Re: [Re: a request.]

[Srinath S <srinaths@usa.net>]

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Ms Mariwala,

I am curious to know what is this "comparative nationalism"? How exactly are
terms like nationalism, elite, etc. defined?

India is such a complex society that even after years of research and first
hand experience it is impossible to get a complete picture of any major issue.
Can you then give me a few examples of the kinds of issues and arguments that
are debated in this course?

On the aside, I saw a news feature on German TV yesterday which said that
"November is the most dangerous month for Indian women, because in November
there is a lot of marriages and so a lot of them get killed for failing to
bring dowry..." (more or less the exact words...)

And a few while ago someone else had asked me.. "What is this dot that women
wear in India? Are they required to wear it? What will people do if she does
not wear it..." Apparently she was comparing the "dot" women wear in India to
the star that jews were required to wear as identification in Hitler's
Germany..

I am not trying to undermine the efforts of Ms Mariwala, simply noting that
trying to make conclusions about a society from outside, based on "facts" and
hypothesis can be nowhere near reality.. And there is no other society as
complex as the Indian one... India is actually a combination of many
countries, many cultures within itself. And I am not sure any of the experts
on IPI or elsewhere has a complete picture of any major issue themselves.. And
this is not a shortcoming of their expertise, but the complexity of the
system..

-srinath



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