependence inherent in international relations is sought to be managed through intentionality, activism, engagement, and participation. Global presence of Hindu civilization is substantiation of India’s policy of spiritual realism in foreign relations. India’s rich legacy of statecraft and statesmanship over thousands of years shows us how Indian kings and emperors had the ability and wisdom to safeguard the interests of a sub-continental civilization, and leverage them abroad in the form of thought, religion, trade and culture. Indian civilization has influenced the cultural life of other nations far beyond the boundaries of India, in Southeast Asia and far away in the islands of the Indian and the Pacific Oceans, Tibet, China, Japan and Korea and in Sri Lanka. In the West, the tracks of Indian thought may be traced far into Central Asia.
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This monograph is a compilation of my three articles published in Kalākalpa: IGNCA Journal of Arts during 2020-21. The articles are based on research work for the ICSSR-IMPRESS project on ‘Culture and Communication in India: Contemporary... more
This monograph is a compilation of my three articles published in Kalākalpa: IGNCA Journal of Arts during 2020-21. The articles are based on research work for the ICSSR-IMPRESS project on ‘Culture and Communication in India: Contemporary Relevance of Indian Classical Texts’. It is the premise of this project that problems in language and communication within and between different cultures and societies emerge from a complex web of linguistic, social, and cultural factors that go beyond any individual, or event. The hypothesis is that to resolve this problem we need to look within the individual and the society and examine the disconnect between language and culture. India’s rich linguistic heritage is embedded in its composite and integrated culture. It is therefore imperative that problems in language proficiency and competence in India should be resolved on the basis of cultural foundations of Indian languages.
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Kalakalpa IGNCA Journal of Arts.
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Language is always cultural, it is shaped by and in turn shapes the cultural context from which it emerges. In Sanskrit, and in Indian languages derived from Sanskrit, like Hindi and Bengali, the term Sakti has been a cultural concept... more
Language is always cultural, it is shaped by and in turn shapes the cultural context from which it emerges. In Sanskrit, and in Indian languages derived from Sanskrit, like Hindi and Bengali, the term Sakti has been a cultural concept since the Vedic age. "There is no word of wider content in any language than this Sanskrit term meaning 'Power'" (Woodroffe, p.17). In the Indian notions about Sabda Sakti, meaning the 'Power of the Word', language is seen from the earliest times as creative power both at cosmic and human levels. Modern science sees energy as the ultimate form of reality. In India language has been worshipped and used as a manifestation of the energy of the goddess Saraswati since the Rg Veda. This article traces the evolution of the concept of Sabda Sakti from the time it first occurs in the Rg Veda. This cultural conceptualization of language continues later in the Atharva Veda and Yajur Veda in the form of religious and cultural practices. The development of the concept continues in other Indian classical texts like the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas, and the Upanishads, where Sabda Sakti is related to the origin of the universe, and the umbilical relationship of the cosmic energy and human speech is recognised. These ancient notions of Sabda Sakti were restated and further developed in Kashmir Shaivism in the 10 th and 11 th centuries. While the Vedas and Upanishads emphasized the contemplative aspect of Sabda Sakti, the Shaiva texts focused more on language as moralized power which is active and can be used for action. The study of Indian concept of Sabda Sakti as a cultural schema can be helpful in a better understanding of cultural roots of language and communication in India, and can contribute to further research in the field of cultural linguistics.
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The issue of corruption in India has been well documented and discussed. However, recent intiatives in establishing institutional framework to address the problem of corruption need further discussion. This article analyses the intitives... more
The issue of corruption in India has been well documented and discussed. However, recent intiatives in establishing institutional framework to address the problem of corruption need further discussion. This article analyses the intitives at social and government level to combat the problem of corruption in India in recent years.
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Study of language and communication has been an important concern in India's intellectual and cultural tradition. All streams of Indian philosophical thinking included in their considerations the basic problem of language and... more
Study of language and communication has been an important concern in India's intellectual and cultural tradition. All streams of Indian philosophical thinking included in their considerations the basic problem of language and communication. While the seeds of the study of language in India may be traced in the Rig Veda, and the study of the structure of language as authoritatively established in the Ashtadhyayi, a full-fledged statement and discussion of a science and spirit of language was given in Bhartrihari's Vakyapadiya. It was Bhartrihari who first systematically equated Brahma (Absolute Reality) with Sabda (language), going on to argue that all language arises as a manifestation of the Sabda Brahma. From the early investigations in the Veda, Pratisakhyas and Siksha, through the grammar of language in Ashtadhyayi and Mahabhasya, to the highest levels of consciousness of Sabda Brahma in Vakyapadia, and Spanda in Tantraloka, India's linguistic tradition bears clear imprint of the recognition that while grammar is important for good language, righteous language is good for coordination and integration in human communication. The connective potential of insightful language needs to be used to address the manifold problems of communication in interpersonal and intercultural relations. Enormous creativity is enfolded in the concept of Sabda Brahma. A deeper and wider understanding of the concept can help to establish a framework for further research and applied work in this direction.
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The recent clashes between and India and China in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh region have once again brought to fore simmering border disputes between the two countries. This article highlights the proactive approach that Modi... more
The recent clashes between and India and China in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh region have once again brought to fore simmering border disputes between the two countries. This article highlights the proactive approach that Modi administration has adopted towards the long standing dispute.
