Sunday, December 23, 2012

Fw: [Y-Indology] Announcement of an International Conference in Pune

 
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, December 10, 2012 12:05 AM
Subject: [Y-Indology] Announcement of an International Conference in Pune

 


Dear Scholars,
Samvidya Institute of Cultural Studies, Pune, is organizing the International Conference on 'Recent Advances in Indology' in the month of March 2013. Interested scholars may please find attached the details along with the registration form.



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    Fw: [Y-Indology] Kumbh Mela Prayag

     
    ----- Original Message -----
    Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2012 12:19 PM
    Subject: Re: [Y-Indology] Kumbh Mela Prayag

     

    Dear Jamal
    You are right. The Kumbh Mela's association with Kumbh rashi is now  merely hypothetical. In general our celebrations, with passage of time have got decoupled from actual sky.  We still celebrate Makar Samkranti as Winter Solstice. !500 years ago this indeed was the case. But now Winter Solstice has moved into December. Similarly Baisakhi(13/14 April) nominally marks Spring Equinox, although the actual Spring Equinox occurs on about 23 March.
     
    Rajesh Kochhar
    -----------------------
    [Prof.] Rajesh Kochhar
    President IAU Commission 41:History of Astronomy
    Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Mohali
    (Former Director NISTADS, New Delhi)
    Correspondence: 3073 Sector 21D, Chandigarh160022
    http://rajeshkochhar.com

    >________________________________
    > From: Jamal <jamaljafri@yahoo.co.uk>
    >To: INDOLOGY@yahoogroups.com
    >Sent: Wednesday, 5 December 2012 9:09 PM
    >Subject: Re: [Y-Indology] Kumbh Mela Prayag
    >
    >

    >
    >Hello Prof Kochhar!
    >
    >Doesn't the difference, albeit small, mean that, in time,
    >Jupiter's position in the month of Magh (January/February), when the
    >Mela is held, would drift out to the next rashi? This appears to be
    >validated by the following web site, which gives dates of Jupiter's
    >transit through all twelve rashis for the years 1902 to 2099:
    >http://www.barbarapijan.com/bpa/Graha/Gochara_Transit/Guru_gochara_trans\
    >its_table.htm - 2000_until_2099
    ><http://www.barbarapijan.com/bpa/Graha/Gochara_Transit/Guru_gochara_tran\
    >sits_table.htm#2000_until_2099>
    >
    >Jupiter was in the rashi of Vrishabha (Taurus) for the 2001 Maha Kumbh
    >at Prayag (Allahabad) and will return to the same rashi for the 2013
    >Kumbh, as it will, going forward in steps of 12 years, for 2025, 2037
    >and 2049 but will move out to the next rashi of Mithuna (Gemini) for
    >2061. Similar drift can also be seen going back in steps of 12 years.
    >
    >Is this information correct?
    >
    >Am I reading this right, or am I missing something crucial here?
    >
    >Kind Regards,
    >
    >Jamal
    >
    >[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >

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      Fw: H-ASIA: REVIEW Brown on Peattie and Drea and van de Ven, _The Battle for China: Essays on the Military History of the Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945_

      ----- Original Message -----
      From: "Frank Conlon" <conlon@U.WASHINGTON.EDU>
      To: <H-ASIA@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
      Sent: Saturday, December 22, 2012 10:12 PM
      Subject: H-ASIA: REVIEW Brown on Peattie and Drea and van de Ven, _The
      Battle for China: Essays on the Military History of the Sino-Japanese War of
      1937-1945_


