There is some Hindutva-leaning revisionist propaganda about ancient Indian heritage sloshing around in the internet. It is a PDF presentation titled "India's Gift to the World"
As expected of any tendentious and propagandist work, it starts straight off with half-truths and concocted quotes and mis-attributions. The two main guinea pigs for mischief here are Mark Twain and of course the hapless Albert Einstein who is ever the scapegoat for a quote.
.Let us look at the above extravagant Mark Twain quote. While it is true that Twain has made many observations about India, I have not been able find any reliable reference or citation for this grand statement of his. Given that Twain was a skeptic and a satirist, it seems very unlikely that he would go drooling in the mouth about panegyrics on India and its civilization. The above quote sounds more like a Vivekananda style revisionist garbage forced into the mouth of Mark Twain. Lets look at the over-the-top claims about Indian antiquity:
- India is the cradle of the human race (I am sure Twain is capable of better grammer than this)
- It is the birthplace of human speech (wow that is pseudo-philology for you)
- It is the mother of History (Really!!! Now what does this mean)
- It is the grandmother of legend (natural progression from mother to grandmother!!!.)
- It is the great grand mother of tradition (If grandmother is so near can great grand mother be far!!!)
- The most valuable and constructive history is stored only in India (All other history is worthless and of no consequence. India-centrism has at last displaced Euro-centrism)
If a such a thing ever existed, I am certain that Mark Twain will be not just turning but squirming and writhing in his grave, at such a cynical and selfish denigration of his intellect and genius to serve the narrow ends of Hindu revivalist programs.
Now here is Indian/Hindu fundamentalist quote-factory busy at work again ventroquilizing Albert Einstein. Just as in the case of the Mark Twain, there is no reference or citation to ascertain whether Einstein really paid this 'glowing' tribute to Indian Math. There is a wiki page asking for a citation for this 'Einstein Quote' that is going a begging. Love for India should not be so blind that uncited quotes are bandied about with pride without any care for their authenticity.
This quote assumes that before Indian invented 0, other civilizations did not know how to count. And that there were no scientific discoveries before India's invention of 0. One cannot really suppose Einstein to be so ignorant and disdainful of history and civilization in general.
Hindu/Indian revivalists can you spare Einstein from this misquotation torture?!!!
Now what do say about this quote other than throw up your hands in despairing annoyance. Maybe Grant Duff said this, but how did he know this. Maybe he was a RSS-VHP ideologue in disguise as a British historian. OK I am not serious. But really is no amount of lies and concoctions off limits for the Hindutva propaganda factory!!!
“This is indeed India; the land of dreams and romance, of fabulous wealth and fabulous poverty, of splendor and rags, of palaces and hovels, of famine and pestilence, of genii and giants and Aladdin lamps, of tigers and elephants, the cobra and the jungle, the country of a thousand nations and a hundred tongues, of a thousand religions and two million gods, cradle of the human race, birthplace of human speech, mother of history, grandmother of legend, great-grandmother of tradition, whose yesterdays bear date with the mouldering antiquities of the rest of the nations—the one sole country under the sun that is endowed with an imperishable interest for alien prince and alien peasant, for lettered and ignorant, wise and fool, rich and poor, bond and free, the one land that all men desire to see, and having seen once, by even a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for the shows of all the rest of the globe combined.”—Mark Twain, Following the Equator, 1897
ReplyDeleteSource: http://www.pbs.org/marktwain/scrapbook/07_tramp_abroad/page5.html
Totally he meant to say "Fools paradise" but a word wise gave room for Hindutva group dance!
DeleteThe slavery started by vedic culture, the vedic follower themselves become slaves until middle of 20th century. slaves paradise!
@Ranganath - what a joker you are! First you ask for the source. Once the source is given you somehow want to denigrate your own motherland. Whether India is a fool's paradise or not, it has certainly produced a fool - you! And, moreover I am sure that even your ancestors must be squirming in their graves for having you in their lineage. Only losers like you are so defensive and I pity you for you will also fade away in the womb of time but India and its eternal glory will stay - just as it has inspite of various invasions. Through this blog you only make a mockery of yourself and of your pseudo scientific approach. By calling people who try to reason with you as some RSS VHP person etc., you are only showing that you must be some jackass from Pakistani Jehadi outfit parading an Indian name. Using pompous English words doesnt make you a scholar. Of what use is all your education if you do not have the humility to accept your mistakes and the courage to make a scientific and unbiased enquiry. I would only call you an uneducated literate. Kudos to the school that taught you English though. It gave you language and I can tell you that it stands out and stinks with pride. But, that still cannot make you right.
