Dehradun, Oct. 3 -- The generally accepted view about Indian 'modernity' is that it came to us through British colonialism and that it is the only viable modernity that exists. Its defining features -egalitarianism, democratic governance, individualism and rational social organisation -supposedly replaced native traditions. Modernity as an ideology also provided justification for colonial conquest (and in its wake, the plunder). The basic assumption here is that modernity debunks what belongs to the past and is irrelevant for our purposes today. However, it must be admitted that values such as egalitarianism and spirit of inquiry cherished by modernity do not expressly require colonialist ideology but can be found in native traditions acr...