Its time for DiL-ViL to move, this time, from the city of the London Eye to the Big Apple, i.e. New York City.
That would mean quite a big change in terms of society, ambience, mores and values; but not as much as change in 'little things' like measurement units, which side of the road one drives on, public transportation system, tax laws... or even the name of this blog.
Desi in New York - Videshi in Lucknow doesn't sound the same, does it? But I am sure that the experiences of move, that of being an 'outsider' yet again, would be interesting.
May 04, 2007
April 19, 2007
Racism, castes and shame - Rejoinder to a Comment
Following my earlier post on 'Racism, castes and shame,' I received an interesting comment from a friend. I think that the subject matter and the debate is important enough to be addressed directly in a post rather than in the comment section.
Here is the body of the comment:
"
...it is far more honourable to be correct than to be politically correct. Let us not get into breast beating because of a brain washed wimpy new generation.
Nature loves winners and they are naturally the Strong. The Weak are food for the Strong. Looking at the Strong, however, the Weak can also learn/progress ,bide their time, and at times turn the tables.When that happens, they must eat/ dominate the erstwhile Strong - that too is justice. Look for instance at wildlife. A pride of lions can chase a herd of bison and maybe kill a weak one. But a single bison would most likely kill a small lion. Also, if a herd were to stand firm, lions would have to look elsewhere.
Surviving deer get to build greater speed into their genes .Nature has room for all.
Just because some semi-literate self styled experts (western christian/ liberal)preach a feel good new doctrine, one doesn't throw darwinism, nietzsche, vivekananda and Manu out the door. To evolve and become more and more superior until each one becomes the Superman he is capable of being, is one's Duty. Humans are not equal. Each is at a different evolutionary level of soul/ physical form. By forcing a terrible, artificial equality, we would descend into communism again.
Varnashrama- is based on a profound and well organized system of social order. Its present form may be corrupted. But if one were to follow a suitable mix of the Mandarin system ( meritocracy based on testing) instead of heriditary caste system, you have the best of all worlds.
If you look at affirmative action in the USA and Reservation quotas in India, that is a correction. It is also as apparently evil as the problem it seeks to remedy, but will run its course.
Nature balances everything. You would recall- from Brownian motion, the sum of all moments is ZERO!"
And here is what I think.
First, let's assess the key argument that you have made, i.e. if 'it' happens in nature, it is correct. Dominance and predation is observed in nature, so that is factually correct. But racism, casteism are not so observed. Does that mean that racism and casteism are unnatural?
Further, extension of your argument of nature- based dominance to culture- based discrimination implicitly assumes that this extension is valid. This is a point I disagree on. Human societal and cultural values may be derived from nature but clearly these are more than just that. We humans do make clear preferences about things that may not be directly sanctioned by nature. To take your own suggestion of spirituality ("evolutionary level of soul"); soul is not an observed entity in nature while matters related to soul/ religion can occupy a major position in human lives.
For me it is clear that as humans we make choices - in as much as the concept of free choice is a valid one - about what we want to be as individuals and as a group or a society. And this is central to the issue of racism or castes: what kind of society do we want to build and live in.
Second, the notion of 'artificial equality' that you bring up. I agree that all human beings are not "equal". They are neither born equal: After all, there is a lottery in terms of genes affecting health, looks and perhaps even intelligence; let alone the family circumstances, society and geography differs which can drastically after their nurture, nutrition and survival. (This is analogous to the term 'natural endowments' in Economics.) Nor are we "equal" in terms of our responses, efforts, etc. as we live our lives. All this inequality is observable without succumbing to any notions of 'supermen' or different spiritual development.
Now as you would notice, the above- mentioned usage of "equality" implies same-ness. And enforcing that kind of equality is artifical and abhorrent, let alone being impossible. Is it this notion of equality that we are talking about when we refer to racism and castes? No. If anything, the relevant notion of equality is that of equality of opportunity.
Racism and casteism strongly vitiate against equality of opportunity. Despite being socio- cultural constructs, these serve to artifically distort personal choices, reduce access to education and social infrastructure and hence also subsequent economic contribution. Essentially, racism and casteism are themselves artifical barriers, anything but natural, and if society were to be viewed in terms of a 'market' (in the economic sense) these are market imperfections. In sum, they are at least as bad a case of artificiality as communism. To use words similar to yours, "enforcing a terrible, artifical" inequality (like racism or castes) can also cause us to descend into nightmares of a shattered, fragmented, dysfunctional society.
