[INDOLOGY] COVID19-related topics & kāvya on Indology

[adheesh sathaye]

Dear Colleagues,

As the on-duty representative of the Indology Admin Committee, I thought it might be prudent to intervene gently at this point regarding the matter of Sanskrit poetry and the coronavirus, lest this discussion foster a long cascade of follow-on emails in which we all share our opinions on the issue. I personally am deeply sympathetic to those who are grieving or are otherwise struggling to cope with the terrible cost of this pandemic, but I trust also that none of our respected contributors have ill intent in making their posts, poetic or otherwise, regarding COVID19.

To this end, I wanted to relay that shortly after the postings of Tieken and Griffiths, the Committee has initated an internal discussion to determine the best course of action going forward so that this situation may be handled with sensitivity and amity towards all of the 750+ subscribers to the list. Keeping in mind that we, too, are working in isolation and attending to our own professional responsibilities and personal circumstances, we would appreciate very much your patience in this matter as we work towards a solution. 

In the meantime, given that the principal poetic contributors have voluntarily and respectfully suspended their postings of Sanskrit kāvya, and that this is an unmoderated list, I would like to request that members might send further correspondence regarding the topic of Sanskrit kāvya and COVID19 to the committee, privately, at indology-owner at list.indology.info <mailto:indology-owner at list.indology.info>, rather than posting to the list as a whole.  

We certainly want to hear from you, as it will be extraordinarily helpful for us to get a diversity of individual perspectives and opinions as our Committee determines a consensus position. But, at least for the next few days, out of respect to list members who may be in mourning, in pain, or otherwise adversely impacted by this disease, I do kindly encourage that further sustained discussion of this topic be, at least temporarily, conducted off-list, and sent directly to the committee (indology-owner at list.indology.info <mailto:indology-owner at list.indology.info>).

I don’t think anyone on the Indology Committee would object to my saying that, on behalf of all of us, we offer our solidarity and deepest appreciation towards all of you, this extraordinarily gifted international scholarly community that we are so fortunate to serve, as we help each other get through these uncertain times, and as we grieve for those who have been taken away from us. 

With all best wishes,
Adheesh


—
Dr. Adheesh Sathaye
Associate Professor of Sanskrit Literature and South Asian Folklore 
Dept. of Asian Studies || University of British Columbia
408-1871 West Mall || Vancouver BC CANADA V6T1Z2
adheesh at mail.ubc.ca  || +1.604.822.5188



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