berchamdg

From the Dean's Desk

2010-11-04T20:28:00.000-07:00

Every Year we made it a point to print the whole Juniorate year programme into a form of Calendar/Handbook. This year we thought of posting the Juniorate Programme on the Blog instead of printing a separate booklet.

Semester I: 1. Seven Juniors from four different provinces arrived here on 24/6/2010. The semester began with special mass of the Holy Spirit offering the whole year to the Lord. then followed the programmes like

a. Group Dynamics by Fr. Drago Caridade SJ,

b. Novel & Drama by Fr. Anil Chakranarayan SJ (Pune) c.

c. Grammar, Composition, Media & communication by Fr. Benjamin Gracias SJ (Goa),

d. Prose & Poetry by Fr. Adrian D'Cruz SJ (Bombay).

e. Mr. Allan Cordeiro conducted a workshop-cum-Course on REBT (Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy. f. Dr. Mrs. Radhika Seshan, from the Department of History of the University of Pune, ran a marathon session for 15 days of World History. Obviously, after this it was meaningful and logical to go on an educational excursion tour to Ajanta and Elora caves where the Juniors visited ancient historical-national heritage monuments.

In between of course, the monthly recollections, and weekend Parish Ministry in various parishes by the Juniors go on unabated.

Semester II.

The Indian National Movement is unique - Pratap Samad

2010-11-04T19:55:00.000-07:00

The Indian National Movement is unique in the annals of world history comment.

The first national movement began with the sepoy mutiny in 1857. The Indian nobility attempted to regain power. They tried to resurrect a dead past and failed. It occurred only in the north India and affected the Bengal army. They were supported by the upper class unlike the Madras army mutiny in 1834, which received no support. One of the irritants, which led to the middle class being estranged from the British government, was an excise tax of 5% on Indian cotton goods in 1895. The government wanted to promote Lancashire goods. This was seen as discriminatory the government favoring foreign goods while injuring the nascent Indian industry. The expense of constructing railways was also seen as draining the country without adequate recompense to India. In December 1885, a group of Indians came together in Bombay and established the Indian national congress. By 1900, it had spread all over India. Support came mainly from new professionals with a sprinkling of businessmen in Bombay and landlords in Bengal. This political consciousness went through three phases:

1. Moderate phase: Petitions were sent to the British to increase the number of Indians in the legislative assembly. This ignited the debates. Because the British were not willing to give concessions, the extremist group grew. By 1900, the congress had grown into a position of constitutional opposition. The major leaders were Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Bal Gangadhar Tilak. They were alike in ability and devotion to the country. They demanded and opposed. They were supported by the people. The two men in fact stood for different tendencies. Tilak made it a mass movement. He organized the public Ganesh festival and Shivaji mela. These were the times when leaders used to address the people.

2. The second phase: In 1905, Lord Curzon partitioned Bengal. Bengal was so large for administration that Lord Curzon portioned it in 1905 making it into two religious community areas. In the east, Bengal Muslims were in majority whereas in the west Bengal Hindus conglomerated. The people took to the streets to reverse the partition. They said that anything the British provided should be burnt. Thus were attacked British goods-shops. The Swadeshi (local) movement began and with it was revived the Indian industries. First, the people reacted and then the leaders took up the cause. In 1907 there was faction in the Congress. However, in 1916 both the splinter groups reunited.

3. The Third Phase: Bhagat Singh demanded freedom and in 1920 he attacked British institutions. Hartals, boycotts and gheraos became tactics in political warfare. The rule of thumb-violence must be met by violence became common. Some secret societies were established to send the British away from India. The Chafekar brothers attacked British convoys. In 1911 the Hindu Mahasabha RSS (Rashtriya Swayam Sevak) was established in Nagpur. After World War 1 in 1919, British took control over the industries. People did not accept this. After the Jallianwala bagh atrocity on 13 April 1919 Gandhi came at the helm of the affair with Styagraha. He chose non-violence. Non-violence would give India moral superiority. The resistance to non-violence would put the pressure on these who were practicing violence. The Ali brothers started a Khilafat movement in support of Turkey and linked with Gandhi in noncooperation.

