India looks ugly, out of habit. But which habit? The habit from British colonial Raj, when slums were created intentionally without sanitation facilities.
Indian traditional urban architecture is very salubrious. Traces of that can still be seen in princely states, like Udaipur.
Archeological evidence from Saraswati-Sindhu excavations shows that Indians had well planned cities even in the most ancient times. Outsider corroboration was available all through history, whether XuanZang’s description of Gangetic plain or European accounts of Vijayanagara.
One important reason why Indian cities look bad is that Indians have not been educated of their own traditional urban planning and civic values. A colonial impression of disgust has been drilled down and internalized by the Anglophone elite.
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Population is not at all the problem. This is a Malthusian (i.e, racist) trope internalized by Indians. India’s population density is comparable to Europe.
While Europe has the legacy of centuries of protected and native urbanism, India bears the weight of colonial destruction.
By colonial destruction, I mean not only the British but also the Turkish imperialists. We forget that the second largest city in the world 500 years ago was Vijayanagara, which was completely wiped out by a genocidal massacre. Similar destructions happened all over North India.
The impact of the British Raj on India’s urbanism and civic infrastructure was brutal. For anyone interested to learn more, I recommend the book by Mike Davies “Planet of Slums”.
In this thread, I will translate the names of different western religions into Telugu (into Sanskrit, so other Indians can comment) based on their native etymological meanings.
Thanks to @exC_Esther who inspired this with her threads on the meanings behind “Jesus” and “Christ”.
To start off, “Christianity” which comes from “Christ” meaning “anointed person” (via Greek translation of Hebrew “Messiah”). Thanks to @mprafulprabhu who suggested “abhishikta” अभिषिक्त for this.
Christianity can be translated as “Ābhishiktam” आभिषिक्तम् ఆభిషిక్తం ఆభిషిక్తమతము.
“Christian” as follower of Christ can be translated with the same Taddhita derivation “Ābhishikta” आभिषिक्त ఆభిషిక్తుడు/ఆభిషిక్తులు.
Other compound words can be easily created “Follower of Christ” Abhishiktānuyāin अभिषिक्तानुयायिन् అభిషిక్తానుయాయిడు and so on.
Interesting thread. But I think I am more of an optimist than Śrīkānta. There is also a greater study of the various Śāstras and Hindu value systems happening now. Such people might be a minority, but their numbers have increased. Digital tech also increased the means to do this.
I think political Hinduness is just a phase, a kind of an awakening by the global discourse, which is decisively Hinduphobic. People get annoyed and agitate for a bit. In a previous era, they would have suffered quietly. But not in a rising economy and with democratized media.
I think the importance of political Hinduness is overblown. It is the deeper awakening that is necessary for anybody to make a longer term impact. For this, a systematic practice (Sādhana) and dedication are a must. I think the number of people able to do this has increased now.
Varna has a meaning only in the context of Yajña, that is collective consciousness and voluntary sharing at the societal and universal level. It is exactly the opposite of individualism. It cannot exist cannot be defined in isolation. Varna implies harmony and mutual cooperation.
There are 4 Varnas as there are 4 Purushārthas. Each Varna is focused on the attainment of one of the Purushārthas. By cooperating as a society, we achieve all of them. This is why it is impossible to separate Varna from the fundamental tenets and ideals of Indian philosophy.
If the Jātis are defined in isolation, it is a recipe for the breaking up of society, a voiding of the social contract that kept them together at the level of shared consciousness. Hence, it is Adharmic. We must get rid of this system “caste” imposed on us by the colonialists.
The injustice is that Indian judiciary seeks “essential practices”for defining Hindu traditions and refuses to give the status of “denominations” to various Sampradāyas.
In reality, Hinduism is exactly the opposite. All its Sampradāyas are distinct and respected by each other.
This misunderstanding about Hinduism in the Indian law is intentional, and stems from the colonialist agenda of rebuilding India under the covenant of the Bible.
This injustice cannot be corrected until India’s constitution is rewritten with the primary copy in Indian languages.
It is absurd that we are forced to explain what Sampradāyas are, what Dharma is, what Yajña is.. and so on to an entity which refuses to conduct its proceedings in any language except English. How does English have the equivalents for Indic terms and traditions? It doesn’t.
All of our minstrels, acrobats, bards, musicians and dancers are reduced to the dust and the heat of the street, motor vehicles rushing by and nobody listening to their song.
These people made our memories and thus our identity. Without them, we don’t exist as a people.
We need a strategy to survive as a civilization. The key to this are these communities of Bhikshā vRtti भिक्षावृत्ति who are traditionally recognized and patronized in our villages.
They are made non-existent by centuries of colonial assault, which warped our sensibilities.