Indian society often celebrates modernity through its substantial aspirations, including digital governance, smart cities, the establishment of universities, start-up ecosystems, and technological infrastructure. These indicators reflect ambition, confidence, and a commitment to global integration. But modernity in the traditional sense refers to more than just advancements in material technology. It signifies a more profound shift in how societies structure power, authority, and knowledge. This change necessitates logical investigation, a scientific disposition, institutional responsibility, and the capacity to challenge established hierarchies. Modernity is about creating new ways of thinking, not just about technology.

In the age of globalisation, however, modernity increasingly circulates as a transferable template. Institutional frameworks for governance, finance, and technology now traverse borders with remarkable speed. Nations frequently adopt ready-made models shaped in different historical and social contexts. India, like other states, is deeply integrated into global markets and inevitably participates in this circulation. This diffusion often proves to be both efficient and even necessary, enabling rapid infrastructural expansion and the adoption of technology.

A crucial social question arises: can modernity be imported in modular form, or must it emerge from deeper intellectual and cultural transformations? It is within this tension that India encounters what may be described as “templated modernity” the “adoption of institutional........

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