"Be different or be digested; be confident of who you are; be strong not apologetic. In interfaith dialogue replace the term 'tolerate' with 'mutual respect' for each other."
These were some of the thoughts expressed by Dr Rajiv Malhotra to a keen audience while promoting his latest book, "Being Different: An Indian Challenge to Western Universalism", at the North York Civic Centre last Saturday.
Malhotra defines 'digestion' as a case of one civilization being consumed by another – the predator. He posits that when a civilization get mapped into 'Western universalism', its language gets replaced by Western substitutes and its behaviours, by Western equivalencies – the former is 'digested' into the latter. He argues that whatever was useful about that civilization gets re-characterized as the property of the West. In this instance he likens the West to a tiger consuming a deer – the deer DNA gets broken down and reconstituted into the tiger and whatever the deer was, ceases to be.
Resistance to being 'digested', Malhotra said, is to be different, not claiming "we are better or worse, but saying we are like this." This is the central theme of his book, Being Different, which has been well received by audiences throughout the city over the last weekend.
Malhotra pointed to a long history of cultures that have been digested – Pagans, native Americans, Africans and even some European traditions – have all disappeared and are sitting in a museum somewhere. He noted that the contributions made by India to Western civilization far exceed those made by the Greeks, pointing to yoga, ayurveda, vegetarianism and preservation of the ecosystem as examples.
He informed that he is writing a book on the contribution of India to Western civilization and another on Indian contribution to Science and Technology.
Dr Malhotra opined that the Sanskrit language is getting digested. He feels that certain Sanskrit words are simply not translatable and should be retained in the English language rather than being supplanted with an English equivalent. He devoted one chapter of the book to this thought.
Such forced translations of key Sanskrit words lead to a dilution of thoughts and ideas that are essentially Indian. Holding on to the Sanskrit terms and thereby preserving the complete range of their meanings becomes a way of resisting colonization and preserving a dharmic understanding. Some of the Sanskrit words that are not translatable include dharma, yoga, om, brahma, shantih, yajhna, varna, among others.
Dr Malhotra said that Sanskrit was found to be closer to German than any other European language and the Germans in order to boost their own identity concocted the Aryan superior race theory and Aryan invasion theory. He said Arya, which means noble, is not a race but the Germans distorted Indian history to suit their own purpose.
Dr Malhotra argued that 'tolerance' in interfaith dialogue should be replaced by 'mutual respect' noting that tolerance is a patronizing posture, whereas mutual respect implies that one considers the other to be equal – a position which some faiths routinely deny to others.
Dr Malhotra's Being Different was promoted at several venues in the City where he made impressive presentations. He appeared at the University of Toronto, North York Civic Centre, the Arya Samaj/Vedic Cultural Centre, the Vishnu Mandir and the University of Western Ontario. In all his presentations he engaged in lively questions and answer sessions in which a multitude of questions were candidly answered.
In the Introduction to Being Different, it is stated that one of book's most important objective is to refute Western claims of universalism according which "the West is both the driver of history and its goal, providing the template into which all other civilizations and cultures must fit. This view is so deeply entrenched in the consciousness of the Europeans and Americans as to form a core part of their identities. Yet, it is virtually invisible from within the Western perspective itself. By engaging in purva paksha or 'reversing the gaze', we can shed light on this view and on the ways in which it leads to the misapprehension and denigration of India and dharmic traditions."
Being Different is a well researched work that challenges many of the norms of Western thinking. Dr Malhotra discussed the many challenges he faced in getting his thoughts over, including the dreadful fear factor of upsetting Western society in the process. He informed that it was even suggested to him that he should instead write "Being Same" which would be a lot more palatable and sell a lot more.
Being Different has since gained wide acceptance in academic circles and is being used in many universities in India as a reference text. Dr Malhotra is an architect of change and has been invited not only by academic circles but even the business community to discuss the concepts espoused in his book.
By Adit Kumar
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