The Battle for Sanskrit – Rajiv Malhotra - in a 1000 words

Rajiv Malhotra ji is a famous indologist who is working tirelessly to defend Santana dharma and its traditions. He is leading from the front in providing a well researched fight back to western indologists on various topics concerning Hindu dharma. His latest work “The Battle for Sanskrit” talks about the sinister motives of the western institutions and scholars to disparage Sanskrit as a language and its influence on Bhratiya sanskriti. The beauty of Rajiv Malhotra’s writings is that he calls for discussions and debates on all areas of disagreements and not confrontation.

My attempt is to summarize the contents of the well researched book in about a 1000 words, you should be able to read this in 10 mins. It is important for all us (Indians) and those of Indian heritage to understand our selves better and become owners of our heritage –

• Indians have given away control of our language (in this case Sanskrit studies), culture and heritage to western institutions and individuals. No serious attempt by India, Indians or its institutions to establish seats of learning and research to protect and build our heritage. Through our neglect they became insiders ( experts on our subjects) and we outsiders (trying to catch up to defend)
• Western scholars allege that Sanskrit was used a tool for political domination and suppression of masses, for many decades they spread such views in Indian universities and other channels to gain credibility. Indian traditionalists did not care to debate this point of view for a long time, did not create a platform to fight back the western interpretations of Sanskrit. We ignored them to our peril
• Western scholars with their limited understanding have brain washed a generation of Indians that our Vedic and other systems of knowledge are myths and non sensical
• Our scholars and teachers did not engage in Uttara paksha (debate) with these scholars and institutions to challenge their deductions. We ignored them for too long while they wrote tomes of analysis about our Sanskrit literature and hijacked our heritage. We are now ill equipped to fight back
• They incorrectly claim Sanskrit was used as political tool used for social abuse. This is due to their poor understanding of our heritage, but we never engaged them in a debate to correct their point of view
• We did not make them understand that Sanskrit was and is an integrated component of a Hindus life - Prayer, mantras, culture, built into our vernaculars and in many other areas of life. Though it is delayed it is our sacred duty now to protect and bring it back to life
• Western indologists with a sinister motive deride Sanskrit propagating that it was used as a tool for social oppression, that it perpetuates elitism and that mantras and yagnas as meaningless. For us since ages it is an integrating factor
• Traditionalists argue there is no truth that Sanskrit was used as a tool for oppression and see it as a tool for liberation for all human beings. Traditionalists too are critical of any kind of social oppression and they do not see Sanskrit as the vehicle for the same
• Western scholars base their study and analysis on written texts, they believe oral traditions as unreliable, they also mischievously propagate that writing started in India after Buddhism came while the data shows a different truth
• Western scholars view Sanskrit as a foreign language brought to India by so called Aryans. They claim Sanskrit spread across Asia by kings for political purposes to wield control over public, for traditionalists it is an indigenous language which has played a major role in development of vernaculars and there was enrichment of both Sanskrit and vernaculars due to this
• Western scholars degrade shastras since they are derived from Vedas and hence they assume they carry the limitations of the source ( lack creativity ), they believe kavyas have some originality since they have some creative freedom, traditionalists dismiss such distinction and claim both shastras and kavyas have the same source but their expression only differs ( kavyas are poetic, shastras are texts)
• Outsiders allege that European indologists took the ideas of social oppression from Sanskrit texts and used the same against their population ( Nazis against jews), such interpretation is rejected by traditionalists saying infact Europeans came with such a conditioning and misinterpreted out sacred texts
• Misinterpretation of our scared text Ramayana and Mahabharata, for instance Sheldon Pollock says that Ramayana encourages “othering” Us vs Them ( rama vs ravana) which encourages bigotary, obvioulsy he takes a myopic view of the ramayana and Mahabharata
• Western thought tries to highlight differences in the hindu society due to caste, and between Vedic and Buddhist thought, traditionalists argue such differences if any are part of a broader continuum in the evolutionary process and no western intervention is required to correct the same
• We should map Sanskrit to ancient languages like mandarin, Arabic and Persian and work and must revive Sanskrit ourselves and not allow western scholars dictate us the same ( western scholars try to map Sanskrit to Latin and other dead languages )
• Establish higher learning institutions of Sanskrit in India such that our bright youth stay back and contribute towards integrating their studies with the larger society.
• Deploy Purva-paksha & Uttara-paksha methodologies vigorously to defend our point of view instead of meek surrender
• Rajiv gives the way forward –
• Revive Sanskrit ecosystem in a holistic way - battle for Sanskrit, Sanskrit and dharma are interrelated. ( organizations like sanskrita bharati are trying to revive use of Sanskrit)
• Non- translatable Sanskrit terms must enter main stream – sanskritize english
• Shastras must be seen as a platform for innovation
• New itihas and smritis must be written - for example traumatic events over the last 1000 years in India ( invasions etc)
• Sacred philology must compete against political liberation philology – that Sanskrit cannot be divorced from vedas and other sacred texts
• Revive purva paksha tradition
• Encounter with chistianity, islam – hindu understanding of Islam and christainity to engage in debates through purva-paksha, uttara-paksha process
• Encounter with western secularism – do a purva-paksha of the west ( question and debate their models, ideas etc)
• Develop institutions to conduct trainings and research on our heritage
• Contest the use of Buddhism as a wedge against Hinduism & mischievously changing chronology of hindu texts – disprove this through research
• Allegation of Sanskrit’s death – debate this with data and the attempts being made to revive the same

