"It was a wonderful experience interacting with you and appreciate the way you have planned and executed the whole publication process within the agreed timelines.”
Subrat SaurabhAuthor of Kuch Woh Pal
Bharat is a civilisational-cultural unity that has stood strong for at least five thousand years. The people of the land defined by its geographical boundaries represent a unified culture transcending many of the divisive narratives breaking India today—Hindus versus non-Hindus, Dravidians versus non-Dravidians, tribals versus non-tribals, upper castes versus lower castes, and so on. The essence of Bharat is Sanatana Dharma, a phenomenon best understood as a conglomerate of many traditions—both Vedic and non-Vedic. Though the foundational basis of Indian culture has been Vedic, the interaction with non-Vedic traditions involved synchrony, syncretism, and even debates, but without physical violence. However, beyond all that, the fundamental characteristic of traditions toward each other has been "indifference to differences." This is the key to understanding the overwhelmingly peaceful nature of multiculturalism in the country, which involves many languages, religions, faiths, and sub-cultures. The current understanding of the world and India only fuels conflict. A deeper comprehension of traditional India could potentially rediscover solutions for the pluralism of the world packing now into increasingly smaller geographical areas.
Pingali Gopal
Dr. Pingali Gopal, MS, MCh, FRCS, is a Paediatric and Neonatal Surgeon based in Warangal. Dr. Gopal was born in Assam and later, because of his father's work as an oil company geophysicist, moved successively to Calcutta (now Kolkata), Dehradun, Jammu, Ahmedabad, and Mumbai. He belongs to a Telugu-speaking family.
He completed a major part of his schooling and medical education in Ahmedabad. Specialising further as a Paediatric Surgeon from Mumbai and Birmingham, UK, he returned to India and settled in Warangal-Hanamakonda. He writes on matters concerning Indian culture in various online magazines such as Pragyata, IndicaToday, Bṛhat, and Indiafacts.
In trying to understand Indian culture, he is a follower of stalwarts like Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo, Sri Ramana Maharishi, Anand Coomaraswamy, and—in more recent times—Michel Danino, Vishwa Adluri, Chittaranjan Naik, and SN Balagangadhara. He also dabbles in short stories and has recently published a collection of stories, From Here to the Stars. He has been living and practicing in Hanamkonda-Warangal, Telangana, since 1999.