Finally, your mention of corrections and things evening out in the long run (I especially liked the bit about brownian motion, a sweet allusion to our undergraduate studies) is valid but neither here nor there. In the long run, to paraphrase Keynes, we are all dead.... and in the very long run, the physical entropy can only increase. Remember the 2nd law of thermodynamics?
But so what? In my view, consciousness is the prime anti- entropy force. And if we call ourselves conscious, sentient beings then we have a responsibility to do what is right and not merely let so- called nature run its course. As you are fond of saying, "all this is Maya", an illusion. Well, even if we are mere actors in a play, let us be good actors, let us be the best actors we can be.
Join the side of the Force, Lord Vader :-)
Here is the body of the comment:
"
...it is far more honourable to be correct than to be politically correct. Let us not get into breast beating because of a brain washed wimpy new generation.
Nature loves winners and they are naturally the Strong. The Weak are food for the Strong. Looking at the Strong, however, the Weak can also learn/progress ,bide their time, and at times turn the tables.When that happens, they must eat/ dominate the erstwhile Strong - that too is justice. Look for instance at wildlife. A pride of lions can chase a herd of bison and maybe kill a weak one. But a single bison would most likely kill a small lion. Also, if a herd were to stand firm, lions would have to look elsewhere.
Surviving deer get to build greater speed into their genes .Nature has room for all.
Just because some semi-literate self styled experts (western christian/ liberal)preach a feel good new doctrine, one doesn't throw darwinism, nietzsche, vivekananda and Manu out the door. To evolve and become more and more superior until each one becomes the Superman he is capable of being, is one's Duty. Humans are not equal. Each is at a different evolutionary level of soul/ physical form. By forcing a terrible, artificial equality, we would descend into communism again.
Varnashrama- is based on a profound and well organized system of social order. Its present form may be corrupted. But if one were to follow a suitable mix of the Mandarin system ( meritocracy based on testing) instead of heriditary caste system, you have the best of all worlds.
If you look at affirmative action in the USA and Reservation quotas in India, that is a correction. It is also as apparently evil as the problem it seeks to remedy, but will run its course.
Nature balances everything. You would recall- from Brownian motion, the sum of all moments is ZERO!"
And here is what I think.
First, let's assess the key argument that you have made, i.e. if 'it' happens in nature, it is correct. Dominance and predation is observed in nature, so that is factually correct. But racism, casteism are not so observed. Does that mean that racism and casteism are unnatural?
Further, extension of your argument of nature- based dominance to culture- based discrimination implicitly assumes that this extension is valid. This is a point I disagree on. Human societal and cultural values may be derived from nature but clearly these are more than just that. We humans do make clear preferences about things that may not be directly sanctioned by nature. To take your own suggestion of spirituality ("evolutionary level of soul"); soul is not an observed entity in nature while matters related to soul/ religion can occupy a major position in human lives.
For me it is clear that as humans we make choices - in as much as the concept of free choice is a valid one - about what we want to be as individuals and as a group or a society. And this is central to the issue of racism or castes: what kind of society do we want to build and live in.
Second, the notion of 'artificial equality' that you bring up. I agree that all human beings are not "equal". They are neither born equal: After all, there is a lottery in terms of genes affecting health, looks and perhaps even intelligence; let alone the family circumstances, society and geography differs which can drastically after their nurture, nutrition and survival. (This is analogous to the term 'natural endowments' in Economics.) Nor are we "equal" in terms of our responses, efforts, etc. as we live our lives. All this inequality is observable without succumbing to any notions of 'supermen' or different spiritual development.
Now as you would notice, the above- mentioned usage of "equality" implies same-ness. And enforcing that kind of equality is artifical and abhorrent, let alone being impossible. Is it this notion of equality that we are talking about when we refer to racism and castes? No. If anything, the relevant notion of equality is that of equality of opportunity.
Racism and casteism strongly vitiate against equality of opportunity. Despite being socio- cultural constructs, these serve to artifically distort personal choices, reduce access to education and social infrastructure and hence also subsequent economic contribution. Essentially, racism and casteism are themselves artifical barriers, anything but natural, and if society were to be viewed in terms of a 'market' (in the economic sense) these are market imperfections. In sum, they are at least as bad a case of artificiality as communism. To use words similar to yours, "enforcing a terrible, artifical" inequality (like racism or castes) can also cause us to descend into nightmares of a shattered, fragmented, dysfunctional society.
