Indology's Future?

[Bhadraiah Mallampalli]

I can't agree with you more Rohan. Schlarship is about everything. Exclude a
subject or even a small hint, and face the peril.

I am trying to use my brain here. Recently we went to Amish county in PA and
wanted to see their colonies. The spokesperson over there had refused and
said "Amish people are very private, and don't like visitors driving through
their areas and observing things." That doesn't mean we should not study
Amish culture. People can go take their appointment, get signatures, give
them questennaires and do their studies.

So my conclusion is, when it is a study of people, there are both kinds of
arguments: how much is public and how much is private. It is especially so
in a board like this which does not need signatures.

But I like you to have a second at the map shown on the Indology home page.
I know it was a brilliant idea to show it tilted, but do we limit archeology
to the area covered by the map? Aren't people digging in Pakistan and
Afghanistan?

Why show the official India map? Is Indology about the current stock of
Indians? I assume so, because there was discussion of Indians in US. If so,
why not US map also? What about Indians migrated to various parts of the
world? The whole area under inspection including Europe and Central Asia
should be shown, and the subject title must be renamed to what ever their
favorite name. This is totally misleading. Dominik should consider this
matter. I know he resists, and that is where the whole problem starts.

Can any scholar get "confirmed" opinion about Indological practices in India
or elswehere without spending lot of money? This kind of boards make it easy
to collect information (which has to be rechecked before publishing final
papers). The boards are there for convenience only and save time and money.
It is also to take care people are not going in the wrong direction. Doing
research in right direction for one month is better than doing in the wrong
direction for one year. People can get a quick validation of the direction
they are going by talking to others.

But if some people (on either side) are bent on doing propaganda of their
already well known stand, why should the silent majority suffer? Propaganda
only converts those who already believe. These arguments will continue, and
there will be no winner and no loser.

Regards
Bhadraiah Mallampalli
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