S U M M E R 2 0

3 1 0 2 R E M M U S

SUMMER 2013 SUMMER 2013

ISSN NO. 0376-9771 PRESIDENT SOLI J. SORABJEE

DIRECTOR KAVITA A. SHARMA

BISHWAJIT DHAR Opinions expressed by our Contributors DINESH SINGH are not necessarily those of the Centre. KAVITA A. SHARMA RAVINDER DATTA Summer 2013 ASHOK CHOPRA Volume 40, Number 1 OMITA GOYAL India International Centre Quarterly is PREMOLA GHOSE printed and published by Ravinder Datta S. MAJUMDAR (EX - OFFICIO ) for India International Centre, 40, Max Mueller Marg, New Delhi 110 003 H.K. KAUL (SPECIAL I NVITEE )

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The India International Centre is a society promoting understanding and amity between the different communities of the world by undertaking or supporting the study of their past and present cultures, by disseminating or exchanging knowledge thereof and by providing such other facilities as would lead to their universal appreciation. CONTENTS VOLUME 40 SUMMER 2013 NUMBER 1

v: Editorial

ARTICLES

01: India’s Golden Jubilations GOPALKRISHNA GANDHI

16: The Growing Relevance of Vedanta KARAN SINGH

25: What India and America Have Missed by not Heeding Vivekananda’s Message JAGMOHAN

39: Writing Vivekananda JYOTIRMAYA SHARMA

45: Islamic Science or Science in Islamic Civilisation? S. IRFAN HABIB

57: Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Recovering a Citizen’s Delhi from its Present Wilderness ASHOK B. LALL

77: Travels in Uzbekistan ASHARANI MATHUR

107: Mapping Indian History: Challenges and Issues ARUNDHATI VIRMANI

123: At the Crossroads of Gender and Ableism ABHA KHETARPAL IN CONVERSATION

131: Sucheta Mahajan with ANITA BOSE PFAFF

PHOTO ESSAY

148: Cinema City: The Photographs of Shahid Datawala RAHAAB ALLANA

155: Photo Essay: Dress Circle SHAHID DATAWALA BOOK REVIEWS

188: Righteous Republic: The Political Foundations of Modern India AJAY K. MEHRA

192: Fractured Times: Culture and Society in the Twentieth Century IRA PANDE

195: Punjab: Bloodied, Partitioned and Cleansed RAJMOHAN GANDHI

200: Power and Resistance: The Delhi Coronation Durbars MALAVIKA KARLEKAR

204: Seven Leaves, One Autumn: Poems—Seven Contemporary Poets PARTHA CHATTERJEE

209: CONTRIBUTORS EDITORIAL

t is ﬁtting that in the year of the 150th birth anniversary of Swami IVivekananda, the IIC Quarterly features three papers on various aspects of Vedanta and Swami Vivekananda’s contributions— each paper covers distinctly differing aspects. Dr. Karan Singh writes about the six principles and growing relevance of Vedanta. Mr. Jagmohan cautions modern India and the United States of the perils of ignoring the teachings of Swami Vivekananda. He quotes American writers on Swami Vivekananda’s visit to America and how his teachings were received. The third paper in this section, by Jyotirmaya Sharma, focuses on the challenges in writing about Vivekananda and about the debates on Hinduism and Hindutva. The theme of religion in a modern context continues with S. Irfan Habib’s essay on the challenges posed by ‘Islamic Science’ propagated by some Islamic scholars instead of what should actually be ‘Science in Islamic Civilisation’. This issue also carries the C.D. Deshmukh Memorial Lecture for 2013 on ‘India’s Golden Jubilations’ by Gopalkrishna Gandhi—a tongue-in-cheek but thoughtful take on our fascination for festivals, jubilees, jubilations, numbers and netritva vs. netagiri, regardless of the circumstances in which we ﬁnd ourselves. Other articles cover a vast canvas from the challenges of mapping Indian history; finding remedies for Delhi’s current ‘wilderness’; travel in Uzbekistan; Shahid Datawala’s monochrome photographs that illuminate Delhi’s Regal Cinema, accompanied by an evocative essay by Rahaab Allana; and, an interview with Anita Bose Pfaff by Sucheta Mahajan. Abha Khetarpal’s article on the struggles of the disabled, particularly women, strikes a chord in all of us. As we go to press, the newspapers and television reports are full of the devastation caused in Uttarakhand by a tsunami

v IIC QUARTERLY of rain, landslides and floods. The loss of lives, livestock and property is horrendous and our thoughts are with all those who have been affected. This disaster must act as a caution and make us interrogate the effect of deforestation, construction, tourism and major infrastructure projects (such as hydel plants) on these fragile mountains and the corrective measures that need to be taken immediately—not just to rehabilitate those who have suffered but to ensure that such a disaster does not happen again.

OMITA GOYAL