I had read a bit about how tactical the British were, about the process of colonization of India. But this just blew me away.
My personal opinion — I think he got what he wanted. A majority of the self-esteem is now gone. Anything western is good in this culture of today. If it is our own culture, then it is ancient, traditional, or too conservative. Sad. It is brilliant, how this guy strategized about this about 150 years back !
My personal opinion about blogger like you who I think is pathetic, is that they look back and trawl reasons for the mess India is in today. The pathos of India is purely home made, greed and corruption are mostly the contributors. I suggest that you read Bill Gates foundation’s account of HIV Aids in India and in particular read Salmon Rushdie’s contribution to it.
Like the corrupt politicians of India , you blame colonisation for every ill. I suggest that it is over half-century since independence and still people like you are prattling away about Western influence. Just look at what China has achieved and ask yourself why India commands such low esteem outside your imaginary world.
Think of it, China was luckier.
Britishers did not get there and could not plant appeasement, corruption and greed.
Dear Mysorean: I would not ncessearily think that – but it is your personal opinion and you are entitled to have it. I am not the usual ‘dwell-on-the-past-bloggeri. You will notice that if you read some of my earlier posts where I extoll the brilliance of India.
Having said that, the only thing I strongly believe that we as Indians are finding hard to remove (and I am not saying this is impossible) is the strong foundations of beaurocracy that the English left behind. In fact, I look positively at a lot of the things that the British left behind (the chief ones being good english education and the awesome railway system).
To summarize, my main point in the above post was the fact, that we, as Indians should regain our strong heritage and pride (it is happening now, but not at the pace that I would wish). We are a proud race, and we should always be so.
Could I ask simple questions? You talk about Indian heritage. Did you learn Sanskrit? In what ways you are practicising what you preach? Is Karunanidhi maintaining Indian heritage? I am assuming that you are from Tamil Nadu.
You see the common complaint of those I meet in the West is that Indians are good in preaching, looking back their glorious history and for ever blame British colonial rule for the situation the country finds itself in today. If you leave your tunneled vision at home and think straight, the British left your Madras University and my Mysore University for example in good shape. Now these are caste-infested and corruption -infested swamps. Merit and honesty have no place in any system in India. Young Indians, find ways of migrating to the West in thousands. I get at leat 100 enquiries per week from young bright educated who are fed up with the dominance of casteism, corruption and nepotismat every level in India.. All these are locally made pathos and British have no part in it! With the Indian politics mired in cesspool, up comes your ‘looking back exercise’ and blaming British who left India ages ago.
China was occupied many times by many powers. The Chinese and their leaders do not have the past time of blaming these powers. China is steaming ahead, leaving pathetic India and Indians behind.
I do not extoll brilliance of India. India with its 30% population well below the poverty line and its HIV Aids population soon outstripping those in Africa has very little positives to extoll.
You are simply regurgitating history and trying to fit events to justify aspects of India and Indians as we find them today. It is a hollow argument and you need to do some mature thinking.
Well, since you have decided to ask some questions I shall answer them.
(1) Yes, I did learn Sanskrit. I learnt the Vedas as well. I know Rudram, Chamakam etc by rote. I have also take multiple courses on Vedic literature and Indian philosophy.
(2) Hmm, in what ways do I practise what I preach — I did my BE in Univ of Madras. I did my Masters and PhD in Comp. Sci in the US, and I came back to India (motherland) to do something for the country. I did not stay back in the US for the luxurious life .. like some people do. I wanted to see India devlop, and possibly help, in every small way that I can.
(3) And by the way, I see that you mention “India being pathetic’ in your own comment above. I do not see you practising what you preach either.
I think you should stick to commenting in the silly rediff forums – where I see these mindless comment wars all the time.
I think it is time that this comment thread ended.
Thataatsu.
I am not going to end this thread until I have a say. Your digging out of centuries old British Parliament stuff is mindless, wasteful and tend to create a stir as a post for your blog . That started this argument. You began by hyperventilating about colonisation and blaming past colonial masters for the ills gripping India today. I see you have no substantive arguments.