Finally, your mention of corrections and things evening out in the long run (I especially liked the bit about brownian motion, a sweet allusion to our undergraduate studies) is valid but neither here nor there. In the long run, to paraphrase Keynes, we are all dead.... and in the very long run, the physical entropy can only increase. Remember the 2nd law of thermodynamics?
But so what? In my view, consciousness is the prime anti- entropy force. And if we call ourselves conscious, sentient beings then we have a responsibility to do what is right and not merely let so- called nature run its course. As you are fond of saying, "all this is Maya", an illusion. Well, even if we are mere actors in a play, let us be good actors, let us be the best actors we can be.
Join the side of the Force, Lord Vader :-)
Vacation as a Detox
Back from a two- week vacation spent mostly in village. Other than the obvious benefits of rest, relaxation, meeting family and friends there was one not so obvious - that of weaning away from internet, emails and mobile calls and text.
Felt good to get 'unplugged' from the 'wired' world; but all through, I had this nagging feeling that I was missing something. Amazing how quickly we have gotten used to being connected in the world of internet, wireless and mobile technologies.
Wonder what the feeling may be like in another 25 years, as the promises of all- pervasive, ubiquitous computing come to fruition.
Felt good to get 'unplugged' from the 'wired' world; but all through, I had this nagging feeling that I was missing something. Amazing how quickly we have gotten used to being connected in the world of internet, wireless and mobile technologies.
Wonder what the feeling may be like in another 25 years, as the promises of all- pervasive, ubiquitous computing come to fruition.
March 31, 2007
Racism, castes and shame
These days, UK is commemorating the bicentenary of the 1807 Abolition of Slave Trade Act. Newspapers coverage of Blair's message to Ghana highlighted his (implicit) refusal to apologise for Britain's role in slavery since he had only expressed "deep sorrow and regret" for the suffering of the people. Later this was followed by a protester interrupting the church service attended by the Queen to demand an apology.
However, what made an impact on me, was viewing a documentary, "Racism - A History" on BBC 4 on March 28. Here is BBC press office's description
"Filmed in Australia, the United States, India and Southern Africa, A History Of Racism turns its attention to the development of eugenic theories and explores the historical connections between the colonial genocides of the 19th century and one of the pivotal events of the 20th: the Holocaust.
The programme begins by examining the violence perpetrated on native races by the early European settlers in Tasmania. These atrocities were given legitimacy in the middle of the 18th century with the development of "Social Darwinism". This new theory applied the principle of "the survival of the fittest" – previously used to account for natural selection in the animal world – to human society. It was hard to ignore the fact that, as Europe's Empire-builders spread across the globe, the pre-existing populations of the countries they colonised had a tendency to perish.
Silent because of a phrase used in describing the mindset of the Social Darwinians and Eugenicists - ".... a hierarchy of races ..."
Silent because then it had struck me that our glorious Indian Caste System was same in essence. Not that this was absolutely new knowledge. Thrust of an intellectual fencer would be that originally castes were based on occupation and not on birth. I know that, too. Two years ago, I gave a presentation on the subject to a bunch of 12-14 year olds at Lycee Francaise in London; and I took great pains to explain the origins of the 'Varna' system. Pity that then no kid asked me the question which I asked myself now ... Forget the origins; what is the reality in the here and now? Isn't is a form of racism? And I was forced to admit to myself, the answer is, "Yes, casteism is a form of racism."
Silent because suddenly I was ashamed. It just wasn't enough that I can claim to personally not have discriminated against anyone on basis of caste. Ashamed that I hadn't done enough; ashamed that whenever a non- Indian had commented on the evils of the present day caste- system, I had made the issue sound smaller than what it is, either by pointing to the origins or to highlight the progress made in the past few decades.
Perhaps, it was because of the pride I take in Indian and Hindu heritage; may be I was motivated by a desire to 'protect' India and Hindu culture and society. Now I think that pride/ nationalism was misplaced. Truer pride lies in acknowledging and righting the wrongs.
