July 17th
On the afternoon of our first full day in India, Mr. Chiranv Singh, a former Ambassador of India to UNESCO, speaks to us about the incredibly rich historic, cultural, and geographical diversity of India. I am finally beginning to put all of my reading into a primitive framework, and while my understanding is still vastly limited, am coming to appreciate both the beauty and the challenge represented by this infinite variety.
The essentials....(limited by my meager understanding!)
In 1956, the country was geographically reorganized along linguistic lines. This means, for example, that in the state of Kanartaka, where we are currently stationed, Cannada is the official language, while the state of Kerala, where Cheri and I are headed, the official language is Malayam.
A map of India, showing political boundaries
There are 29 different states and provinces, and 18-20 language traditions! It isn't unusual to meet people who are fluent in their state language, Hindi, and English, as well as one or two of the other languages...
For me, the visual confusion of all of these scripts and English is overwhelming - I can't imagine what it must be like to have to process life through all of these different filters. I asked Anita, one of our lovely guides: "What language do you think in?" She responded with, "Well, when I think about this, I think about it in English, while I think of these things, it is in Cannada."
Incidentally, not only are these languages learned as spoken language, many of them must be learned as a written script, as well. Mr. Singh took one of our teachers' names, Shirley, and wrote it in five scripts on the board: Kannada, Punjabi, Hindi, Bengali, and English.
I am impressed and humbled.
And the conflict between cultural traditions and the progressiveness of the India constitution (that was written along the lines of that of the U.S.) lends itself to an endless dialogue pitting the identity of the community with a progressive value structure. He illustrates this with the examples of the caste system and dowry, both outlawed in the constitution, but practiced in varying degrees around the country.
Mr. Singh speaks of karma as one of the unifying concepts in India, and describes the conflict between the emphasis upon family and communities in India versus the rights of the individual stressed in U.S. tradition. He speaks of three streams of consciousness that are woven throughout, that of metric, somatic, and tribal. I could go on forever....
My Big Picture "takeaway:"
I don't pretend to understand a hundredth of all that we discussed today, but my overarching impression is that the diversity of language and tradition is India's beauty and power, as well as the root of the thorny issues that the country faces, particularly with regard to education.
On the afternoon of our first full day in India, Mr. Chiranv Singh, a former Ambassador of India to UNESCO, speaks to us about the incredibly rich historic, cultural, and geographical diversity of India. I am finally beginning to put all of my reading into a primitive framework, and while my understanding is still vastly limited, am coming to appreciate both the beauty and the challenge represented by this infinite variety.
The essentials....(limited by my meager understanding!)
In 1956, the country was geographically reorganized along linguistic lines. This means, for example, that in the state of Kanartaka, where we are currently stationed, Cannada is the official language, while the state of Kerala, where Cheri and I are headed, the official language is Malayam.
A map of India, showing political boundaries
There are 29 different states and provinces, and 18-20 language traditions! It isn't unusual to meet people who are fluent in their state language, Hindi, and English, as well as one or two of the other languages...
For me, the visual confusion of all of these scripts and English is overwhelming - I can't imagine what it must be like to have to process life through all of these different filters. I asked Anita, one of our lovely guides: "What language do you think in?" She responded with, "Well, when I think about this, I think about it in English, while I think of these things, it is in Cannada."
Incidentally, not only are these languages learned as spoken language, many of them must be learned as a written script, as well. Mr. Singh took one of our teachers' names, Shirley, and wrote it in five scripts on the board: Kannada, Punjabi, Hindi, Bengali, and English.
I am impressed and humbled.
And the conflict between cultural traditions and the progressiveness of the India constitution (that was written along the lines of that of the U.S.) lends itself to an endless dialogue pitting the identity of the community with a progressive value structure. He illustrates this with the examples of the caste system and dowry, both outlawed in the constitution, but practiced in varying degrees around the country.
Mr. Singh speaks of karma as one of the unifying concepts in India, and describes the conflict between the emphasis upon family and communities in India versus the rights of the individual stressed in U.S. tradition. He speaks of three streams of consciousness that are woven throughout, that of metric, somatic, and tribal. I could go on forever....
My Big Picture "takeaway:"
I don't pretend to understand a hundredth of all that we discussed today, but my overarching impression is that the diversity of language and tradition is India's beauty and power, as well as the root of the thorny issues that the country faces, particularly with regard to education.
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