When British left, Sanskrit was a popular subject in the length and breadth of Madras State. Brahmins like my uncle could keep their sacred threads, piously going about their religious work without being set upon by DK and DMK thugs. British never targeted them. Since you have studied Sanskrit , Vedas and Rudram ( perhaps in Yajurveda sect) and believe in India’s heritage, I suggest that you work towards popularising Sanskrit teaching in schools in Tamil Nadu which have all but disappeared thanks to the DMK government. It is political parties like the DK and DMK which are responsible for destroying Indian heritage and not the British.
About Vedas and Philosphy and the young. There is plenty of work to do in that direction. I wonder how much the DMK can take this at the end.
Just because some one has gone to the US and studied , it does not mean that they have jobs waiting for them there, PhD computer science notwithstanding. Young men return to India. I am surprised that a person like you who likes India and its heritage so much went to US for studies in the first place, rather than staying in India and completing the studies. You could have done what my good friend NRN did. He had an excellent academic record, did not go abroad, studied in India and built an international organisation devoted to software development. He never complained about colonisation like you have done. He is a fervent supporter of nurturing Indian heritage and a practicing Brahmin. There is an example for you.
I see why you are so upset. I see from your IP, that you are living in the United Kingdom. Tsk Tsk.
And BTW, no one has been hyperventilating here. I hope you have not been doing so. Not good for health.
And just to add, for the record, I did delete your last comment. Let us keep this between us — why bring in the Sankara Mutt etc.
I don’t know how I got to this page. But the alleged ‘address’ that ‘Lord’ Macaulay gave in the British Parliament in 1835 – is a fake quote – it has been proven to be fake – please do not fall for this. I happened to read a very detailed article on this very quote that has been circulating in the internet. While it may be circulated mostly by genuinely proud Indians, those who are thinking of forwarding this, please stop and ask yourself this question:
Do I really need a fake quote to make India great? Isn’t part of India’s greatness derived from placing ‘Truth’ above all else?
There is at least one interesting discussion that went on some time ago:
http://satyameva-jayate.org/2007/06/26/clearing-the-dust-off-macaulays-quote/
If it is fake, I would not feel one small bit less prouder. I have always been and will always be proud to be an Indian. These are just testaments (if it is true), about the greatness of country, which I feel, are worthy of sharing with people, who do not know.
Dear Mysorean,
As Ram wrote, even I dont know how I got to this page but want to say one thing for sure lets forget the second part of so called fake speech of Lord Macaulay but no one can disagree to the first part of speech that India’s Spiritual and Cultural heritage was/is above everything on this Earth.
Even if we live in UK/US or we are holding passports issued by UK/US or we need Visas to visit India but we will be always called Indian or atleast Non Resident Indian but we will be Indian from Heart and Soul.
So whether Her highness took our glorious past or our today’s corrupt politician, whether Britishers divided our country in two or our Dear P. Chidambaram dividing states but we have to bring back our Glorious Traditions and Culture back on Forefront. I know we can do this as in 60 years we have come long way. India is no more a third World Country but an Emerging Economy.
So lets not forget one thing that even if it is not said by anybody but it is Unsaid Truth that India was Golden Sparrow and has been destroyed by many invaders and finally Britishers put very strong foundation of Divide and Rule which Indian National Congress and its Allies are nurturing very carefully and lovingly.
So dear Mysorean dont read Macaulay’s proposal but atleast read and spread word around the glorious past of India and bring pride in yourself and take the positive aspect of this speech. We should say thanks to Mouli to remind us our glorious past.
What an uproar over a fake quote! Some people have so much time on their hands. Need to open your eyes and practice a little mindfulness from time to time before exploiting the basic instincts of hate and prejudice in the name of a “great” country What’s so great about it right now is surely not you my dear citizen that started this hoax in the first place. Playing with genuine sentiments that are experienced by ordinary Indians no matter where they live. This is cheap. And I’d be thankful if no one tried to cover up this c*** with more misplaced **** to sound superior. Go jump!!!
i (BHARAT-VAASI) am beginning to hate myself after reading this letter 🙁