Inside Pulse of A Civilisation – Tracing Ancestors’ Footsteps in World’s Largest Diaspora
Dr Kris Rampersad 
MultiMedia Innovator, Dr Kris Rampersad enters the Virtual Reality Universe at World Skills Centre, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha, India during the 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Content Creators' Influencer Tour
MultiMedia Mapping of India’s development 180 years after ancestors left
I have been trying to find the words to describe in sum the past few months that saw me as the New Year dawned on a plane to Bharat/India.
When I boarded on the invitation of the Government of India to attend the 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas flagship diaspora event with a blank creative canvas and turn audio-visual light in mapping India’s Journey to Viksit Bharat, there was already an inkling of optimism in the air. That I had previous experiences of India as a student of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication and as one of the first Caribbean guests of the inaugural PBD was all the more impetus for the invitation.
Delving into Pulse of Development of a Civilisation
‘Much has changed! You would be much surprised,” was the comment all ’round, from Indians residing in Trinidad and Tobago, as I hastily scrambled together what I believed would be essentials for my trip. With the very limited luggage allowance, of course, I sadly had to leave behind much of my creative equipment. A good call, I soon realised, because from the hectic ten-day official agenda, delving into the pulse of a civilisation among the oldest in the world requires a lot of load shedding – shedding of ideology, preconceived notions, cultural conditioning, education and perspectives cultivated from a particular reality as I would discover in my extended stay to deep-dive into the multifarious arenas of localised reach of IT, education, agriculture, heritage tourism while soaking up spirituality.
I was keen on tapping into the pulse of the districts our ancestors left whether by trickery or by force, some never to glance backwards, as they put their backs to the wheel to make a home in this new place as documented in my doctoral thesis, since published as Finding a Place.
With this visit I could expand, inform and augment the intended new creations that would mesh the knowledge of Finding a Place (now out of print and being upgraded and updated for New Multimedia) with LiTTscapes – Landscapes of Fiction both hailed for their groundbreaking and innovative treatment – on Epic Landscapes of History and Heritage. It would therefore close the circle in a rediscovery of what our ancestors left and what they may see were they to return today. (Make contact to support roll out).
I would get into details of the experiences as we go along, but suffice it now to say that a few words can hardly do justice to what I can only encapsule as an unforgettable phenomenal-packed life-altering experience.’
The carefully planned PBD Content Creators and Social Media Influencers tour organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs took us through ancient monuments to modern developments as the World Skills Centre, and a welcome greeting by 50,000 students.
Diaspora Contribution to Development
The PBD itself, staged in Bhubaneshwar Odisha on the theme of the Diaspora’s Contribution to Viksit Bharat provided insights into the feat in management of streams of attendees from every corner of the world and an exhibition that tapped into the cultural span of contributions, both opened by the Honourable Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, provided insights into those who identify as persons of Indian origin and/or non-resident Indians, in what is known as the World’s Largest Diaspora.
The official tour included visits to the creme-de-la-creme of iconic Indian monuments – the temples of Mukteshwar, and Sun Temple of Konark in Odisha, the natural wonder in Chillika Lake, New Delhi’s Humayan Tomb and Vrindaban’s Prem Mandir fresh-water lagoon and the Taj Mahal wall, all would have been completely satisfying glimpses in themselves, as I would disclose in due course.
Submerging in Maha Kumbh Mela
Top that with the Maha Kumbh Mela – from staying in a tent, then submerging literarily and figuratively – indeed, I took my seven dips in the Triveni Sangam – a phenomenal experience even if it did not, as it does, align with astronomical alignments that occur only once every 144 years.
That’s only in a nutshell. I will get into details within the unfolding substantial multimedia creations rendered as AuthenThink Intel, AI AnalyEthics, CEIBA-EDUtainment as a form of blended form of learning combining education and entertainment learning and culminating in the MultiMedia Micro Epic – the world’s newest creative genre that contextualises contemporary unfolding events into march of civilisation and futures our path into the Post Anthropocene!
