In Search of Indianness

Given the fervent attempts of Talibanising India by the self-appointed Moral+ Cultural police which includes Arty and Balti, an excerpt from a recent article in the Hindustan Times made for a refreshing reading.

"...What constitutes Indian culture remains an issue of contention despite the dominant consensus that emerged during our freedom struggle. The resultant Indian identity not merely recognised but protected our rich cultural and religious diversity. The unity of our country can be sustained only by strengthening the bonds of commonality that run through this diversity and not by imposing a uniformity upon the diversity,as the communal forces seek.

Jawaharlal Nehru, in the Discovery of India, invokes the evocative example of the palimpsest (a manuscript in which old writing has been rubbed to make room for new) on the eve of Independence to describe India as an "ancient palimsest on which layer upon layer of thought and reverie had been inscribed, and yet no succeeding layer had been completely hidden or erased what had been written previously".

"...The word 'Bharat' has many sources of origin... Be these as may, there is an interesting conceptual interpretation of 'Bharat'. According to it, the name emerges from the confluence of 'Bha'-Bhavam, i.e. expression or character, Ra-Ragam, i.e. melody or the tune and 'Ta'- Taalam, i.e. the rhythm. The manner in which all or some of the seven musical notes are combined wiith a specific tone and pitch creates the melody, which however, is incomplete without an accompanying rhythm.'Bharat' therefore, is the character that emerges from the harmonious melody and rhythm of a celestial music composition."

Excerpted from:

Yechury, Sitaram-'Bharat Philharmonic', Hindustan Times pp 10, Mumbai edn, Feb 12,2009.

I wonder if the cacophonists had read the article. Unless of course they wanted translations in Marathi, Kannada, Bengali, Tamil etc etc. to merit a reading.