      > H-ASIA
      > December 22, 2012
      >
      > Book Review (orig pub. H-War) by Roger H. Brown on Mark R. Peattie,
      > Edward J. Drea and Hans J. van de Ven, eds. _The Battle for China: Essays
      > on the Military History of the Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945_
      >
      > (x-post H-Review)
      > **********************************************************************
      > From: H-Net Staff <revhelp@mail.h-net.msu.edu>
      >
      > Mark R. Peattie, Edward J. Drea, Hans J. van de Ven, eds. The Battle
      > for China: Essays on the Military History of the Sino-Japanese War of
      > 1937-1945. Stanford Stanford University Press, 2010.
      > Illustrations, maps. 664 pp. $65.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-8047-6206-9.
      >
      > Reviewed by Roger H. Brown (Saitama University)
      > Published on H-War (December, 2012)
      > Commissioned by Margaret Sankey
      >
      > The Sino-Japanese War of 1937-45 was immense both in its scale and
      > consequences. Nevertheless, Western military histories of World War
      > II have focused overwhelmingly on the campaigns of the European and
      > Pacific theaters, and those specialized studies of the conflict that
      > do exist deal primarily with such matters as diplomacy; politics;
      > mass mobilization; and, in more recent years, Japanese atrocities and
      > public memory. Indeed, as the editors of the volume under review
      > attest, "a general history of the military operations during the war
      > based on Japanese, Chinese, and Western sources does not exist in
      > English" (p. xix). In 2004, Japanese, Chinese, and Western scholars
      > gathered to remedy this situation and in the belief that such a close
      > study of the operations and strategy of the Sino-Japanese War would
      > "illustrate that, in this period, warfare drove much of what happened
      > in the political, economic, social, and cultural spheres in China and
      > Japan." They further recognized that because "much of the best
      > scholarship on WWII in East Asia is naturally produced in China and
      > Japan," there was a need to "bring the fruits of Chinese and Japanese
      > work to the attention of a wider public" (p. xx). Granting that the
      > resulting volume is not exhaustive, the editors seek to bridge the
      > inevitable gaps with "a general overview of the military campaigns,
      > an accompanying chronology, and introductions to the several sections
      > into which the chapters are grouped" (p. xxi). With that caveat
      > behind them, coeditors Mark R. Peattie, Edward J. Drea, and Hans J.
      > van de Ven declare that the contributors have provided "an
      > authoritative introduction to the military course of one of the
      > greatest conflicts of the twentieth century" (p. xx). Their
      > confidence is not misplaced, for _The Battle of China_ beautifully
      > fulfills the objectives they have laid out for it and will be
      > gratefully utilized by readers interested in the history of the
      > Sino-Japanese War, World War II, and modern warfare in general.
      >
      > The contributors' essays are grouped into six parts, the first of
      > which includes the chronology mentioned above and overview of the
      > war, as well as the book's fourteen maps. Drea and van de Ven open
      > this section with solid general coverage of the major campaigns
      > between 1937 and 1945. Peattie then discusses the origins of the war,
      > placing particular emphasis on the role played by Japanese field
      > officers and other "contending interest groups" in perpetuating a
      > dysfunctional strategy in China, and on the "structural and political
      > weaknesses within Japan that confused the development of a clear-cut
      > policy" toward that country (p. 52). Moreover, while also dealing
      > with the chaotic domestic conditions in China, he astutely points to
      > Japan's failure to learn that its "formula for a dominant position in
      > China--a united China submissive to Japanese dictates--was impossibly
      > self-contradictory" (p. 60).
      >
      > The essays in part 2 examine the Chinese Nationalist Army and the
      > Imperial Japanese Army on the eve of the war. Chang Jui-Te
      > demonstrates that the Chinese army, while making "real progress in
      > many areas," continued to be plagued seriously both by internal
      > political and military divisions and by unevenness in leadership and
      > training (p. 85). In contrast, Drea's survey of the Japanese army's
      > tactical and doctrinal proficiency reveals an organization that was
      > tough, confident, well trained, and well armed, albeit preparing to
      > fight the Soviet Union, rather than China. As part of these
      > preparations, the Japanese army updated its infantry tactics in 1937
      > to incorporate greater use of firepower and maneuver in assaulting
      > fixed positions. Consequently, as Drea points out, when war came with
      > China instead, Japanese units, contrary to popular imagination, did
      > not rely solely on frontal assaults and the spirit of the bayonet,
      > but "brought to bear superior firepower and modern equipment in
      > combined arms warfare, relying on regimental heavy weapons and
      > artillery to soften enemy positions before infantry assaults" (p.
      > 115). Nevertheless, while "the ability of Japanese forces to react
      > quickly, maneuver rapidly, and fight skillfully, just as they had
      > been trained, equipped, and indoctrinated to do, proved initially
      > advantageous," Chinese resilience and the failure to develop a
      > long-range strategy made it all "ultimately futile" (p. 134).
      >
      > Part 3 contains detailed coverage of specific battles and campaigns
      > during the first year of the conflict. Yang Tianshi assesses the role
      > of Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek in the battles of Shanghai and
      > Nanjing in the final months of 1937, stressing the generalissimo's
      > initiative in using these campaigns to expand the war in order to
      > relieve pressure on the North and demonstrate to the world Chinese
      > resolve to resist Japanese aggression. Hattori Satoshi and Drea
