Men who freed us from ‘majoritarian modernity’

March 16, 2015 10:42 pm | Updated 10:47 pm IST

17oeb_Modernity

17oeb_Modernity

A good deal of terms such as nationalism, multiculturalism, the local, and the global is afloat in the current discourse on culture studies of the academia. These terms do not necessarily mean the way they are understood in the common parlance; they are capable of varied extensions. Sachidananda Mohanty presses into service two such terms, cosmopolitanism and modernity and interprets these in the context of the lives and social work of some representative men of the early 20th century India: James Cousins, Paul Richard, Dilip Kumar Roy, Sri Aurobindo, Rabindranath Tagore, Ananda Coomaraswamy and Taraknath Das. How did these men, in their own way, strive towards a rebuilding of society based on mutual understanding and respect by an integration of the best drawn from the old and the new? In his preface and introduction to the book Cosmopolitan Modernity in Early 20-Century India , he has a long discussion of these terms with many quotes — rather too many — from contemporary culture critics. These often impede a free flow of the discussion on these terms.

Mohanty wants to provide a salutary corrective to certain wrong perceptions regarding cosmopolitanism and modernity promoted by the so-called ‘cultural elites.’ Late capitalism and the ideational enslavement of globalism by which is meant a willing submission to an indoctrinated Western style in matters of education, dress, and food — indeed in all aspects of living — have been the divisive forces in our lives.

He offers a different perspective which he terms transnational cosmopolitanism that “would be open to the new spaces of political and ethical engagement that seeks to appreciate the ways in which humanity is mixed into intercultural ways of life.” The short happy life of one Dan Goal (1890-1936) a sadly forgotten, Indian-American writer who carried and spread his native Indian view of life, through myth and folklore to the Americans supplies the leitmotif for the six narratives that Mohanty examines.

James Cousins (1873-1956), an Irish Protestant came to India at the invitation of the theosophist Annie Besant. He held positions as the Vice-President of Kalakshetra and an art critic and advisor at Thiruvananthapuram. His significant work News Ways in English Literature was the stimulating force for Sri Aurobindo’s Future Poetry. He travelled across India and was a witness to some of the historic moments in India’s history such as its Independence. In him we see spiritual cosmopolitanism at its best. Paul Richard who came to Pondicherry with his wife Mirra Alfassa (The Mother of the Pondicherry Ashram) — later to become Sri Aurobindo’s conscience keeper who conceptualised ‘Auroville,’ a universal township, as an experiment in human unity — is seen as a traveller who brought the East and the West together uniting their views on politics and systems of thought.

Dilip Kumar Roy’s life is a supreme example of spiritual cosmopolitanism; he disseminated the Aurobindonian vision of creative evolution and the philosophy of Integral Yoga. Tagore is among those who belong to a small coterie of social activists called ‘affective communities’ who overcoming social and political barriers shaped cross-cultural understanding creating paths leading to cosmopolitan modernity. Ananda Coomaraswamy (1877-1947) with his intentionalist theory of arts opened the minds of the Westerners to the rich heritage of Indian sculpture reminding them of the spiritual nature of art that exists beyond the realms of the intellectual and the aesthetic. In the case of Taraknath Das, the driving force for his travel and stay abroad in the US was not personal aggrandisement and pleasure but presenting to the world at large a liberated vision of the enslaved Indian gentry. He was ‘an intellectual, revolutionary and internationalist.’

These representative men spent their whole being drawing the world’s attention to the enduring values of ancient and modern history, language and literature, artistic and cultural traditions and critical thought in every area of human investigation thus providing a venue for dynamic cultural exchange of ideas across the East and the West. They were cosmopolitan modernists in the true sense of the word. They discarded the Western view of Enlightenment, freed us from the grip of ‘majoritarian modernity.’

In the words of Mohanty, these men “were not perfect beings with readymade answers, but were genuine seekers and wayfarers who made a life-long struggle to find answers to the questions central to culture across the world”. It is time we got reminded of the pioneering efforts of such of those who have left their footprints on the sands of time. Mohanty’s Cosmopolitan Modernist does it. Yes, precisely and how emphatically!

Sachidananda Mohanty; Routledge, 912, Tolstoy House, 15-17, Tolstoy Marg, Connaught Place, New Delhi-110001. Rs. 650.

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