[INDOLOGY] A regressive face of Indology at the World Sanskrit Conference

Wed Aug 15 07:56:52 UTC 2018

Dear Dr. Paturi,

I am sorry, but like Dr. Slaje, I fail to see the pertinence of this to the unacceptably abusive   behavior on the part of certain attendees at the WSC. It is clear that, if that organization wishes to preserve its reputation and academic integrity, it must address what occurred straight on.

Matthew T. Kapstein
EPHE, Paris
The University of Chicago

________________________________
From: INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> on behalf of Nagaraj Paturi via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>
Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2018 9:32:12 AM
To: Walter Slaje
Cc: Indology
Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] A regressive face of Indology at the World Sanskrit Conference

I am sorry, that could not quite communicate the message.

The issue that was being disputed /debated in the special forum organised at WSC was whether or not gender and caste hurdles in learning Sanskrit in India.

The Video is a sample of a huge activity of Sanskrit education of women that has been current in India from late 19th century till date.

These women just don't get trained in Veda recitation but learn S'aastras such as VyaakaraNa including Mahaabhaashya and Nirukta and trained as orators in fluent and eloquent Sanskrit and converse in Sanskrit fluently and eloquently.

The message was that there is their story of Sanskrit too:

A few of these are:

http://gurukulchotipura.org/

http://gurukulchotipura.org/education/

Presently there are more than 700 students studying in the Gurukul who come from 12 different states of India. All of them stay in the Gurukul. We have a team of 30+ experienced and dedicated teachers to impart education and supervise the students at all times. They help them to realize their intellectual potentialities and make them cultured and disciplined as per the teachings of Vedas and Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati.

There is an imposing Yagyasala in the Gurukul Campus, which signifies the spirit of sacrifice and self-effacement. This edifice infinitely adds to the charm of the Gurukul. All the brahmacharinies assemble here along with the principal and the teaching-staff to perform Agnihotra. Amidst musical Vedic chants they perform Brahmayajña for self-purgation and Devayajña for environmental purification. This is done during early morning hours and at sunset regularly.

Students are trained in all the subjects till the 10th standard such as English, Science, History, Geography, Mathematics, Computers, Home-Science, and Drawing etc. After 10th standard, students mainly focus on Sanskrit-grammar, Philosophy, Upnishad, Literature, Moral-scriptures (Dharmasastra) etc.

  *   Education up to 8th standard: This is affiliated to Uttar Pradesh Education Board and is similar to other schools in region.
  *   Education in 9th and 10th classes: This is affiliated to of Gurukul Kangri University, Haridwar. The course is called Vidyadhikari and is recognized by all state boards as 10th class.
  *   Education from 11th up-to Acharya (equivalent to MA) is affiliated to Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak Haryana.

http://kgmdoon.com/index.php

विद्याविनोद ( इण्टरमीडिएट ) में पाठ्य विषयों की स्वीकृत रूपरेखा

श्रेणी-11-12

अनिवार्य विषय

संस्कृत -वाडमय (वैदिक तथा लौकिक संस्कृत-साहित्य)        अंग्रेजी

वैकिल्पक विषयः-निम्नलिखित में से इच्छानुसार कोई तीन विषय लेने होंगेः-

विशेष संस्कृत वाडमय
(वैदिक वैदिक तथा लौकिक संस्कृत-साहित्य) विज्ञान हिन्दी साहित्य  इतिहास
राजनीति शास्त्र मनोविज्ञान      अर्थशास्त्र     समाजशास्त्र
गणित    ड्रांग और पेन्ंिटंग     गृह विज्ञान या संगीत (केवल कन्याओं के लिये)

विद्यालंकार (बी0ए0)

श्रेणी-13-14 तथा 15

अनिवार्य विषयः

संस्कृत -वाडमय (वैदिक तथा लौकिक संस्कृत-साहित्य)        अंग्रेजी        भारतीय संस्कृति केवल एक पत्र