      > collaborate in covering these same operations from the perspective of
      > Japanese army units, providing readers a stark infantryman's view of
      > the bitter, bloody fighting that took place in the drive from
      > Shanghai to Nanjing. While the infantry engaged in close combat,
      > higher headquarters on both sides struggled to exercise command and
      > control over insubordinate officers. Ultimately, the Chinese would
      > have greater success in this vital area than the Japanese. Although
      > losing many of their best divisions and control over the capital, the
      > Chinese side "slowly, painfully, and often brutally ... fashioned a
      > political-military strategy to stave off Japanese victory" (p. 140).
      > Indeed, Japan's failure to achieve a rapid victory ensured that the
      > war became, contrary to Japanese expectations and to Chinese
      > advantage, a war of attrition. Paying particular attention to the
      > defense of Wuhan in the summer of 1938, Stephen MacKinnon explains
      > how determination to resist the Japanese assault facilitated
      > improvement in cooperation among high-level Chinese commanders, the
      > implementation of a strategy of attrition, and the growth of
      > self-confidence within the Chinese rank and file. Such unity was
      > missing on the Japanese side. Carrying the story forward from 1938 to
      > 1941, Tobe Ryoichi examines the role of the Eleventh Army, Japan's
      > primary fighting forced in central China, demonstrating how a unified
      > military strategy continued to elude Japanese leaders in the field
      > and in Tokyo as the prospect of rapid military victory evaporated.
      >
      > The essays of part 4 begin with Hagiwara Mitsuru declaring that the
      > Sino-Japanese War was "the first major conflict in which air power
      > played a significant role from the beginning of hostilities" and
      > which "saw the initiation of long-range over-water strategic
      > bombardment by one side against major urban centers of its enemy" (p.
      > 237). Addressing the paucity of writing on this topic in
      > Western-language accounts, Hagiwara details the Imperial Japanese
      > Navy's leadership of a campaign that, despite penetrating deeply into
      > the country and achieving local air superiority, failed to achieve
      > its strategic objective of destroying Chinese air power.[1] Edna Tow
      > follows Hagiwara with a look at what it was like to live and
      > persevere in the provisional capital of Chongqing, the primary target
      > of Japanese navy bombers and one of the first of the world's cities
      > to suffer under the sustained terror bombing of civilians. Tow
      > concludes that the aerial assault, which peaked between 1939 and
      > 1941, "was insufficient by itself to effect the desired military
      > outcome" and "serves as a valuable case study for illuminating the
      > range of challenges, tensions, and dilemmas regarding total war and
      > the limits of mass aerial bombardment to achieve total victory" (p.
      > 282). It was not, however, an example that was then fully appreciated
      > in the West.
      >
      > Zhang Baijia evaluates the military aid provided to China by Germany,
      > the Soviet Union, and the United States from the mid-1930s until the
      > end of the war, characterizing Nazi assistance as disinterested,
      > pragmatic, and effective, and Soviet support as clearly driven by
      > strategic self-interest but otherwise largely beyond reproach. He
      > judges American aid efforts as riven with misunderstanding and
      > largely ineffective and, moreover, asserts that "the United States
      > provided little material aid to China" before 1945, when aid
      > quadrupled (pp. 299, 303). Although the Sino-Japanese War saw Mao
      > Zedong's forces pioneer the concept of "People's War," Yang Kuisong
      > revises the picture of guerrilla warfare as the sole preserve of the
      > Chinese Communist Party (CCP) by focusing on the less well-known
      > unconventional operations of the Nationalist government (KMT). More
      > in line with standard understanding of the KMT is Yang's conclusion
      > that, despite concerted efforts in this area, Nationalist forces
      > never adapted well to the fundamentals of guerrilla warfare, but
      > instead alienated local populations by seizing large quantities of
      > supplies and often "continued to fight in large units" and attempted
      > "to defend large territorial positions" (pp. 308-309).
      >
      > In the final essay of part 4, Kawano Hitoshi puts a human face on
      > Japanese infantrymen and reveals their many similarities with
      > soldiers everywhere (including a rate of psychiatric casualties that,
      > while on the low side, was roughly in line with that of other
      > armies). However, while they shared, for instance, the close personal
      > bonds, powerful sense of mutual responsibility, and fatalism common
      > to combat units everywhere, Kawano argues that further motivation--or
      > perhaps pressure--arose from a powerful concern with preserving
      > familial and hometown honor. As for the supposedly supreme motivation
      > of fighting and dying for the emperor, one veteran dismissed it as
      > follows: "Hell, no. The emperor? I didn't give a damn" (p. 343).
      > While perhaps extreme, such reflections are important in tempering
      > likewise extreme and persistent stereotypes regarding the motivations
      > of Japanese soldiers and sailors. Kawano also touches on, but might
      > have pursued further, given its relevance to campaigning and
      > pacification, the needless brutality exemplified in such criminal
      > practices as "bloodying" new soldiers by having them bayonet Chinese
      > prisoners of war.[2]
      >
      > Asano Toyomi opens part 5 with an examination of how Japanese forces
      > shifted from the offensive to the defensive in Yunnan and northern
      > Burma following the Fifteenth Army's disastrous Imphal operation
      > (March to July 1944) by utilizing their knowledge of the terrain and
      > well-constructed fortifications to blunt Chinese drives into the
