Weekend Links – BBC, Hindutva and Swami Vivekananda
Start your weekend with this fascinating mea-culpa: “We are biased, admit the stars of BBC News“. Brief Excerpt:
…It was the day that a host of BBC executives and star presenters admitted what critics have been telling them for years: the BBC is dominated by trendy, Left-leaning liberals who are biased against Christianity and in favour of multiculturalism.
A leaked account of an ‘impartiality summit’ called by BBC chairman Michael Grade, is certain to lead to a new row about the BBC and its reporting on key issues, especially concerning Muslims and the war on terror.
It reveals that executives would let the Bible be thrown into a dustbin on a TV comedy show, but not the Koran, and that they would broadcast an interview with Osama Bin Laden if given the opportunity. Further, it discloses that the BBC’s ‘diversity tsar’, wants Muslim women newsreaders to be allowed to wear veils when on air.
Read it in full here. Also read: BBC calls it terror when it hits the UK
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Here is how the way you hold your glass may reveal your personality.
…The way you hold your glass can reveal much more than you might realise, a psychologist has warned.
Dr Glenn Wilson, a consultant psychologist, observed the body language of 500 drinkers and divided them into eight personality types.
These were the flirt, the gossip, fun lover, wallflower, the ice-queen, the playboy, Jack-the-lad and browbeater.
Dr Wilson, who carried out the work for the Walkabout bar chain, said glass hold “reflected the person you are”.
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Next, a thought-provoking distinction between “Hinduism” and “Hindutva”. From “In Praise of Hindutva” by Dr. Vijaya Rajiva, a very brief excerpt (unfortunately I do not have link to the original article but it has been reproduced on a few sites). Emphasis mine.
…This advice (to BJP to abandon Hindutva) coming both from well wishers and opponents is rather premature and does not take into account the importance of Hindutva
in maintaining the democratic fabric of the Indian polity and one which makes it unique to the Indian subcontinent, and distinguishes Indian political life from that of its neighbours.To understand Hindutva in its proper context one must go back to its definition by the much maligned and much misunderstood Damodar Savarkar who defined quite clearly what the word Hindutva means (The Essentials of Hindutva, 1922). Hindutva is the shared culture of all inhabitants of Hindustan and Hinduism is the faith practised by some of the inhabitants of Hindustan. Thus Hindutva and Hinduism are not identical though related.
Read here in full.
What do readers think? Is this a valid distinction? Is it useful? Can “Hindutva” become the core of an “Indian identity”?
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And finally, thanks to Amitabh for pointing me in the direction of this superb YouTube video (which is really a transcript of Swami Vivekananda’s speech at Chicago woven with the actual audio; Correction: Pl. see Swami Tyagananda’s comment below @ #3). Do watch.
Last weekend’s link: Weekend Reading: Pakistan, Jharkhand and Liberals vs. Conservatives
All the past weekend readings are here.
Dr Rajiva wrote,”This writer believes that the civilisational continuity of India, with suitable modernization, is best expressed by Hindutva.” I agree with her observation. I have developed this particular point in my recent book “Reawakening to a secular Hindu nation: M.S. Golwalkar’s vision of dharmasapeksa Hindurastra” (2009, Charleston, S.C.: BookSurge).
Dear Dr. Tilak. Thanks for mentioning your book. It looks like a very nice one. I will buy it and also recommend it to friends.
The YouTube video is NOT the actual audio of Swami Vivekananda’s speech in Chicago; it is only an enactment. It is somebody else’s voice. No recording of Swamiji’s voice exists today. The recording technology in his time was in its infancy and although a few short recordings were made by the maharajas in Khetri (Rajasthan) and Mysore, those wax-coated disks could not retain the sound for long. Other than that, none of his speeches were ever taped.
Shrinivas: Thanks for alerting us to your bookk.
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Swamiji: Thanks for pointing the mistake. I was under the impression that this was the original audio recording (obviously “cleaned” before putting up on the web). I have made a correction in the original post.
Govindacharya on Hindutva:
There are five constituents of Hindutva. First, respect to all modes of worship. Second, there is one and the same consciousness in all animate and inanimate beings. There is nothing like inferior or superior. Therefore egalitarianism is Hindutva. Third, man is not a conqueror of nature but a part of nature. Therefore, an eco-friendly economy is what Hindutva proposes. Fourth, because of the special quality of motherhood, women have a special respect in the public welfare society. The purpose of life does not end in eating, making merry and dying, but transcends that. And finally, there is the nonmaterial value of pursuing a goal, even if it may be endless. A faint realisation or feel — that is what Hindutva is.
Stumbled on these while looking for something else:
Myths about the Swami – Part 1
and Part 2
Sorry if I am out of topic. But the following website would facilitate anybody who wants to know more about Sanathana Dharma. If somebody wants to know more about Sanatana Dharma, the 4 Vedas, Upanishads etc., etc., they can visit the website http://nandanmenon.com/
Thanks KSV…I had a quick look…lots of very interesting material to read…I will surely re-visit
“It is for the Dharma and by the Dharma that India exists…
This Hindu nation was born with Sanatana Dharma, with it it moves, with it it grows… The Sanatana Dharma, that is nationalism.” (Shri Aurobindo)
One of the best quotes… From the site mentioned by KVS Subramanian… No wonder pseudo seculars vanish from good topics.
KVS Subramanian
Do you have any link from where I can get PDF versions of Vedas & Upnishads in Sanskrit with guide to the prnounciation and simple meaning and translation in Hindi. Asking this because english is failure when it tries to translate sanskrit to english.
If Dharma is the basis of India as a nation (so I believe), and if it is true (or very likely) that about 50 to 60 years of “work” is all that is needed to destabilize the civilizational basis of any nation (Reference:
How to brainwash a Nation: 1985 interview of a former KGB agent who had operated as a journalist in India in the 1960s)….
… then I wonder at what “stage” India right now is. Do we have “civilizational continuity” — even it be in patches here and there ?
I believe that some parts and/or societies in India are in a time-wrap and it will also help India the nation that many Indians are also simultaneously outside India and being connected through cyberspace and exposed to different views of the reality of the world. What do you think ?
Do you think cyberspace helps to maintain the civilizational continuity and protects against this “stage 1” process ?
The recorded interview is from 1985 but it is very striking. Bezmenov talks about the KBG methodology / tool set, and since he was in India in the 1960s, I guess it must have been in motion for a good 40 years now ?
Bezmenov says that when demoralization (stage 1) is complete, you could have all the information but will yet not draw the right conclusions from it. Isn’t that what we have ? If that is already in place in spite of us living in an “information age”…. what is the hope ?
Please do watch the 8 minute video and bring out your thoughts !
Rohit: You can get the PDF version of the four Vedas from the link provided by me viz. Nandanmenon.com After opening the page click on the required Veda where you can get the MP3 version as well as PDF version. You can get this from the following sites too. http://veda.gigacities.net/, (hindi PDF version available) astrojyoti.com
Further if you want to know more about Sanathana Dharma you can visit the site of Indian Institute of Scientific heritage viz. http://www.iish.org/ and ask clarifications for your doubts.