Dear Colleagues, Fellow Scholars, and Friends,

Warm greetings from the Sundar Singh Institute of South Asian Studies.

It is both a privilege and a calling to serve as Head of Faculty at an institute devoted to deep, rigorous engagement with the realities of South Asia — a region whose history, diversity, and challenges continue to captivate and compel us. I write to you not simply as an academic, but as someone who believes that scholarship, at its best, is an act of shared inquiry and service.

At our Institute, we are animated by a simple but demanding vision: to study South Asia with intellectual integrity, cultural humility, and ethical responsibility. We know this is no easy task. The complexities of this region — its political transformations, its environmental struggles, its rich cultural heritage — call for research that is both analytically sharp and deeply attuned to lived realities.

This is why our work stretches across disciplines and borders — from political economy to environmental sustainability, from governance reform to human rights and cultural preservation. And yet, no matter the field, our commitment remains the same: to produce scholarship that matters, that speaks not only to the academy but also to the world beyond it.

We are fortunate to collaborate with partners who share this vision — from the United Nations Development Program to the Oxford Centre for South Asian Studies, to national institutions like the Institute of Public Health. These partnerships remind us that research gains its fullest meaning when it engages with the pressing issues of our time: climate resilience, social justice, democratic accountability.

Let me mention just two recent initiatives that reflect this ethos. The South Asian Climate Resilience Blueprint, led by Dr. Anjali R. Kapoor, brings together scientific insight and local wisdom to imagine sustainable futures. Meanwhile, the Governance and Democratic Reform Project, directed by Dr. Isaac S. Sato, continues to offer timely and thoughtful recommendations for building transparent, participatory governance in complex political settings.

Looking ahead, we remain committed to the belief that scholarship is not an end in itself — it is a form of service. To study South Asia is to stand in dialogue with its people, its histories, its futures. It is to ask hard questions — and sometimes to sit with difficult answers — in the hope of contributing, however humbly, to societies that honor human dignity and foster justice.

I am deeply grateful to all of you — colleagues, collaborators, students, and friends — who walk this path with us. Your support, insight, and partnership make our work possible and worthwhile.

I warmly invite you to join us — in conversation, in collaboration, and in the shared pursuit of knowledge that makes a difference.

With sincere respect and collegial appreciation,

Dr. Rajiv K. Menon
Head of Faculty
Sundar Singh Institute of South Asian Studies