      > region and, later, to mount limited counterattacks in support of the
      > Ichigo operation (April 1944 to February 1945). Zhang Yunhu
      > looks--albeit briefly in five pages--at the campaign from the
      > perspective of the American-trained and American-supplied Y-Force,
      > which, despite initial setbacks and leadership shakeups, eventually
      > succeeded in isolating Japan's Thirty-third Army and mostly reopening
      > the Ledo Road. Hara Takeshi assesses the Ichigo operation as
      > successful but strategically pointless because of developments in the
      > Pacific; moreover, he concludes, the poor performance and losses of
      > the Nationalists undermined American faith in the KMT, while the
      > removal of both Nationalist and Japanese forces from north China left
      > a vacuum to be filled by the CCP, whom he identifies as the ultimate
      > winner. Looking at the battles of Henan and Hunan, Wang Qisheng finds
      > evidence for Nationalist failings in this period from the pen of
      > Chiang, who wrote that "1944 is the worst year for China in its
      > protracted war against Japan.... I'm fifty-eight years old this year.
      > Of all the humiliations I have suffered in my life, this is the
      > greatest" (p. 403). Wang bolsters his case for KMT failures in
      > "strategy and tactics, officers and soldiers, training, logistics,
      > and mobilization of civilians" with further observations from Chiang,
      > who lamented that the local population "attacked our own forces and
      > seized their arms, just as happened with the czar's army in imperial
      > Russia during World War I. Such an army cannot win! Our military
      > trucks and horses smuggled goods, not ammunition.... During the
      > retreat, some troops lost discipline, looting and raping women" (p.
      > 417). "Our biggest humiliation in the battles of Henan and of Hunan,"
      > Chiang concluded, "was that the Japanese used Chinese people as
      > plain-clothes personnel, while we were not able to do so. With the
      > exception of one general, no Nationalist army unit was able to
      > mobilize our own people in our service" (p. 418).
      >
      > Part 6 concludes the volume with three perspectives on the larger
      > historical significance of the war. Despite the collaborative spirit
      > behind their project, the editors acknowledge that the continued
      > sensitivity of the topic resulted in occasional flashes of irritation
      > among the Chinese; Japanese; and--more surprisingly--American
      > participants. Perhaps no issue is more contentious than that of
      > assessing China's role in determining the outcome of World War II.
      > For instance, many in the West have been influenced by Barbara
      > Tuchman's biographical channeling of General Joseph Stilwell's
      > dislike for Chiang and disparagement of the Nationalist war effort.
      > Meanwhile, for millions of Chinese the war was one of tremendous
      > bloodshed and destruction and, naturally enough, an unavoidably
      > Sino-centric affair. The influence of political ideology has often
      > been apparent in evaluating the war's significance, too, even from
      > the first days of the conflict. Shortly after the Marco Polo Bridge
      > incident of July 7, 1937, the Japanese left-wing journalist, China
      > hand, and Comintern spy Ozaki Hotsumi wrote that the war in China
      > "can hardly fail to develop on such a scale as to prove of utmost
      > significance in world history" and, in the years leading up to his
      > 1944 execution for espionage, insisted that China, rather than the
      > Pacific or Europe, was the key theater of the war (p. xix).
      > Subsequently, the People's Republic of China (PRC) has promoted the
      > idea that, as the editors put it, "the China theater was not merely
      > important, it was _the_ critical theater in World War II" (p. 422,
      > emphasis in the original).[3]
      >
      > Tohmatsu Haruo tackles this issue head-on by examining the
      > interrelationship between the Chinese and Pacific theaters of the
      > war, demonstrating that while developments in the Pacific often
      > affected the war in China, the opposite was seldom the case.
      > Likewise, the continued stationing of large numbers of Japanese
      > troops on the continent in the final stages of the war reflected not
      > their requirement to combat Chinese armies but the reality that most
      > of Japan's transport vessels lay on the bottom of the Pacific. The
      > fact that they rested there primarily because of American submarine
      > warfare further illustrates the military significance of the Pacific
      > campaign. And it was Allied success in seizing island bases and
      > taking control of the sea and air that brought physical destruction
      > to the Japanese armed forces and, ultimately, to the homeland,
      > thereby bringing about Japan's military defeat.
      >
      > Assessing China's contribution to victory, van de Ven takes issue
      > with the Western consensus that the Nationalists "were a politically
      > debilitated 'husk' who had wasted the United States' 'supreme' try in
      > China" (p. 449). He counters--in accord with other essays in this
      > volume--that the Nationalists were in fact quite determined to resist
      > Japan and further argues that "the slighting of the Nationalists as
      > militarist, backward, feudal, and incompetent derived in part from a
      > Western-centric interpretation of the war and, more generally, from
      > an understanding of warfare that judged societies by their ability to
      > generate modern industrialized offensive warfare" (p. 464). In
      > support of his argument, van de Ven contends that the Nationalists'
      > "accommodation with local warlords, the exploitation of historically
      > shaped methods of military mobilization, and the use of the frontier
      > regions" did not constitute "evidence of feudal backwardness" but
      > rather demonstrated "sensible ways of pursuing a difficult war
      > against an overwhelmingly superior enemy in a largely rural society
      > with limited industrial resources and a weak state" (p. 465). In
      > short, the KMT's strategic objective was to outlast Japan's assault