And many other steps to provide fitting response to the well organized western scholars and institutions.

Credits and Gratitude – all content from Rajiv Malhotra’s (The battle for Sanskrit)

Reservations - time to rethink

Every one wants reservations in India. Seems no one wants to be in the so called 'OC - open' category. Most caste leaders are comfortable for their's to be called Backward caste. If there was no Supreme court order on a slab of 50% for all reservations we would have already been at say 90% of the country reserved. History is a burden for India and it is upon the state to correct the historic wrongs in all possible ways - are we choosing the right way?

No one questions that weaker sections/backward castes require support to climb the societal ladder, the larger question is whether the current model is efficient and is it impacting the breadth and depth of the society so that larger numbers can come up at a faster rate.

Current reservation system may entail some things - 1) Seats in education institutions/hostels 2) Some government goodies - ration cards etc 3) promotions if you are in government i guess. May be or may not be much in the scheme of things.

In most cases demand for including some caste in a reserved category is a political demand to consolidate a particular vote bank to kick of a political career. Hence even if successful these movements fail to make a whole sale impact on a particular caste in terms of relevant metrics of human development.

I was in college during mandal agitation and saw the raw emotions attached to reservations firsthand, i am not aware of any of my friends benefiting form this since most of them are into private sector and doing very well.

It is time to re-assess reservations in the current form and look at alternative models. One often touted is economic basis, this may be good since there are equally poor and needy citizens in the so called 'OC' category. This is complex too since determination of economic backwardness will be a big challenge and political.

Some of the Western nations ( US) has affirmative action in place for about 60 years. There are noises for and against but that is a debate they are having in their country too.

There should be a inclusive and full debate on this in the parliament - backed by data to help our leaders to define backwardness and help the truly helpless.

Menace of Private education

It is an open secret but no one wants to speak up. The strangle hold Private tutorials/colleges have on students and parents across the country. That these institutions exist only for profit and not for preparing students of tomorrow is well known. Government's have abdicated the responsibility in this critical area of national development.

The monopoly these institutions have is most visible in AP. The most visible monopoly is the collaboration between Chaitanya college and Naryana college. Basically their promise is to get your ward ( boy/girl) to clear an entrance examination which will lead to a seat in an engineering or medical college. An industrialized approach which takes a raw material ( boy/girl) and hammer out an output in terms of results. What is the promise - education or advertisement ?

Their incomes runs in hundreds of crores and their infrastructure at best mediocre. It is one monopoly competition commission of India has to look at. The question that goes a begging is do they pay all taxes and whose palms are they greasing to ensure they survive and have a vice like hold on the higher education system in the state.

