Macaulay - The source of our identity crisis

Here you might find interesting to read the reasons Macaulay gave for choosing English as the medium of instruction for Indians. Do read to know about his justifications.

 

Macaulay's minute

I personally think what he knew was much less than he is supposed to know. The following statements are enough to show us his knowledge and his great estimation capability.

“I have no knowledge of either Sanscrit or Arabic. But I have done what I could to form a correct estimate of their value. I have read translations of the most celebrated Arabic and Sanscrit works. I have conversed, both here and at home, with men distinguished by their proficiency in the Eastern tongues. I am quite ready to take the oriental learning at the valuation of the orientalists themselves. I have never found one among them who could deny that a single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia..”

He was at this evil best when he said the following.

“ It is, I believe, no exaggeration to say that all the historical information which has been collected from all the books written in the Sanscrit language is less valuable than what may be found in the most paltry abridgments used at preparatory schools in England.”.

We are now happy to learn in the system designed by such a ‘scholar’.

 

regards,

Ramesh

 

"There is no use in learning, if we do not worship the good feet of the one who is in the form of pure knowledge."

- Thiruvalluvar

 

National Manuscript Mission

National Mission for Manuscripts is an initiative started by the government of India, to preserve the ancient knowledge of India. Please help, if you can. Here are the steps to be done to preserve the wealth of India. Please read through and familiarize yourself. As Swami Vivekananda said, whoever tries to bring the glorious past to the door of every Hindu is a great contributor to this nation, you could be one of them.

Why a Mission for Manuscripts?

·         India has a largest collection of manuscripts in the world.

·         Composed in different Indian languages and scripts, they covers religion, philosophy, science, arts and literature .

·         Preserved in materials such as birch bark, palm leaf, cloth, wood, stone and paper, they are spread all over the country and abroad.

·         Some of this wealth has disappeared , while a large portion is in a state of damage and decay.

·         India’s manuscripts wealth has to be preserved and redeemed.

What needs to be done

·  Take great care in handling manuscripts.

·  Clean manuscript folios carefully with a brush or cloth.

·  Attach wooden supports of a slightly little bigger size on either side of the palm leaf manuscript, wrap in cloth (preferably red in colour and tie evenly with cotton string).

·  During rainy season control fungal growth with the help of silica gel.

·  During summer use khas khas mats, outside windows and sprinkle water on them frequently.

·  For preventing insect attack, keep insect repellents like Napthaline, Para Dichloro Benzene in small cloth sachets. Use natural products like neem leaves, cinchona in the cupboard.

·  Take out the manuscripts at least once in a few months, air them for some time, brush if necessary and replace them in the cupboard.

·  If the palm-leaf or paper manuscript is in a damage or deteriorated condition, get in touch with Manuscripts Conservation Centre near your area for restoration treatment

What should not be done

1.      Exposure to direct sunlight.

2.      Stacking manuscripts one over the other.

3.      Using cellotapes or lamination for repair.

English New Year

I first decided to ignore it, then I even thought of celebrating this as Fools day or Spineless slugs day. It hurts, when the westerners celebrate our new year (occuring in April) as Fools day. I refuse to accept the Gregorian calendar system. It would take some time for me to adapt to this stand since I have to use this for my work. Anyway I am trying to use the Indan calendar system in my thoughts and references as well.

After all this, I am acknowledging it just for you.

Well, wish you a very happy and prosperous english new year.

TSunami and my thoughts

The Tsunami waves that plunged into the seashore of Tamilnadu have left an indelible fear in the mind of people. Like a professional killer who operates stealthily, the king of sea took away many lives. The shores of Tamilnadu have faced many cyclones and the intrusions of Sea but this time they were caught unawares.

 

In the history of Tamils, there were several occasions when the Sea ate their cities; the most prominent were the loss of ‘KumarikKandam’, Kapadapuram alias Alaivaay Nagaram and the destruction of the magnificent, Kaveripoompattinam alias Puhar. I wonder whether the Tamil word ‘Kadarkkoll’ refers to the Tsunami, because from the information we get from the Sangam and related literature, the ‘Kadarkkoll’ occurred a few times in the space of centuries. That truly marks a Tsunami hit.

 

When a thing occurs frequently at a place, the locals will get knowledge about that and will pass the information to the future generations. That way the people of that particular place will grow resistant to the particular thing or develop ways to overcome that thing. This is essence of evolution. Thus the knowledge pertaining to the area alone develops and become part of the Traditional knowledge systems of that area. Now, it seems this cannot be applied to the Tsunamis occurring at Indian shores. Because, every time the Tsunamis struck, they were spaced between many decades that are enough to prevent the information from being passed on. The Tamils, who are known sea-farers from time immemorial, are yet to develop any warning systems that can foretell the Tsunamis. That clearly explains, not the inability of the Tamils, but the frequency of the Tsunamis at this place.

 

Every time, I suppose, they were taken as the wrath of the gods, like the loss of Puhar which was due to the wrath of Indra, and forgotten as a sad chapter. Remember I am not saying these are foolish. The fury of Indra over the destruction of Puhar was attributed to the stoppage of ‘Indra Vizha’ (Festival for Indra) used to be celebrated at the sea shores on ‘Chitra Pournami’, the full moon day on Chithirai or Chaitra (Apr-May) month. We never know what relations these contain. Modern science has not yet understood the mind, the being and the nature and therefore we are ill-positioned to dismiss anything as false beliefs, customs.

 

God knows better.

 

regards,

Ramesh

 

"There is no use in learning, if we do not worship the good feet of the one who is in the form of pure knowledge."

- Thiruvalluvar

 

Tsunami

26 – Dec – 2004 …..that Sunday introduced a black word to the Indian dictionary, Tsunami. God!!! Thou took away lives ignorant of thy master’s plan. May the souls washed away reach the shores of your feet.