Dr. Parrikar and his followers (or Drs. Parrikars) are contricting their goal from Goan culture in general to non-Western, non-Christian elements of Goan music, just to suit their argument. Their claim that scholarly writing is merely suggestive of knowledge is bogus. This may be true for platitudes, rants and Goanet posts, but peer-reviewed writings resulting from original research, as in the case of Robert Newman, speaks to his knowledge and expertise in that field.
Now regarding Dr. Parrikar's claim of being an expert in Goan music, by his own temperamental criteria, how can we be sure he is not talking through his hat? Who has interrogated him on this front? Which Ph.D. committee has certified him in the specific area of non-Western, non-Christian elements of Goan music? Cheers, Santosh --- "Rajan P. Parrikar" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > The holes in Dr. Helekar's thinking above are larger > > than his zipcode. We were not disputing Dr. > Newman's > competence. Dr. Helekar has moved the goalpost now > to suit himself. We were disputing Dr. Helekar's > gushing > endorsement of Dr. Newman as someone who knows > more about "Goan culture" than any Goan. The surest > > way to validate Dr. Helekar's claim is a direct > interrogation > of Dr. Newman. That is why a PhD candidate is > called > upon to make an oral defense regardless of the > number > of peer-reviewed papers, scholarly articles, and > books > he may have to his credit. Because writing is only > suggestive, not conclusive. Only a direct oral > interrogation can definitively establish the depth - > or > the lack of it - of a man's knowledge of a subject > area. > > Now then, with my background and expertise, I can > evaluate Dr. Newman's fitness in the field of Goan > music, an important element of culture. To be more > specific, the non-Western, non-Christian elements > of Goan music. For the other major areas of > culture, > we can draw on Goan experts from those departments > to take stock of Dr. Newman. > > But all this is beside the point. Dr. Helekar was > talking > through his hat with that remark about Dr. Newman's > preeminence in matters about Goan culture. Nobody > who has the slightest idea of what the term > "culture" > encompasses would have made so silly a remark. >
