Longing and Despair by Subhash Kak

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>"Ashwini Kumar"

>Longing and Despair by Subhash Kak >Sun, 04 Aug 2002 22:10:21

-0400 > > > >Longing and Despair by Subhash Kak > >Having lived in America for

twenty years, I no longer have >first-hand >knowledge of the current >culture

wars in India. I hear that some material is being kept out >of >history books

out of fear that >it will make the youth chauvinistic. In textbooks in Bengal,

the >material >prior to the arrival of the >English has been severely abridged,

the guiding principle being >that, as we >remould ourselves in >the modern

image, we should not be burdened by the uncomfortable >past. The >implicit

message >is: Forget what is gone! Not surprising then is the lack of mention

>of the >British-made Bengal >famine of the 40s which took several million

lives; this omission is >a >silent tribute by our >historians to Macaulay's

idea that English education in India will >make us >identify with the >English

in all things but our color! > >I grew up in simpler times. In the fifties and

sixties, in small >country >schools in Jammu and >Kashmir, we were taught

Indian history the old-fashioned way, and in >Hindi >too. As a young boy, >I

was thrilled when I read the ringing declaration of emperor Ashoka >at the

>conclusion of his first >rock edict: > > esahi vidhi ya iyam: dhammena palana,

dhammena vidhane, > dhammena sukhiyana, dhammena gotiti. > >The word dhamma or

dharma is usually translated ``law'' although it >could >also mean

``tradition'' >or ``truth''. If we choose the common meaning, Ashoka's

declaration >becomes: > > For this is my rule: government by the law, of the

law; > prosperity by the law, protection by the law. > >Imagine my surprise

when later at high school, as I was discovering >America, >to came across >the

similar-sounding concluding invocation in Linclon's Gettysburg >address:

>``government of the >people, by the people, and for the people.'' Still later,

I found >that >Lincoln himself was only >echoing Daniel Webster's 33-year old

speech in the Senate where he >spoke of >the ``people's >government, made for

the people, made by the people, and answerable >to the >people.'' > >Webster

said his words before Ashoka's edict had been deciphered, so >he >couldn't have

>plagiarized. If this is a coincidence, it is a result of the >structured way

>in which the mind >operates. And if there can be parallels in the thinking of

the >Mauryan >emperor and an American >senator, imagine the repetitions across

ages in the behavior of >Indians. > >Which brings me to the main point of this

little piece. Indians have >been >accused, not totally >unjustly based on

Sanskrit texts, of a preoccupation with imagined >worlds. >It is unusual to

find >historical narrative, autobiography, nature poetry, straight talk. >The

one >exception is erotics, >where Indians have excelled all other nations.

Indian writing is >suffused >with the mystical, >magical and philosophical. The

best example of such writing are the >Puranas. >Encyclopaedic, >they are a rich

tapestry of intertextual narrative which links >stories >across time, space,

myth, >history and fantasy. They are the first novels and they are >magnificent

>although it is a pity that >not many young Indians have read them. > >Actually,

the criticism is quite wrong. There are other texts, >mostly in >Prakrit

languages, which >are very realistic but they have generally not been

translated into >English >and so are unknown to >the new generation of

Indo-Anglian writers. You have 2000-year old >gems by >Hala such as: > > > > >

Scornfully > the great lady > gave the poor traveler > straw > to sleep on > at

daybreak she > gathers it up > crying. > >Could the longing and despair of a

proud and lonely woman on parting >from a >stranger, after >knowing him for

just one night, be expressed any better? The Prakrit >and >other oral

traditions >were replete with powerful, minimalist descriptions, which

shouldn't >surprise us if we remember >Zen originated in India. The poetry of

Hala in his ``Satasai'' seems >to >prefigure Japanese haiku. > >It appears that

the tradition of direct expression is alive in the >modern >Indian writing. I

have read >some absolutely magnificent pieces in Hindi; and I'm sure the

>situation is >about the same in >other languages. The trouble is that Indian

publishing is yet to >come of age >and modern classics >are published in print

runs of 1,000, which in a nation of one >billion, that >does not have a good

>system of libraries, means these books do not register in the >consciousness

>of the public. >Indians who read only English are naturally not aware of all

this >marvelous >stuff. For them India is >defined by textbook stereotypes. >

>Berated for the Puranic style for 200 years by colonial historians >and

>critics, you'd expect >Indo-Anglian writers to be busy with the epical events

of modern >India: >partition killings, >Bangladesh war, emergency, Ayodhya,

revolt in Punjab and Kashmir. >But no, >the actual themes >are: a man falls out

of an airplane and travels backwards and >forwards in >time, a man refuses to

>get down from a tree, a person bites a snake, and so on! If anything >could

>be less Puranic, at >least in style, show me. Some titles are taken straight

from >medieval books. >``Ocean of Story'' is >a thousand-year old Sanskrit book

of tales. Nevertheless, there is a >difference between the >original Puranas

with their over-arching structure and the >nihilistic, lack >of focus of their

modern >imitations. > >Is it biology, culture, class dynamics or a combination

of the >three? > >Physics informs us that opposites lurk near each other. This

holds >the >secret to the Indian mind, >in ways more than the balancing of the

opposites of Puranic myth and >the raw >edge of daily life. >Indians, of all

religious persuasion, appear to be obsessed with >spirituality; in truth they

worry >mostly about wealth and status, perhaps more than most other people.

>Even >full-time spiritualists >work hard at the endowments for their personal

ashrams. > >A narrow view driven by greed and envy was behind the Indian theory

>that the >enemy of one's >enemy is one's friend. Indian generals were receptive

to bribes to >open the >trapdoors to the forts >during the medieval wars with

the Turks. India has produced few Rana >Prataps >and Shivajis and >many more

Jaichands and Mir Jafars. > >Indians work with great tenacity to get ahead of

their cousins. One >book >that has captured these Indian traits with total

success is V.S. >Naipaul's >``A House for Mr Biswas.'' As at home so at

politics. Indians would >rather >get a ``goongi gudiyaa'' rule them than have

someone they think is >their >equal do the job. > >All the same there is an

indescribable charm to the rhythms of >India. Maybe >it is that they >remind us

of the past as well as the dark secrets in our own souls. >The >Indians that we

have >recreated in the West do not quite measure up. Their music somehow

>appears >hollow. That is our despair. > Send and receive Hotmail on your

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