Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Intellectual Roots of the Independence Movement in India: 1893-1918 by Dr Prithwindra Mukherjee

from Prithwindra Mukherjee Prithwindra@aol.com to "Tusar N. Mohapatra" tusarnmohapatra@gmail.com date 26 October 2010 14:10 subject
Bhâi Tusâr, Thanks.
Enclosing a translation of Mr Attali's foreword. As you know, Mr Attali had been appointed advisor by former President François Mitterand, and is considered to be foremost among Western thinkers today. Regards.
Prithwindra Mukherjee
A Fascinating Thesis
Jacques Attali      
            No one leaves this great book by Prithwindra Mukherjee, unaffected by it.

            It is the work of a great intellectual, sociologist, writer, musicologist; a thesis begun under Raymond Aron and completed under Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, supported by the biggest shots of French university, like Annie Kriegel. A wonderful instance of the quality of a university, which can  welcome within its fold someone coming from somewhere else and offering to France - in exchange - more than what she has given him. 

            This fascinating book constitutes first of all a passionate tribute to a grandfather, activist and martyr, whose place in the history of India has not been recognised as it deserved to be, in the front rank of the freedom fighters; simultaneously with a look for details, lucid, distancing itself, concerning a period very little known, that which, at the bend of the 19th to the 20th century, opens before India the path leading to the awareness of her identity, and the necessity of her fighting for independence.

            For too long a lapse, indeed, people have wished to think that Gandhi's non-violence had been enough to drive out the armies of the colonizer. That is not true. Before Gandhi succeeded in animating the vast social movement of the 1930s, there had been the great intellectual movement of Aurobindo, of Bagha Jatin, and of all those who strove by their side, at times up to death, enabling India to become aware of herself.

            This book is essential for understanding what today's India is, even in her violence,  and to put back in their due - the first - place, all the dreamers who, from Aurobindo to Tagore, from Gandhi to Patel  have trodden diverse paths  leading her to independence, in its diversity.

            It is essential as well for understanding the very special role that intellectuals played in all freedom movements, in India and elsewhere. And first of all their role in kindling the perception of the national idea, often artificial, often imaginary : here, Mr Mukherjee explains very well their driving power and the conditions of their crystallisation.  

            Essential, at last, for understanding the role of intellectuals in History, so often carried off by the consequences of their ideas, swept out, chased away, censored, by the very persons who implement their concepts.

            Become, by fluke of history, an exceptional musicologist and a great poet, having been set to music by the greatest musicians of our time, the author of this book reminds us that humanity is one, that music, poetry and politics are mere dimensions among other than human condition, and we have as yet much more to learn from India. Let France take advantage of it and establish relations necessary for our future. Jacques Attali

Sunday, October 24, 2010

11762 Sri Aurobindo Study Circles in Odisha

ALL ORISSA SRI AUROBINDO STUDY CIRCLE COMMITTEE
MOTHER’S WORK IN ORISSA , 2010
All here shall be one day her sweetness’ home
–Sri Aurobindo

Today in Orissa
Sri Aurobindo Pathachakra 9362
Sri Aurobindo Mahila Pathachakra 1655
Sri Aurobindo Chhatra Samaj 745
Total Sri Aurobindo Study Circles 11762
Sri Aurobindo Integral Education Centres 547
Integral Education Centres with Hostel 141
Sri Aurobindo Relics Centres 73
Agriculture Units 78
Production Units 53
Diary Farming 46
Sale Centres 238
News Letters & Souvenirs 49
Centres having minimum 1 acre of land 178
Computer Education 108

Forthcoming Events:
Publications:

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Deference and respect and awe-filled genuflections

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "This is Sri Aurobindo’s Ashram not yours and not P...": 
Also, about the deferential kow-towing to Pranab-da. I have observed and experienced that the victim in such situations, the moment he/she has the opportunity, often turns around and looks for others to give him/her the same deference and respect and awe-filled genuflections. They feel that they have paid their dues to Pranab-da and so now others in the same "junior" position to themselves as they were vis-a-vis Pranab-da need to compensate them in the same manner. After all, why should others get away and enjoy equality and freedom when they themselves could not? That would be patently unfair according to them. Since they have paid their dues and played by the rules of the game, others cannot go scott free without paying the necessary toll. From what I have seen MDG etc. are following this human psychological pattern to the T. So I hope you will understand me if I take the claims of the dawn of the golden age of guru-bhai-hood and equality post-Pranab with a massive helping of salt. Posted by Anonymous to Savitri Era Open Forum at 9:32 PM, October 20, 2010

