Author Dr. Ganesh N. Devi Appears September 24 to Discuss the Origins, Evolution, and Present-Day Reality of the Civilization and People of the Indian Subcontinent
Chicago, Illinois (August 30, 2023) – The Kalapriya Center for Indian Performing Arts today announced it will be hosting a book signing and discussion on The Indians: Histories of a Civilization edited by Dr. Ganesh N. Devy, Tony Joseph, and Ravi Korisettar on Sunday, September 24, 2023, from 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. at 2101 S. Wabash Ave. in Chicago. Tickets ($100) are available at www.kalapriya.org and include a signed copy of the book, as well as a post-event dinner reception.
The book, The Indians: Histories of a Civilization is arguably the most ambitious project of its kind, undertaken to answer the question of how to map the origins, evolution, and present-day reality of civilization on the Indian subcontinent and its people during a period of about 12,000 years, from the last Ice Age to the twenty-first century. More than one hundred of South Asia’s foremost scholars, including several from the University of Chicago, have contributed essays to the book, addressing non-specialist readers and equipping them to make sense of this collective identity on the basis of scientific and scholarly research.
“This event is the latest in our Cultural Sundays series at Kalapriya’s new Center in the South Loop. This series began in 2020 at the height of the pandemic to make significant contributions to our rich culture through programming that is educational, inspirational, and focused on community building,” said Dr. Mridu Sekhar, President of the Board of Directors at The Kalapriya Center for Indian Performing Arts. “We are honored to welcome Dr. Ganesh Devy, one of the foremost experts in South Asian history and culture to our Center to share his knowledge with us about the many contributions the Indian civilization has made to the world of literature, philosophy, and the arts.”
Dr. Ganesh Devy is a cultural activist whose accomplishments include spearheading the ambitious People’s Linguistic Survey of India (PLSI) project. In The Indians: Histories of a Civilization, Dr. Devy has put together what we know - scientifically - over the past 12,000 years: history, culture, languages, society, and political movements as well as the archeological and genetic basis of this knowledge base. India’s first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, emphasized how the arrival of the many peoples into the subcontinent contributed to its rich and diverse culture in his book The Discovery of India. Dr. Devy’s sometimes controversial thesis, rooted in his lifelong work with the indigenous and tribal communities, pushes back on those who today would prefer to rewrite this history and focus on the horrors of these “invasions.”
Tony Joseph and Ravi Korisettar serve as co-editors to provide expertise on the scientific themes, along with Dr. Devy, to provide adequate space for histories of various regions, faiths, and languages that constitute the ‘idea of India’ founded in immense diversity. It is divided into seven parts from the evolution of humans on the subcontinent to today.
###
Comments