As part of the Gandhi webinar series the next talk would be with Rajni Bakshi on  ‘The art of disagreement: Gandhi's gift to us’

Please do join us on YouTube live for the interaction:  Friday, June 12th 2020   6:30 pm – 7:45 pm ||  https://youtu.be/ZFsXsHHqiEY

About the speaker

Rajni Bakshi, is a Mumbai-based author and speaker. Her books include ‘Bapu Kuti: Journeys in Rediscovery of Gandhi’, which inspired the Hindi film “Swades” starring Shah Rukh Khan; ‘Long Haul: the Bombay Textile Workers Strike 1982-83’ , ‘Conversations and Freedom: For a Market Culture Beyond Greed and Fear’ . Rajni has also written several monographs and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti, an autonomous body under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. From 2013 to 2016 Rajni was the Gandhi Peace Fellow at Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations, a Mumbai based foreign policy think tank.  She serves on the Boards of Child Rights and You (CRY), Citizens for Peace (CfP) and the Centre of Education and Documentation (CED).

The webinar will be on “The art of disagreement: Gandhi's gift to us” where Rajni would discuss how ‘to be human is to disagree. Diversity of views and convictions has been an essential part of what has brought our species this far. The scale of viciousness and open hatred over social media may be new but the problem itself is very old. However, Gandhi’s life and his politics brought forth a truth that ordinary people knew instinctively — namely, that a mat-bhed, difference over an issue, need not become a man-bhed, a division of hearts. Engagement with the other’s views is always possible and worthwhile — no matter how obnoxious that view may appear at first glance. This requires a willingness to both listen deeply to the “other” so as to decipher their underlying concerns and anxieties and to respond accordingly.’

The talk will be followed by a Q & A session.