India: multiple dialogues

Abstract

The paper explores the origin of the dialogue form in India and its roots in traditional knowledge, discusses the meaning of dialogue and its role in the making of India today, and notes that longitudinal thinking could prove an effective mechanism for discussing and understanding differences. Dialogues when suspended may escalate conflict to irreversible levels, yet India’s multiple diversities have managed to co-exist because a unity has been created through this tradition of dialoguing, and its success as a nation, at various levels, has lied in its ability to adapt its rich tradition of dialoguing to contemporary challenges.