Dear Nandu, I was glad to learn about the work of my former Goa University prof, Dr Balchandra Nemade. As you suggest, information often does not travel across from one language to another within India, and there are few translations happening.
But I don't think it is the "Anglocentric world" alone that is to blame for this. For that matter, there are a number of articles on Dr Nemade's work in English language newspapers: There are 15,000 links on Google showing up for keywords related to this book. DNA has this story: Brahmins, Hindutva have ruined Hindu religion: Bhalchandra Nemade ... http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report_brahmins-hindutva-have-ruined-hindu-religion-bhalchandra-nemade_1401363 A Facebook group has been set up http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bhalchandra-Nemade/103113496396313?v=desc There are YouTube videos (though in Marathi, and without translations). Even Hindu Jagruti (in English, no less!) has got into the act: Maharashtra Dharma was founded by Malik Amber! : Hindu hater ... http://www.hindujagruti.org/news/9765.html In the interview with The Hindu, Dr Nemade [http://www.hindu.com/lr/2010/07/04/stories/2010070450080300.htm] suggests that Indian writing in English is "not authentic". I would believe that the language is just the clothes for one's ideas, and one can use a "shuddha" Indian language but still be incomprehensible to the vast majority of Indians! Hindi itself is a case in point. With India soon expected to become the largest English speaking country in the world, I don't think the English-is-too-narrow-and-elite arguments will hold for much longer. It is a tool that, among others, helps the country communicate within itself and with others. Should we take the approach of a Ngugi wa Thiong'o, the Gikuyu writer from Kenya, began abandoned his successful career in English in favour of his native language, and suggested (in Decolonising the Mind, his 1986 "farewell to English") that through language people have not only describe the world, but also understand themselves. Or consider English to be a "cultural bomb" that still erases memories of pre-colonial cultures and history, so as to install a new, more insidious form of colonialism? Or do we see languages like English, though a colonial imposition, today promoting both inter-nation communication as well as a tool to counter the colonial past through 'de-forming a "standard" European tongue and re-forming it in new literary forms'? I think reality lies somewhere between these two extremes. Incidentally, I would have not got to know Prof Nemade and his work, had I not been in the Goa University English Literature class when he was heading that department! FN Frederick Noronha +91-9822122436 +91-832-2409490 On 21 July 2010 20:41, Dr.Nandkumar Kamat <[email protected]> wrote: > A lot of publicity hype has been created on > this novel-but the Anglocentric world is > unaware of this new cultural phenomenon. * * * Read Selma Carvalho's warmly-received book *Into the Diaspora Wilderness*, a journey through Goan life in Africa, the Gulf, England and North America ... gripping and well-told real-life stories. See http://selmacarvalho.squarespace.com/ Buy in Goa via Broadway Book Centre, Panjim. Ph 9822488564. * * *
