Colonial Discourse and the Suffering of Indian American Children is now freely available.
Colonial Discourse and the Suffering of Indian American Children Book Cover.webp

In this book, we analyze the psycho-social consequences faced by Indian American children after exposure to the school textbook discourse on Hinduism and ancient India. We demonstrate that there is an intimate connection—an almost exact correspondence—between James Mill’s colonial-racist discourse (Mill was the head of the British East India Company) and the current school textbook discourse. This racist discourse, camouflaged under the cover of political correctness, produces the same psychological impacts on Indian American children that racism typically causes: shame, inferiority, embarrassment, identity confusion, assimilation, and a phenomenon akin to racelessness, where children dissociate from the traditions and culture of their ancestors.


This book is the result of four years of rigorous research and academic peer-review, reflecting our ongoing commitment at Hindupedia to challenge the representation of Hindu Dharma within academia.

Aśokāṣṭami

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Aśokāṣṭamī is one of the less known festivals. It is celebrated on the eighth day (aṣṭamī) of the bright fortnight in the month of Caitra (March-April) and the flowers of the Aśoka tree (Saraca indica) have been specially recommended for worship, Goddess Durgā, the deity of worship. Hence the festival is named Aśokāṣtamī.

The day is considered doubly sacred if it happens to be a Wednesday with the Punarvasu nakṣatra (seventh lunar mansion consisting of two stars). On this day, housewives believe that, by eating the tiny buds of the Aśoka tree they will be free from śoka or sorrow (a-śoka = free from sorrow). A bath in the Brahmaputra river on this day is considered as very sacred, yielding the same fruit as the performance of the Vājapeya sacrifice.


References[edit]

  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

Contributors to this article

Krishna Maheshwari, Deval Sancheti

Explore Other Articles

Retrieved from "https://hindupedia.com/index.php?title=Aśokāṣṭami&oldid=133735"