Part V Part V Serenity Under Fire

Abstract

In this section, Sudhir Kakar talks about the mechanism of enemy-creating, the conflict between Muslims and Hindus in India, and the relation between violence and politics. Kakar also explains how India’s contact with foreigners has changed the Indian view of the foreigner. He talks about the association between sexuality and dark skin, Muslim fundamentalism in India being a product of modernization, the role of narcissism in a human being’s life, and fundamentalism as a theory of suffering and cure. Kakar also talks about the concept of ‘martyrdom’ in Shiaite Islam, and contrasts it with the concept of self-sacrifice in Hinduism. According to Kakar, non-violence on a mass scale can only be carried out under the leadership of a charismatic personality like Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, or Nelson Mandela. He also talks about talks about his book, Mira and the Mahatma, which deals with the relationship between Madeleine Slade and Mahatma Gandhi, and looks at Mahatma Gandhi as the central figure of romantic imagination in political and social action. Kakar also talks about the Dalai Lama and the rise of interest in Buddhism. Kakar also looks back at his academic work and life; poetry; and his love for Sufi and mystic poetry.