QUALIFICATIONS TO EXPRESS ON THIS INDOLOGY GROUP

[Anand M. Sharan]

On Sat, 21 Oct 2000 08:49:28 +0100, Anthony Good
<agood at BLUENOTE.DEMON.CO.UK> wrote:

>> Date:    Thu, 19 Oct 2000 17:06:18 +0100
>> From:    "Anand M. Sharan" <asharan at ENGR.MUN.CA>
>> Subject: QUALIFICATIONS TO EXPRESS ON THIS INDOLOGY GROUP
>
>> There are many think that they know about India by reading books which do
>> not contain facts .
>>
>> First thing is to know India first hand otherwise forming opinions based
on
>> incomplete survey does not lead any one any where . For example, if one
>> reads literature sold at the check out counters of the grocery stores in
>> U.S.A., the opinion so formed would be totally false .
>
>The discussion seems to have muddled up two issues which are actually
>wholly separate.
>
>(i) the quality of Indian education.  In a previous incarnation I taught
>chemistry at a university in Sri Lanka and had some contact with
>Indian science teaching.  The best was of world standard, the worst,
>partly because of lack of resources, was awful.
>
>(ii) However, that is hardly the point.  Would we confidently drive
>over a bridge built by an indologist with no engineering training?  I think
>not.  Likewise, what basis is there for taking seriously an indological
>theory propounded by an engineer with no indological training?
>
>The idea that being Indian or living in India gives one some kind of
>privileged status where indology is concerned is simply wrong, just as it
>would be wrong to assume that every Indian (or for that matter, every
>Briton) intuitively knows about Indian (or British) geology or hydrology,
>etc.  It is not ethnic origin which is the issue here, but professional
>training.
>
>Tony Good
>--
>Dr Anthony Good
>Department of Social Anthropology,
>University of Edinburgh
>Edinburgh EH8 9LL
>
>A.Good at ed.ac.uk (work)
>agood at bluenote.demon.co.uk (home/travel)

I wrote that after reading postings by those considered to be very well
qualified indologists .

Reading the right literature was always emphasized right from the
childhood . We all know that India was not governed by its majority of the
people for centuries . The history and literature of India would have very
different varieties due to this reason.

If one is not carfeful in selecting the literature, in spite of the very
hard work, the views so formed would be far away from the truth .



Hence the comment.

Anand M. Sharan