04-08-2008, 12:34 PM
http://rajivmalhotra.sulekha.com/blog/po...geno-2.htm
How 'Gandhara' became 'Kandahar'
Posted on Dec 17 2001
Gandhara was the locus of ancient Indian-Persian interaction, a center of world trade and culture. It was a major Buddhist intellectual hub for centuries. The giant Buddhist statues recently destroyed by the Taliban were in Bamiyan, one of the important Buddhist cities of ancient times.
10721 Views comments (120)
The Asymmetric Dialog of Civilizations
Posted on Dec 3 2001
To have a genuine dialog of civilizations, the 'other' side must be present as itself and not via proxy, must be able to use its own framework to represent itself, and must be free to anthropologize and criticize the dominant culture without fear of undue censorship or academic reprisal.
6533 Views comments (50)
Traditional Knowledge Systems
Posted on Nov 19 2001
Modern societies created hegemonic categories of science verses magic, technology verses superstitions etc., which were arbitrary and contrived. But many anthropologists who have recently worked with so-called 'primitive' peoples have been surprised to learn of some of their highly evolved and sophisticated technologies.
4712 Views comments (26)
Gita on Fighting Terrorism
Posted on Nov 5 2001
At the other end is a minority of anti-war activists who want no violence, and instead advocate that the US should take the blame for having caused hatred against itself. The Gita's message rejects both these.
6463 Views comments (42)
The American Guilt Syndrome
Posted on Oct 8 2001
The Taliban are not fighting for economic development or modernization the way communist terrorists did. Islamic fundamentalists are fighting against the forces of modernization in general, as these seem to threaten the stranglehold of fundamentalist dogma and the power of the clergy.
4484 Views comments (27)
The Insider/Outsider Academic Game
Posted on Oct 25 2002
After my essay, RISA Lila â 1, was posted, Prof. Sarah Caldwell felt that she had been negatively portrayed, falsely. She and I decided to communicate, so as to enhance our mutual understanding of each other, and also to make sure that all aspects of the issues get communicated to the readers unfiltered. The following dialog occurred in this spirit. I urge the reader to defer judgment until after reading the entire essay
10300 Views comments (226)
Response to Jeffrey Kripal's Sulekha Article
Posted on Sep 24 2002
I congratulate Jeffrey Kripal for his spirited attempt at defending his thesis by attacking me, and thereby trying to deflect attention from his own problematic scholarship. However, a quick scan shows that his response fails to address 90% of my essay's major issues, such as
5376 Views comments (1)
Indian Thought is Not Understood in America
Posted on Jul 27 2001
I was quite shocked when I discovered that Indian philosophy is not being addressed properly in American universities. In fact, only two American universities offer a doctorate in Indian philosophy.
5463 Views comments (14)
The 'Western Only' Curriculum
Posted on Jun 22 2001
This essay is provoked by the reading list of St. John's College, one of the oldest and most prestigious institutions in the US, sent to my son and thousands of potential applicants to colleges. Their cover page proudly states that this list of great thinkers constitutes the complete program at St. John's. Something appears to be rather strange about this list of great thinkers...
5208 Views comments (29)
Stereotyping Hinduism in American Education
Posted on Apr 11 2001
This essay is based on an inquiry in which I wondered why: Hindu kids and even adults in America are apologetic about their religion, generally preferring to distance themselves from it and keep quiet about it.
11003 Views comments (37)
Is There an American Caste System?
Posted on Jan 29 2001
Recently, I read an excellent book by Professor Uma Narayan called 'Dislocating Cultures', in which she compares how dowry-deaths in India are of high interest in the West.
20205 Views comments (90)
Whiteness Studies and Implications for Indian-American Identity
Posted on Apr 26 2007
A new 175-page bibliography is launched on American Whiteness Studies, along with a brief discussion on how this topic relates to my research on identity in America, including implications for Indian-Americans.
8568 Views comments (245) Tags: American Whiteness Studies American identity and character
Follow up on Manusmriti to my article in Outlook India
Posted on Feb 12 2006
Response to some comments to my recent article on Outlook India
17315 Views comments (66)
Is anthropology of western culture by others banned?
Posted on Jun 15 2004
4664 Views comments (1)
The Westernized side of my background
Posted on Apr 27 2004
3711 Views comments (38)
Rejoinder to Mr. Vedantam's column
Posted on Apr 26 2004
2733 Views comments (10)
Geopolitics and Sanskrit Phobia
Posted on Jul 5 2005
In modern Westernized universities, Sanskrit is taught primarily as a language only and that too in connection with Indo-European philology. On the other hand, other major languages such as English, Arabic and Mandarin are treated as containers of their respective unique civilizational worldviews; the same approach is not accorded to Sanskrit. In fact, the word itself has a wider, more general meaning in the sense of civilization. Etymologically, Sanskrit means "elaborated," "refined," "cultured," or "civilized," implying wholeness of expression. Employed by the refined and educated as a language and a means of communication, Sanskrit has also been a vehicle of civilizational transmission and evolution.