      > and this was pursued within the constraints and realities of Chinese
      > society at the time.
      >
      > In the book's final essay, Ronald Spector surveys the contributors'
      > efforts and judiciously concludes that despite the fact that the
      > Sino-Japanese War's "sheer scale, length, and destructiveness" placed
      > it "in a class by itself," China's contribution to Allied victory in
      > World War II was "at best, secondary" (pp. 467, 478). Among the
      > reasons for this were the herculean logistical challenges facing
      > Allied support efforts; the Allied strategic priority of defeating
      > Germany first; the naval character of the primary counterattack
      > against Japan; and, thanks to the success of the Pacific
      > island-hopping campaign and the development of the B-29 heavy bomber,
      > the declining need to use China as an avenue for attacking the
      > Japanese homeland. At the same time, Spector cogently points out that
      > "if the strategic impact of the war in China on the Unites States'
      > war against Japan was small, this outcome was not true of the
      > political and psychological contribution that China made to the
      > Allied cause simply by staying in the war. The Japanese claim to be
      > fighting a war to liberate all Asians from the Western imperialists
      > could never be given full credence as long as Asia's most populous
      > and largest nation was ranged on the side of the Allies." Moreover,
      > "millions of Chinese did not endure the hardships and losses of seven
      > long years of war to ensure an Allied victory but to liberate their
      > country from the Japanese" and the achievement of that goal was "the
      > vindication of their sacrifices and the ultimate victory of their
      > cause" (p. 479).
      >
      > Despite its length, this review has only scratched the surface of the
      > wealth of information and interpretation provided by this collection
      > of essays. While the contributors and editors get the credit for that
      > content, Stanford University Press should be commended for producing
      > an attractive volume of this length and one that, in addition to the
      > aforementioned chronology, maps, and photographs, even includes an
      > annotated bibliography. Perhaps the most unfortunate and noteworthy
      > editorial flaw in this otherwise solid publication is the excessive
      > number of mistakes in the transliteration of Japanese terms,
      > particularly in the book's character list; one hopes these will be
      > addressed should the opportunity present itself.
      >
      > In sum, _The Battle for China_ is a very welcome contribution to the
      > military history of the second Sino-Japanese War and World War II, as
      > well as to the general historiography of modern China and Japan. I
      > highly recommend it.
      >
      > Notes
      >
      > [1]. A notable exception, as Hagiwara points out, is Mark R. Peattie,
      > _Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power, 1909-1941_
      > (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2001).
      >
      > [2]. The editors address the matter of war crimes as follows:
      > "Although Japan's record of war crimes is a topic of great current
      > interest, Japanese atrocities are mentioned only if pertinent to a
      > particular campaign or strategy. Thus, no paper specifically
      > addresses war crimes, in part because the topic is a subject unto
      > itself that has been dealt with in a range of books, monographs, and
      > journals. The recently published National Archives and Records
      > Administration report to Congress on the subject is a good place to
      > start for those interested in Japanese war crimes" (p. xxi).
      >
      > [3]. While the editors do not mention it, the view of Ozaki and the
      > PRC also gained considerable traction among left-wing Japanese
      > scholars in the decades following the war. Historian Ienaga Saburo,
      > for instance, wrote in 1968 that the "invasion of China and the
      > subsequent military operations there were the core of the Pacific
      > War, in my view. China remained the main war theater even after the
      > hostilities with America and England began. The principal opponent in
      > China was not the Nationalist government's armies but the Communist
      > units. Because of the Communists' tenacious resistance, Japanese
      > forces became bogged down in China." Ienaga further credited "the
      > democratic power of the Red armies" with overcoming Japanese
      > superiority in weapons and concluded dubiously that while "America's
      > material superiority may have struck the decisive blow,... Japan had
      > already been defeated by Chinese democracy." Ienaga Saburo, _The
      > Pacific War, 1931-1945_ (New York: Pantheon Books, 1978), 95-96. In
      > an appended commentary to a recent reprint of Ienaga's book,
      > historian Yoshida Yutaka identified this perspective as one of
      > Ienaga's key contributions and one that delivered a shocking and
      > "powerful message" to him as a young college student enamored of U.S.
      > military strength. Yoshida Yutaka, commentary in _Taiheiyo senso_, by
      > Iengaga Saburo(Tokyo: Iwanami shoten, 2002), 459, 462-463.
      >
      > Citation: Roger H. Brown. Review of Peattie, Mark R.; Drea, Edward
      > J.; van de Ven, Hans J., eds., _The Battle for China: Essays on the
      > Military History of the Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945_. H-War, H-Net
      > Reviews. December, 2012.
      > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=35560
      >
      > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
      > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States
      > License.
      > ******************************************************************
      > To post to H-ASIA simply send your message to:
      > <H-ASIA@h-net.msu.edu>
      > For holidays or short absences send post to:
      > <listserv@h-net.msu.edu> with message:
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      > Upon return, send post with message SET H-ASIA MAIL
      > H-ASIA WEB HOMEPAGE URL: http://h-net.msu.edu/~asia/

