Imprint of Culture on the Evolution of Script | Humanities & Social Sciences

Imprint of Culture on the Evolution of Script

HSS Occasional Seminar
Speaker: 
S. Swaminathan
Date and Time: 
Mon, 10/09/2018 - 12:00am
Schedule: 
03:00 PM to 04:30 PM
Venue: 
HSS Committee Room (MS 610)

Abstract

This talk narrates the story of scripts, which starts with the need felt by communities for writing, that led to the five cultures – Sumerian, Egyptian, Chinese, Indian and Meso-American - which had invented sophisticated writing systems. The talk then moves on to the Korean language, considered to be the most scientific script of the world. We shall also explore the esoteric and religious dimensions through the Tibetan and Siddham scripts and the aesthetic potentialities through the calligraphy of Arabic.

Bio

S. Swaminathan worked in Indian Institute of Technology - Delhi for more than 30 years and retired as Professor of Mechanical Engineering.

He is also a social activist and participates in socially relevant projects. He worked in Centre for Rural Development in IIT Madras and Bharath Gyan Vigyan Samithy, Delhi. Holding to his belief that technology must be human-centred and that there exists a cultural route to development, he has participated in teaching a course titled ‘Art and Technology’ at Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi. He has lectured on various topics including Indian music, Sanskrit, ancient Tamil literature, Tamil prosody, development of scripts, Gandhian philosophy, etc. He helped setting a centre for arts and culture, called Sudharsanam, in Pudukkottai, his native place towards the twin-aim of documenting the heritage of the district and offering an opportunity to the youth to appreciate their culture. He has made a very detailed study of Ajanta paintings and also of the Pallava art at Mamallapuram and presently has taken up a number of initiatives in documenting the monuments of Mamallapuram and also sensitizing all cross-sections of people about out heritage.