In a thought-provoking event at the National Science Centre, Pragati Maidan, the Hindi edition of the widely discussed book “Who is Raising Your Children?” by noted thinker Rajiv Malhotra and co-author Vijaya Viswanathan was released under the joint auspices of Shobhit University and Infinity Foundation India.
Presiding over the release, Kunwar Shekhar Vijendra, Chancellor of Shobhit University, underlined the pressing question of our times: Who is truly shaping our children—the parents and teachers, or global media and consumerist culture?
Drawing from the Mahabharata, he said: “Abhimanyu knew how to enter the Chakravyuh but did not know how to exit. This is the dilemma of today’s generation. Our children can enter the dazzling maze of knowledge and technology, but without values and guidance, they cannot emerge with clarity and strength. Education alone is insufficient; it is samskara that secures the nation’s future.”
He further remarked that India’s National Education Policy 2020 is a courageous response to this challenge, placing emphasis on mother-tongue education, value-based learning, and holistic growth. “Shobhit University has always stood by the principle of Education with Purpose,” he said, “and this book resonates deeply with our mission of nurturing not only careers but also conscience.”
Delivering the keynote, Shri Rajiv Malhotra, an Indian-American thinker who has for over three decades shaped global discourses through an Indian lens and consistently challenged Western academic narratives on Indian civilization—spoke with urgency and depth.
“The greatest crisis of our age,” he said, “is that parents have abdicated their responsibility, assuming schools will take care of raising their children. But schools themselves are being driven by global standards and market forces, focused more on producing consumers than cultured citizens. The values and ideas injected into children today through entertainment, media, and curricula are often alien to the civilizational ethos of India.”
He went on to stress that a new, invisible war is underway: “Children’s minds have become the most important battlefield. This war is not fought with weapons but with ideas and images. A complex nexus—what may be called a Deep State—operating through global media, digital algorithms, multinational corporations, and imported curricula, is colonizing the imagination of the next generation. Its agenda is to manufacture global consumers, disconnected from their cultural roots.”
Malhotra added a note of warning and hope: “If India does not take conscious charge of shaping its children, we may produce economically competent but spiritually and culturally enslaved generations. ‘Who is Raising Your Children?’ asks every parent, every teacher, every policymaker: who do you allow to shape your child’s mind and future? If you do not perform this sacred duty, someone else surely will, and not necessarily in your child’s or nation’s interest
This book is not merely a warning—it is a manifesto for protecting identity, values, and freedom. It has significance not only for India but for the entire world. When a civilization like India reclaims its children with rooted values and forward vision, then alone can a true multipolar balance emerge globally.”
Co-author Vijaya Viswanathan observed that children today spend more time in front of screens than in dialogue with their families. “This book is a call for parents to re-engage with their children and reconnect them with their roots,” she said.
Former Member of Parliament, Shri Rajendra Agarwal, underlined that if children are cut off from their roots, the future of the nation itself becomes insecure. He emphasized that nation-building begins at home, with families and communities consciously shaping values.
Shri Vinay Rohela, Vice-Chairman of the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority, remarked: “Education cannot be reduced to the transmission of information. It is a path to character-building. Today, we see children technically competent but ethically fragile. This book reminds us that true education must balance knowledge with values.”
Justice Rajesh Tandon, Former Judge of the Uttarakhand High Court, observed: “The foundation of justice is not law alone, but cultured citizens. If values of truth and integrity are instilled from childhood, crime and injustice will naturally diminish. This book reminds us that before the court of law comes the court of samskara.”
Shri Anurag Sharma, the Hindi editor of the book, said that translation into Hindi ensures the message reaches every Indian home. “When parents read in their mother tongue, the message touches them with intimacy and depth,” he said.
Shri Sankrant Sanu, Founder of Garuda Prakashan, which brought out the Hindi version, described the book as “both a warning and a roadmap. The Hindi edition was a need of the hour, for it not only asks hard questions but also offers constructive answers.”
The release was more than a literary event; it became a clarion call for cultural awareness. Speakers agreed that in a time when digital culture, consumerism, and global ideologies seek to shape young minds, this book reminds India of its civilizational responsibility. It asserts that education without values leads to imbalance, and families must reclaim their central role in shaping the next generation.
The ceremony drew eminent personalities from diverse walks of life, including educationists, jurists, policymakers, public representatives, and young students. The strong participation of the Vice-Chancellor, faculty, and students of Shobhit University, Meerut, lent the function the spirit of a larger academic dialogue, making it much more than a literary event.
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