> I remember once being asked to attend a "book discussion session" by a > well-meaning father of a friend, when I was in high school in Hyderabad. > > It quickly turned out to be a "discussion" of the Ramayana and the > Mahabharata and it was soon apparent that the session was less about > literary criticism and more about indoctrinating us kids with 'good Hindu > values'. > > The older ones at the group were somewhat irritated because I insisted that > if science fiction and fantasy like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata were to > be talked about at a "book discussion session" then equal time should be > given to the works of Asimov and Robert Heinlein. My friend's dad was > particularly miffed at some statement where I praised the epic-writing and > myth-creation qualities of Tolkein and Frank Herbert over that of Valmiki. > > That session ended in some disarray. > > I was not invited back to the second one. > > But there was no third. :-)
It is quite a shame, particularly because you also put an end to others learning from/appreciating the rich and far-reaching vision in the Mahabharata. That somebody could have envisioned the creation of life from a lump of organic matter (how the Kauravas were created in jars of oil) so long ago is something I hold in much higher regard than the works of Asimov (I have not read Heinlein). That said, the laws of robotics coined by Asimov in the Foundation series apparently has made contributions to the fields of AI and robotics. In philosophy, none of the authors you mention I think have come close to the Bhagvad Gita which is a part of the Mahabharata. Ramayana I did not find of much value, though I have read abridged versions, not a translation of the original text. Kiran