27782 Views comments (1222)
Myth of Hindu Sameness
Posted on Nov 18 2004
Difference-with-respect is an attitude that is practically unachievable through History-Centric religions, except in the form of artificial political correctness commonly referred to as 'tolerance'.
26890 Views comments (751)
Dialog on Whiteness Studies
Posted on Sep 20 2004
I often hear liberal persons say that they are colorblind, i.e. they do not see any difference among persons based on color. But you and most White Studies scholars criticize the policy known as colorblindness. Why?
19446 Views comments (698)
Ten Challenges to Washington Post
Posted on Apr 26 2004
Mr. Vedantam further confuses my stances concerning India's geopolitical matters with my critiques of academic works by certain scholars of Hinduism. He uses my views on the former to claim that I am engaged in PR in the latter, thereby undermining the seriousness of my critical charge.
12596 Views comments (178)
Washington Post and Hinduphobia
Posted on Apr 20 2004
In our world of constant change, many entrenched paradigms and worldviews are being challenged by marginalized voices. As a patriotic American, I consider these healthy debates as another stage in the series of progressive movements, like civil rights, feminism, gay rights and other movements that started as underdogs and outsiders to the established power structure and had to battle at great expense for
23560 Views comments (153)
RISA Lila - 2 - Limp Scholarship and Demonology
Posted on Nov 17 2003
Dating back to the earliest occupation of India by the British, academic scholarship has often studied and depicted India and its religious and cultural traditions as consisting of the exotic cultures of distant and primitive peoples.
31188 Views comments (1491)
Problematizing God's Interventions in History
Posted on Mar 19 2003
Can universal truth-claims be considered scientific, if they are contingent upon a particular account of history, especially a historical event that could never be replicated? Specifically, what does a scientist think of claims of God's unique interventions that are space-time discontinuities, and that either violated or permanently changed the laws of the cosmos? Can science afford to legitimize any
12625 Views comments (407)
RISA Lila - 1: Wendy's Child Syndrome
Posted on Sep 6 2002
The present essay deals with yet another important discipline, namely, Religious Studies, which is growing rapidly in the US and in many other countries. Unfortunately, this is not so in India, where a peculiar brand of âsecularismâ has prevented aca
49163 Views comments (453) Tags: Bhagavad Gita Mahabharata Krishna
The Axis of Neocolonialism
Posted on Jul 10 2002
This essay argues that intellectual svaraj (self-rule) is as fundamental to the long term success of a civilization as is svaraj in the political and financial areas. Therefore, it is important to ask: whose way of representing knowledge will be in control? It is the representation system that defines the metaphors and terminology, interprets what they mean in various situations, influences what issues are selected to focus on
31472 Views comments (1303)
America's Last Chance
Posted on Jun 8 2002
It is vital for America to put pragmatism in the front and ideology in the back seat. This article is written from the perspective of American interests: Now might be America's last chance to gain control over Pakistan's nukes, before neo-Taliban elements take control of Pakistan's military
8797 Views comments (375)
A Business Model of Religion - 2
Posted on Apr 24 2002
Religion has become heavily institutionalized involving giant multinational religious enterprises. This essay examines the effects of institutionalized competition by looking primarily at the way Christianity has utilized the business process very successfully
9891 Views comments (584)
Hinduism in American Classrooms
Posted on Mar 18 2002
...as a teacher he has important things to say about the way schools portray India and its traditions. Second, as he identifies himself as a Hindu, his insights may also reflect the views of many 'Euro-American Hindus', i.e. the over 15 million Americans who now practice Hindu activities, such as yoga, meditation, and kirtan, amongst others
14025 Views comments (429)
The Root of India-Pakistan Conflicts
Posted on Feb 11 2002
Any genuine attempt to address geopolitical problems must look deeper than examining merely the symptoms of conflict. This essay calls for a paradigm shift in the understanding of the root cause, without which attempts to resolve the 'Kashmir issue' shall fail, or at best bring temporary relief. It concludes by defining the 'hard question' that must be tackled by the world community
24398 Views comments (1176)
CNN's Pakistan Bias
Posted on Jan 11 2002
Many Indians and Western scholars are deeply disappointed by CNN's coverage of events in Afghanistan and the recent India-Pakistan tensions. CNN's top journalists and anchor persons, including Wolf Blitzer and Christiane Amanpour, seem frozen in a Cold War geopolitical mindset.
41849 Views comments (673)
A Business Model of Religion - 1
Posted on Dec 31 2001
This essay compares the management and business realm with the practices of organized religion. It calls for a paradigm shift in the study of religion.
