Ramachandra Guha on Uttar Pradesh

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1140208/jsp/opinion/story_17894998.jsp#.UvXqgL9sg5A

When Guha talks of UP's poor self-esteem he forgets that there are so many things other than economic factors which also come into play when one considers a term like self-esteem. Greece is not an economic powerhouse and yet the average Greek has tremendous self-esteem because of the great culture and great history of Greece. Similarly the great history and culture of Uttar Pradesh ensures and will continue to ensure that the average Uttar Pradeshi will continue to have hope in the future of his state despite the temporary aberrations of today because of some self-seeking politicians.

One great feature of Uttar Pradeshi culture which Guha fails to mention is the complete absence of any kind of regional chauvinism. In this respect it is a cosmopolitan state. The defect in UP culture however is casteism which is more pronounced here than in several other Indian states and also the presence of communalism which is about the same as most Indian states.

Rishi wrote:. The intelligentsia of UP had previously spoken of states such as Tamil Nadu and Kerala as culturally alien and politically peripheral. The numbers revealed that the condescension should actually run in the other direction. What made matters worse was the company that India’s largest, politically most prestigious state, had to keep — that of backward Bihar, and feudal Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

I think Guha is mistaken when he thinks Uttar Pradeshi intelligentsia consider TN and Kerala as culturally alien and politically peripheral. With respect to culture consider the fact that the largest temple in Vrindavan is a temple where the main deity is Andal ( together with Krishna as her consort ) and where the priests are Tamilians. Consider also that there are passages in Tulsidas's RamacharitManasa which are not present in Valmiki Ramayana but are present in Kambaramayanam indicating that Tulsidas must have attended some lectures of some visiting Tamil scholars on the Ramayana.
Other things to consider are the existence of various ashrams of South Indian Hindu religious figures. Further consider the fact that the govt of Uttar Pradesh celebrates the birthday of the great Tamil poet Subramanya Bharati more enthusiastically than the govt of Tamil Nadu ( if you have some doubt about this, read http://sakthidaran.learningprofessor.info/blog/?p=1353 ). Further many Uttar Pradeshis are Vaisnavas and these people claim allegiance to the Ramanuja sampradaya which was originally a Tamil sect since Ramanujan was a Tamil. Several more examples can be given to show that Uttar Pradeshis do not consider Tamils as culturally alien.

With respect to Malayalis consider the fact that in Badrinath all the priests are Malayalis by tradition and further Uttar Pradeshis hold Adi Sankara in the highest respect. In fact Adi Sankara became known to all Indians because he was able to win over many disciples after he travelled to Benaras and defeated the scholar Mandan Mishra in a philosophical debate ( the judge of this debate was Mandan Mishra's wife Bharati who was herself an accomplished scholar). Had Sankara remained in Kerala he would have probably remained relatively anonymous. This is easily understood if we consider that in his native Kerala the Mimansa philosophy continued to hold sway even after much of India had accepted the primacy of Sankara's philosophy of Advaita Vedanta.

With respect to political peripherality Uttar Pradeshis consider all other Indian states, not just TN and Kerala, to be politically peripheral compared to their state. The reason is that approximately one fifth of India resides in Uttar Pradesh ( over 210 million , out of more than 1.1 billion) and thus Uttar Pradeshis think that in some ways Uttar Pradesh is the heart of India. This much said, Uttar Pradeshis welcome and extend hospitality towards people from other parts of India. People from all parts of India reside in this great state and there have never been any reports of any kind of persecution or tensions because of regionalism or regional chauvinism. It is as if the gene for regionalism or regional chauvinism is absent from the genome of an Uttar Pradeshi.

Rashmun wrote:

Rishi wrote:. The intelligentsia of UP had previously spoken of states such as Tamil Nadu and Kerala as culturally alien and politically peripheral. The numbers revealed that the condescension should actually run in the other direction. What made matters worse was the company that India’s largest, politically most prestigious state, had to keep — that of backward Bihar, and feudal Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

I think Guha is mistaken when he thinks Uttar Pradeshi intelligentsia consider TN and Kerala as culturally alien and politically peripheral. With respect to culture consider the fact that the largest temple in Vrindavan is a temple where the main deity is Andal ( together with Krishna as her consort ) and where the priests are Tamilians. Consider also that there are passages in Tulsidas's RamacharitManasa which are not present in Valmiki Ramayana but are present in Kambaramayanam indicating that Tulsidas must have attended some lectures of some visiting Tamil scholars on the Ramayana.
Other things to consider are the existence of various ashrams of South Indian Hindu religious figures. Further consider the fact that the govt of Uttar Pradesh celebrates the birthday of the great Tamil poet Subramanya Bharati more enthusiastically than the govt of Tamil Nadu ( if you have some doubt about this, read http://sakthidaran.learningprofessor.info/blog/?p=1353 ). Further many Uttar Pradeshis are Vaisnavas and these people claim allegiance to the Ramanuja sampradaya which was originally a Tamil sect since Ramanujan was a Tamil. Several more examples can be given to show that Uttar Pradeshis do not consider Tamils as culturally alien.

With respect to Malayalis consider the fact that in Badrinath all the priests are Malayalis by tradition and further Uttar Pradeshis hold Adi Sankara in the highest respect. In fact Adi Sankara became known to all Indians because he was able to win over many disciples after he travelled to Benaras and defeated the scholar Mandan Mishra in a philosophical debate ( the judge of this debate was Mandan Mishra's wife Bharati who was herself an accomplished scholar). Had Sankara remained in Kerala he would have probably remained relatively anonymous. This is easily understood if we consider that in his native Kerala the Mimansa philosophy continued to hold sway even after much of India had accepted the primacy of Sankara's philosophy of Advaita Vedanta.

With respect to political peripherality Uttar Pradeshis consider all other Indian states, not just TN and Kerala, to be politically peripheral compared to their state. The reason is that approximately one fifth of India resides in Uttar Pradesh ( over 210 million , out of more than 1.1 billion) and thus Uttar Pradeshis think that in some ways Uttar Pradesh is the heart of India. This much said, Uttar Pradeshis welcome and extend hospitality towards people from other parts of India. People from all parts of India reside in this great state and there have never been any reports of any kind of persecution or tensions because of regionalism or regional chauvinism. It is as if the gene for regionalism or regional chauvinism is absent from the genome of an Uttar Pradeshi.

Yes. Guha is mistaken. After all, he is not a noble intellectual like you.

Adding the obligatory *yawn* to save you the trouble.

*yawn*

I think I am better qualified than Guha to talk on some aspects of the basic theme of his article and that is because Guha seems to have no knowledge and no appreciation for the philosophical history of India. Indian philosophy did not grow in isolated clusters but in a kind of culturally nationalized manner since the language of Indian philosophy was Sanskrit and there was no regional bias as is evident from the famous example of Adi Sankara traveling to Benaras and winning over many disciples after defeating Mandan Mishra in a philosophical debate.