DeleteWhy do you skipped slaves paradise, because it is truth and agreeable? It is not of Renganath answer! its me of another anonymous like you!
DeleteIf you don't find anything to counter then plunge to abuse, isn't you?
Dear, truth always hurts!
What truth are you talking about? And by the way, please read the counter before you blame.
DeleteAs you can see, Twain did make that quote. I have no reference for you at the moment, but Einstein made that quote also.
ReplyDeleteTwain may have been wrong-- and Einstein making a hyperbole-- but there is no foul play, both men said these things.
Once again, poor scholarship Ranganath.
Your Friend,
Ashoka
Ashoka,
DeleteWhat about the surreptitious insertion of "The most valuable and constructive history is stored only in India" in the MT 'quote
And there is still no citation or reliable reference for the Einstein 'quote'
So you can hold your mocking triumphalism in abeyance. Unfortunately for Hide-bound Hindu apologists like you, the sour grapes of 'poor scholarship' is the only consolation.
My condolences to your lost and failed cause of Hindutva revisionism.
Quit calling everyone who disagrees with you Hindutva.
DeleteThe slideshow definitely added the last part, but you still claims that the previous parts were fabrications, which they weren't, and proceed to spend an entire paragraph "debunking" them.
Just admit it when you're wrong.
The Einstein quote can be found in Fodor's India, a travel companion, and Abdul Kalam's book "Ignited Minds." It is reproduced in many places. Is it possible that Einstein never said this? Yes. He also never said "God does not play dice!" I doubt there's foul play though, the quote's been reproduced in enough decent sources. It would take an Einstein biographer to determine its legitimacy.
There's nothing wrong with copy/pasting edifying quotes about India. Indians have been doing it for hundreds of years, even Nehru admits to it in his "Discovery."
Anyway, let's part on good terms. I'll let you get on with you life.
I am imputing Hindutva sympathies to you, since you seem to be advocating leniency in considering the motives of the authors of this pamphlet.
DeleteI have a strong political and ideological opposition to RSS-VHP revivalist propaganda and that comes thru in my analysis and criticism.
In my view Ulterior motives underpin these quotes on the pamphlet. Maybe they are trivial or acceptable to you. Others need not be expected to share your indulgent perception
I concede to my error on the MT quote.
As far as the Einstein quote being referred by non-jingoistic sources does not make it a valid one. The 'dubious' Gita quote of Einstein has been quoted at so many places. Tf there is reasonable doubt about its fabrication, what is wrong in voicing it.
Part we shall if we have to
Thanks
There are hundreds of quotes attributed to Einstein that are unverified, like the whole bees and humanity thing. Why pick on this one?
DeleteAnd PBS is the "Public Broadcasting Station," a well renowned source in America.
ReplyDeleteAdmitting when you're wrong is easy! See, I just caught my own mistake. Public Broadcasting Service, not Station.
DeleteIndians revel in claiming "past glory". What does all that matter when we have made a stinking mess of the country today, and blithely and unregretfully continue to do so? A beautiful building crumbling through deliberate neglect, abuse and plain sloth is no longer a source of pride. If you truly take pride in India, push for a re-building, push for civic sense and public hygiene, push for mutual respect as humans(not divisive castes/religions/ethnicities/linguistic groups), push for work ethics. No amount of jingoistic chest-thumping about how great India "used to be" will alter or conceal the fact that this is today one of the world's filthiest countries ranking among the bottom in terms of human development indices.
ReplyDeleteWhile clearly the author is in error of failing to check all his facts, the hindutva propaganda machine is simply a regressive mechanism which utterly fails to bring a solution to the table. While there is certainly a lot to be proud of in terms of ancient advances in the sciences, technology and philosophy, there is just as much to revile, viz., virtual slavery institutionalized by the caste system, inhumane punishments, internecine warfare which killed millions and occasionally annihilated whole groups of people, placing the "welfare" of gods above humans, submersion and discouragement of independent religious practices, redirection of resources to build temples and palaces rather than public works, and so on.
Noone here disagrees with you. We do, however, expect the author to be more gracious in admitting he is wrong. And we hope that he is more rigorous a fact-checker in the future, instead of bolding half his text like this and writing in an annoying polemical style.
DeleteEinstein meant his quote metaphorically. He merely meant to say that the Arabic numbers made doing science easier.
ReplyDelete