The most deplorable is their shouting on the roof top TV advertisements post the entrance examination results where these colleges boast their achievements and display gullible students and parents as their votaries.

Government's have conveniently closed their eyes and let public colleges die their own death. Will the new states get their act right ? Will each and every student get an equal platform to learn and compete ? How to get out of the your are with me or you loose psyche ? Not sure since one of them is a minister.

Indian farmer and truth no one want to speak

I just returned my village and was wondering what is the future for Indian villages. Villagers and farmers in India are interchangeable since folks who stay in villages are generally farmers or doing something related to agriculture. With the elections over this major component of the Indian electorate will be forgotten. Without exception all political parties speak for the farmer and claim to represent their interests. Farm loan waivers, subsidies, free electricity, irrigation projects are some of the popular promises farmers get.

Despite years of support from various governments, despite setting favorable MSP ( Minimum support price) and other support systems the Indian farmer struggles to eke out a living. What the political parties do not tell the farmer (read poor farmer) as a profession it is not profitable due to the economics involved in farming. Typical Indian farmer has marginal to small land holdings (<1 hectare to 2 hectares). Most of them also do share cropping to improve the economics but get into debt trap. With 65% of the population stuck in villages the country is loosing lot of productivity from this workforce who are involved in work which is not remunerative. Most worrisome is uneducated and partly literate youth wasting prime of their youth in villages.

The solution is to improve agriculture productivity, automate, build ware houses, eliminate middle men, encourage co-operative farming, grow high value products and encourage exports. Of course government should invest in infrastructure to make this happen. At the same time government should invest heavily in education of the rural children and help them move out of the morass they are caught in.

Indian villages are divided by caste, religion and are depressing with out any real infrastructure. If India wants to move faster we need to rethink our developmental model for our villages. Panchayat raj and other institutional frameworks did help in establishing democracy at the lowest levels but are not helping in improving quality of life in villages.

I hope Mr. Modi will speak the facts and give a new direction to Indian Agriculture and save the Indian farmer.

Crying wolf

UR Ananthamurthy, Gopal Gandhi and other left intellectuals are crying wolf about India being an unsafe place for the minorities since Modi is taking charge. They are being unkind to the democratic process and questioning the choice made by a large majority of the population. They may have every right to speak up but right now they are using their fertile imagination to create questions in the minds of people.

Mr.Modi and his government should do everything in their might to protect the minorities and the vulnerable sections of the country while Mr. Gandhi should reflect on the Nandi gram killings while he was the governor of Bengal. He has criticized the then government but the carnage did happen.

A whole lot of left intellectuals, Nitish Kumar, Lalu, Mulayam and others are desperately trying to create uncertainty and raise questions about minority protection. They all should instead delve on their governance model and why people( incl minorities) have rejected them and their policies resoundingly.

Will he Deliver

Narendra Modi has done what no other Indian politician has achieved till now. He has demolished the Congress party and in effect has put that party back by 20 years. India has unofficially voted in a presidential election and gave a never heard of victory to Narendra Modi and BJP. Coming from a humble background and working his way up the ranks through sheer hard work he has displayed the stamina and courage of a warrior.

A broader look at the opposition parties which fell by the way side are all those who touted secularism and rights based policies as their mantra. This may be right but what they have not realized is this young India wants a better life, jobs and not doles and subsidies alone. For the first time in an Indian election the first time voters participated in large numbers and voted for Shri.Modi with their feet.

Low growth, corruption, high unemployment, arrogance of the Congress party, the ego of Nitish Kumar, the bumbling Akhilesh Yadav and the eternally stupid Netaji ( Mulayam) , Weakened regional satarps and the irrelevance of the communists ( they are still meeting in Delhi to discuss reasons for their defeat - Here is the answer you guys are sleeping at the wheels while India has moved on), have all provided a fantastic opportunity for Modi to deliver a knock out punch.

