I have gone through Rajiv Malhotra's 'Being Different' with curiosity and enthusiasm. It is no doubt a masterpiece in the sense that it brings out a fairer side of Indian way and thought which the author boldly calls 'dharm' as opposed to a limited concept known as 'religion' by so called secular west or its followers.
Engaging one self with a seemingly defiant world with deep commitment and concept of deeper meaning of his side, mr. Malhotra undoubtedly exibits a long patience and suffering and he certainly deserves a pointd attention by all those who genuinely look for seeking truth in the light of all past endeavour of human beings and the faithful conclusions reached after a long drawn research and experiments deep within all human beings as well as the world ouside.
Some other responses which I would definitely like to make at the outset are firstly those which arise out of the feeling that perhaps Mr. Malhotra could also try to be more objective and critical about the Indian side as well. It might at times look like a nostalgia which all indians living abroad must undergo out of their attachment to their motherland and because of a common human psyche of glorifying all past. I also wished that mr malhotra could well remember anand coomar swami writing 'dance of shiva' in 1918 from the same platform -Boston- although born to an English woman and having been educated only in west. It may seem that not a single word requires an alteration in that book even after such a long lapse of time. Mr Malhotra's book should in fact be a step forward in that direction.
I am further bewildered by the use of the term 'purva paksh' by Shri Malhotra so vigourously. The term would literally mean one side,the side of the first argumentator, but terming it to be the side of truth is an exaggeration. Moreover, the Vedantic side of the Indian perception is not well brought out simply because it might imply a withdrawl, an idifference of an average 'dharmic' kind. Contrastingly though, the author certainly deliberately refrains from gathering courage to contradict Islamic view with equal vigour and force.
I do certainly await an overwhelming outreach of this classic confrontation by a scholar of deep understanding, skill and insight.
Pd mishra, www.vishwatm.comprabhudmishra@yahoo.co.in
