12-27-2006, 06:43 AM
http://ia.rediff.com/news/2006/dec/26guest...?q=sp&file=.htm
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Stephen P Cohen of The Brooking Institution has in the past stated that India is a civilizational state and would not be subordinate to others.
In the euphoria following President Bush's visit to India, The Times of India on its front-page carried the headline "Ind-Us Civilization." The reference -- if a bit over the top -- to the Indus civilization is revealing.
It alluded to an ancient bond. Today, English connects India and America and the UK -- the language of the call centers, outsourcing enterprises and the academia.
And yesterday, Sanskrit and its derivatives connected the Indo-Europeans. Language and culture being deeply related, much can be said about the consanguinity between the civilizations of India and the West.
Does India even belong in Asia?
Some decades ago, when I first went to America, a girl from Communist China abruptly told me at a students' meeting that I was not from Asia. I felt greatly insulted.
She may have been right after all.
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