India Travel Plan
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1/26/2021 Travel Plan India We are here Osher Course, January 2021 John Hooker The new Mumbai Dharavi slum, Mumbai Featured in the film Slumdog Millionaire About 60% of the Mumbai population lives in slums The new Mumbai 1 1/26/2021 Electronics City, near Bangalore Elevated highway to Electronics City 200 companies Kohlkata in monsoon season Women in saris at Red Fort, New Delhi Street scenes Taj Mahal, Agra 2 1/26/2021 Parliament Building, New Delhi Lotus Temple (Bahá’í faith), Delhi Two civilizations Harappan (Indus Valley) Civilization (3000 bce) Aryans (1500 bce) Vedic literature, Sanskrit language. Hindu religion, caste system. Bride & groom at wedding ceremony Two civilizations Two civilizations Harappan (Indus Valley) Civilization Harappan culture thrived for 1500 (3000 bce) years. Rediscovered Indoor in 1920s. plumbing. 100s of cities. No Script remains weapons. undeciphered. 3 1/26/2021 Two civilizations Two civilizations Traces of Indus Valley culture Rise of Aryan culture, 1500 bce. persist. From what is now Iran Aryan = noble people Iran = Aryan = Ireland Swastika Nomadic, pastoral people. Dravidian languages Warlike, chariot-riding. of the south A bit of history A bit of history Indo-European migration Germanic Baltic Slavic Common roots with the West. German, English, Dutch, Latvian, Russian, Polish, India seems alien to Westerners, but it Danish, Swedish, Icelandic Lithuanian Czech, etc. is culturally closer than most of Asia. Celtic Indo-European language. Gaelic Irish Tocharian Emphasis on rationality. Welsh Greek/Hindu philosophy. Breton Sanskrit Aristotelian/Jainist logic. Hindi, Eleatic/Indian mathematics. Spanish Punjabi, French Gujarati, Catalan Bengali Latin Greek Hittite Persian Italian Farsi, Kurdish, Pashto A bit of history A bit of history Hindu literature (written in Sanskrit) Muslim invasions (1200 ce) Vedas Mughals (1600 ce) Rigveda, etc. Upanishads Today’s Hindu/Muslim conflict is a Puranas legacy of this period. Mahabharata Bhagavad Gita Ramayana DVD for TV dramatization of the Mahabharata 4 1/26/2021 A bit of history A bit of history British Raj (ca 1760) Creation of Pakistan (1947) Independence Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah (1947) Mohandas Gandhi Jawaharlal Nehru, 1st prime minister Creation of Bangladesh (1971). South Asia today A bit of history Partition of India set stage for today’s tension. Ethnic cleansing 25 million migrated Half a million died in “communal” violence. A bit of history A bit of history Congress Party Dynasty • Economic Reform Jawaharlal Nehru – Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao, Indira Gandhi (Nehru’s daughter) 1991-1996. Rajiv Gandhi (Indira’s son) – Congress Party Sonia Gandhi (Rajiv’s widow) – 180º turn in the economy 5 1/26/2021 A bit of history A bit of history Rise of BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) • Return of Congress Party A. B. Vajpayee (BJP), 1998-2004. – Manmohan Singh, Rajiv’s secretary. 2004-2014. Hindu nationalism. •Intellectual with PhD (Oxford) Corruption in Congress Party •Oversaw economic reform Ayodhya incident. under Narasimha Rao. A bit of history Demographics • Prime Minister Narendra Modi, – Population (est. July 2020): 1.38 billion 2014- – Annual growth rate (2020): 1.0% – BJP – Will overtake China before 2030? •Business-friendly policies. •Criticized for handling of 2002 anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat. •Part of a trend toward “populist” strongmen? Economic Background Economic Background Strong on intellectual capital. Poverty remains a problem. Not expected to overtake China in But the top 10% (= population of GDP, but: France) are affluent, sophisticated and Strong in information technology and exercise considerable purchasing software. power. Top-flight universities (e.g., IITs). 6% admitted to Harvard, 7% to Stanford, 9% to MIT – 2% to IITs. 6 1/26/2021 Economic Background Cultural Background The strength of the economy is the India is a high-context society. reservoir of highly trained workers. Rely on Indians for advice and Important assistance both in business and high-tech everyday life. centers are Bangalore and near Mumbai. Training center at Electronics City, near Bangalore Cultural Background Cultural Background • Indians are the world’s Some factors make it a little consummate networkers. easier for foreigners. – Work through family and friends. The affluent class is highly globalized. English spoken. Rationality-based decisions. Tradition of hospitality Cultural Background Cultural Background Everyone has a place. Government quotas for “scheduled” “Caste” is from Sanskrit for “color.” castes & classes (less privileged). Traditional castes: Brahmins (priests), Kshatriyas (soldiers), Vaisyas (merchants and farmers), Sudras (laborers and servants), outcastes. Some 4635 jatis (occupations, ethnic/linguistic groups, religious sects). 