Day 146

 Man’s Search for Meaning  -4

India that is Bharat

 

Dr. Gautam Sen (International Political Economy at the London School of Economics & Political Science) has given a very detailed foreword to the book- India that is Bharat by j Sai Deepa (in which the author covers the Coloniality, Civilization and Constitution) and I reproduce two excerpts below.

·        “Deepak’s involvement in historic cases—such as the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple case—as a Supreme Court advocate, serves as the trigger for his book because they underline the critical issue of the historical consciousness of Bharatiyas evident in how they were presented, argued and received by the Supreme Court.

·         The apparent dichotomy counter posed between tradition and the rationality of modernity by those involved on opposing sides exposed the parameters of the key intellectual conundrum analysed by Sai Deepak, namely coloniality and the distorted consciousness, by and large, of the Bharatiya society.

·        Such perceptual distortions arose from the unconscious and largely unquestioning acceptance of ideas of modernity that came to dominate intellectual life in the nineteenth century and accepted as valid by both colonisers and the colonized.----

·        “Sai Deepak concludes the book with the hope that Bharat’s public institutions, including its judiciary and executive, will reflect thoughtfully on Bharat’s indigenous traditions, and that de-colonial perspectives will inform their decisions on issues arising in relation to them so that Bharat’s enduring coloniality may be overcome.

·         The book is a handsome effort to bring ideas and modes of analysis to the attention of Indian readers that will enable the achievement of true freedom and fresh thinking to embrace their historic cultural antecedents with dignity.”

 

The above excerpts would have shown the intent and purpose of the book and its direction. An engineer turned lawyer, of the highest order today, has put efforts to highlight the distortions that had taken place in the Hindu civilization over the centuries of foreign rule and the systematic efforts made by inimical forces to subjugate/distort/destroy the local aspirations. This has been the result of  focused/targeted/planned efforts dating back to15th Century onwards, as the book has shown with indisputable arguments.

 

The sad and strange part is though India got Independence from British, we did not get real freedom from the colonial legacies.

·        Hence almost all our systems, procedures, education, legal frame work etc. continue to be an extension of the past years of slavery…. British domination…

·   There is no respect for the native culture, values and traditions richly available.

·        None took the trouble to look for that but adopted easier options…. So that is what is evident.

·      The author has tried to pin point them for larger discussion and promised two more volumes in this series…

If you visit some places of significance even today also you can see the British hang over in custom, traditions and rituals/ceremonies- including dressing as if the whites are still present, if not in person, but in spirit…. (Independent India could not shed those costumes  even, etc.…)

·        How many modern Hindus will be keen to pursue these thoughts today will be an interesting question?

·        The divided Hindus of earlier centuries only allowed Moghul  and then the British to rule over us.

·         Some part of the history we studied, give plenty of hints about the dis-unity among Hindu Kings of those periods and those divisions were 100%exploited by cunning invaders and colonisers with disastrous consequences to the natives…

 

This reminds me of some verses given in the book- 1984 by George Orwell-

                                  “Under the spreading chest nut tree

                                    I sold you and you sold me

                                    There lie they and here lie we

                                    Under the spreading chestnut tree.”

We are neither in the 12th century nor in the 17th century, we are in the 21^st century. Yet the happenings across the country will give the impression that we are in the Mahabharat days of constant fight among cousins… One pre-release reviewer has stated about the book…

• " The book is a must-read for everyone who is interested in understanding the relationship between the consciousness of the world’s oldest surviving indigenous civilization and the Constitution of the world’s largest democracy."(Professor Lavanya Vemsani)

·        This book of some 470 pages is an outcome of deep research, analysis and passion to awaken a generation of locals who have lost touch with their rich heritage, traditions and values under the false narration/ propaganda given by the colonisers and their stooges over the centuries….

·        Will we wake up from the stupor ever?

First  pride for Bharat should exist or be nurtured in the mind.... Hopefully, some good outcome can be expected… 

• provided someone takes the trouble to examine the History- dispassionately…. 
• starting with each one of us…… Is it asking and hoping for the MOON? 

Be happy. Be safe.

ॐ 

 800 AM