So Mr.Modi it is upto you to deliver and here is my to do list for you -

1. Cabinet - Pick the bright and best (I meant while accommodating your political compulsions). I am sure folks like Arun Shourie will be back.

2. PMO – Bring transparency to the PMO. Make them responsive. PMO should provide leadership in all areas of administration. It should run like a Project Management Office – knowing all and directing all.

3. Advisors – Take a leaf out of Shri. Vajpayee and have a set of strong advisors. UPA suffered because of this.

4. Center state relationship – You pitched for this, ensure it works. Stop the squabbling have a large heart. UPA was partial and vindictive. Helping non-BJP states will help you politically too.

5. Agriculture – Farmers have been the most abused by all political parties. No one tells them the reality in terms of what plagues their profession. You should take the lead and help them do better. Diversification, Higher productivity, High value items, exports, Investments in Irrigation, canals etc, elimination of middle men we all know should be the areas of focus.

6. Infrastructure –
a. Get the NHAI working, there is a whole lot of confusion on what model to adopt (PPP, etc). Clarity of policy should be your governments focus. Companies have lost money pouring thousands of crores into infrastructure projects and are suffering. Take it on yourself, pump money and ensure our highways are built in the next five years. India cannot wait for good highways any longer.
b. As urbanization increases India we will see more migration to tier1 and 2 towns, start early and invest in tier 2 towns and make them smart cities ( for ex: Surat, Coimbatore, Vijaywada, Nagpur etc )
c. Connecting rivers – It has been on paper for long .Please start in a small way and show the nation how it works.
d. Clean the rivers – Ganga action plan – and “Ma Ganga ne bulaya apko “Please kick some life into the organization and start cleaning up our rivers. Infact it should be a nationwide movement and a significant achievement for your administration.
e. Airports- Privatize remaining AAI run airports. They are not capable of building world class and efficient airports. Invest in smaller airports in tier 2 and 3 towns – connect India to make more of them fly more.
f. Coal mining – it is a shame we import coal having world’s third largest reserves. Clarity on coal mining policy is necessary.
g. Power projects – Most of them are suffering due to policy logjams, coal allocation, and gas allocation. It is a mess put some bright minds to give these projects life and Indians 24 x 7 power at homes. Extend the Gujarat Solar energy model to the country.


7. Women – Focus on literacy, protection, employment opportunities should be top priorities. Fast track courts for providing justice to victims should be established all over the country.

8. Human development index (human development) – This is the most important area your administration should focus on. There are a host of government funded programs in the areas of Health care, Education, Women’s empowerment etc under various departments. Need to consolidate these programs and make them effective and outcome oriented. India suffers from lack of genuine data on the above parameters. Unless we improve these parameters India will not get the respect it deserves in the League of Nations.

9. Sanitation – You yourself said “pehle souchalay”. The first person to speak about it openly. Instead of embarking on half hearted schemes like ‘ Nirmal grameen abhiyan” government should go ahead and build toilets free in all villages. There is no point in asking villagers to fund part money when they do not have enough to feed themselves. Link it to MNREGA and fund it fully. You can eliminate half the diseases in India by doing so.

10. Universities and Hospitals – We are poor country and government has basically abdicated its responsibility in these two critical areas. Your administration should focus on improving higher education in our Universities and bring life back into Government hospitals. Private sector is squeezing money out of the poor and needy.

11. More government – Your slogan has been less government, more governance, one cannot agree more. I would say that in the next 5/10 years we need active government at least in the areas of Infrastructure, Education and Healthcare. These areas are extremely critical and needed to be anchored by your government.

12. External affairs – Very poor state of affairs which need immediate attention. India should gain leadership in its neighborhood. As a large country we should set the agenda and work with our neighbors.

Thank you for the patient reading and wishing you all the best. Beware of your detractors who will try to distract your attention on frivolous issues, you promised development and governance; please stick to it for a second coming in 2019 “doosri bar modi Sarkar”.

the truth about our leaders vested interests

http://www.firstpost.com/politics/whats-holding-up-telangana-mps-business-interests-1159207.html