      Fw: H-ASIA: A course on 'Everyday Life in Twentieth-Century India'

      ----- Original Message -----
      From: "Frank Conlon" <conlon@U.WASHINGTON.EDU>
      To: <H-ASIA@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
      Sent: Saturday, December 22, 2012 10:07 PM
      Subject: H-ASIA: A course on 'Everyday Life in Twentieth-Century India'


      > H-ASIA
      > December 22, 2012
      >
      > Query re: a course on "Everyday Life in Twentieth-Century India"
      > *********************************************************************
      > Ed. note: Dr. Kamtekar has come up with a great idea here and I do
      > hope that many of you can make suggestions on both the lecture
      > organization, the student readings and research sources. I will
      > try to come up with some suggestions myself later this week. Please
      > do share your posts with H-ASIA as well as Dr. Kamtekar. FFC
      > --------------------------------------------------------------------
      > From: Indivar Kamtekar <indivar@mail.jnu.ac.in>
      >
      > Dear Colleagues,
      >
      > I write this post to seek your help and advice with a course I hope to
      > teach on 'Changes in everyday life in twentieth-century India.'
      > The course will be taught to M.A. level students in modern history at
      > the Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi.
      >
      > The beginning and end of the twentieth century will be the two
      > boundaries. At the end of the course I would like my students at JNU
      > to be able to compare the lives of people from various social classes
      > at these two points in time, and to have a sense of what occurred in
      > between.
      >
      > There is a tentative list of topics below. I would particularly
      > appreciate suggestions for readings, both for myself and for potential
      > students. Also, if you have come across nuggets of information which
      > we might now find surprising, please do share them.
      >
      > TENTATIVE LIST OF TOPICS:
      >
      > 1. Housing, furniture, water supply and sanitation, electricity
      > 2. Food: daily diets, methods of cooking, storage, refrigeration
      > 3. Dress: styles and materials
      > 4. Health, diseases and medicines
      > 5. Work and production
      > 6. Items of mass consumption
      > 7. Communications and transport
      > 8. Marriage, gender relations, and the family
      > 9. Social hierarchies
      > 10. Avenues of entertainment
      > 11. Sources of information and education
      > 12. Relationships with government and the city
      >
      > Advice about other themes which I should cover, and how lectures
      > (there would be about fourteen two-hour lectures) could be structured,
      > would also be welcome. I would also wish to offer a research seminar
      > to M. Phil. students, so please do suggest primary sources which might
      > be mined profitably.
      >
      > The subject is vast, but it also seems far too important to ignore.
      > I?m excited at the prospect of a discussion within the wide and
      > diverse H-Asia community. So, in advance - thanks a lot!
      >
      > Best wishes,
      >
      > Indivar Kamtekar
      > Centre for Historical Studies
      > Jawaharlal Nehru University
      > New Delhi
      >
      >
      > ******************************************************************
      > To post to H-ASIA simply send your message to:
      > <H-ASIA@h-net.msu.edu>
      > For holidays or short absences send post to:
      > <listserv@h-net.msu.edu> with message:
      > SET H-ASIA NOMAIL
      > Upon return, send post with message SET H-ASIA MAIL
      > H-ASIA WEB HOMEPAGE URL: http://h-net.msu.edu/~asia/

