jaipur literary fest: dalrymple exposes his racism

jan 21st, 2011

i haven't been paying attention to the whole hoo-haa about the jaipur literary fest until today, but it is hilarious!

1. hartosh singh bal (whom i have never come across before, but i do like him, i have decided) rips into william dalrymple's superior airs about the jaipur lit fest, and suggests that in general whites, esp brits, still have some colonial complex about india, and that there are a bunch of indians who magnify said complex (said indians would be the JNU types, the @bdutts, @sagarikaghose and other #roguemedia types) http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/art-culture/the-literary-raj and i must say, nice picture of the imperialist

2. bal also suggests that foreign correspondents in india think they have understood india just because they have seen delhi (and probably slept with a bunch of lightly-mustachioed JNU type females who throw themselves at any white trash. ok, he didn't say that last bit, i am saying it).

3. thereupon, dalrymple flew into a rage and demonstrated the he had what it takes to put down the uppity 'sand niggers' (as i am sure he thinks of indians in his unguarded moments). http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/art-culture/the-piece-you-ran-is-blatantly-racist

4. pramod kumar, who actually organized the jaipur lit fest, takes exception to dalrymple claiming the fest was his idea http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/art-culture/an-inconvenient-truth

5. hartosh responds telling dalrymple that the 'victim' bit is a little, um..., excessive. and asks him if he has any idea what racism is. http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/art-culture/does-dalrymple-know-what-racism-really-is he correctly identifies the diversionary tactic. UPA, @bdutt et al, see, the unwashed masses are catching on to your tactics

6. some white guy gives the story a spin supporting dalrymple, calling him the father of the festival, based on quite what i do not know http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5icHmgDMUAfUv6LPHj7WvhYNA5ZhQ?docId=CNG.25618aec21fc75e1f01ca9c1a8621f73.911

i would like to point out that this blog has had the distinction of saying extremely rude things about dalrymple for a long time (pointing out for instance how in a BBC documentary, he claimed that "the alleged 'saint' thomas *could have* come to kerala". we pointed out, helpfully, that "the moon could be made of green cheese", too, but that it isn't. and that history is not about what could have happened, but about what actually happened.)

we have also consistently made the point that this dalrymple (a third-rate twit whose major accomplishment has been to attach himself to the ample mammaries of the indian welfare state) is not to be confused with the other dalrymple (theodore), the latter being a mensch, a superb writer, and a man of remarkable insight. altogether william is a disgrace to the dalrymple name (although we are aware that theodore's is a pseudonym). a blot on the family escutcheon, if you will (hey, we have read our share of lightweight brit stuff too).

all in all, this is terrific -- one by one, the 'legends' of the JNU-sling-bag-walllah cult are exposing their feet of clay. for example:

1. romila thapar has been backpedaling furiously from 'aryan invasion theory' to 'aryan migration theory', and we believe she will eventually espouse the 'aryan tourist theory' (copyright yours truly and this blog, which holds that white, tall, blond aryans had come to india on tourist visas and had stayed on to teach sanskrit and mate with local women, thus leaving traces of their superior aryan genes. this, of course, is what they have been doing in japan, china, etc. quite fortuitously, it also neatly solves the puzzle that witzel-farmer had raised -- that the indus-sarasvati valley script is not a true language. yes, we agree. the seals found in the indus-sarasvati are VISAS issued to the white, tall, blond aryans, who had come 'thundering down the khyber pass in their horse-drawn chariots'. they, otherwise primitive, unlettered barbarians, learned sanskrit by speed-reading during the headlong rush down the khyber pass. did i mention the horse-drawn chariots? QED). 

2. @bdutt, @virsanghvi and the radia tapes. i don't think we need to say anything more

3. the entire 'eminent historian' cabal, excoriated for incompetence and bad faith, in arun shourie's vastly well-researched 'eminent historians'

4. one-hit wonder authors such as the anarchist susan arundhati roy, arvind adiga, and rajkamal jha

5. various 'honest, decent' persons supposed to be economists, including one nobel prize winner, who had the good sense to marry his way into the prize, none of whom could possibly plan their way out of a paper bag, much less provide foresight and insight that would be useful in setting long-term policy

well, that's all i can think of now, although surely there are many more who are being exposed by the harsh glare of the internet, and are found wanting when the insulating hordes of courtiers and court jesters were removed.