Gandhi’s three major movements:

Non-cooperation movement: Is the first stage of non-violence. Gandhi launched a non-cooperation movement with the British government. This included resignation of the Indian baboos from the government offices, withdrawal from government schools and colleges and boycott of the forth-coming elections to the councils.
In 1930 Civil Disobedience movement. Deliberate breaking of laws, laws that were anti Indian like breaking of salt act-dandi march.
Quit India movement in 1940. Gandhi started quit India movement. Because of these movements in 1947, India got independence.

The impact of religions on world civilizations - Thomson Lopes SJ

2010-11-02T08:32:00.000-07:00

The impact of religions on world civilizations

A) Early civilizations:

1) Government: Priests enjoyed a favoured position in the society and they exerted tremendous influence on the administration. In many earlier civilizations, the King was deified (Egypt) or else he was considered the high priest.

2) Law and Order: Political rulers in primitive times often associated themselves with a god. Thus the edicts of the ruler were considered to be divine. Codes of law were frequently looked upon as having been given to a ruler by some god (Hammurabi was believed to have received the Code of law from the sun god. Religion provided a framework for moral and ethical laws.

3) Social division: In some civilizations, religion was responsible for bringing about the social division.

4) Literature: In most of the early civilizations, literature consisted of books on mythology or religious epics. Education was nothing more than studying the religious text and formulae.

5) Philosophy: In some civilizations, religion fostered thinking and thus the development of philosophy as a search for truth. For instance, one of the principal goals of the Greek philosophy as a search for truth.

6) Art and sculpture: The paintings and sculptures of civilizations were dominated by religious figures, gods, goddesses or scenes from religious stories or beliefs.

7) Architecture: Architecture developed around building beautiful temples for gods and goddesses who needed to be placated as the entire life was governed by them. Some of the temples are extant till today and reveal the magnificient architecture of those times.

8) Science: Scientific progress was fostered by religion. Astronomical data was used to prepare calendars. This data was important to place certain feast days. Much of the scientific literature was preserved and passed on through religion.

9) Unity: Religion unified people. Unity of thought and action was obtained. Taboo was used in order to control social group.

B) Medieval times: In medieval Europe, the influence of the Church on the life of the common man is clearly visible. The Church was very powerful. Some Kings sought the support of the Church to enforce their own power. However, the Church being beyond the nation, there were clashes of authority between the state and the religion. With the advent of renaissance, the Church began to decline.

C) Modern times: The modern times see a separation of religion and state. This is firstly due to the advancement of democracy. Democracy recognizes freedom of religion. So, it is not necessary that the people of a nation belong to a particular religion. Also, now, even religion is subject to law. In spite of this, some countries still remain theocratic.

The scientific development has fostered a secular attitude in the society. People are more inclined to reason than to faith. However, religion has begun to manifest its concern in thought and action about social and economic problems. In this way, religion still has an influence on the society.

2010-11-02T03:17:00.000-07:00

The Birth of the Nation: India as we know it today never existed in the past. In 1884, Sir John Strachey said, ‘There is not and never was an India.’ He could not conceive the idea that this land mass which consisted of different castes, religions, races and cultures would ever think of belonging to one single nation. There was some truth in what he said of the past but not of the future.

Early Beginnings:

Known Indian civilizations dates back to the Indus. However, this does not constitute or even cover India. Early invasions of Aryans forced migration of the Bhumiputras (Original settlers or the people of the land) to other parts of the sub-continent. Thus civilization spread to the interior lands. They began developing into small communities. Leaders rose and took charge. They nurtured their small communities into kingdoms. Larger ones overpowered the smaller ones and new boundaries were drawn. There were many rulers from North to South but at no time was there one single ruler that ruled the entire land mass as one nation.

Over the centuries, dynasties rose and fell. The external invaders tried to get a foothold on the land. Some were repelled and some were successful in making their way into the land. The successful invaders made this land their home. They brought in their culture; let it mingle with the existing ones and new cultures evolved. These became a part of the land.

