Indian Opinion

Mukesh Devrari  This article deals with two presentations by Professor Lidia Guzy who teaches at the University of Cork, Ireland, before going deeper into her insights and research. First, a query has to be answered, she repeated it thrice as an allegory that the scholars of religion do not know anything about what happens after death at the end of her last presentation on the second day of the seminar. ‘They simply do not know’ she forcefully emphasized and now nobody has the courage to spread lies. It is an easy question, if treated non-academically, and deserves an easy non-scholarly answer. Nothing happens after human beings die. Human life is like a candle flame. When fuel heads towards the end, it just goes away. It just ends right there. In the absence of an empirical answer, it is perhaps the best possible answer one can accept without being accused as irrational. Like we all accept Big Bang theory, knowing fully- well that our future generations will be laughing at us f

Mukesh Devrari  The debate initiated by William Westerman, Adjunct Professor at City University of New York, after giving a very brief introduction of his paper ‘Critical Edge of Cultural Work’ was enlightening and gave insights into the European worries as the economic fortunes of the western world is dwindling.   Here is basic information for the readers to understand the context.  Center for Tribal Folklore, Language and Literature  of the Central University of Jharkhand is organizing a seminar on ‘Tradition, Creativity and Indigenous Knowledge: Winter School of International Folkloristic and Indigenous Culture’. It is open to all students and faculty. Not many turned up but that is a different story.   The first day of the seminar was emblematic of the geopolitical realities of the 21 st century. China was confident. The US was worried, funds are drying up. What will be the future of arts and social sciences in the western world is a paramount question?   The same w

Mukesh Devrari  William Westerman Adjunct Professor at the City University of New York claimed in his paper titled ‘Disruptions to Culture: The Refugee Experience, Cultural Sustainability and Finding Accord with Indigenous Folks’ that native and migrant populations could live peacefully side by side by respecting each other in five different areas of human activity. He gave a simple theory in his paper presented in a seminar organized by  Centre for Tribal Folklore, Language and Literature of   Central University of Jharkhand on 12 Jan. 2014.  Westerman lists five arenas, where he claims that a varied set of people should treat each other respectfully. He increases the dictionary of ‘being respectful’ for his theory.  Here respectfully means acting without any coercion, force and exploitation. Here is a remedy given by him.   First is land, the only finite supply of land is available on earth and on every nation also and native inhabitants believe that migrants occupy th