However, what made an impact on me, was viewing a documentary, "Racism - A History" on BBC 4 on March 28. Here is BBC press office's description
"Filmed in Australia, the United States, India and Southern Africa, A History Of Racism turns its attention to the development of eugenic theories and explores the historical connections between the colonial genocides of the 19th century and one of the pivotal events of the 20th: the Holocaust.
The programme begins by examining the violence perpetrated on native races by the early European settlers in Tasmania. These atrocities were given legitimacy in the middle of the 18th century with the development of "Social Darwinism". This new theory applied the principle of "the survival of the fittest" – previously used to account for natural selection in the animal world – to human society. It was hard to ignore the fact that, as Europe's Empire-builders spread across the globe, the pre-existing populations of the countries they colonised had a tendency to perish.
Social Darwinism presented the extinction of these "weaker" human races as an inevitable and entirely "natural" consequence of their racial inferiority. The theory provided a pretext for the domination, exploitation and even extermination of the so-called "darker races" in the Pacific, South East Asia and Southern Africa for years to come."
Silent because of a phrase used in describing the mindset of the Social Darwinians and Eugenicists - ".... a hierarchy of races ..."
Silent because then it had struck me that our glorious Indian Caste System was same in essence. Not that this was absolutely new knowledge. Thrust of an intellectual fencer would be that originally castes were based on occupation and not on birth. I know that, too. Two years ago, I gave a presentation on the subject to a bunch of 12-14 year olds at Lycee Francaise in London; and I took great pains to explain the origins of the 'Varna' system. Pity that then no kid asked me the question which I asked myself now ... Forget the origins; what is the reality in the here and now? Isn't is a form of racism? And I was forced to admit to myself, the answer is, "Yes, casteism is a form of racism."
Silent because suddenly I was ashamed. It just wasn't enough that I can claim to personally not have discriminated against anyone on basis of caste. Ashamed that I hadn't done enough; ashamed that whenever a non- Indian had commented on the evils of the present day caste- system, I had made the issue sound smaller than what it is, either by pointing to the origins or to highlight the progress made in the past few decades.
Perhaps, it was because of the pride I take in Indian and Hindu heritage; may be I was motivated by a desire to 'protect' India and Hindu culture and society. Now I think that pride/ nationalism was misplaced. Truer pride lies in acknowledging and righting the wrongs.
March 27, 2007
Raktabeej (रक्तबीज), biotech ... and animal rights
(Source: Channel4)Yesterday happened to be the last day (ashtami, अष्टमी) of winter Navaratri. During the recitation of great deeds of the goddess Durga and her avatars, there is a story of her vanquishing Raktabeej. As the name suggests (Rakta रक्त = blood; and Beej बीज = seed), each drop of Raktabeej's blood that fell to the ground created another demon.
Now you may wonder why would I think of Raktabeej when I am so far away from home.
Well, yesterday evening, we also watched 'Animal Farm,' an interesting documentary on Channel 4 discussing genetic modification and the "tangle of ethical and moral issues that surrounds it." Within the programme, there was a segment on 'plasma cows' who are genetically modified to be able to produce human antibodies and their plasma is harvested. The picture above is that of a plasma cow in a wooden cage/ scaffolding, hooked up to suction pumps harvesting the blood (the blood pump is sanitised away in the cropped picture).
Also, the programme covered the use of stem cells: these undifferentiated cells can be induced to grow into any part of body (see here for details) and would serve the basis of organ replacement and regrowth (perhaps even rejuvenation, in the future). So, one could almost think of the stem cells as 'seed' cells.
There you have it.... beginnings of modern Raktabeej!
How do I feel about it? Ambivalent. As for the chance to save human lives - great! Novelty value of advances in science - thrilling! Unknown risks - ??? Use of animals - ok, actually. In the case of plasma cows, in my view, there isn't difference between harvesting milk or blood . The latter gets replaced, and apparently the harvesting process is 'humane'. After all, in neither case, do we seek the cow's consent. [Also, reminded myself that Masai herders do drink cow's blood when they are on the move, as did Mongols with horses and ponies.] And lastly, perhaps it is better to harvest for blood than to kill for meat.
But the last bit does make a voracious omnivore like me wonder as to where I would choose to stand on the issue of 'animal rights', a much broader area than merely turning vegetarian. The internal jury is still out there ...
