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Being Brutally Frank: Human Instincts and the Law
2nd Justice AM Ahmadi Distinguished Lecture
Speakers
Is being frank not the same thing as being honest? Are the two born of instinct or are they inculcated? And is being frank and honest an invitation to risk?
In this lecture Gopalkrishna Gandhi will explore the status and prognoses in India for this faculty for frankness, with examples drawn from history, literature, and the news of the day.
This lecture is part of the annual series held by the Justice Ahmadi Initiative on Rule of Law, Democracy and Social Justice. The Initiative was established by The National Law School of India University, Bengaluru (NLSIU) and the Ahmadi Foundation in honour of former Chief Justice Aziz Mushabber Ahmadi, to preserve and promote his legacy of championing human rights, education, inclusion and protection of vulnerable communities, judicial independence, alternate dispute resolution mechanisms, and strengthening of democratic institutions.
Presented by:
Speakers
Gopalkrishna Gandhi
Gopalkrishna Gandhi is a Distinguished Professor at NALSAR, Hyderabad, and teaches a course on India’s Civilisations at Ashoka University, Haryana. He was in administrative positions for over twenty years as a member of the Tamil Nadu cadre of the Indian Administrative Service, and later held diplomatic assignments for over ten years in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Norway. He was Governor of West Bengal from 2004 to 2009, and was, additionally, Governor of Bihar for nearly a year during that period. His recently published works include The Undying Light: A Personal History of Independent India (Aleph, 2025)and India’s Futures: A Collection of Essays (Bloomsbury India, 2025).
Gopalkrishna Gandhi and his wife, Tara Gandhi, an ornithologist and nature conservationist, divide their time between Chennai, Bengaluru, Coonoor and no less on the road, railway-lines and skies travelling between those three places.
Rinku Lamba
Dr Rinku Lamba serves as associate professor of social science at the National Law School of India University in Bengaluru. She was educated in Delhi, Oxford and Toronto. She is a political theorist with research interests in studies of liberalism, multiculturalism and secularism. She also has a strong interest in Indian political thought, especially with reference to the theme of religious diversity. Prior to joining the NLSIU, she taught for over thirteen years in Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi. Her most recent publications have been on the political thought of Rabindranath Tagore and M G Ranade. She is also a trained Dagarvani Dhrupad vocalist, and has given solo concerts at venues in Delhi, Bangalore, Varanasi, Jaipur and Paris.
