- Inaugural theme of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat - Vocal for Local – Moving
towards Self-Reliant India ’
- Indians must
support local products for an Atmanirbhar Bharat, says Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi
Shankar; advocates for province centric local Indian products
Apex industry body
ASSOCHAM hosted a thought leadership event with world-renowned
humanitarian and spiritual leader Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar for a
dialogue at the inaugural session of the “Wisdom Series” organized by ASSOCHAM
in association with ITC Sunfeast, on the theme of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat - Vocal
for Local – Moving towards Self-Reliant India’.
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi
Shankar and recognized industry leaders deliberated on how to promote local
MSMEs and industries to achieve a self-reliant India in an engaging webinar.
Highlighting the role of
Indian products and consumers in making Atmanirbhar Bharat a success, Gurudev
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar opined that linking a product to its
manufacturing province can be a possible exploration point to promote local
products globally as this will aid in marketing and brand creation. He then
went on to give examples of products like Mysore Sandalwood, Muradabad Brass
Business, Bangalore Silk, Agra and Mathura’s Petha and others. “In this manner,
each province of our nation was linked to a product in the past. One reason for
China
to have progressed economically so well as per my understanding is that they
too have tied a province to a product in a similar manner. This would be a
great way of going about Atmanirbhar Bharat,” he said.
“If Indian consumers do not
support local products then it will be difficult to progress. We need to
support our own products, buy local and think global. This is an idea we need
to follow thoroughly.”, he added.
Commenting on the current
economic situation and how Atmanirbhar Bharat can play a role in recovery, he
said, “I believe that we will come out of this pandemic situation much stronger
though right now it may seem like a far-fetched reality. For this we need a
strong mind and unshakable faith and we have to hold on to the hope that when
the mind is strong, human beings can achieve anything.” He then went on to
highlight the importance of exercising mental hygiene during this time through
meditation and yoga to keep stress at bay. He further highlighted that positive
thinking can also boost one’s immunity.
“Doubts about the future
can be draining not only our energy but also breaks down our immune system. It
is not the time to lower our immunity. So positive thinking, meditation and
anything that will help us to keep our mind strong and uplift our spirits must
be done,” he said. He shared that as per A study done at @Yale found that by
practicing Sudarshan Kriya, students reported improvements in six areas of
well-being: depression, stress, mental health, mindfulness, positive affect,
and social connectedness
During the
interaction, ASSOCHAM President, Dr. Niranjan Hiranandani highlighted
how “the lockdown has pushed children especially students to embrace digital
communication and has helped them remain connected.”
Towards the end of the session, the ASSOCHAM
official page was also launched on the newly released social media platform
app, Elyments, created under Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign. Elyments , India ’s
own super app was launched and dedicated to the nation by the Honourable Vice
President of India