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The rationale for this paper is that the negative trends in present day communication in media and public language in India seem to have formed a complex web of social and political factors in certain sections of society that go beyond... more
The rationale for this paper is that the negative trends in present day communication in media and public language in India seem to have formed a complex web of social and political factors in certain sections of society that go beyond any individual, ideology or situation. To find a solution to this problem we need to look within and examine the disconnect between the roots of language in the Indian society and the use to which language is being put by people in certain sections who are not connected with India's linguistic tradition of discipline of words. It is in this context that the classical texts on communication in India need to be explored and relevant ideas adopted for integrative and accommodative communication. Exploration of Indian intellectual tradition in communication is also relevant in the context of the emerging trend of scholars' challenge from the non-Western world against the appropriateness of Eurocentric paradigm of communication. It is argued that the entire focus in India's linguistic tradition has been on restraint and discipline of words 'Sabdanusanam' in accordance with prescribed norms derived from wider social context to achieve meaningful and harmonious communication in the society.
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The poor ability of the western studies in international relations to describe and explain, much less predict, the behavior of states in the global South is recognized as one of their primary shortcomings. This in part accounts for the... more
The poor ability of the western studies in international relations to describe and explain, much less predict, the behavior of states in the global South is recognized as one of their primary shortcomings. This in part accounts for the tepid reception that this body of scholarship has received within countries not counted among the great powers. Both academic and policy-making circles in the developing and less developed world are skeptical about a theoretical tradition whose claims to universalism not only ignore them, but also act to reify a global order within which they are destined to draw the short straw. The South Asian Region exemplifies this breach between contemporary studies in international relations and the multifarious problems besetting states and societies in the global South. Until very recently, the violence and social conflicts found in nearly every country of South Asia were not even on IR's radar screen. In this article I will discuss what contemporary IR scholarship may or may not offer in its treatment of the South Asian Region, and of the armed conflicts the South Asian Region in particular. My analysis will be limited to three issues familiar to the developing world, as seen through the lens of South Asia's current crisis: the correlation of state weakness with violence and instability, the post-territorial nature of security threats, and the North-South power disparity.
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The world community has confronted the threat posed by global terrorism with an unprecedented worldwide coalition that is employing every tool of national and international power at its command: diplomacy, law enforcement, intelligence,... more
The world community has confronted the threat posed by global terrorism with an unprecedented worldwide coalition that is employing every tool of national and international power at its command: diplomacy, law enforcement, intelligence, financial investigation, military action, and humanitarian aid. Just as terrorism constitutes a fluid, elusive enemy, so the new anti-terror alliance has assumed new and flexible forms in which different countries assume different levels of action and responsibility. (1) Nations have brought their own experiences, concerns, and even policy differences to this war against terrorism. That was inevitable, and in many ways positive; the diversity and flexible nature of this unprecedented coalition is one of its strengths. However, that also meant that the impact of war against terrorism would not be similar in different regions and countries. India has been at war against terrorism in Kashmir for much longer than the United States or United Nations. That war has vital military and operational components, which will proceed in different ways for months and probably years to come. But force alone cannot win this war. Victory requires a longer-term, political strategy as well. It is more than clear that one of the main factors that have helped in the spread of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir has been chronically bad governance in that state. The campaign against terrorism in Kashmir can thus be characterized as a strategy for victory that requires the
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Global development has broken through the boundaries of space, time, cultural assumptions, and the scope, structure, and function of human society. It not only demands new ways of thinking and organization, but also opens up new... more
Global development has broken through the boundaries of space, time, cultural assumptions, and the scope, structure, and function of human society. It not only demands new ways of thinking and organization, but also opens up new imperatives for investigating linkages between thought and action, knowledge and being, structure and process. These new imperatives of global development demand a new way of communication in order to achieve skill in the process of intercultural interaction. It is the purpose of this paper to examine the principles and practice of intercultural communication skill in the context of the Indian concepts of Advaita, Sahridayata, and Samdarsana.
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OBJECTIVES
•Nature of Terrorism in India
•Impact of War on Terror in India
•Counterterrorism Strategy for India
•Nature of Terrorism in India
•Impact of War on Terror in India
•Counterterrorism Strategy for India
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This article on the dharmasastra and modern law uses the concept of legal pluralism that has an important place in recent debates about the nature and aims of law. The concept of legal pluralism means that law should be treated as... more
This article on the dharmasastra and modern law uses the concept of legal pluralism that has an important place in recent debates about the nature and aims of law. The concept of legal pluralism means that law should be treated as embedded in the broader culture and tradition of society. In a sense, law is culture. Concept of legal pluralism emphasizes diversity in the professional juristic realm in different countries and societies. It refers to a general consciousness or experience of law that is widely shared by those who constitute a nation. Culture is fundamental-a kind of lens through which all aspects of law is perceived, or a gateway of understanding through which we must pass so as to have any genuine access to the meaning of law in society. 1 In India, the social and cultural concepts of law that emerge out of the several frames of reference in the Veda, Dharmasastra, the constituent assembly debates and the judicial decisions, enable us to view the law in an integrative perspective that is closer to Indian cultural tradition. The value of such historical and sociological approach lies in its unifying vision of the social, cultural and positivist aspects of the concepts of law in Indian tradition. A juridical system that does not correspond to the social and cultural sensitivities of a society can not be owned by the people as their system but will be seen as something foreign and imposed. Without a conducive social and cultural conceptualization mere formal law cannot create willing legal and moral obligation. A holistic concept of law including both ethical and legal perspectives seems to provide a more realistic picture of Indian legal tradition.