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Desmond Tutu, Andrew Young, Rajmohan Gandhi to meet

A P Kamath

For Rajmohan Gandhi, a visiting fellow at Emory University, the next three weeks are going to be some of the busiest weeks he has spent in America. He will be discussing a slew of topics including the concept of forgiveness among Hindus and the illusion and reality about India's economic liberalization policies.

For two discussions, he will be joined by Nobel Laureate the Reverend Desmond Tutu, and former Atlanta mayor and civil rights leader Andrew Young. A former Coca-Cola executive will join Gandhi to discuss the liberalization of the Indian economy.

"My primary message in Atlanta will be that nothing worthwhile is possible without research, reflection and dialogue," says Gandhi, the editor and author, who comes to Emory after teaching at Indiana University for nearly a year.

He says hopes to add to the "bridge of understanding" between the United States and south Asia, which he says is vital to the future of the world. He also plans to meet with members of metro Atlanta's Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi communities during his visit, from January 24 to February 11.

"I hope to strengthen that constituency in Atlanta which strives for a greater exchange of scholarship and culture between the United States and south Asia," says Gandhi, a research professor at the Centre for Policy Studies in New Delhi, India.

He is the second distinguished fellow of the Claus M Halle Institute for Global Learning at Emory, and will give a series of forums and lectures on religious reconciliation, India's role in global trade, and politics.

He will also participate in joint events with other educational institutions in metro Atlanta, including Agnes Scott College, the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Atlanta University Center.

• February 1, at 1545: Rajmohan Gandhi and Archbishop Tutu will hold a panel discussion of Christian and Hindu Roots to Forgiveness and Reconciliation. This event will be held in Cannon Chapel. 515 Kilgo Circle, on the Emory quadrangle.
• Wednesday, February 2, 1900: Gandhi will give a public lecture on India as an International Actor: Regional and Global Perspectives. The event is co-sponsored by the Friends of Emory India Studies. It will be held in the Winship Ballroom of the Dobbs University Center.
• Monday, February 7, 1700: Can Non-violent Confrontation Work? A Perspective from the Trenches. Gandhi and civil rights activist/former US ambassador to the United Nations Andrew Young will discuss non-violent confrontation in the Indian independence and the US civil rights movements.

  They will reflect on whether this philosophy can be applied to current conflicts, and respond to questions from the audience. This event will be held in the Glenn Memorial Auditorium, 1652 North Decatur Road.

• Tuesday, February 8, at 1630: Gandhi and Donald W Short, Coca-Cola president for Africa and the Middle East (formerly Coca-Cola president for India) will hold a panel discussion on India's Commitment to Open Markets: Illusion or Reality?

  Gandhi will discuss the policy changes of India's market-opening policies adopted in 1991 and the political/economic context in which they are being implemented.

  Short will discuss Coke's experience in India, from its withdrawal in 1977 to its return in the early 1990s, and how it views the current climate in India for Coca-Cola and other international investments. This event will be held in the Goizueta Business School followed by a reception.

All the Emory events are free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Deb Hammacher, assistant director, at 404-727-0644, email dhammac@emory.edu, or call 404-727-7504. For a map, check www.emory.edu/MAP/

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