November 2022 – Page 3 – Brown Pundits

Suneet Kumbhat on doing Mahabharata Recitals in Cafes for the Youth

Suneet Kumbhat talks about doing Mahabharata discussions and recitals in chic cafes and eateries in Urban India focusing on bringing the great epic to a newer generation in a fun and casual environment filled with great values and learnings.

The Indic Explorer channel is a platform to explore different facets of Indic Culture and its relationship with modernity. On our show ‘The Indic Underground’ we speak to newer & younger people from different spheres of cultural life that represent less known aspects of Indic culture. If you are tired of the same folks & are looking for fresh voices, then this is the place for it.

Our endeavor is to reach out to culturally conscious younger people who are deeply tied to the values of Indian culture while still embracing modernity. We will soon be bringing interesting discussions on different topics ranging from culture, civilizational issues, history, geopolitics, philosophy, music, literature dance, art and architecture.

Do subscribe to the channel at https://www.youtube.com/theindicexplorer

and follow me here

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Udaya Shreyas of The Sanskrit Channel talks about the Challenges with Learning the Language in India

Udaya Shreyas of The Sanskrit Channel talks about his journey into the beautiful world of the Sanskrit language, his transition from being an atheist into spirituality.

We also talk about

1 Difference between Vedic Sanskrit, Panninian Sanskrit and conversational Sanskrit

2 Learning language through speech or grammar? Initiatives taken by Samskruta Bharati

3 How Sanskrit can be revived on a mass scale via both govt and private initiatives

4 Qualities of Sanskrit as a scientifically suitable language for computer programming

5 The poetic qualities of Sanskrit, the different poetic meters, same words having different meanings

6 Future outlook of Sanskrit

7 Future goals for The Sanskrit Channel

Do subscribe to the channel at https://www.youtube.com/theindicexplorer

and follow me here

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Substack-https://digitaldharma.substack.com/

Ari Jayaprakash talks about the Indian Underground Art Scene, Analyzing Art & AI Art of the Future

On the 1st Episode of my weekly podcast The Indic Underground on The Indic Explorer YouTube channel, I chat with artist Ari Jayaprakash.

We discuss modern Indian Underground art, its roots in Indic cultural values, his artistic influences, the development of the artistic aesthetic, the interpretation of some of his curated artworks (yes, we analyze artworks on the show) and the evolution of art with the advent of AI.

Ari Jayaprakash is an internationally acclaimed Indian artist and musician born in Wellington, India. He belongs to the Badaga tribe, who inhabit the Nilgiris. Having worked and showcased all over the world, his work is a confluence of influences that are constantly being explored and realized through art, photography and music. His work incorporates relevant global themes of alienation, isolation, identity, corruption, oppression, urban seclusion and other social commentary.

Do subscribe to the channel at https://www.youtube.com/theindicexplorer

and follow me here

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Substack-https://digitaldharma.substack.com/

Being anti-Brown is anti-Hindu

In one section of the Washington Post piece Cal State banned caste discrimination. Two Hindu professors sued an activist professor states:

Sundaram, who supports making caste a protected characteristic, said critiquing Hinduism — even in a country where Hindus are a minority — is not akin to promoting Hinduphobia. She said most discrimination against Hindus is based on the fact that many are South Asian, rather than on their religion, and that Hinduphobia is not a widespread problem.

There are two issues I have with this assertion.

As a person of non-Hindu background and upbringing, I can tell you that prejudice against the Hindu religion is tightly coupled with “anti-South Asian” bigotry. The number of times people made fun of me for “worshipping cows” or “elephants” and “monkeys” was frequent. I actually learned about Ganesh and Hanuman due to this mockery as I had to look up what people were making fun of.

If someone screams “go back to Mecca” at a bunch of Hindu Indian Americans is that not Islamophobia because they’re not Muslim and they are being targeted for being vaguely brown? Similarly, non-Hindu brown people are bracketed into the same category and subject to discrimination because of widespread prejudices against Hinduism. In fact, despite my clear Bengali non-ashraf appearance online Indian Leftists now call me an “upper caste Muslim” to insult me. Bangladesh, unlike Pakistan, does not have caste-like stratification (look at my genetics, my ancestors were clearly from many castes), so that’s wrong, and I’m not a Muslim by belief or frankly even much upbringing (I’ve always been an atheist or agnostic and was not raised in a Musim community). But even these secular online Indian Leftists deploy tropes and insults that draw on our South Asian ancestral culture, which is broadly Hindu, even if not always orthodox Brahmanically sanctioned Hinduism.

Second, it’s pretty apparent there is an anti-Hindu streak in American society simply because of its Christian (and Abrahamic) cultural basis. Sometimes it is hateful, sometimes it is mean. Many conservative Christians, including some Hindu converts to Christianity, believe that Hindu gods do exist, but that they’re devils and demons. I once asked a friend who is from a Hindu background but converted to Christianity in college if he believed his ancestors worshipped the devil, and he pretty much admitted he believed this to be the case. Some of the same apply to Islam, but most Christians outside of the fundamentalist fringe generally concede that Allah (Arab Christians use this word for God) is the same God that they worship.

This Hinduphobia is broad, but shallow. It doesn’t effect most peoples’ lives deeply, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Many, though not all, Indian American Hindus are clearly embarrassed by their religion because of the mockery. This is obvious when I hear young Indian Americans emphasize that “actually our religion is monotheistic just like yours.” This is the Hindu version of Muslims saying “actually Jesus is a prophet.” Both of these assertions might be true, but the impulse behind them is to mitigate marginalization and pull themselves back to the center and normalcy.

Note: I dislike terms like “Hindophobia” and “Islamophobia,” and the stance of becoming a victim to win an argument. But this is how the game is played in America now.