Thread by @gchikermane

1/n
Reverberations of #PLF2019 ringing in my ears, this ideas-packed edition, curated by @KanchanGupta and @ARanganathan72, is easily the best #LitFest I've attended.
That it is located in the land of Sri Aurobindo, @integralyog, gives it the Force of #nationalism.

A thread...

2/n
#PLF2019 is not a Left-wing #LitFest. But it isn't Right-wing either.
When I heard the various sessions, I knew that more than all other platforms of debate and discourse, it is here that India is articulating its Indian intellectual traditions.

3/n
But what is Indian? Why strike out and create a new category at #PLF2019?
Because, the Indian mind...
1. Cannot be captured and constrained into a single Left-Right box.
2. Is all-embracing, all-respectful.
3. Goes beyond toleration and epitomises acceptance.

4/n
The Indian approach is futuristic because...
1. It breaks out of narrow ideological confines.
2. It stands on, and is powered by, spirituality -- not religion, but spirituality.
3. It is the alternative that civilisations are evolving towards and destined for.

#PLF2019

5/n
Some insights for scholars-thinkers from #PLF2019:
1. New ideas from your field.
2. New windows from other fields.
3. New faces, young and old, speaking with energy and wisdom.
4. Cross-fertilisation of ideas, contexts, expressions.
5. Most important: post-sessions sessions.

6/n
From #Kashmir, #politics and #economics to the #Mahabharata, #science and #nationalism, every session at #PLF2019 was a Ganga of cultures and civilisations...washing the past, seeding the future.

7/n
As @thekiranbedi and @KeralaGovernor and several other thinkers mentioned, #PLF2019 is anchored in, and powered by, Sri Aurobindo's @integralyog's ideas on #nationalism and nationhood, culture and civilisation, and a sublime spirituality.

n/n
Gratitude to the organisers -- @ParthaHariharan @AloPal @ajitdatta @PondyLitFest at #PLF2019.

Looking forward to the videos -- and best wishes for #PLF2020!