OpenTakshashila

Who we are?

An initiative by the Takshashila Institution, OpenTakshashila is a global & open community with a strong & unwavering commitment to meaningful & thoughtful discussions over noisy & pointless social media chatter.

The Takshashila Institution, established in 2010, is an independent think tank and graduate school of public policy based in Bengaluru, India.

Why are we doing this?

Conversations on big social media networks are broken & unproductive. We believe that there is a dearth of meaningful & thoughtful platforms to discuss about policy & politics world over. OpenTakshashila has been thoughtfully curated to bring back nuanced & informed discussions into the public mind space.

Reflect, Educate & Discuss. 

Who is it for?

For anyone who yearns for thoughtful & meaningful discussions on any policy or connections based on interest, this is your platform. No 'blue ticks' or 'exclusive invite codes' to become a part of the community. Simple & accessible. 

Here are some ways to help you get started on OpenTakshashila:

1. As soon as you enter the OpenTakshashila homepage, you'll see your Profile in the top right corner. Please enter this information to help you connect with members seamlessly (more on this later).
2. On OpenTakshashila, you'll find various 'spaces' that you can choose to be a part of:
   • WaterCooler: A place for everyone to hang out and share public policy ideas. Think of it as a substitute for X (formerly Twitter), except members boost your 'engagement' on a post/activity, not an algorithm.
   • Open Course in Public Policy: We have opened up a substantial body of Takshashila's public policy curriculum for you. Learn from our free course to understand & transform governance in India
   • Connect by Interests: Join any interest group & share something interesting on a topic/policy of your interest.
   • Connect by Location: Know about interesting events or landmarks in your city? Join a city-specific community to connect with fellow city-zens for lively discussions on what to explore & attend.

You might be able to view certain spaces right away, such as WaterCooler, Open Course in Public Policy, etc. Please 'join' the specific space if you'd like to participate & engage in the discussions!

OpenTakshashila also enables you to discover & engage in 1-to-1 conversations with other members. This feature works best only if you have updated your basic information, especially the 'About Me' & 'Interests' sections. This way, you can connect & find members based on interest.

If you wish to invite someone to OpenTakshashila, head over to the 'Invite' icon and share the link.

Fair Warning

This is a place to discuss public policy. It is focused on India, but that's just a result of our current membership base.

Since there is no politics without policy, this community will deal with difficult topics. We don’t and won’t police the content of this space, but we will mind the way that content is discussed.

Use this community to learn, reflect, educate and interact with others, not to grandstand and virtue signal. 

Code of Conduct

By joining this community, you agree to the following Code of Conduct.

We will

1. Uphold the highest levels of integrity in all our work.
2. Conduct ourselves with civility and decorum in public discourse.
3. Persevere to elevate the standards of policy debate.
4. Employ reason, value empirical evidence, be open to different points of view, and be ready to change our minds.

That's it! Welcome aboard!