'India - A Wounded Civilization' is second masterpiece of Sir V S Naipaul's Indian trilogy. Written during emergency period, it is a commentary on the classical Indian concept of taking refuge in security of fatalism and quietism in times of challenges and flux.
A single invasion can shatter the confidence of any great country, India has faced countless invasions over the last 1000 years and its soul has taken drastic beatings. India had had faced invasions since time immemorial but those invasions were defeated in the end and the invaders were integrated without any trace of their originality. No one in current India identifies him/herself with Shakas, Pahalvas, Hunas or Kushanas; their probable lack of religion or high culture made them weaker against Indian civilization but the situation changed after the advent of Muslim civilization. Now the invaders had a culture and a more egalitarian religion and this resulted in a very complex relations between the invaders and the conquered people. The conquered India was finally beaten to dust by the 'superior' western civilization; the deadly mix of Hindu quietism and Muslim stagnancy only helped the charge of the Anglo - Saxons invaders.
Singing glories of ancient civilization and not doing anything to build upon it has become a hallmark of contemporary India. We spend our energies, time and resources in protecting cows instead of enhancing their productivity. We sing and love the ancient Sanskrit literature but can we single out any great piece of Sanskrit literature produced by Indians in this century. Nowhere in the world poverty is idolized and nowhere in the world only the past is considered a perfect solution for all the evils without any innovation and without any plan for future. No country has receded culturally and geographically as India and this receding has been going on without any break for the last 1000 years. For Invaders India has always been India but for Indians India has always been an agglomeration of castes and religious groups and it does not look like changing. We have been decaying and continue to decay.
Highly Recommended (9/10)
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