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Strategies & Market Trends : India Coffee House -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (3943)	3/27/1999 11:26:00 PM
From: Satish C. Shah	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12475

Hello Mohan: Thanks for taking your time and writing about it with a critical eye. I will try to respond as to my perception on the issues raised by you. Mind you, it is my perception and nothing else. You wrote, "..... As promised here are some of the comments that Paz made in the book 'In Light of India' that I strongly and vehemently disagree with.I would have taken it up with him were he alive today. 1)PAZ:"The foundation of Hindu civilization is Indo-European" (page 92,PAZ once again cites Georges Dumezil to support this notion-According Dumezil (and Paz) Indo-European peoples comprise of Celts,Iranians,Germans,Romans and Greek) Mohan:Huh????Pure unadulterated Bull shit. Satish:** If you believe in Aryan Immigration into India, this will make sense. If you do not, it will be pure ......as you said, in your comments. Aryan Immigration is still the conventional wisdom. There is not enough evidence to refute it. Agreed that there are holes in the AI theory, but in my opinion, there are more holes in the theory that tries to refute it. Biggest argument I have seen for AI is the absence of horses in the Indus Valley Civilization. Another one is the parallels between Avesta and early Vedas and the folklores of India and Persia. 2)Speaking of various religions and in reference to Hinduism... PAZ:"Hinduism is a conglomeration of beliefs and rituals; although it lacks missionaries its power of assimilation is immense.It does not know conversion in the Christian or Muslim sense,but it practices, with great success,appropriation. Like an enormous metaphysical boa, Hinduism slowly and relentlessly digests foreign cultures,gods,languages and beliefs." (page 55) Mohan:I don't know what he is talking about do you? Paz conveniently avoided giving any examples of this phenomenon.I wonder whether he might be talking about relative extinction of Bhuddism in India? Satish: I always thought, even before Paz, that Hindus had a great capacity for absorbing other cultures. Polytheism of Hindus, as opposed to monotheism of every other religion, is one good example. Buddha(Buddhaism) and Mahavira(Jainism) are two reincarnations of Hindu God, according to Hindu mythology. Tantric Yoga is part of Hindu culture, yet it is so far removed from the main stream Hinduism. 3)He also speak of separatist tendencies of various states including Punjab,Assam etc but includes Tamil Nadu in the list. As far as I know there was no such instance unless he was mistakenly thinking about the Tamil separatist movement in Sri Lanka. Satish: I distinctly recall "Davidra Munnetra Kazagham"(spell?) wanted a separate Tamil Nation. I think this was in the 60s. I do not recall the exact dates. this was around the same time Shiv Sena was very active in Bombay. Having said all this I love this guy,his language is quite impressive and his knowledge of India and things Indian was quite enormous,though his understanding of the country,its culture and history might be a bit shaded by academics and his point of views simply that of an 'Indologist' (study of India based on European point of view). What made me like Paz even more than anything else is summed up in the following passage,particularly the last two sentences:- Paz:"To return to the lacunae in this book: they are enormous, and they range from poetry, philosophy, and history to architecture, sculpture, and painting. The subject, due to its immensity and variety, rebels against synthesis. Moreover, it is beyond my knowledge as well as my intentions. These are merely glimpses of India: signs seen indistinctly, realities perceived between light and shadow. This book is not for the expert. It is the child not of knowledge but of love." (page 33) Satish:Could not agree with you more. Like Richard Attenborough making a movie on Gandhi with love, respect and adulation to an extent that could be labeled blind. Thanks for writing. As always, a pleasure. Satish

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (3943)	3/28/1999 12:04:00 AM
From: Satish C. Shah	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 12475

Follow-up to my previous message..... Hello Mohan: V S Naipaul, in his "India, A Million Mutinies Now", Viking, 1990; talks to a South Indian gentleman in chapter 4, begining page 207. I quote, page 231, "This Tamil civilization of ours is very old one. Say, about 5000 years old. The cities of M.. and H ... are Dravidian cities......Till about 2000 years back, the society was casteless society. What happened at that time was that this foreign civilization came from the north, and they started differentiating among classes......." And page 232.. "..The DMK was founded by Mr Annadurai in 1949.....In (1967)18 years the DMK took power from Congress. From being a secessionist movement, the DMK had become a party looking for regional autonomy....." Regards, Satish