Shashi Tharoor wrote a massive book back in 2018 to explore the paradoxes that constitute the man called Narendra Modi. Paradoxes dominate present Indian politics. One of them is what’s called the Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS). What constitute the paradox here are two parallel realities: one genuinely valuable, and the other deeply regressive. The contributions of Aryabhata and Brahmagupta to mathematics, Panini to linguistics, Vedanta to philosophy, and Ayurveda to medicine are genuine traditions that may deserve due attention. But there’s a hijacked version of IKS which is a hilariously, if not villainously, political project. Much of what is now packaged as IKS in government documents, school curricula, and propaganda includes mythological claims treated as historical facts, pseudoscience (e.g., Ravana’s Pushpaka Vimana as a real aircraft or Ganesha’s trunk as a product of plastic surgery), astrology replacing astronomy, ritualism replacing reasoning, attempts to invent the r...
very nice thought !
ReplyDeleteNice to see you here, Deepanshi.
DeleteAt the pace the world is we are not too far.. good one Tomiachan .. Happy new year
ReplyDeleteThe world is always with us. Happy New Year to you too, Sangeeta.
DeleteEveryday we open our eyes with a new hope and spirit. ..keep that spirit high and start ur hunt for a new path
ReplyDeleteAlready started. And we've begun to see light at the end of the tunnel.
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