Monday, October 04, 2010

Keshav was the cynosure of all eyes

Matrimandir - Newsletter October 2010
And then, for the plantation of the garden, organic compost is required, and to produce the high grade of compost that we wish to use in the Matrimandir ...
The opening ceremony of the 19th Commonwealth Games begins Daily News & Analysis
From Auroville in Puducherry, the child prodigy's performance was part of 'Rythms of India' segment of the ceremony which was tipped as an Indian invocation ...
Live - Commonwealth Games opening ceremony BBC Sport
According to my notes, Keshav, from Auroville in Puducherry, started playing on the tablas in perfect ryhthm when he was only two. Blimey. ...
Delhi showcases Brand India Daily Pioneer
The showstopper of the first reverberating 12-minute session was Keshav, seven-year-old tabla prodigy from Auroville, who looked and played like the ...
Colours of India come alive in a dazzling CWG opening ceremony NDTV.com
A spectacular display of drummers from various parts of India then took centrestage and Keshav, a child prodigy from Auroville, Puducherry, was the cynosure ...
Little tabla master delights spectators The Hindu
He was selected to play by CWG creative head Bharat Bala, who said: “I spotted him in a show at Auroville at Puducherry. I was conceiving 'Rhythms of India ...
Mirror of Tomorrow :: Beyond the Homo Sapiens: The Next Species—by ... by RY Deshpande
According to Sri Aurobindo, the primal, inevitable, ultimate and highest aspiration of humanity, apart from that for God, Light, Freedom, and Bliss, has been for Immortality. And this aspiration according to Him, will be fulfilled with ...
INDIA HOLDS THE KEY TO THE WORLD'S FUTURE – FRANCOIS GAUTIER | Be ... by sakshamkatyal
But ultimately, one must understand the original purpose behind the caste system, as spelt out by India's Great Sage and Avatar of the Modern Age, Sri Aurobindo : “Caste was originally an arrangement for the distribution of functions in ...
Perhaps few other cultures and civilizatio ns have produced such courageous, saintly and visionary role models such as Radhakrishnan, Sri Aurobindo, ...
While at the Ashram Aurovalley (aurovalley.com) owned and run by Swami Brahmdev (Swamiji), follow the teachings of Sri Aurobindo. Ashram is attractive to ...

Friday, October 01, 2010

So entirely captivating and consuming my entire being

Since then 25 years passed by – yet – in all those years I didn't came across something so entirely captivating and consuming my entire being like it is to me right now the study of Sri Aurobindo and his works. ...  
Sri Aurobindo Ghosh is another great Indian nationalist, scholar, poet, spiritual philosopher and above all a renowned “yogi”, who brought laurels to his motherland, was born on 15th august 1872. Although he wrote mostly in English his ...
That time belonged to sea-green, incorruptible supermen like VVS Aiyar, Sri Aurobindo, Mohandas Kharamchand Gandhi, and Subramania Bharati. ...
His principal mentors were the linguist Harinath De, Prof Manmohan Ghosh, (brother of Sri Aurobindo Ghosh), Satyendranath Tagore and, above all, ...
Root recall The Hindu - Shailaja Tripathi - 22 Sep 2010
Sri Aurobindo wrote about it, so did Rabindranath Tagore, Sarojini Naidu and Mahatma Gandhi in their poems,” tells Shiva. A book comprising poems that have ...
The reply Sri Aurobindo gave on September 16, 1935 - nearly 75 years ago to the date - was itself portentous, 'That (India's independence) is all settled. ...
Kids' Org Organiser - Manju Gupta - 12 Sep 2010
... Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Sri Aurobindo and VVS Aiyer, inspired thousands of Tamilians to rise in revolt against the British. Bharati was born on December 11 ...
Inception And The Subconscious Times of India - Jui Pagedar - 5 Sep 2010
Sri Aurobindo discovered, for example, that there are several realms of ... According to Sri Aurobindo, these other worlds are stacked in a spiral of lower ...
Hari N. Ramesh, a senior and Ruchman Student Fellow, will work on his honors thesis in political science, titled "Connecting Critiques of Imperialism: On Sri Aurobindo's Political Theory." Ramesh, of Wayland is a member of the Williams College concert choir, SpeakFree spoken word group, and Center for Community Engagement.