Long before modern universities, India’s Gurukul system fostered field-based, interdisciplinary, and values-driven education rooted in civilisational ethos. Today, Applied India Studies revives and reimagines this indigenous pedagogy for a new era—bridging tradition with contemporary relevance.

After becoming a Union Territory on August 5, 2019, Ladakh has embarked on a journey of mindful development and cultural renewal. From improved infrastructure to the revival of indigenous traditions, this article explores how Ladakh is shaping its own future—on its own terms.

The Hind Fund is a private philanthropic initiative committed to advancing India-centred knowledge, leadership, and cultural understanding. As the funding arm of the Hind Culture Lab, it powers fellowships, research, and field-based learning rooted in India’s civilisational wisdom. By supporting immersive education, regional inquiry, and global partnerships, The Hind Fund is building the foundation for a new generation of India-focused scholars, institutions, and ideas.

Launched in 2014, MyGov is India's flagship digital platform for participatory governance. Designed to democratise policy discourse by engaging citizens directly in decision-making, MyGov reflects a significant institutional shift in the state-citizen relationship. This essay examines its architecture, achievements, and the challenges it faces in shaping a more inclusive and responsive democracy.

Area Studies, by definition, demands a direct and sustained engagement with the cultural, political, and institutional realities of specific geographies. While theoretical frameworks remain essential, the integrity of Area Studies as a discipline depends on one core principle: the necessity of place-based learning. Field-based training is not merely complementary to Area Studies—it is constitutive of its method.

Beyond the palaces and deserts that dominate Rajasthan’s public imagination lies a deeper, often overlooked landscape—one shaped by its tribal communities. The Bhils, Minas, Garasias, Sahariyas, and others constitute a complex and enduring presence across the region’s hills and forests. To understand Rajasthan holistically requires an engagement with the lives, knowledge systems, and historical continuities of these communities—not as peripheral subjects, but as cultural foundations in their own right.

On 1 August 1920, Mahatma Gandhi launched the Non-Cooperation Movement, urging Indians to withdraw from colonial institutions as an act of peaceful resistance. It marked a decisive shift in India’s freedom struggle—from elite constitutional politics to mass civil disobedience. A century later, the movement remains one of the most significant moments of political awakening in the Indian public imagination.

Munshi Premchand’s pioneering realism laid the foundation for socially conscious literature in India. Writing in Hindi and Urdu, he redefined fiction as a moral and political force in the modern Indian imagination.