Enter Britishers:

The British entry was of a different nature. India did not exist at that time. The physical boundaries were local principalities. They viewed India as a great land divided internally into principalities by race, caste, religion, language and culture. They failed to see that beneath this diversity lay a solid foundation of a long unbroken cultural tradition. Sub-consciously the people were united. For centuries, the original inhabitants of the Indus and other areas had been migrating and settling all over the sub-continent. The entire land was covered with people related through the centuries. It was a web across the country. This was beyond the comprehension of the British.

When the British wanted to rule India, they could not do it within the local kingdom. It would be easier to rule the whole land as a single body. Therefore, they amalgamated smaller kingdoms into one huge kingdom. To consolidate their rule they ushered in uniform laws, taxes and institutions over the whole land. These only served to strengthen the concept of Indian nationalism. What lay dormant for centuries now began surfacing. Thus, the British created a single Indian state on which Indian patriotism could focus.

As their rule continued, the repulsion to them increased. The invisible web of nationalism was turning to solid iron.

The Real Forerunners of Nation making:

An unassuming bonding factor that connected the nation was the railways. In 1865 Edwin Arnold, author of ‘Light of Asia’, prophesized “Railways may do for India, what dynasties have never done, what the genius of Akbar could not do, they may make India a nation”. Less than a century later, we were a nation.

The post and telegraph introduced by the British, further eroded the old boundaries and helped in making “India”. These and many more facilities that the British introduced to help themselves only benefited to unite the freedom struggle. Opposition to the British was no more localized but it was an all-India matter. Evicting the British was getting them out of the entire sub-continent. The freedom struggle was no more a local struggle but became a national struggle. The seeds of nationalism were bearing fruit now. Organizations began taking the name Indian. When light could be seen at the end of this dark British tunnel, it was clear that an Indian nation was being born.

What is History? - Alfred Johnson Toppo SJ

2010-11-01T10:13:00.000-07:00

What is History?

To different people, History has different meanings. Each person will have his own way of describing history. But what actually is History? We shall try to find out in the following paragraphs.

History is not what happened but it is what we believe has happened. History is about memory. It is about what is remembered and why it is remembered. History has 3 parameters.

Individual – Social: As humans, we cannot live alone, we depend on others. We need people to talk to, to argue, to debate. Thus, we are interdependent. History is the fruit of such dialogues coming to an agreement.

Time – Space: As individuals from the birth until today, we have gone through a certain period of time and space. We have time for all the activities. Linked to time is space. From a last name, we can recognize where a person has come from. Therefore, history is about the individuals of a space. A land mass does not have history, history is about the society in space. To a group we have moved geographically. History is the reasoned application of the human mind understanding itself.

Change – Continuity: The changes, which take place in our lives, are individual and social. Some things change whereas some things continue. E.g. The caste system. It is a reality in India and we dislike it. But it continues. Its nature has changed. The idea has continued but its details have changed. All this cannot be done on an individual basis, history is based on Memory and records. History cannot be understood if somebody has not maintained a record. History is not about events, it is the entire nature of change process. History is based on 3 processes:

Observing 2. Analyzing, 3. Generalizing

E.g. the Monsoon. First, we observe, then we analyze the situation and then we generalize.

History is the past; it cannot be repeated because the situation when someone did something will never come back again. For e.g. the day 15 August 2010, will never come back again.

History is also a record of social experience. Perception is part of history. Each person may have a different perception or view towards a particular event. Due to one event in history, one does not conclude, one looks for corroboration. For e.g. there are seven accounts of how Porus was defeated by Alexander. When the perception change, history is rewritten. It sparks a controversy and then it is again rewritten. There is no such thing as a final history

What are primary facts what secondary facts are?

Primary facts are those that happen at the time of the event or up to 20 years later.

Secondary events are new evidence or histories up to the present time.

While we describe primary events, we do so in the light of secondary events .e.g. the black hole of Calcutta is now discarded as baseless.

