Strange

[V.V. Raman]

Dear Steven:
1. I am glad you posted the discriminatory practice in India of charging
exorbitant entry fees to foreigners (meaning <whites> in most instances). Last
February, when I visited Taj Mahal, an Indian millionaire friend paid a paltry
sum of Rs. 30 while I had to pay the foreigner's price. Like many others, I was
glad to be able to contribute to the up-keep of ancient monuments in India, but
this method of discriminatory fund-raising, I too found to be abhorrent.
Whether we like it or not, one can see here an us/them dichotomy.

2. You also said: <Please do not let this email devolve into us/them nonsense.>
As the person who brought into focus the endo-exo modes of
interpreting/commenting upon Indian culture/history, let me clarify this once
again. I was NOT SUGGESTING that the Indology group <devolve> (i.e. degenerate)
into  the <us/them nonsense>. I was ONLY POINTING OUT that this <nonsense> is
occurring on a grand scale and with great intensity in India and among large
sections of Neo-Hindus in the Hindu Diaspora, irrespective of the
value-judgment you or I place on it.

 3. You also say: <My concern is simply as an "educator-in-training" of Indian
history.>
This statement causes me even greater concern. If you are unable to see or
recognize what is currently going on in this matter, and interpret my posting
as <a recommendation> that we adopt the <nonsense> you mention, rather than as
a root cause of the unhappy exchanges that recently took place here, then I
don't know what to think of Western <educators-in-training of Indian history.>

Best regards,
V. V. Raman
November 5, 2000