Customer Reviews

Prophets Facing Backward: Postmodern Critiques of Science and Hindu Nationalism in India

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1 star:		(9)

 

 

I was surprised to see that Nanda's book received an average of 3 stars on here. Then I realized that there was a divide between half of the reviewers offering it 5 stars while the other half offered it 1 star. This explains the fact that one would either love or hate this book depending on their own opinions, and beliefs on the subject. Personally, the first time I read the book - I was extremely offended. Being a Hindu, I tried to blame her criticisms of Hindutva on the fact that she is not 'really Indian' - that being a foreign desi, she really should have no say on the matter. However, upon further unbiased exploration of the facts, an open mind that was difficult to have, and careful reconsideration of Nanda's intelligent words - I have truly become a fan. This is scholarship at its best. I commend her for her brave approach of a topic few others would dare discuss.

The author is not claiming or trying to be a philosopher, a historian, or a physicist. However, she brings to our attention an important and disturbing consequence of the Western fad for pseudoscience and irrationalism.

Nanda's training in her own science is quite sufficient for her to understand the scientific method, and to recognise snake-oil when she sees it. Cultural relativism, and the other idiocies spawned by Kuhn's magical "paradigms", have left the door open for politically motivated cults to justify dangerous, divisive, and oppressive ideologies.

Is tradition a defense for female genital mutilation? If you missed the point of Nanda's book, you will not be able to see that human rights are universal. Can cultural tradition justify the oppression of minorities? These are the real questions to be asked.

The last thing this World needs is intellectuals philosophising justifications for the patently absurd. Nandas book is a breath of fresh air, and it can only be hoped that others like it will put the wheels of reason back on the cart of civilisation.

This is a much-needed argument, and excellent research. Nanda levels a devastating attack on the pseudo-science of the Hindu right. She also suggests that a wooly postmodernism in science studies and cultural studies are at best incapable of defending against Hindutva's form of anti-modern 'hybridity'. At worst, postmodernism is a direct asset to the ideology of Hindu nationalism.

Some of Nanda's points may be arguable, but this book is clearly written and well-researched. The arguments are forcefully presented and highly accessible. Academics and non-academics alike will be challenged by her points even if they disagree with her.

Meera Nanda draws on her two PhDs, in microbiology and philosophy of science, along with work in research and science journalism, for this fascinating, alarming book. She explains the way postmodernist suspicion of science and postcolonial suspicion of the Enlightenment give (largely unintended) support to Hindu fundamentalism and its program to present Hindu scriptures as 'science'. Few people in the West are aware of this paradoxical situation; the book is an eye-opener.

I used to think that before you write about something, you need to know something about it. Apparently, Meera Nanda doesn't think so. I think anyone can have their doubts against anything e..g I am a Vedantin Hindu and I do have my doubts about the strange Vastu sastra ads I saw in my recent trip back to India. But by saying that this "popula Hinduism" is derived from "nationalistic propaganda" started by stalwarts like Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurovindo, Radhakrishnan among others is a blatant denial of truth. Does the author know the contribution of the philosophy of Vedanta as propagated by these prophets in building modern India--e.g. in India's independence struggle and the post-independence nation building? Is the author aware of the scope of work done by the reformist Vedantik schools in India--has she heard of Brahmo Samaj, Ramkrishna Mission, Auro Ville? Does she know how far these organizations are from superstitious rituals like Vastu and some strange jantras, and how broad they are in their social work inspired by spiritual humanism? Has the author read (READ, and not cherry-picked a verse out of context) at least the Gita before she attacks the backward looking prophets and their Vedantic thoughts?
I have seen MANY "forward looking" Marxist prophets in Calcutta who would put their people in the academic organizations, irrespective of any academic credential. I am an academic myself, and I am not even a bit surprised to see the scholarship coming from another hate-monger in the guise of a Marxist academic. To seek truth the primary condition is to have an open mind, something that dogmatic Marxists are not particularly famous for. Before you cure other people's superstitions (which by itself is a noble idea), please try to overcome your own superstitious dogma and utter ignorance: that's what the Vedanta says--look inside before you look outside. I could have rated this author bogus, but I think that would be an injustice to other bogus writers.

First logical dissection of the pseudo-science presented in so-called religious scriptures. Although written primarily with the neo-Hindu interpretation in mind, this may as well apply to most other religious orders which claim scientific validity to nebulous concepts as presented in their respective beliefs.

Meera Nanda's article in the Frontline made me curious to read this book.
THis is a barve book. It takes on the sources of irrationalism in the Indian society, both among the HIndutva right-wingers and the traditionalists among the left-wingers. There are many in India today who will condemn any one who dares to write critically of the ancient sciences of Hindus. Nanda has dared to walk into a territory where angels fear to tread. For that she deserves a hearing.

Although there are some things that are correctly noted, the book is politically motivated and written to evoke hatred and controversy. Authors like her only seek basal pleasure in hatred and controversy because they want to reap money from others.

This is really a very disappointing work, but then any idiot has the right to publish.

I regret having wasting my money in buying this book. I was attracted to the topic of the book, since I want to know how science and religion have been harnessed in India for various political ends. But I was a disappointed by the level of scholarship. I was reminded of the hoax of Alan Sokal in "Social Text" where intelligent sounding fragments were considered perfectly reasonable scholarship by unsuspecting editors.

The situation with this book is quite similar. At the micro-level the arguments of the book seem reasonable. But for anyone who knows science, it is clear that the author does not have knowledge of the primary texts (presumably because she does not know Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian) and she has knit together fragments from secondary sources in a manner that makes no sense.

I notice that the book has received a few "5 stars" for being "brave". But shouldn't "bravery" rest on impeccable scholarship, which is impossible without rigorous training. Nanda doesn't understand the arguments related to physics or psychology, and she adopts positions that betray this ignorance.

I am still looking for a good book on this subject.

I was eager to read this book after I saw the author's summary of her argument in Frontline. But I was disappointed in how she develops her case. Apparently, she does not possess adequate knowledge of the Indian scientific literature, and she relies on summaries of it which are out of date or have been refuted. This is one of the three legs of the stool, and as it falls, the general argument becomes invalid.

Nevertheless, the question of how Hindutva groups use modern science for a variety of political purposes is most interesting. If only it was examined by a scholar who knew the Indian science part of the evidence.