वैकिल्पक विषयः-निम्नलिखित में से कोई दो विषय लेने होंगेः-

विशेष संस्कृत वाडमय
(वैदिक वैदिक तथा लौकिक संस्कृत-साहित्य) दर्शन   हिन्दी साहित्य  इतिहास
मनोविज्ञान      राजनीति शास्त्र अर्थशास्त्र     समाजशास्त्र
गृहविज्ञान या संगीत     गणित    ड्राइंग पेन्टिंग

On Wed, Aug 15, 2018 at 12:03 PM, Walter Slaje <slaje at kabelmail.de<mailto:slaje at kabelmail.de>> wrote:
I am sorry, but I didn't quite get the message. The cause for making the complaint was the unacademic, disrespectful and casteist behaviour against female participants in the latest WSC.The video shows if anything that Indian women can be trained in memorizing Vedic couplets and in reciting them in a synchronized manner. It resembles a school performance which has nothing to do with serious Sanskrit research and still less with the offensive demeanour of the disputants and the blind eye WSC officials have turned to it as described in previous posts.
In this context I am really wondering what the purpose of sending this puzzling link might be?

WS

-----------------------------
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Walter Slaje
Hermann-Löns-Str. 1
D-99425 Weimar
Deutschland

Ego ex animi mei sententia spondeo ac polliceor
studia humanitatis impigro labore culturum et provecturum
non sordidi lucri causa nec ad vanam captandam gloriam,
sed quo magis veritas propagetur et lux eius, qua salus
humani generis continetur, clarius effulgeat.
Vindobonae, die XXI. mensis Novembris MCMLXXXIII.

Am Mi., 15. Aug. 2018 um 04:43 Uhr schrieb Nagaraj Paturi via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info<mailto:indology at list.indology.info>>:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p5QcHyGSrc&feature=youtu.be

On Tue, Aug 14, 2018 at 5:45 PM, Audrey Truschke via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info<mailto:indology at list.indology.info>> wrote:
Dear Friends and Colleagues,

This article<https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/how-to-move-a-mountain/article24682600.ece>, by Professor Vajpeyi, is a must-read. For many on this list, it will not be news that Indology has entrenched problems with sexism and elitism; many in our discipline are also soft on Hindutva. For others, some or all of these things may be surprising.

I encourage everyone to read with an open mind, rather than with a posture of umbrage and denial that has become all-too-common these days. As Professor Vajpeyi describes, the reception of the public forum at the 17th World Sanskrit Conference in Vancouver was an appalling display of unprofessionalism, misogyny, and class privilege, a "regressive face of Indology." My friends - We need to ask ourselves some tough questions about what sorts of prejudices and behaviours we are tolerating and harboring in our corner of the scholarly world. We tend to be quite good at exercising a critical gaze when it comes to mimamsa, kavya, and so forth. I hope we can do the same with ourselves.

All the Best,

Audrey

Audrey Truschke
Assistant Professor
Department of History
Rutgers University-Newark

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--
Nagaraj Paturi

Hyderabad, Telangana, INDIA.

BoS, MIT School of Vedic Sciences, Pune, Maharashtra

BoS, Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth, Veliyanad, Kerala

Former Senior Professor of Cultural Studies

FLAME School of Communication and FLAME School of  Liberal Education,

(Pune, Maharashtra, INDIA )

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INDOLOGY mailing list
INDOLOGY at list.indology.info<mailto:INDOLOGY at list.indology.info>
indology-owner at list.indology.info<mailto:indology-owner at list.indology.info> (messages to the list's managing committee)
http://listinfo.indology.info (where you can change your list options or unsubscribe)

--
Nagaraj Paturi

Hyderabad, Telangana, INDIA.

BoS, MIT School of Vedic Sciences, Pune, Maharashtra

BoS, Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth, Veliyanad, Kerala

Former Senior Professor of Cultural Studies

FLAME School of Communication and FLAME School of  Liberal Education,

(Pune, Maharashtra, INDIA )

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