The imperatives of global development demand new ways of communication in order to achieve better understanding in the process of human interaction. This project aims at examining the contemporary relevance of the principles and practices of communication enshrined in the classical texts of India. The problem of separation of communication studies, media studies, and cultural studies has been only partially addressed in recent years. This project aims to examine the linkages between culture, communication and society from the perspective of Indian classical texts.

1. Contemporary Relevance of Indian Classical Texts
Sunil Sondhi
IMPRESS P3454

2. Objectives
 To identify and understand the distinctive elements of Indian
communication system from the classical texts in grammar,
philosophy, arts, and sciences.
 Four elements of ontology, axiology, epistemology, and methodology,
can be used to understand the nature, goals, ways of knowing, and ways
of reaching the goal of Indian communication.
 To highlight the continuity and contemporary relevance of India’s
intellectual tradition in the field of communication.
 To show that a unifying approach of integrating research work
in communication studies with grammar, philosophy, arts and science is
a fruitful area of inquiry.
 To examine the gulf between Indian cultural values and communication
studies and practices in educational institutions and the media.

3. Indian Classical Texts
 Nada Bindu Upanishad
 Nighantu and Nirukta
 Ashtadhyayi
 Tolkappiyam and Silapaddikaram (Tamil)
 Mahabhasya
 Natyashastra
 Vakyapadiya
 Bhavartha Dipika and Amratanubhava
(Marathi)
 Caryapadas (Bengali)

4. Literature
 Belvalker, S.K. (1915) Systems of Sanskrit Grammar. Poona, University of Bombay.
 Potter, Karl H. (2011) The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, Vol 1: Bibliography.
Delhi: MLBD.
 Capra, Fritjof, and Pier Luisi (2014) The Systems View of Life. Delhi: Cambridge
University Press.
 Chatterji, Suniti Kumar, ed. (2016) The Cultural Heritage of India, Vol V: Languages
and Literatures. Calcutta: The Ramakrishna Mission.
 Coward Horold G., K. Kunjunni Raja, ed. (1990) Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies,
Vol. V: The Philosophy of the Grammarians. Delhi: MLBD.
 Dasgupta, Surendra Nath, and Sushil Kimar De (2017) A History of Sanskrit
literature: The Classical Period. Delhi: MLBD.
 Iyer, K.A. Subramania (1992) Bhartrihari, A Study of Vakyapadia in the Light of the
Ancient Commentaries. Pune: Deccan College.
 Matilal, B.K. (2014) The Word and the World: India’s Contribution to the Study of
Language. Delhi: Oxford.
 Vatsyayan, Kapila (2018) Bharata: The Natyashastra. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi.

5. Research Gap
 In relation to the systemic level influences, communication
studies have tended to focus in particular on political and economic
aspects of social systems. Other crucial variables also need to be
taken into account.
 One such variable relates to a nation’s cultural system and how
this impacts the media and communication systems.
 The relative lack of research in this area is somewhat surprising, The
present research will continue the efforts to fill this gap in the Indian
context.
 The discourse on Indian communication has so far been limited
mainly to Panini, Patanjali, and Bhartrihari. This project will
explore more extensive resources from diverse regions in India.
 The research project will also attempt to integrate research work
in biology and neuroscience with the work in education, culture and
communication studies.

6. Western Model

7. Indian Model

8. Methodology
 The methodology for conducting research on this project will take
the three faceted interactive process of discursive mediation, the
social and political context, and lived realities as the basic structure.
 Research methods will include archival research, analytical
surveys, and in depth interviews.
 Archival materials on India’s classical texts will be available at
different institutions in the country and for this inter-institutional
team of research associates from major regions will be helpful.
 Analytical surveys will be helpful in determining the relationship
between communication styles and the cultural values of people from
diverse areas.
 In depth interviews with renowned scholars in India’s
intellectual tradition from different regions and eminent media
professionals will be helpful for better understanding of relationship
between culture and communication.

9. Social Relevance
 Wider awareness about the Indian classical texts on
communication will instill a sense of pride in Indian society
and culture.
 Since a number of these texts will be in regional languages the
project will serve to bring into the mainstream regional
contributions to Indian concept of communication.
 At present communication studies and cultural studies are
dominated by Western concepts and theories. As a result,
practices of media and communication are often divorced from
the ground realities of life of the people in the country.
 Study of communication in the context of Indian culture
should make journalism and media professionals more
sensitive towards Indian cultural values of coordinative
and integrative communication.

10. Policy Relevance
 Recent studies on higher education in India have shown that
very few graduates were highly refined in their written and
spoken communication skills.
 There is also a perception that the quality of teaching in
colleges in India is distressing, and the competence levels of
the faculty in many universities and colleges are very low.
 In this scenario, the finding of the proposed research project
will be relevant for policy making.
 There is an urgent need to have another look at the content
and structure of education in the country and take a systems
view of communication as part of Indian culture.
 There is a need to develop and Indian perspective on
communication which should reflect and reinforce the
reality lived by the people of India.

11. Innovative Research
 The innovativeness of proposed research lies in its unifying
vision of theological, metaphysical, and scientific aspects of
communication.
 The Western model sees communication as transfer of
information through a channel. In practice, neither
“information” nor “channel” exist in isolation from other
forces that shape communication.
 The disintegrated way of thinking is a typical Western way
of reason, emphasizing a fixed, deterministic world, focusing
on separate objects instead of the larger picture.
 Indian classical texts speak of constant change and
contradictions, searching for relationships of people,
things, and words, to understand complex phenomena as
interaction of simpler parts rather than a monolithic entity.

12. Research Institutes
 Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts
11, Man Singh Rd, Central Secretariat, New Delhi, 11001
Phone: 011 2338 8460
 The Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute,
84, Thiruvika Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai 600 004.
Email: ksrinst@gmail.com
Phone No: 044-24985320.
 Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute
812, Shivajinagar, Chiplunkar Road,
Pune 411004.
Tel. : +91-20 - 25656932
E-mail : bhandarkarinstitute@gmail.com
 The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture
Golpark, Kolkata 700029
West Bengal.
Phone: (91-33) 2464 1303/04/05 (EPBX)
Email:rmic.golpark@gmail.com