Addressing Western misconceptions

On September 24-26 2005, Educators’ Society for the Heritage of India (ESHI) held a professional conference on “Contemporary Conceptions of Studies on India in Academia” at Rutgers University, NJ.  The event was co-sponsored by the Hindu Students Council (HSC) and attended by educators, professors, scholars, teachers, school administrators and many Rutgers University students.

The knowledge about the heritage and culture of India in North America is not only limited, but mostly biased, negative, distorted and incorrect. During British rule, Indian history, culture and traditions: Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Buddhism were distorted by colonial prejudice. This distortion is being perpetuated in the Western education system. Many US school and college textbooks and resource material present caste system, untouchability, poverty, animal gods and cows as the core of India’s culture and tradition. Even reference books, like Encarta, have presented a much maligned and distorted view of Hinduism. Some Western educators of religion have openly resorted to denigrating Hindu gods, goddesses and saints.

There is a disconnect between what Indian Americans, know and perceive of India and how it is portrayed by academia and media in the US. Academia and media stereotype India in negative ways. Indian Americans have not challenged the stereotyping in an organised manner. As a result, negative views of India, its culture and traditions continue to perpetuate in North America. ESHI was formed to remedy this long-standing problem. Its mission is to function as a network and intellectual think tank of educators, scholars, students and academics to provide authoritative information and authentic resources related to India’s heritage, culture, history, and languages to middle school and high school teachers, colleges, curriculum developers, education officials and the policy makers; the media, including textbook authors and publishers; inter-faith organisations, non-profit organisations, political leaders and the general public.

Other minorities such as African Americans, Hispanic, Jewish, Islamic, Native Americans and some of the east Asian communities (Japanese, Korean, Chinese) face similar problems and have well established institutions. ESHI will collaborate with them and learn from their experiences. The objective of the conference was to bring together teachers, professors and students, who are interested in education about India, to share information on issues related to the education about India in schools and colleges, to share information about the important work that is being done by various individuals across USA and to provide guidance, encouragement and tools to attendees to enable them to engage in improving the educational environment and resources about India. Kanchan Banerjee, co-founder and ESHI board member, opened the conference with  quotes from various Western scholars such as Voltaire, LaPlace, Albert Einstein, Mark Twain, and Will Durant, who have extolled the greatness of India and its culture and traditions in their widely respected books and writings. He appealed to the audience to speak up, as a well educated and respected Indian American professional community, for our proud heritage, and not continue to rely on others to speak for us.

Dr Ved P Chaudhary, co-founder and ESHI board member, and former Trustee of Rutgers University, presented samples of places and people in a few pictures selected from the World Geography textbook, published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston, that is used in the seventh grade in Piscataway, New Jersey, the town where the conference was held. The comparison of a few pictures from USA, the Middle East and India vividly illustrated how India was grossly misrepresented in this text book. For example, the picture of St Louis is shown as a perfect picture postcard with the famous arch spanning across the city; the picture of Cairo focuses on skyscrapers along the Nile, with the caption: “Modern skyscrapers of Cairo, Egypt, tower over farmland across the Nile River;” a picture of an elegant mosques is shown with the caption: “Muslims throughout Southwest Asia worship at Mosques such as this one in Dubai, UAE.”

But when the chapter on India starts, the visual effect is decidedly negative even horrific. For example the picture of Vishnu is shown as the half fish — half human, not the benevolent image of Vishnu with four arms which Hindus worship in Temples everywhere in the world; the picture of Mumbai (Bombay) shows only a group of pedestrians (not tall buildings, not Gateway of India, nor the business district); picture of Jaipur focuses on a cow crossing a street, with the caption: “This cow threatens to stop traffic in Jaipur, India. Cows, considered sacred by Hindus, can be found roaming freely in many town and rural areas;” the picture of Chennai shows a dirt road, three delapidated huts with thatch roofs, large movie posters covering the walls and the roof; the caption reads: “Movie advertisements cover a small theater in Chennai (Madras). India’s large movie making industry is supported by millions of movie fans.” Those who take pride in the accomplishment of Bollywood, would be shocked to see this repugnant picture in this seventh grade Geography textbook. The sad feeling will haunt any Indian student reading this book that there is nothing good in India to be proud of (except the Taj Mahal); the sad question of why the image of India is so distorted in school textbooks will haunt any parent.

Ms Seema M Singh, Esq, Chairperson of the Asian Studies Initiative informed the audience that the first and most important finding of the Asian American Commission, appointed by the NJ Governor, was that the curricula of all educational institutions in New Jersey must include the study of Asia and the historic contemporary contributions of Asians to the world’s economic, political, spiritual and artistic achievements. She has presented a detailed report and recommendations to the governor on how to facilitate the development of Asian studies curricula in New Jersey public schools in ways that are respectful of Asians and Asian Americans; that provide our children positive self images and awareness of their dual cultural heritage; and that provide all students sufficient knowledge of Asia and its diverse cultures so they can participate effectively as adults in future economic, social, cultural and political events.