JPR,
Papillons are exceptionally smart, loyal, ten pound bundles of joy that were the favorite dogs of European royalty in the 16th and 17th centuries. I have Papillons, thus the nom de plume.
You think that I chose to study India as an adversary. You could not be more wrong. In time, as we discuss things in this forum I shall tell you of some of my wonderful experiences in India and about the many things I love about India and Indians, if you want to hear them.
You say that "respect, compassion and officiousness of Indians are mistaken for inferiority complex." Wrong again, that is not at all what I'm talking about. An inferiority complex is a persistent sense of inadequacy that results in excessive defensiveness or aggression through overcompensation. This is very frequently seen in the Indian inability to discuss or face up to the real problems of the country and instead attempt to constantly glorify India in all of its hoary antiquity and blame all problems on others.
I am well aware that the concept zero originated in India. So what? Did you know that the first human operations were performed in India? Almost two thousand years ago Indians were cutting off hemorrhoids. Does that mean that India has an adequate health care system?
Did you know that much of the Indian concern to prove that "India had it first, so India must be a great country" originated with Swami Dayanand Saraswati? He claimed that the composers of the Rig Veda had all knowledge and science, but that it had been lost in modern times. He even asserted that they had railroads. Then it became an obsession of many Indians to claim that there is such a thing as Vedic mathematics, medicine, science, etc. When airplanes were invented it was claimed that they had those too, after all, the gods flew in "chariots," right. And after the first atomic bomb, Indians claimed that the ancient Indians had that too, after all, Vishnu had Sudarshana (that was the name of Vishnu's chakra, wasn't it? I'd have to look it up.)
You're right that two and half years is not a long time. India is a big, complex place. Nevertheless, I have read and studied more about India than your average joe and because I am free of the constraints of caste I have experienced many more things from different parts of Indian society than almost any Indian can know because you can't/won't sleep and eat in a Dalit's tiny, thatched mud hovel without electrity or water (I'm assuming that as an NRI you are probably not from a scheduled caste). What's with your statement: "Brahmin's and Dalit's composite mind is more complex than what you give credit to"? I don't know what a composit mind is, but I never said or implied that Indian's were not complex. Indian's are nothing, if not complex. That is one of the reason's I love India -- its complexity. I think every religious, philosophical and political view ever conceived of by the human race is seriously held by someone in India. The notion that there is an "Indian mind" is absurd, however. It is kind of like the idea that there is a single "Hinduism." To the extent that there is a single notion it is a modern creation, the work of men from Rammohun Roy to S.Radhakrishnan, who were defensively attempting to define what did not exist. Boy, that should get me flamed, but I'll be glad to discuss it sometime.
You write: Abject poverty: How many times these poor people beat you up and robbed you ? And you have the nerve to insult them. You have not asked that poor man to recite from Ramayana or Mahabharata . O yes, you don't know and forgot to ask them.
As a matter of fact I had my jhola stolen a couple of times and found hands literally in my pockets a few times. I also note that Indians have to wall in their homes with high walls, barb wire, and broken glass imbedded in the top of the walls. Whenever I would tell Indians about my house in the US with the broken back door lock, that hadn't been locked for years, they would exclaim "Wah, Ram-raj." Now don't get me wrong, I know there are theives everywhere, and honest people everywhere -- that's part of my point.
You are right when you say that "world power" is expressed in terms of education, accomplishment, wealth, military strength, etc. But just because a relatively small number of Indians are highly educated, doesn't make it a world power. When 60% of a country's population is totally illiterate that country cannot be a world power. N.B. I have not said that that 60% is dumb or anything of the sort. I have just noted the fact that the country can't seem to give even a rudimentary education to the majority of its population. You are also right that there is wealth in India, for a few. I have known a number of powerful families with tremendous wealth, and certainly the middle class is growing, but again, face the fact that India has total, abject poverty on a scale unknown elsewhere. India's military might is highly dubious. But enough of that. It was all the preening of Indian's about India being a "world power" because it conducted a small nuclear test (or may have, I think the jury is still out on that one) that got my hackels up. India is getting left in the dust when it comes to development of all kinds. I lived in South Korea in the early 70s. At that time India and South Korea had roughly equal levels of education, living standards, industrial development, etc. If anything, India was way ahead of South Korea. I could hardly believe my eyes when I returned to Korea a few years ago. It has pulled far ahead of India by every measure. The same could be said of a number of other countries. Why have they progressed in so many ways, so fast, and India has not? I don't know the answer, but I think it is complex and worthy of discussion. But when you try to discuss this with Indians you get of bunch of defensive glorious heritage talk.
You say that the Indian Muslim is safer there than anywhere else. The Muslims I saw beaten and their shops burned were not very safe. And it was BJP aggitation that started it ('89).
You write:
Another point Mr. Papillon: From your writing, my understanding is that your observation and expressive skills are wasted in digging into sewer and finding coproliths. You never wanted to see positive things. It is probably not in your mind set. You should not have smoked in India and it does alter perception.
Most people who know me think I'm kind of an Indian nut because I'm always going on about the wonderful Indian this or that. Unfortunately, like many Indians, you are incapable of listening to critical discussion from a non-Indian.
I always thought it was one of India's most endearing features that culturally it was OK to eat a couple of golis from the Sarkar Bhong ki Dukan before going to Ram-lila, but that alchol was unacceptable to any self-respecting person. I have seen Indians who make 50 rupees a day spend 25 per day on liquor, but that's another story. I liked the fact that in Gangotri you can purchase hashish at any tea shop, but liquor is verboten. In this modern world many things are getting screwed up. Hard drugs and alchol are a real problem (here and there), but a bhong lassi on a hot evening is cultured, in my opinion.
Well, I'll have to quit for the night. The market opens in six hours and that's where my attention will be. That's why we're on SI, yes?
Stock tips are like noses, almost everyone has one, but here's a serious one. BTW, Indians, in Canada, were instrumental in the company's founding. The company is Turbodyne and the symbol is TRBDF. There is an SI thread. Check it out. Seems like it has come up too fast, but this is not a T/A situation it is pure fundamentals.
Lastly, you write: "You don't think and write like a native-born American." I don't know exactly how to take this, but I can assure you that I am a white-bread, middle-class, middle-aged, mid-westerner, born in Oklahoma (where I have not lived since I was 14).
Jai shri Krishna. |