      Fw: H-ASIA: Seasonal reflections on Asia and H-ASIA (Blum)

      ----- Original Message -----
      From: "Ryan Dunch" <ryan.dunch@UALBERTA.CA>
      To: <H-ASIA@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
      Sent: Saturday, December 22, 2012 12:35 PM
      Subject: H-ASIA: Seasonal reflections on Asia and H-ASIA (Blum)


      > H-ASIA
      > December 22, 2012
      >
      > Seasonal reflections on Asia and H-ASIA (Blum)
      > ************************************************************************
      > From: Susan Blum <sblum@nd.edu>
      >
      > Editors, and indeed colleague-contributors,
      >
      > I share Ian's gratitude for all the work you have done to promote a
      > community--informed, civil, diverse--of Asianists. While sometimes
      > overwhelmed at the volume of messages, I never fail to learn something.
      >
      > I wish you all a wonderful rest and period of rejuvenation, if this is
      > possible for you!
      >
      > Gratefully,
      >
      > Susan Blum
      >
      > Susan D. Blum
      > Professor and Chair, Department of Anthropology
      > The University of Notre Dame
      >
      >
      > ******************************************************************
      > To post to H-ASIA simply send your message to:
      > <H-ASIA@h-net.msu.edu>
      > For holidays or short absences send post to:
      > <listserv@h-net.msu.edu> with message:
      > SET H-ASIA NOMAIL
      > Upon return, send post with message SET H-ASIA MAIL
      > H-ASIA WEB HOMEPAGE URL:http://h-net.msu.edu/~asia/

      Fw: [Y-Indology] EJVS 19-3: M. Fushimi, Mantras in Kapisthala-S.

       
      ----- Original Message -----
      Sent: Sunday, December 23, 2012 5:33 AM
      Subject: [Y-Indology] EJVS 19-3: M. Fushimi, Mantras in Kapisthala-S.

       

      We are happy to announce a new issue of the Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies:

      Makoto Fushimi,
      Mantras in Kapiṣṭhala Saṃhitā : Another Addition to 'A Vedic Concordance'
      EJVS 19-3, pp. 11-101

      [These mantras are listed alphabetically, accorded to the new edition, and corrected where necessary]

      http://www.ejvs.laurasianacademy.com/

      ----

      Earlier issues this year include:

      Caley Smith
      Obituary: Manfred Mayrhofer (1926-2011)
      EJVS 19-2

      and

      Marcos Albino
      Śaunakīya Saṃhitā 7.55.1
      EJVS 19-1

      -----------

      Another issue is due soon:

      Francesco Brighenti
      Hindu Devotional Ordeals and their Shamanic Parallels

      --------

      Happy Holidays!

