Re: [Goanet] V.S. Naipaul RIP
Naipaul was inconsistent in his attitude towards India. Earlier, he criticised the country quite severely; yet, lately, he had become the mouthpiece of Hindu nationalism with a very strong anti-Muslim bias. Burjor. From: Eddie Sent: 12 August 2018 19:01 To: GOANET Cc: Editor, Swarajyamag Subject: Re: V.S. Naipaul RIP Hi George, Naipaul, after his Oxford stint, got his first job with Britain's Telegraph, an Empire paper. They packed him off to India for his assessment. Naipaul wrote candidly. Here is an extract of what he wrote in a 1960's essay in the Daily Telegraph: [On Hindu beliefs] "The holy cow is absurd... The caste marks and the turbans belong to a people who, incapable of contemplating man as man, know no other way to define themselves. Where here is no play of the intellect, there is no surprise. While the West is many-featured, India possesses only mystery. The absurdity of India can be total. It appears to ridicule analysis. The onlooker is taken beyond anger and despair." "Here was a nation ceaselessly exchanging banalities with itself; regeneration is believed to come not from the intellect but through magic. In a time of famine, hundreds of gallons of milk were poured over a deity while an Air Force helicopter dropped flowers. "India is profoundly dependent on others - a country held together by no intellectual current. There is no true aristocracy, no element that preserves the graces of a country... Every discipline, skill and proclaimed ideal of the modern Indian state is a copy of something known to exist elsewhere. Local judgment has no value. Without the foreign chit, Indians can have no confirmation of their own reality." -- There could be hardly a more damning judgement of India. On a different note, Naipaul was awfully critical about Africa and the Middle East Muslims. BUT HE WAS CAREFUL NOT TO CRITICISE BRITAIN OR THE WEST in any way. After all, he lived in Britain and his publishers were British. So like most Indians he remained servile to the whites. Eddie -- Date: Sun, 12 Aug 2018 05:13:01 + (UTC) From: George Pinto To: "Estb. 1994! Goa's Premiere Mailing List" Subject: [Goanet] V. S. Naipaul Naipaul, who just passed away, had accepted a knighthood. It has always struck me as odd that ethnic Indians, especially the intellectuals, still crave royal handouts given colonial history. The Queen should kneel and accept a scolding from a brown or black person for years of colonial history, most especially since the dim-wit has never apologized for the devastation her country caused. She is dim and could not engage in today's issues, hence her usual silence which is taken by the apologists as being above the fray. Perhaps Eddie D'Sa can share his thoughts. George Eddie d'Sa is not me (!) but I'd say George comments are a bit unfair since the late V.S. Naipaul was an asshole in his own right (he admitted so much himself) besides being a great writer (at least till the late 90s/early 00s), and _not_ being Indian other than in the 'ethnic' sense, which doesn't make great sense and made even less to him. And the Queen, well, as George Pompidou would have said in his teacher's day, she's merely a 'personage' (figurehead) Cheers from the Southern Alps p+2D! "Before acting on this email or opening any attachments you should read the Manchester Metropolitan University email disclaimer available on its website http://www.mmu.ac.uk/emaildisclaimer "
Re: [Goanet] V.S. Naipaul RIP
Naipaul was a mixed bag. take it or leave it. I loved his A House for Mr Biswas, which is based on his father. His non-fiction was bit problematic, and he acknowledge hus weaknesses, imcluding his relationship with the women in hus life. Read An Area of Darkness long ago, and I found his A Million Mutinies very tedious. Eugene Sent from my iPad > On Aug 12, 2018, at 10:50 AM, Patrice Riemens wrote: > > Aloha, > > Re: > > Date: Sun, 12 Aug 2018 05:13:01 + (UTC) > From: George Pinto > To: "Estb. 1994! Goa's Premiere Mailing List" > > Subject: [Goanet] V. S. Naipaul > > > > Naipaul, who just passed away, had accepted a knighthood. It has always > struck me as odd that ethnic Indians, especially the intellectuals, still > crave royal handouts given colonial history. The Queen should kneel and > accept a scolding from a brown or black person for years of colonial history, > most especially since the dim-wit has never apologized for the devastation > her country caused. She is dim and could not engage in today's issues, hence > her usual silence which is taken by the apologists as being above the fray. > > Perhaps Eddie D'Sa can share his thoughts. > > George > > > Eddie d'Sa is not me (!) but I'd say George comments are a bit unfair since > the late V.S. Naipaul was an asshole in his own right (he admitted so much > himself) besides being a great writer (at least till the late 90s/early 00s), > and _not_ being Indian other than in the 'ethnic' sense, which doesn't make > great sense and made even less to him. > > And the Queen, well, as George Pompidou would have said in his teacher's day, > she's merely a 'personage' (figurehead) > > Cheers from the Southern Alps > p+2D! >
