I am currently reading Empires of the Indus that may be of interest to you in regard to this discussion, particularly the point that Pakistan likes to present itself as far more homogenous than it actually is and that it's ideology of being a Muslim nation is not as exclusive as it would like us to believe.
On Mon, Mar 9, 2009 at 8:50 AM, ss <[email protected]> wrote: > You cannot define "Indian culture" without defining the Hindu. However > defining the Hindu is not that easy. > > The term "Hindu" is a result of linguistic fractal recursivity in which > some > people came to India and said "Hey you are all hindus" to a people who had > no > clue that they needed to (or could possibly) define themselves as one > group. > The latter group then took up this name with gusto and started > saying "Hey-OK - we are Hindu" > > Fractal recursivity seems to be a very important phenomenon in which Hindus > have anointed themselevs with a narrow set of definitions and > charactersitics > that were originally third party observations of "Hindu" behavior - > (sometimes of niche behavior) by someone or the other. > > The Hindu of Bangalore will balk at the idea of the Hindu of Mizoram eating > beef - the former having convinced himself that a fixed set of definitions > constitutes "Hindu". When my classmate Vani Guha (sister of Ram Guha) > joined > college a senior of mine from Tamil Nadu (now settled in the US) asked "Is > Vani Guha Hindu". The answer, from an Andhra-ite was, "No. I think she is > Bengali" (which she is not) > > Whatever Hindutvadis claim was "original Hindu behavior' they find it > dificult > to admit that Islam had a great influence on Hindu behavior. It is also > true > that "Hindu" behavior affected Islam. This hybrid culture later absorbed > western traits from Macaulayization. > > Indian culture is a hybrid of many cultures that have come down through the > ages - but only Suketu Mehta describes it well. India has the ability to > swallow something and puke it out in a manner that reembles nothing else on > earth. > > Then came partition - which has had a deep effect on Indian psyche. at > partiction the Pakistan idea gelled into "That which is islamic, with > nothing > Hindu in it". As a tit for tat reaction Hindus in India clubbed all Muslims > as "Those who are Islamic with nothing Hindu in them" > > This has set the stage for modern Hindutvadis who are trying to > remove "Islamic influences" and all British "Western" influences from > indian > society. Thse people are actually doing bullsh1t because they do not > understand how deep both Islamic and Western influences run in Indian > behavior. Removing those influences is not possible - for reasons that I > intend to write about in due course. > > I have a standard method of getting Hindutvadis really mad - usually by > saying > that I have decided to convert and that all the behavior that they don't > like > is part of my new culture. While I sympathise with what I describe as > a "loss of Hindu narrative" - I have little patience for GIGO. > > Make your vote count. Now more so than ever. > > shiv > >
