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pslvax!sadhu at UCSD.EDU
pslvax!sadhu at UCSD.EDU
Wed Sep 7 16:57:49 UTC 1994
From: sadhu at pslrd.castcrew.com (Sadhunathan Nadesan)
Date: Wed, 7 Sep 1994 09:57:49 -0700
In-Reply-To: BAPAT JB <sci.monash.edu.au!Jayant.B.BAPAT at ucsd.UUCP>
"Aryans and Dravidians" (Sep 7, 3:15)
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Subject: Re: Aryans and Dravidians
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/ FROM: BAPAT JB <sci.monash.edu.au!Jayant.B.BAPAT at ucsd.UUCP>, Sep 7 3:15 1994
| ABOUT: Aryans and Dravidians
|
| In connection with my work on Hindu Temple Priests, I am looking for
| material on the question of the Aryan invasion, feuds between Aryans
| and Dravidians, the north being Aryan and the south Dravidian etc,etc.
| The main reason for this is that in my interviews with Brahmin priests
| in Maharashtra, I heard again and again that" Shiva being a non Aryan
| deity, we Aryan Brahmins do not worship him with the same devotion".
| There is thus still a perception amongst northern Brahmins that they
| are Aryans.
| While I appreciate that the Aryan invasion theory is now discredited,
| I have not been able to find good review material which critically
| discusses these issues.
| Could someone please help me locate such material.
|---------------------------------------------------------------------- Jayant Bapat
|
Dr. Bapat:
This is not a direct answer to your question, but, indirect.
I read an article about an importer of Indian Books, and in
the interview, he mentioned the topic of the Aryan invasion.
It is possible he can help you.
I hesitate to attach the entire article .. as it is a bit long
.. but I guess I will take my chances on the flames and go
ahead, as other researchers may find the source (book
importer) to be of interest too.
Namaskars,
Sadhunathan Nadesan
|
|
|---------------------------------------------------------------------- Jayant Bap----------------------------------------------------------------------
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To: sadhu
Subject: may_94/South_Asian_Books (complete) ascii
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Request: may_94/South_Asian_Books
------ begin of South_Asian_Books -- ascii -- complete ------
Index: South Asia Books
Head: Professor Barrier Ships 3 Tons of Indian Books To US Every
Month
Subhead:
Text:
In early February, 1994, New Delhi hosted the largest book fair
ever held in India. Here, the first award for promotion of
Indian books abroad was given to Prof. N.G. Barrier in
recognition of his over 25 years of bringing Indian publications
to America and thus improving the understanding between Indians
and Americans. The following article on Prof. Barrier and his
company, South Asia Books, appeared in the Sunday Times of
India.
By Saibal Chatterjee
When Yahya Khan imposed martial law in Pakistan in the spring of
1969, among the people who were caught unawares was a young
American bibliophile. Trapped in Ferozesons Book Store on the
Mall in Lahore for several hours, he stumbled upon an assortment
of eminently readable Pakistani books, including many tomes on
Punjab published by the provincial government. By the end of
it, he had found his true calling.
"The books were dirt cheap-three to four rupees each. I packed
up two trunks although I knew it would be extremely difficult to
get the books out of Pakistan. But luck favoured me. Barely 20
minutes before the frontier closed, I managed to slip out of the
country, reached India and shipped the books to the US to be
sold or circulated among friends and libraries," the tall,
sprightly, ponytailed, 54-year-old Professor N. Gerald Barrier
recounts, flashing back to the dramatic circumstances in which
his career and his company, South Asia Books, were launched.
Books have been his business ever since, but Barrier, winner of
the first National Book Trust award for the promotion of Indian
publications abroad, has never lived life strictly by the book.
The calculated risks he has taken in the last quarter of a
century to unveil the works of Indian writers and academicians
for American readers have been well worth it. Not only have
they given him a great sense of satisfaction, they have also
fetched him tidy profits in the bargain.
Today, South Asia Books is far and away the largest American
distributor of Indian books. Barrier's warehouse in Columbia,
Missouri, USA, has 6,000 square feet of covered space, over
4,500 titles in active stock and the equivalent of a 3-4 person
staff. "We have more books about the subcontinent than you can
find in any single Indian bookstore," he says with obvious
pride. "The level of penetration of Indian books in the US is
quite high. Apart from those who buy books directly from
publishers and distributors, there are over 20 libraries which
receive almost every Indian publication through the Library of
Congress. Besides, more than 500 institutions in the US have
courses dealing with Indian studies."
