INDOLOGY FAQ. Re. Varanasi

[Frances Pritchett]

And moving on from VaraNAAsi, let's not forget that other great cultural 
center, the POON-jab.

Fran

Richard P. Hayes wrote:
> On Mon, 2010-02-15 at 08:49 -0600, Gary Tubb wrote:
>
>   
>> I should have been clearer.  I was referring to the way that native 
>> speakers of English often pronounce the name of the city, Varanasi.
>>     
>
> All this discussion of pronunciation prompts me to report a lecture I
> went to recently given by a Franciscan brother to an audience of 1200
> people, most of them Catholics. To his great credit, the Franciscan was
> talking about how much modern Catholics have to learn from other
> spiritual traditions. I was compelled, however, to cringe repeatedly as
> the earnest Franciscan told us about Patanjaali (rhymes with "fat an'
> jolly") and Samkaara (Sam who?). The high point of the talk for me was
> the explanation of how mandaalas (rhymes with "man dollars" as
> pronounced in Boston) are used in the Hindi religion. It was with mixed
> feelings that I reflected on how the seeds sown by careful Indologists
> are now being reaped in quotidian popular culture around the world.
>
>