My talk on Mahatma Gandhi at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul “I want to know more about Gandhi after listening to your talk.” – A student “I agree with you that wars must be outlawed. But who listens to the voice of small countries in shaping the destiny of the world? Why has the United Nations become so powerless?” – A student “I am offering a course on Gandhi to my students next year. Your talk has helped me understand Gandhi better.” – A lecturer “Koreans want to know more about India, which is a friendly country. There has never been any hostility between our two countries.” – A former student These were some of the comments/ questions voiced at the end of the talk I delivered at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul this afternoon. This is South Korea’s leading institution for studies and research in international relations. It trains most of Korea’s diplomats and experts in world affairs. The topic of my talk was: ‘A Gandhian Vision for Non-Violent and Planet-Friendly Global Development: How the Internet Age, Guided by Ethics, Can Realise It’. The topic was of much interest to the South Korean audience. South Korea is at the forefront of technology-driven development, and has achieved breathtaking progress in a short time. (It has the fastest broadband Internet service in the world.) At the same time, it is also taking major steps in making its economic growth environment-friendly. At another level, the anti-war theme has a special appeal to Korean people. As many as 1.5-2 million people perished in the Korean War (1950-53), which also led to the division of the country between North and South Koreas. I was received by Prof. Lim Geundong, President of the Korean Society for Indian Studies (he speaks Hindi and Sanskrit) and Dr. Shin Minha, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Indian Studies (he also speaks fluent Hindi). I was happy to see so many young Korean students taking keen interest in the contemporary relevance of Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy. I am grateful to India’s ambassador to South Korea, Shri Vishnu Prakash, for arranging my talk. (One of the photos shows the ‘Barack Obama Trail’ on the university campus, commemorating the US President’s visit to, and address at, Hankuk University in March 2012.)
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 16:52:28 +0000
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