When I saw the course Gandhi’s Critique of Modernity on
YIFP curriculum, I expected it to be an extension of Makers of Modern India by
Rudrangshu Mukherjee. Gandhi was the only leader whom we did not discuss in
that course so I was looking forward to a story-telling of Gandhi’s life and
reading some of his writings. Critique of modernity was a phrase for me that
did not go beyond what Gandhi wrote in Hind Swaraj. Coming from a non-social
science background, my only introduction to such movements has been through Gil
Harris and Anunaya Choubey in their courses on Shakespeare and Art Appreciation
respectively. So here’s how the cloud of ideas has influenced me so far, where
the pivot is learning about modernity.
I am an economist and an engineer by training, so
rational thought is like the core of my being. It is surprising that while
championing rationality, I never stopped to define or explore what rationality
is.