Barrier, who received his doctoral degree from Duke University
in 1966 and has been teaching at the University of Missouri for
25 years, is convinced that the fears of India being culturally
swamped by America are unfounded. "It is a two-way cultural
interaction," asserts the scholar-bookseller-publisher who has
written or edited eight books and is an authority on Sikh
history and Punjab. "The New Age movement in the US is greatly
influenced by Indian traditions-Gandhian thought,
vegetarianism, ayurveda, yoga and astrology. Nearly 4,000
titles have been published in the US on yoga alone. Most major
Indian writers come out in American editions. In fact, they
are often first published in the US," he points out.
India will, therefore, always continue to exercise a deep
influence on the lives of Americans, he feels. "The other
important source of contact is the large Indian population in
the US," he says. "Their culture is spreading. There are
probably more Americans than Indians learning classical Indian
dance forms in the US today." Barrier himself speaks Hindi and
can read Gurmukhi, but he confesses that "my Hindi has become a
bit rusty and I cannot speak or understand Punjabi." When asked
about his personal religious beliefs, he confided, "I have my
roots in the Christian tradition and almost was a minister, but
I became disenchanted with the internal politics and
institutional problems. I am rather a humanist at this point,
but I believe firmly in life after death and some type of
transmigration"
Barrier's passion for things Indian dates back to the Hindi
language fellowship he had at Duke University for four years.
His latest visit to India, essentially to pick up titles at the
11th World Book Fair, is his sixth trip to the subcontinent.
Thanks to his avuncular comportment and his laid-back air, he
could, if you didn't know him, be mistaken for a Bohemian
backpacker hopelessly in love with the wonder that is India.
A lot of publishing is going on in the US but people are
probably reading much less. And that is causing Barrier a great
deal of consternation. "We've become a visual society. Reading
is perceived almost as a punishment. There is television,
computers and, now, virtual reality," he observes. "Maybe we
are going back to an oral tradition, which is primarily an
Indian concept."
Barrier doesn't see himself as much of a businessman and prefers
to leave the market analysis and selling to his staff. But he
knows Indian books like the back of his hand. "I can
instinctively pick up a book that will sell," he says. His
25-year track record as a cross-cultural connoisseur
substantiates his claim like nothing else can.
Address: South Asia Books, P.O. Box 502, Columbia, Missouri
65205, USA.
Sidebar: Barrier's Bridge to Bharat
Text:
Over the years, Hinduism Today has received testimony of how
easy it is to buy books from India (once unheard-of humbug)
through South Asia Books. In a flurry of faxes we asked
Professor Barrier to tell us more about himself and his company.
Below are his words.
The Mission of South Asia Books
South Asia Books provides an accessible supply of books and
information on publications from India. I serve as a broker for
manuscripts, help Indian and American dealers and increasingly
sell textbooks into many courses-especially those relating to
history and religion. My other goal is to develop a mass
market. I do this by warehousing books delivered by large
sea-cargos (5,000 pounds every four weeks) and then keeping the
prices down. I try to price so that with discounts I get within
a reasonable range of the Rupee price.
I spend about 20-25 hours a week in my academic profession. I
teach Modern Indian history-including courses on Asian and
Indian civilization, Gandhi, Nonviolence in Modern World
History, and modern religion and political movements in
India-head important committees, write and publish. I have
written 7 books and numerous articles. The other 35 hours a
week goes into the book business.
Views of a Veda Vendor
In my opinion, books on Hinduism in the US are often too
academic. Those from India often have poor quality production
and do not answer some of the questions asked by lay people.
There is actually a small market here among Indians, who often
do not buy either scholarly or popular books. My experience
suggests that far more Americans buy books on Hinduism than
Indians.
The Aryan invasion theories are being totally reworked, whether
by textual analysis or good solid archaeology. These works
suggest modifications are taking place of earlier ideas either
dominated by Westerners or nationalist historians who played up
some myths about Aryans. We are now getting to the real story.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 1994, Himalayan Academy, All Rights Reserved. The information
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------ end of South_Asian_Books -- ascii -- complete ------
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