March 20, 2007
Blog in Hindi/ Devanagari - A Follow- up
After yesterday's post - my first attempt in blogging in hindi, i.e. devanagari script - I received a comment from 'Unmukt' (उन्मुक) where he mentioned that people have been blogging in Hindi for over a year, even if Blogger.com's Hindi transliteration support has been launched recently.
That is welcome news indeed, and the increasing content is borne out by the number of Hindi blogs at the following blog which maintains a list: http://hindi-blog-podcast.blogspot.com/2006/10/blog-post_3534.html
Moreover, Hindiblogs.com provides an aggregator service for Hindi blogs. I haven't yet checked out the comprehensiveness of their service
Also, came across an interesting blog, naisadak, written by a Hindi TV journalist, Raveesh Kumar. Sharp, witty, insightful and daring! After so many years of off-and-on reading print journalism in Hindi, I was beginning to despair at the stale, blinkered views and superficial analysis. This blog gives that earlier impression a lie.
And finally, as a digression, Google now offers India news in Hindi at 'Google Samachar Bharat.'
हिंदी चिट्ठों के लिंक्स:
चिट्ठों की सूची : हिन्दी - चिट्ठे एवं पॉडकास्ट
हिंदी चिट्ठों का Aggregator: हिंदीब्लोग्स.कॉम
एक रोचक ब्लोग: नई सड़क / क़स्बा
भारतीय समाचार हिंदी में : गूगल समाचार भारत
That is welcome news indeed, and the increasing content is borne out by the number of Hindi blogs at the following blog which maintains a list: http://hindi-blog-podcast.blogspot.com/2006/10/blog-post_3534.html
Moreover, Hindiblogs.com provides an aggregator service for Hindi blogs. I haven't yet checked out the comprehensiveness of their service
Also, came across an interesting blog, naisadak, written by a Hindi TV journalist, Raveesh Kumar. Sharp, witty, insightful and daring! After so many years of off-and-on reading print journalism in Hindi, I was beginning to despair at the stale, blinkered views and superficial analysis. This blog gives that earlier impression a lie.
And finally, as a digression, Google now offers India news in Hindi at 'Google Samachar Bharat.'
हिंदी चिट्ठों के लिंक्स:
चिट्ठों की सूची : हिन्दी - चिट्ठे एवं पॉडकास्ट
हिंदी चिट्ठों का Aggregator: हिंदीब्लोग्स.कॉम
एक रोचक ब्लोग: नई सड़क / क़स्बा
भारतीय समाचार हिंदी में : गूगल समाचार भारत
March 19, 2007
हिंदी में ब्लोग - पहला प्रयास
आज पता चला कि अब ब्लॉगर में हिंदी लिखी जा सकती है, यानी ब्लॉगर हिंदी transliteration (अनुवाद / translation नहीं) support करता है । तो मैने सोचा कि कोशिश की जाय । फल आपके सामने हैं। जैसा आप देख सकते हैं, अभी भी काफी समस्याएं हैं, पर पहले की तुलना में काफी प्रगति हैं।
एक वजह और भी हैं। भारत में कई अपने ऐसे हैं जिनके लिए हिंदी में पढना अधिक सरल हैं । और, मुझे यह बात खल रही थी कि अब तक जोभी मैने इस blog में लिखा, वोह सब पढ़ना उन लोगों के लिए आसान नही हैं ; यानी , वोह लोग एक मायने में 'excluded' थे।
अगर आप भी हिंदी / देवनागरी transliteration try करना चाहते हैं तोयहां देखें।
P.S. - Please check that your browser is correctly set up to read Indic fonts. In this blog, despite other problems, कि displays correctly, and not as क and इ . See here for help on indic fonts.
एक वजह और भी हैं। भारत में कई अपने ऐसे हैं जिनके लिए हिंदी में पढना अधिक सरल हैं । और, मुझे यह बात खल रही थी कि अब तक जोभी मैने इस blog में लिखा, वोह सब पढ़ना उन लोगों के लिए आसान नही हैं ; यानी , वोह लोग एक मायने में 'excluded' थे।
अगर आप भी हिंदी / देवनागरी transliteration try करना चाहते हैं तोयहां देखें।
P.S. - Please check that your browser is correctly set up to read Indic fonts. In this blog, despite other problems, कि displays correctly, and not as क and इ . See here for help on indic fonts.
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