134 jatis consist of dalits (untouchables) Dalits (untouchables) in Varanasi 7 1/26/2021 The picture can't be displayed. Cultural Background Cultural Background The Indian movie industry (“Bollywood”), perhaps the world’s largest Underlying philosophy has practical Emphasizes importance of family. consequences. Stories of family conflict and resolution. Mysticism: Religious epics (e.g. from Mahabharata). underlying, unified reality (Brahman). Mystical supernatural Yoga = mental training The syllable Aum (Om) symbolizes Brahman Cultural Background Cultural Background Cope by mental discipline. Rather than by engineering the High-end technology can be environment. adapted to Indian society Mobile phones, etc. Today, yoga = studying for the exam But no Western-style organized environment It takes time to get things done. Taking college entrance exam Cultural Background Religions in India Indians are comfortable with Major religions: travel and relocation. Hindu (80%) They don’t require a supportive or Muslim (13%) familiar external environment. Christian (2.3%) Sikh (1.8%) - blend of Hindu & Muslim Buddhist (0.8%) - exported to rest of Asia Jains (0.4%) - pioneers in math & logic 8 1/26/2021 Hindus Hindus 330 million gods (according to Hindu faith scripture) defines the They are avatars of underlying reality. basic worldview Gods may of Indian culture. be avatars Shaped by of other Vedic tradition. gods. It is adapted to all levels of understanding. Swaminarayan Akshardham temple, New Delhi World’s largest Hindu temple (2005) Temple relief sculpture Hindus Hindus Ganesha, Overcomer Rama, Hero of Ramayana Vishnu, the Creator Shiva, the Destroyer of Obstacles 7th avatar of Vishnu Hindus Hindus Indra, War God Krishna, the Playboy Taxi shrine Sai Baba of Shirdi, Ganesha 9 1/26/2021 Hindus Hindus Basic ceremony is the puja. Takes place in temple or at home. May involve mantra (recitation), mandala (symbols), music, flowers, fruits, offerings. Puja thali (puja tray) Shop shrine Hindus Hindus Samsara (wandering) is the endless cycle of death and rebirth (reincarnation). First clearly appears in Upanishads. We don’t know why. Also occurs in writings of Plato, among some native Americans, India’s largest pilgrimage, to Sabarimala Temple, Kerala State. Trobriand Islanders, etc. Attracts 5 crore (50 million) a year to worship Ayyappan. Pilgrims wear bags containing ghee and other offerings Hindus Hindus Moksha (liberation) through Karma = action asceticism. What goes around comes around. Practice persists Karma is not fate or luck. today Our destiny is a result of our actions. The sadhu In particular, our form in the next and incarnation. yogi. Sadhus 10 1/26/2021 Hindus Hindus Mysticism = underlying unity Brahman-Atman. Brahman--Tat Tvam Asi What we see is maya (illusion). तत् म् अिस (“you are it.”) Confusion is due to From dialog between Uddalaka and his confused thought. son in Upanishads. The reality underneath makes sense. Reflected in Plato, modern science. Adi Shankara exponent of Vedanta Jains Jains Two lifestyles Jains have profound respect for life. Monastic. May drink or breathe Aiming for salvation after this life. through filters, avoid farming. Strict observance Pioneers in formal Extreme nonviolence and logic and mathematics. respect for life, truthfulness, no stealing, celibacy, About 3 or 4 million in no possessions India. (no clothes in Digambara Founded by Mahavira. order). Jains Jains Two lifestyles Household. More practical observance. Nonviolence (pacifist, vegan), truthfulness, honest labor, chastity, Jain monks, Shvetambara Order Jain family 11 1/26/2021 Jains Jains Jain householders Honest in business. Non-exploitive occupations. No farmers. Pacifists. Sky clad monks at Jain festival in Kundalpur, 2006, to celebrate 50 women becoming Jain nuns. These nuns pulled out their own hair. Jains praying for peace Jains Jains Small in number, but large in influence. Origin of vegetarianism in India. Inspiration for Mohandas Gandhi’s nonviolent resistance. Jain meal Strictly vegetarian No roots, tubers (potatoes, turnips, squash, carrots, mushrooms, onions, garlic) Perhaps no foods with many seeds (figs, pomegranates, tomatoes) Sikhs Sikhs Sihks strive to reconcile Hinduism and Islam. Sikh men often wear turban, Founded in 15-16th century by Guru Nanak in Punjab. steel bracelet (kara). “God is neither Hindu nor Muslim.” May carry small sword (kirpan) Teachings of 10 gurus are collected in Guru Granth Sahib. Sikh family 12 1/26/2021 Sikhs Sikhs Guru Granth Sahib Sikh men often adopt Khalsa (baptismal) name inside a gurdwara Singh (= lion)