Parallel Sessions: Voices, Regions and Lived Experience

Day Two witnessed an intensive set of parallel sessions, both physical and online, reflecting the thematic and geographic breadth of contemporary diaspora scholarship. Panels addressed soft power and cultural diplomacy, historical migration trajectories, caste and gender, literature, digital diaspora, policy frameworks, and climate narratives.

Scholars including Upendra Kumar, Ashutosh Kumar Singh, Karan Kumar Khoiya, Isha and Dr. Rachna Yadav, and Dr. Sweta Singh examined how diaspora communities shape global perceptions of India. Historical dimensions of migration and indenture were revisited by Dr. Sweekriti, Dr. Kshipra Vasudeo, Garima, Dr. Ripudaman Singh, and Dr. Gyan Prakash Maurya, highlighting the long-term consequences of colonial labour systems and secondary migrations.

Contemporary challenges featured prominently in papers by Ajay Nagdiya, Soumen Debnath, Saurav Raj, and Aparna Tripathi, while gendered and cultural perspectives were explored by Bhumika Sangwan, Ms. U.G.G. Fernando, Ria Anuj, Dr. Amartya Saha, and Anjali Singh whose paper on women, diaspora, and stereotypical representation in Bollywood cinema drew particular attention.