BOOK
REVIEW : REARMING HINDUISM
NATURE, HINDUPHOBIA, AND THE RETURN OF
HINDU INTELLIGENCE
AUTHOR
: VAMSEE JULURI
THE
BOOK
The title of the book says it all in a
succinct and to-the-point manner : this a book centering around the image and
ridiculing of Hindus, the misunderstandings among the western scholars and
people regarding Hinduism, and the rise of Hindu pride. It is a book which
seeks to counter some claims and observations
made by Wendy Doniger in her book, which serves as the starting point of
the book; it then subsequently branches out and raises the issue of
misrepresentation of Hinduism in the international media and academia
It quite successfully takes the rising
Hinduphobia in the international discourse; and raises several pertinent
points; it looks at the propagation of myths and half-truths regarding our
religion, as well as the penchant of the westerner to fit everything into one
mould, as it were. The penchant of the westerner {as well as some among us
Hindus as well} of regarding Aryan Invasion also features here in a short and
sharp chapter.
The book is organised in two parts, with the
first part focussing on the aspects highlighted in the above paragraphs; the
second part is about the author’s personal view about Hinduism – to quote the
author : “how one devout Hindu sees hope for humanity in the richness of Hindu
thought. I present this part in a more personal and devotional tone / it is
perhaps best read as a set of thoughts / about what it means to be Human as
reflected in the ideals and stories of Hinduism
The Author, Vamsee Juluri is a professor of
media studies at the university of San Fransisco : this is a vital aspect, as
he is well exposed to western views on our religion, and it is a part of his
job as well – as he writes and teaches about worldviews, assumptions,
commonsense ideas about ourselves and the world, and how they might be distortions,
myths and outright lies – again quoting the author here. This is also what I
myself have written about extensively, although in my amateur style.
THE
REVIEW
Frankly, this is a book with only a partial
relevance to India – India is a nation, and Sanaatan Dharm a religion. That is
one; second, it is also a book with no relevance whatsoever to Sanaatan Dharm
in India – as this is a book written by a Sanaatan Dharmi living and working in
the USA. The problem of Eurocentricism, and the attendant problem of the
representation of our religion in the West is of no material importance or
relevance to us as Indian citizens. It is also of precisely zero relevance to
us as Sanaatan Dharmis, as followers of The Eternal Path.
The reason is that Sanaatan Dharm, as per my
readings and understanding – places emphasis on an individual understanding and
faith, and not on collectivity. Second, our religion also emphasises duty to
the nation, the society one lives in – and for residents of the USA – that is
the USA and its society. Thus, the problems being faced by Sanaatan Dharmis in
the USA are of no concern to me; I have my own nation, my own people and we
have our own lives and duties to perform.
Worrying about the status of Sanaatan Dharm in the USA is not one of
those problems.
That is why I found a zero emotional connect
with the obvious angst of the Author on the problem of Eurocentricism, and of
the misrepresentation of Sanaatan Dharm in the USA. I just could not relate to
it; I could partially relate to Eurocentricism, as it is an ever present theme
in everyday life, given the state of the modern world, but that is all. On the
topic of books by Westerners and Western Academia on Sanaatan Dharm, why should
I have occasion to read them, given that I have an excellent resource of Indian
books on the said topics available on Indian book stores?
In recent years, there is an emerging trend
of excellent, well –presented and researched books on any number of topics of
Indian Relevance spanning Economics to History to Religion, all written by
Indians, and spanning all possible viewpoints. There is admittedly a problem of
shelf-space to these on book stores, which tend to give emphasis to Western
books; but this is now receding, with the strong emergence of quality Indian
research on all topics under the sun. The movement is slow- but it is present.
The trend of Eurocentric Macaulay’s Children in Indian discourse is waning,
with the strong emergence of a parallel thought process and philosophy, as
India finally throws off the colonial yoke and emerges in its own right.
That said, the book per se is written in a rather
angry or should I say annoyed tone as it seems to me; it could be a cultural thing, as I am in India while the author is in the
USA. While he quite successfully, it seems to me, takes on the stated purpose
of the book – the lack of a proper presentation is a small problem. I would
have loved a properly bulleted and point-wise rebuttal of the claims of
Eurocentric writers on Sanaatan Dharm. This has not been properly presented;
the content is excellent, it needs a proper presentation to makeit more
effective.
A clarification is needed here : the title of
the book says ‘Rearming Hindusm’ – this has nothing to do with conventional arms,
and is more to do with a spiritual rearming, and a reawakening of Sanaatan
Dharmis. It seeks to challenge Hinduphobia and the attendant incorrect
portrayal of our religion in Academia and the Newspapers and Magazines of the
West, especially the USA
On the second part, there is a lot I agree
with – but I will withhold comment – as Sanaatan Dharm is typically an
individualistic faith, and each person has to find his or her own path. The
author’s observations are interesting, deeply thought-provoking, and I highly
recommend Indian Sanaatan Dharmis reading this book for the second part; my
advise would be to read and re-read the second part, as it contains a series of
deep observations, ideas and gems. You will find a lot of learning as well as
agreement with in the second part... read the book for this alone, is my advise
to you...
Comments
Post a Comment