BML Munjal University Honours Sudhir Kakar's Legacy

The School of Liberal Studies at BML Munjal University (BMU) and Oxford University Press have organised a day-long event at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, to commemorate the work and legacy of Sudhir Kakar, the father of Indian psychoanalysis, who passed away in April this year.

The event was a deep dive into the mind of one of the foremost intellectuals of India who left behind authoritative work at the intersection of religion, politics, culture and psychology. 

The event, Celebrating ‘Sudhir Kakar: Remembrances and Reflections’, featured four sessions. The first session, led by Honey Oberoi Vahali, delved into Kakar's personal legacy and psychoanalytic practice, exploring his approach to human suffering and healing. The second session, chaired by Ashis Nandy, explored Kakar's writings and their psychological, literary and cultural significance. The third session introduced Kakar's selected writings, while the fourth session discussed advancing his 'Global Psychoanalysis' legacy through the Kakar Centre for Psychoanalysis and Culture.

The book discussion on Professor Kakar’s upcoming title, "The Mind in the World: Selected Writings by Sudhir Kakar," published by OUP, was attended by the volume editors: Jhuma Basak, Manasi Kumar, Dinesh Sharma and Daniel Meckel, from various parts of the world. Rachana Johri, a distinguished visiting professor at SoLS, BMU, moderated the session. It offered the audience a glimpse into how each volume, studying the work of the celebrated author and thinker, was collated and structured. 

Dr Katharina Poggendorf-Kakar, Wife of Sudhir Kakar, expressed, “This exercise in remembering Sudhir not only brings to the forefront who he was as a thinker and scholar, but also who he was as a person. Hopefully, it will inspire many to build the Center for Psychoanalysis and Culture he dreamed of to establish India’s and other cultures’ contributions in psychoanalysis and culture and beyond.”