7174 Views comments (156)
How 'Gandhara' became 'Kandahar'
Posted on Dec 17 2001
Gandhara was the locus of ancient Indian-Persian interaction, a center of world trade and culture. It was a major Buddhist intellectual hub for centuries. The giant Buddhist statues recently destroyed by the Taliban were in Bamiyan, one of the important Buddhist cities of ancient times.
10721 Views comments (120)
The Asymmetric Dialog of Civilizations
Posted on Dec 3 2001
To have a genuine dialog of civilizations, the 'other' side must be present as itself and not via proxy, must be able to use its own framework to represent itself, and must be free to anthropologize and criticize the dominant culture without fear of undue censorship or academic reprisal.
6533 Views comments (50)
Traditional Knowledge Systems
Posted on Nov 19 2001
Modern societies created hegemonic categories of science verses magic, technology verses superstitions etc., which were arbitrary and contrived. But many anthropologists who have recently worked with so-called 'primitive' peoples have been surprised to learn of some of their highly evolved and sophisticated technologies.
4712 Views comments (26)
Gita on Fighting Terrorism
Posted on Nov 5 2001
At the other end is a minority of anti-war activists who want no violence, and instead advocate that the US should take the blame for having caused hatred against itself. The Gita's message rejects both these.
6463 Views comments (42)
The American Guilt Syndrome
Posted on Oct 8 2001
The Taliban are not fighting for economic development or modernization the way communist terrorists did. Islamic fundamentalists are fighting against the forces of modernization in general, as these seem to threaten the stranglehold of fundamentalist dogma and the power of the clergy.
4484 Views comments (27)
The Insider/Outsider Academic Game
Posted on Oct 25 2002
After my essay, RISA Lila â 1, was posted, Prof. Sarah Caldwell felt that she had been negatively portrayed, falsely. She and I decided to communicate, so as to enhance our mutual understanding of each other, and also to make sure that all aspects of the issues get communicated to the readers unfiltered. The following dialog occurred in this spirit. I urge the reader to defer judgment until after reading the entire essay
10300 Views comments (226)
Response to Jeffrey Kripal's Sulekha Article
Posted on Sep 24 2002
I congratulate Jeffrey Kripal for his spirited attempt at defending his thesis by attacking me, and thereby trying to deflect attention from his own problematic scholarship. However, a quick scan shows that his response fails to address 90% of my essay's major issues, such as
5376 Views comments (1)
Indian Thought is Not Understood in America
Posted on Jul 27 2001
I was quite shocked when I discovered that Indian philosophy is not being addressed properly in American universities. In fact, only two American universities offer a doctorate in Indian philosophy.
5463 Views comments (14)
The 'Western Only' Curriculum
Posted on Jun 22 2001
This essay is provoked by the reading list of St. John's College, one of the oldest and most prestigious institutions in the US, sent to my son and thousands of potential applicants to colleges. Their cover page proudly states that this list of great thinkers constitutes the complete program at St. John's. Something appears to be rather strange about this list of great thinkers...
5208 Views comments (29)
Stereotyping Hinduism in American Education
Posted on Apr 11 2001
This essay is based on an inquiry in which I wondered why: Hindu kids and even adults in America are apologetic about their religion, generally preferring to distance themselves from it and keep quiet about it.
11003 Views comments (37)
Is There an American Caste System?
Posted on Jan 29 2001
Recently, I read an excellent book by Professor Uma Narayan called 'Dislocating Cultures', in which she compares how dowry-deaths in India are of high interest in the West.
20205 Views comments (90)
Whiteness Studies and Implications for Indian-American Identity
Posted on Apr 26 2007
A new 175-page bibliography is launched on American Whiteness Studies, along with a brief discussion on how this topic relates to my research on identity in America, including implications for Indian-Americans.
8568 Views comments (245) Tags: American Whiteness Studies American identity and character
Follow up on Manusmriti to my article in Outlook India
Posted on Feb 12 2006
Response to some comments to my recent article on Outlook India
17315 Views comments (66)
Is anthropology of western culture by others banned?
Posted on Jun 15 2004
4664 Views comments (1)
The Westernized side of my background
Posted on Apr 27 2004
3711 Views comments (38)
Rejoinder to Mr. Vedantam's column
Posted on Apr 26 2004
2733 Views comments (10)
Geopolitics and Sanskrit Phobia
Posted on Jul 5 2005
In modern Westernized universities, Sanskrit is taught primarily as a language only and that too in connection with Indo-European philology. On the other hand, other major languages such as English, Arabic and Mandarin are treated as containers of their respective unique civilizational worldviews; the same approach is not accorded to Sanskrit. In fact, the word itself has a wider, more general meaning in the sense of civilization. Etymologically, Sanskrit means "elaborated," "refined," "cultured," or "civilized," implying wholeness of expression. Employed by the refined and educated as a language and a means of communication, Sanskrit has also been a vehicle of civilizational transmission and evolution.