Since history is multi-dimensional, it is easy to highlight. One or other (secondary) events History lays out the choices that people have made. Based on their action we know that people have chosen something to make of their lives.

What is history...? - Francis Lobo

2010-10-29T20:49:00.000-07:00

What is history...?

Each human being is related to the history. History makes the past present. Anything and everything has a history. It is not one sided or what happened. It is memory and what is remembered and why it is remembered. It is measured in three parameters.

I Individual and social...

We as a human being cannot live without company. We need someone to share or for various other reasons. We are interdependent and not individuals.

II Time and space…

From our birth, we have a certain period for different activities. Man carries the identity of his culture and his state. History is the reasoned application of the human mind. History is about the individuals in space.

III Change and continuity…

We are changed continually as well socially. Some things change but some things continue. The nature changes but idea remains the same. History is based on memory and records.

History is about the change in a group of people. It is based on three things…

Observation…
Analysing…
Generalising…

History is always the past. It is repeats itself but not exactly same way. There are changes with time and value. Time does not return. It is the record of social experiences. The perception and the interpretations or viewpoints are essential. There is no conclusion without confirmation.

E.g., seven written details are available of Alexander defeating Paras. History provides numerous, choices to human being. Primary facts are taken up to about of twenty-twenty-five years from the event. Secondary facts basically are at the time of the reconstruction of history.

Till the nineteenth century history was known as ‘The Mother of All the Knowledge’. But now science has taken that place. Unfortunately, history cannot be proved as science can be. But science too has its own history. So there is nothing without history, neither you nor I.

FRANCIS LOBO SJ.

Placing Indus Valley Civilization in Ancient History - Menoy D'Souza, SJ

2010-10-26T07:59:00.000-07:00

The Indus Valley civilization was a Bronze Age civilization [3300-1300BCE, mature period 2600-1900BCE], located mostly in the western part of the Indian subcontinent. It flourished around the Indus river basin. Primarily centered along the Indus river and the Punjab region, the civilization sprawled into the Ghaggar-Hakra river valley and the Ganges-Yamuna doab, encompassing most of what is now Pakistan, as well as extending up to the western most state of modern-day India, south eastern Afghanistan, the eastern part of Baluchistan and Iran.

Harappa was the first of its cities to be excavated in the 1920’s. Presently in Pakistan, it was at that time in the Punjab province of British India. The mature phase of this civilization was known as the Harappan civilization. With it came the discovery of another site which is Mohenjo-Daro, a UNESCO World heritage site.

This civilization was remarkable for its stability [nearly a thousand years]. The people in this civilization were among the first to develop a system of uniform weights and measures. Their smallest division was marked on an ivory scale found in Lothal. It was the smallest ever recorded in the Bronze Age [1.704mm].

All their cities were well planned. The streets were at right angles with an elaborate system of covered drains. They were built with baked bricks of the same size. The discovery of kilns to make bricks support the fact that burnt bricks were used extensively. Besides houses, there were big buildings like the Great bath at Mohenjo-Daro and the vast granaries. Another invention is an instrument, which was used to measure the horizon and the tidal lock. They also evolved new techniques in metallurgy producing copper, bronze, lead and tin. The people of the Indus valley civilization, from the early Harappan periods, had knowledge of prodentistry. The oldest evidence of drilling teeth of humans in a living person was found in Mehrgarh. A touchstone probably used to test the purity of gold was found in Banawali.

The seals or pictures point to the use of domesticated animals, which include camels, goats, water buffaloes and fowls. The Harappans cultivated wheat, barley, peas and sesamum. They were the first to grow cotton and prepare clothes from it. Trade was a major activity. The lapis lazuli used to paint pots was another invention of theirs.

The economy of the Indus valley civilization appears to have depended on trade. Advances in transport technology facilitated it. They used bullock carts still seen throughout South Asia, as well as boats. The boats were small and flat-bottomed. A docking facility at the coastal city of Lothal, with a discovery of a massive, dredged canal, indicate that they used extensive canal network to irrigate the cultivable land..

