: Re: "Science" in India

[Dr Y. Vassilkov]

Dear Mr. Vijayaraghavan,

you quote my last posting

> >     I think it is very important for us to understand WHY the majority
of > > European Indologists and some Indian contributors response to one and
the > > same thing so differently.> >  From the point of view of European
(and I hope, of many Indian) > > scholars, Steve Farmer did nothing wrong.
He just expressed his opinion > > about the system of technical education in
another country.

> >     But there appear now more and more people in India for whom such
> > balanced and reasonable response to any kind of critical remarks is
excluded.

and then you answer:

> Let us not counterpoint 'balanced and  reasonable" Western scholar vs >
Indians (scholars or otherwise) for whom balance and reasonableness does not
> mean a thing.

    Please, read my letter again. I hope you will notice this time
    that I  speak only about "some Indian contributors", who see thing
differently from the majority of European and Indian scholars,
    I say that many Indian scholars will agree, I hope, that "Steve Farmer
did nothing wrong" etc.,
    and that just in the middle of your two quotations from my letter in the
original there is the following sentence:
    "...Scholars from any European country and MANY INDIAN SCHOLARS TOO
would response, I am sure, precisely in this [i.e. "balanced and
reasonable"] way"...

    So, my question is: on what particular grounds do you ascribe to me the
intention to <counterpoint 'balanced and  reasonable" Western scholar vs
Indians (scholars or otherwise)">?
    When I say that SOME people in India do something wrong, in my
opinion, - why do you understand it in such a way that I blame all "Indians
(scholars or otherwise)"?
    I am afraid that in your initial reaction to my letter there was more
emotions than logic.
    Please believe me, there is no "Anti-Indianism" in my letter. There
could not be, because I study India all my life, and, as every other
"Indologist", I love the country and its people.
    With my best regards,

Yaroslav Vassilkov