Foundations of Indian Psychology, Volume 1

2

A Journey Back to the Roots: Psychology in India

Ajit K. Dalal

For almost a century, academic psychology in India has continued to be an alien discipline. In the beginning of the last century, psychology was imported lock, stock, and barrel from the West, and was first implanted in 1916 at Calcutta University. The Western model of research and teaching provided the basis on which Indian research grew for a long period. For Indian psychologists trained in the Western traditions, it has been a long journey to turn towards their own heritage and take Indian concepts and theories germane to understanding Indian social reality. Indeed, in this long history, concerns have been voiced from time to time to align psychology with contemporary social ...