Regular trade seemed to have linked the Harappan and Mesopotamian civilizations. This trade became feasible with the innovative development of plank-built watercraft. The Indus valley civilization area shows ceramic similarities with southern Turkmenistan and northern Iran.

A sophisticated and technologically advanced culture was evident in the Indus valley. The homes had water drawn from wells. They were not only the first urban centers. But also the world’s first known urban sanitation systems. The wastewater was channelized through the drains.

The art and culture of Mohenjo-Daro’: Various sculptures, seals, pottery, gold jewelry and anatomically detailed figurines in terracotta, bronze and steatite have been found. They also found a number of gold, terracotta and stone figurines of girls in dancing poses. The terracotta figurines include cows, bears, monkeys and dogs.

The Harappans worshipped Gods and Goddesses in male and female forms, evolved some rituals and ceremonies too. No monumental sculpture survives, but a large number of figurines have been discovered, including a steatite bust of a man thought to be a priest and a striking bronze dancing girl. Countless terracotta statues of the Mother Goddess have been discovered suggesting that she was worshipped in nearly every home.

By about 1700BC, the Harappan culture was on the decline. This decline has several reasons. The repeated flooding of towns located on the riverbanks and the ecological changes that harmed agriculture. When the initial migrations of the Aryan people into India began about 1500BC the developed Harappan, culture had already been virtually wiped out.

The Impact of British Empire on India - Lindsay Lobo, SJ

2010-10-26T07:13:00.000-07:00

The Negative Impact:

The British ruled over India for about 200 years. They came to India to trade. However, gradually they colonized and took over power from the princely rulers. Whenever a country imposes its rule on another country, it always has an impact on the country’s culture, economy and life Style. 1. The British dented our country’s progress in many ways. Most parts of India had separate crops grown on the ridge and furrow. This helped to maintain the fertility of the soil. However, the British transformed the agricultural system of India to suit their own needs. They made the Indian farmers plant the same crop in the ridge and furrow. As a result of this, the soil began to lose its fertility. Bengal was transformed from a rich fertile land to a poor infertile land. Similarly, in the Deccan region they introduced sugarcane plantations along with cotton. Both the crops absorb nutrients from the soil. Soon there developed a huge gap between the deletion of nutrients and the replenishing of the land with the same. Moreover, there were no artificial fertilizers then. As a result, the country with the largest area of cultivable land became the country with famine and drought. 2. The British used to take raw materials from India, manufacture goods in England and sell them back to India. They also sowed an idea in the Indian mind that the nation is incapable of change. This destroyed the spirit of many Indians who lost the sense of nationalism. The British used the policy of divide and rule and pitted the Hindus against the Muslims. 3. India had a balance between industries and agriculture but the British transformed India to a fully agricultural nation and all industries were wiped out. As agriculture suffered with no income, the Indian economy suffered a hard set back. The cost of administration was borne by the Indians and the high salary of the staff would go to England since the British were the rulers. With regard to export and import, the British made a lot of money as they imposed duties on goods. The British were able to make profit on every enterprise. As Dadabhai Nawroji said, ‘the British drained India of its wealth.’ The British transformed one of the richest economies of the world in to one of the poorest.

The positive Impact:

The British also did much good to improve India.

1. They introduced education to all and the study of English, as they wanted people to work in their offices. 2. The transportation and communication system in India are their gift to us. 3. India benefited quite much from the Railway system as it connected many parts of the country, though for their own purpose. 4. Our judiciary and legislative assemblies are also a blessing of the British Imperialists. 5. Many of the customs in the military have their roots in the British rule. 6. India owes a lot to the British for an administrative mechanism today in our country. Some of the Indian rituals and socially harmful customs like that of the SATI were banned, the Thugi was controlled by employing severe punishment for the thugs. 6. They established laws on minimum wage and child labour.

Conclusion: Depends on what one looks for and his/her mind frame.

Concern for the common man

2010-09-28T05:48:00.000-07:00