As part of its Outreach series, The Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies organized a public Lecture on the topic “ Indo-US relations in Culture and Politics”. Honorable Pramathesh Rath, Consul General of India In New York delivered the lecture after an introduction by Thomas Burke. Bijoy Misra of the Outreach Committee welcomed the speaker and spoke on the programs and the various languages taught at the Department.

Mr Rath in his lecture went back into the history of the relationship between the two nations. It was as far back as in 1812, he said that the first American mission was set up and it was in 1840 that Sanskrit was introduced at Yale which was soon followed by Harvard in 1872. Mr. Rath then pointed out that the earliest of the cultural connection was made by Swami Vivekananda at the historic Chicago meet. The Vedanta Society was the first to set up its spiritual roots in this country. The 60’s however saw the more positive effect of India in the West with the music of Ravi Shanker and the Beetles.

“However it has been only in the last decade and a half that has brought a significant change in the relations between the two countries”. The value system based on democratic principles, the economic liberalization and the growing populations of Indians are factors that have influenced this change. Mr. Rath gave out a few interesting statistics. There are around 36,000 doctors, interns and medical student of Indian origin (almost 5 to 6%) in the US, 50,000 Engineers, and almost 75,000 students currently studying in the US. The IT revolution has also had a tremendous impact in the relations of the two countries.

The rise of dance schools, growing popularity of Indian films and the interest in Indian moviemakers has also evoked interest among the people in the US. Mr. Rath said that all this also combined with some negative interpretations of the culture like its divisive aspects and its interpretation as an old anthropological society.

The audience raised questions on the Bhopal gas tragedy, the impact of the Iraq war on the two nations, outsourcing threats, India and Israel. One student wanted to know if the South Asians had mentoring and support groups like many others. Mr. Rath also voiced concern that there were only 7000 Americans going to India to study but this was due to lack of funding and resources. One member from the audience was keen to know if Universities in the US recognized the credits of Indian Universities if students from here would like to go to India and study for a year.

The next lecture is scheduled for December 13, 2003, 3.00 pm Hall C, Science Center. "Rediscovering Sanskrit Literature” Professor Lawrence Joseph McCrea, Harvard University.

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