Enfolded In India’s Pulsating Heart
After saying goodbye to the eclectic mix of content creators of our group, I am released for my extended stay into what I can only describe as the pulsating heart of India.
Families wholeheartedly adopted me as their own, folded me into a warm embrace. Thinkers, saints and the mystical Naga Sadhus, too, shared their enlightened visioning, academics opened up their classrooms and conferences, inviting debate on India’s development and my inputs on the missing link – forgotten elements of the vast diaspora. I was special guest at University of Banaras, presenting at three conferences and interfacing with students, at Gorakhpur making input into leveraging heritage using geospatial technologies and how India’s knowledge systems may accommodate the diversity of diaspora
And that was not all. The land my forefather’s left is a quintessential example of the seamless mesh of traditions and technologies, raw and real – India cannot hide the burden of providing for the world’s largest population – almost a quarter of the world’s population resides within its borders – that is aside from the large diaspora outside which it is reaching out to through events like PBD and other initiatives.
Natural Cultural Evolution
Astoundingly, some cultural elements that descendants of Indians have rooted in Trinidad and Tobago and our extended diaspora across North America and Europe have disappeared or are now disappearing from the Indian landscape, not just because of rapid development but also because of natural cultural evolution.
I seized the opportunity for an extended stay to identify best practices in cultural heritage tourism and other emerging sectors, as I analyse, map and identify development needs of the Global South in which India positions itself as a leader.
My extended stay took me through ancestral districts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar from where most of the descendants of Indians in Trinidad and Tobago originated. I took the opportunity to visit core heritage sites across Odisha, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Ayodhya, Mathura, Gokul, Vrindaban, Rishikesh, Haridwar, Kurukshetra, Hapur, Kabirpur, Delhi, Agra among others. I even went back to kindergarten to learn Hindi with children at district schools, spoke with community knowledge holders as scribes of Pandas, the record keepers of ancient ancestral lineages of Indian families.
Opportunities for Multipronged Diaspora Engagement
I was able to identify numerous opportunities for multipronged diaspora engagement through education, IT, health, agriculture, textiles, transportation, digital payments, solar energy and other emerging sectors in interfacing with thing tanks, experts, students, journalists and community leaders who provided close insights while also participating in discussions at universities, think tanks and technical organisations on bridging knowledge and other gaps to enhance diaspora relations.
This augments my understanding of India to inform mapping of best practices in sustainable development and trace differences since our ancestors left almost 200 years ago to feed into contemporary modernisation and diversification through IT, education, cultural heritage tourism, agriculture, energy and renewable energy.
I certainly have a rich reservoir of insights from which to build ongoing development initiatives, facilitate multilateral engagements, interconnect sectors and communities and issues of the diaspora with India’s development thrust.
Confronting Social Injustices Through PBD
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is India’s largest outreach initiative to engage its diaspora through discussions, socials and exhibitions. It is celebrated biennially on January 9th in India to recognize the contributions of the Indian diaspora in its journey to Viksit Bharat – development of India. This marks the day Mahatma Gandhi returned from South Africa to India in 1915, escalating focus on social injustices being experience by Indians abroad which propelled the movements for independence from colonial rule across the globe.
Photo Captions
Dr Kris Rampersad, Multimedia Innovator, award-winning journalist and Creator of the world’s newest creative genre, the Multimedia MicroEpic, AuthenThink Intel, CEIBA-EDUtainment dons Virtual Reality lenses during a visit to the World Skills Centre, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha India. The Centre is a premium centre for training in industry relevant skills in emerging sectors.
Related Videos
Inside the World’s Largest Diaspora: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvmTKF5m7Ic&t=167s
Phenomenal Women: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9eRjsFfhqM
Holi in the Ancestral Land https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zA20MTCTTU
From Mahakumbh to MahaShvratri: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6nZjQXGB9Q
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