March 24, 2006
Who is right?
Consider this:
Take a handful of Indian students over lunch, all from different backgrounds, discussing Indian History. Now what would you expect-yeh a lot of fireworks. And that's exactly what happened today.
The discussion started with clearly learnt facts about the invasions of the mughal rulers but slowly moved backwards to the vedic period.
Now this period is the most debatable period in Indian History. There has been strong opposition to the theory of the Aryan invasion by eminent writers such as David Frawley, Subhash Kak, Georg Feurstein etc. And also there has been recent evidence using mitochondrial DNA studies by Stephen Oppenheimer, who clearly outlines the origins of man and migration to different places. I believe there is also some other kind of study where the Aryan theory is proved right. As per the books written by David Frawley, based on geological facts of the drying of the Saraswati river, astronomical calculations based on the Rig Veda and many other facts, it is not possible that the Aryans were a nomadic tribe who came and attacked the Indian sub-continent and drove the Dravidians south of the Vindhyas.
I am not an authority in this subject at all and merely state what I have read. But a good point of the debate was asto what should be believed? Which theory is right? Should one believe proofs based on the vedic texts or should one base one's judgement on certain scientific works(this is something a friend says exist in a research paper, but I still have to read and establish).
To me the facts presented in the books calling the theory a myth seem very logical and well-documented. Over the years history has been distorted and presented in many ways. Who is right is difficult to ascertain unless all the facts are laid out on the table.
The concern here however is that it is difficult to get good unbiased books which give you information. It is easy to find and get carried away by books which are politically motivated.
Posted by Anuj at 01:25 PM | Comments (0)
August 15, 2005
Happy Independence Day
Here's wishing all Indians a Happy Independence Day.....today we've completed 58 years of Independence and will be starting our 59th year. Incidently I have also completed 58 posts on my blog and this is my 59th.
I saw Mangal Pandey yesterday and it was a good movie. Aamir was the best part of the movie and the direction was superb. At no time did the movie stray away from the subject of Mangal which was very good. But I think other movies like Lagaan or Swades which dealt with the subject of Nationalism were better. That's my opinion ofcourse.
Today an article comes to my mind which I had written for the University of Tennessee Indian Association's magazine on Indian Independence. The last few lines were quotes from a French Philosopher named ‘Romain Rolland’
‘If there is one place on the face of this Earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when Man began the dream of existence, it is India.’
Posted by Anuj at 10:14 AM | Comments (0)
March 07, 2005
Indian History and Subhash Kak
I am starting a whole new category on Indian History, which has now for some time captivated me, more so because it has been distorted and taught to us in schools and universities. I am a very strong supporter of the works of Subhash kak, David Frawley and Georg Feuerstein whose book "In Search for the Cradle of Civilization", given to me by a friend for casual reading really got me inspired and I have since then been reading a lot of stuff on the myths surrounding the Aryan Invasion theory. My knowledge in these subjects is mere superficial and I need to delve deeper before I can make any comments. But I shall present a series of articles and books as and when I find these on Indian History, The Myth of the Aryan Invasion, Vedic Philosophy and Astronomy etc. Why do I believe that "Aryans" never existed and were infact descendents of India itself is also strongly backed by a latest finding by Stephen Oppenheimer and the Bradshaw Foundation, who has through a series of DNA tests of the mtDNA and Y chromosome along with evidence from archaeology, climatology and fossil study has prepared a Genetic map by which Africans are infact originators of all races in the World and Indians the originators of the "Non-African" people. Interesting hah ! Read the articles whose links are provided below and check out the interactive Genetic map too. It's mind-boggling. More links when I read more.
The cradle that is India--Subhash Kak
Interview with Romila Thapar(Prominent Historian)
Stephen Oppenheimer
Genetic Interactive Map
In Search of the Cradle of Civilization--Book
The Myth of the Aryan Invasion--Article by David Frawley
Posted by Anuj at 03:58 PM | Comments (1)