Re: [Goanet] V.S. Naipaul RIP
Hi George, Naipaul, after his Oxford stint, got his first job with Britain's Telegraph, an Empire paper. They packed him off to India for his assessment. Naipaul wrote candidly. Here is an extract of what he wrote in a 1960's essay in the Daily Telegraph: [On Hindu beliefs] "The holy cow is absurd... The caste marks and the turbans belong to a people who, incapable of contemplating man as man, know no other way to define themselves. Where here is no play of the intellect, there is no surprise. While the West is many-featured, India possesses only mystery. The absurdity of India can be total. It appears to ridicule analysis. The onlooker is taken beyond anger and despair." "Here was a nation ceaselessly exchanging banalities with itself; regeneration is believed to come not from the intellect but through magic. In a time of famine, hundreds of gallons of milk were poured over a deity while an Air Force helicopter dropped flowers. "India is profoundly dependent on others - a country held together by no intellectual current. There is no true aristocracy, no element that preserves the graces of a country... Every discipline, skill and proclaimed ideal of the modern Indian state is a copy of something known to exist elsewhere. Local judgment has no value. Without the foreign chit, Indians can have no confirmation of their own reality." -- There could be hardly a more damning judgement of India. On a different note, Naipaul was awfully critical about Africa and the Middle East Muslims. BUT HE WAS CAREFUL NOT TO CRITICISE BRITAIN OR THE WEST in any way. After all, he lived in Britain and his publishers were British. So like most Indians he remained servile to the whites. Eddie -- Date: Sun, 12 Aug 2018 05:13:01 + (UTC) From: George Pinto To: "Estb. 1994! Goa's Premiere Mailing List" Subject: [Goanet] V. S. Naipaul Naipaul, who just passed away, had accepted a knighthood. It has always struck me as odd that ethnic Indians, especially the intellectuals, still crave royal handouts given colonial history. The Queen should kneel and accept a scolding from a brown or black person for years of colonial history, most especially since the dim-wit has never apologized for the devastation her country caused. She is dim and could not engage in today's issues, hence her usual silence which is taken by the apologists as being above the fray. Perhaps Eddie D'Sa can share his thoughts. George Eddie d'Sa is not me (!) but I'd say George comments are a bit unfair since the late V.S. Naipaul was an asshole in his own right (he admitted so much himself) besides being a great writer (at least till the late 90s/early 00s), and _not_ being Indian other than in the 'ethnic' sense, which doesn't make great sense and made even less to him. And the Queen, well, as George Pompidou would have said in his teacher's day, she's merely a 'personage' (figurehead) Cheers from the Southern Alps p+2D!
[Goanet] V.S. Naipaul RIP
Aloha, Re: Date: Sun, 12 Aug 2018 05:13:01 + (UTC) From: George Pinto To: "Estb. 1994! Goa's Premiere Mailing List" Subject: [Goanet] V. S. Naipaul Naipaul, who just passed away, had accepted a knighthood. It has always struck me as odd that ethnic Indians, especially the intellectuals, still crave royal handouts given colonial history. The Queen should kneel and accept a scolding from a brown or black person for years of colonial history, most especially since the dim-wit has never apologized for the devastation her country caused. She is dim and could not engage in today's issues, hence her usual silence which is taken by the apologists as being above the fray. Perhaps Eddie D'Sa can share his thoughts. George Eddie d'Sa is not me (!) but I'd say George comments are a bit unfair since the late V.S. Naipaul was an asshole in his own right (he admitted so much himself) besides being a great writer (at least till the late 90s/early 00s), and _not_ being Indian other than in the 'ethnic' sense, which doesn't make great sense and made even less to him. And the Queen, well, as George Pompidou would have said in his teacher's day, she's merely a 'personage' (figurehead) Cheers from the Southern Alps p+2D!