27782 Views comments (1222)
Myth of Hindu Sameness
Posted on Nov 18 2004
Difference-with-respect is an attitude that is practically unachievable through History-Centric religions, except in the form of artificial political correctness commonly referred to as 'tolerance'.
26890 Views comments (751)
Dialog on Whiteness Studies
Posted on Sep 20 2004
I often hear liberal persons say that they are colorblind, i.e. they do not see any difference among persons based on color. But you and most White Studies scholars criticize the policy known as colorblindness. Why?
19446 Views comments (698)
Ten Challenges to Washington Post
Posted on Apr 26 2004
Mr. Vedantam further confuses my stances concerning India's geopolitical matters with my critiques of academic works by certain scholars of Hinduism. He uses my views on the former to claim that I am engaged in PR in the latter, thereby undermining the seriousness of my critical charge.
12596 Views comments (178)
Washington Post and Hinduphobia
Posted on Apr 20 2004
In our world of constant change, many entrenched paradigms and worldviews are being challenged by marginalized voices. As a patriotic American, I consider these healthy debates as another stage in the series of progressive movements, like civil rights, feminism, gay rights and other movements that started as underdogs and outsiders to the established power structure and had to battle at great expense for
23560 Views comments (153)
RISA Lila - 2 - Limp Scholarship and Demonology
Posted on Nov 17 2003
Dating back to the earliest occupation of India by the British, academic scholarship has often studied and depicted India and its religious and cultural traditions as consisting of the exotic cultures of distant and primitive peoples.
31188 Views comments (1491)
Problematizing God's Interventions in History
Posted on Mar 19 2003
Can universal truth-claims be considered scientific, if they are contingent upon a particular account of history, especially a historical event that could never be replicated? Specifically, what does a scientist think of claims of God's unique interventions that are space-time discontinuities, and that either violated or permanently changed the laws of the cosmos? Can science afford to legitimize any
12625 Views comments (407)
RISA Lila - 1: Wendy's Child Syndrome
Posted on Sep 6 2002
The present essay deals with yet another important discipline, namely, Religious Studies, which is growing rapidly in the US and in many other countries. Unfortunately, this is not so in India, where a peculiar brand of âsecularismâ has prevented aca
49163 Views comments (453) Tags: Bhagavad Gita Mahabharata Krishna
The Axis of Neocolonialism
Posted on Jul 10 2002
This essay argues that intellectual svaraj (self-rule) is as fundamental to the long term success of a civilization as is svaraj in the political and financial areas. Therefore, it is important to ask: whose way of representing knowledge will be in control? It is the representation system that defines the metaphors and terminology, interprets what they mean in various situations, influences what issues are selected to focus on
31472 Views comments (1303)
America's Last Chance
Posted on Jun 8 2002
It is vital for America to put pragmatism in the front and ideology in the back seat. This article is written from the perspective of American interests: Now might be America's last chance to gain control over Pakistan's nukes, before neo-Taliban elements take control of Pakistan's military
8797 Views comments (375)
A Business Model of Religion - 2
Posted on Apr 24 2002
Religion has become heavily institutionalized involving giant multinational religious enterprises. This essay examines the effects of institutionalized competition by looking primarily at the way Christianity has utilized the business process very successfully
9891 Views comments (584)
Hinduism in American Classrooms
Posted on Mar 18 2002
...as a teacher he has important things to say about the way schools portray India and its traditions. Second, as he identifies himself as a Hindu, his insights may also reflect the views of many 'Euro-American Hindus', i.e. the over 15 million Americans who now practice Hindu activities, such as yoga, meditation, and kirtan, amongst others
14025 Views comments (429)
The Root of India-Pakistan Conflicts
Posted on Feb 11 2002
Any genuine attempt to address geopolitical problems must look deeper than examining merely the symptoms of conflict. This essay calls for a paradigm shift in the understanding of the root cause, without which attempts to resolve the 'Kashmir issue' shall fail, or at best bring temporary relief. It concludes by defining the 'hard question' that must be tackled by the world community
24398 Views comments (1176)
CNN's Pakistan Bias
Posted on Jan 11 2002
Many Indians and Western scholars are deeply disappointed by CNN's coverage of events in Afghanistan and the recent India-Pakistan tensions. CNN's top journalists and anchor persons, including Wolf Blitzer and Christiane Amanpour, seem frozen in a Cold War geopolitical mindset.
41849 Views comments (673)
A Business Model of Religion - 1
Posted on Dec 31 2001
This essay compares the management and business realm with the practices of organized religion. It calls for a paradigm shift in the study of religion.
7174 Views comments (156)