      Michael

      > ============
      > Michael Witzel
      > witzel@fas.harvard.edu
      > <www.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/mwpage.htm>
      > Wales Prof. of Sanskrit &
      > Director of Graduate Studies,
      > Dept. of South Asian Studies, Harvard University
      > 1 Bow Street,
      > Cambridge MA 02138, USA
      >
      > phone: 1- 617 - 495 3295, 496 8570, fax 617 - 496 8571;
      > my direct line: 617- 496 2990

      [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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        Fw: [Y-Indology] Shri Rosaiah Paid Rich Tributes 2 Scholar Extraordinaire

         
        ----- Original Message -----
        Sent: Monday, December 10, 2012 10:10 PM
        Subject: [Y-Indology] Shri Rosaiah Paid Rich Tributes 2 Scholar Extraordinaire

         

          Call for Universal Brotherhood, Tolerance

        Sanskrit scholar felicitated for
        getting Chevalier Award
        TN Governor honors NSR Swami @ Navalpakkam on Sunday 
        http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/call-for-universal-brotherhood-tolerance/article4183426.ece

        K. Rosaiah, Tamil Nadu Governor, releasing a book authored by
        Sanskrit scholar N.S. Ramanuja Tatacharya Swami at a function in Su. Navalpakkam
        village near Vandavasi on Sunday. NSR (3rd from left) and L.V. Subramanyam,
        Executive Officer, TTD (4th from right) are in the picture.
        Tamil Nadu Governor K.
        Rosaiah has called upon people to join hands to promote universal brotherhood,
        the spirit of oneness, tolerance and harmony.
        All religions preach
        righteousness, compassion, tolerance and unity. The purpose of religion is to
        expand consciousness to rise above oneself.
        "Humanity stands above all
        religions. Let us all join hands to promote universal brotherhood, the spirit of
        oneness, tolerance and harmony," he said, felicitating N.S. Ramanuja Tatacharya
        Swami (NSR), Sanskrit scholar of Navalpakkam village in Vandavasi taluk in
        Tiruvannamalai district on his being conferred the Chevalier de la Legion d'
        Honneur (Chevalier Award) by the French government, at a function got up at the
        village on Sunday.
        (The title was
        conferred on Mr. NSR, a professor and Associate Researcher at the French
        Institute of Pondicherry, at a function held at the French Consulate in
        Puducherry on July 12).

        Mr. Rosaiah said education
        makes integrity of spirit. That too being a Vedic scholar is something great. It
        is the inward wisdom, intellectual capacity, in-depth knowledge of Vedic
        scripts, the Vedas, dedication and devotion that have made Mr. NSR reach such
        great heights.
        "It is heartening to note
        that Navalpakkam, this tiny village, is a home to many erudite Vedic scholars
        for centuries together.
        "It is his hard work,
        sincerity and flair to learn more to gain in-depth knowledge that made Mr. NSR
        what he is today," he said.
        Mr. Rosaiah said teachers or
        gurus had the responsibility of moulding the youth into men and women of
        character. Merely spreading knowledge would not suffice to build a healthy
        society. They should set an example of true greatness of spirit and an
        embodiment of virtues. "A real teacher should possess more than book knowledge.
        Those who are his students are really gifted to gain wisdom and knowledge from
        such an erudite and spiritual person like Mr. NSR", he said.
        Mr. Rosaiah released the
        second volume of a book authored by Mr. NSR and a souvenir brought out on the
        occasion.
        L.V. Subramanyam, Executive
        Officer, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam, received the first copy.
        Mr. Subramanyam said
        Sanskrit was the repository of ancient wisdom.
        All the scientific
        discoveries of today were already talked about in ancient texts. "Bhaskaracharya
        spoke of the speed of light several thousands of years ago. Aircraft and X-rays
        were discovered several thousands of years ago. It is unfortunate that our
        generation has not been exposed to the truth," he said.
        The TTD Executive Officer
        said Sanathana Dharma never spoke of the supremacy of any caste. It only talked
        of a person's outlook. "The caste system has been started by individuals. It is
        our mistake that we have not understood the basics of Sanathana Dharma", he
        said.
        Mr. Subramanyam said
        acceptability from 14 countries was required for conferring the Chevalier Award
        on a person. This goes to speak of the greatness of the persons receiving the
        award. "Such people do not seek honours, but honours go after them," he
        said.
        Mr. Ramanuja Tatacharya said
        he owed his erudition to his gurus.
        The late Paramacharya of the
        Kanchi Sankara Mutt, Srimad Andavan Swami and Srimad Azhagiya Singar have all
        motivated him to write books, he said.
        Pointing out that Sanskrit
        was the mother of most Indian languages, he said scholarly works of many great
        savants had inspired many a common man to live a life of dharma.
        T.E. Kasturi, cardiologist
        of Tirupati, was among those who felicitated Mr. NSR.

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