Abstract
Roots and routes were shown to be conjoined twins in the cultural and art history in the region of South Asia, with particular focus on the Indian subcontinent. Intellectual milestones in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century aid in understanding the nature of engagement with the roots, with an interest in the role of society, community, and moreover, passages that art and culture undergo. Modern cultural history of post independent India also exhibited this inclination, as theatre of roots surged in popularity. But, there occurred policy reconfiguration with evident consequences in the larger cultural and political framework of contemporary India. Culture acquired strong cartographic connotation through which roots have emerged as unassailable sacred, as it were.
This paper critically engages with the unstated cultural policy prevalent in contemporary India. Browsing the webpage of the Culture Ministry of the Government of India, and narrowing down on the annual reports published by the Ministry, the paper cruises the cultural cartographic canvas. In so doing the paper seeks to unravel the rigidity of the roots that poses constraints to the coming together of cultural endeavors in the region of South Asia. The bi-polar axis of national and international overtones of the cultural policy in India overshadows the regional, i.e. South Asian aspirations. The immediate route for the cultural politics of roots in India suffers from the negation of South Asia, a civilizational crucible in the region.
In such a wake it becomes imperative to rethink cultural sociology in contemporary India with an adequate attention to the cultural artefacts, community of artisans, and the routes that they undertake to become part of the cultural canvas. By doing so, the paper shall return to the old argument on the relationship between roots and routes, and provide an alternative policy perspective in which the relationship between roots and routes is inviolable.