Our goal in India Discovery Center has been to understand the distinction or difference a person of Indian origin might bring to a table of nations.  All human beings have general needs of food, housing and survival.  What does India offer if any to the world civilization?  I want to summarize our findings so far.

Through our studies and observations, we have come to believe that besides survival, the human being is also creative.  Creativity lives in the brain and operates through imagination and intelligence.  It is a process through which we adapt to the environment in stead of breaking it down.  We understand that the natural resources are helpful to us and we learn to economize.  We appreciate the role of sun and water.  We appreciate co-existence and harmony.  We understand the power of the society and its constraints.  We understand that we don't live by ourselves but we live with the help of nature and the grace of the universe.

The above is not a profound revelation but is not realized unless one reflects on life for a long time. Any reflection needs security of food.  This is where India as a land has been blessed by nature.  Whenever the first man arrived in India, he discovered that he does not have to explore any further.  Food, water and good climate were all there.  India became a base for all people who arrived.  They all adopted the empirical principle of respecting the nature since they appreciated the landscape and realized that the nature was providing the nourishment.  Later they discovered that nature also healed. Food hygiene was declared claiming that longevity was a human right!

Security of food and good health propelled people to devote time into music, dance and art.  People had time to create elaborate social festivals and spend long hours in preparing for artistic productions. A grass-root culture developed based on artistic expressions, fashion and design.  It went to the extent that the performing arts were coded and put together for people to learn and be trained. The code became the only resource of its kind in the world.  People discovered the play of the mind and the role of speech.  The study of speech and articulation became an obsession among the Indian people.  Analysis of speech led to better communication and precision in messaging.  The latter helped in creating better quality of life. All productions took a stamp of finer aspects of expression.

India produced the first and the only grammar book in the world and empowered people to express freely.  Freedom of expression led to massive literature in all subjects.  They become the glory of India two thousand years ago.  Gradually literature became more focused, lyrical and musical.  Technology developed to depict the finer aspects visually through paintings or carvings.  The regimentation of religion was removed to allow individual freedom which engineered further creativity in food, textiles, individual makeup, living style and faith.  India became a dynamic country throbbing with creativity building massive temples, elaborate frescoes, intricate designs which made the country the most opulent nation in the world.

We have come so far in our studies.  We will offer our observations in a survey seminar on March 31, Sunday, afternoon 2 PM at Lexington Public Library. We will cover the five periods: Indus, Vedic, Classical, Golden and Hindu in twenty-minute segments.  We will have a Q&A session.  We will make this free survey seminar educational for all. The siting in the Library large meeting room is restricted to eighty people.  Please register by sending mail to indidiscoverycenterusa@gmail.com to reserve your seat.  Please visit http://www.indiadiscoverycenter.org to learn more.

Then we will continue on our exploration to go further.  India would be occupied and would be ruled by various foreign elements.  We will explore the splendor of the Mughals and the resistance of the Marathas in our series seminar VI at Bemis Hall in Lincoln on May 4.  We will announce further next month.