| First,
no living culture is ever wholly autonomous; for no culture is an
airtight sealed box; Indian culture, in particular, has been known
for its catholicity and willingness to give as well as to take. It
withdrew into a shell when it felt gravely threatened and became
rigid; but that is understandable; indeed, the surprise, if any, is
that Indian culture survived the Islamic and Western onslaught at
all.
Secondly, a culture, if it is not
swallowed up by an incoming one. whether by way of proselytization
or conquest or both, as the Egyptians and Iranians were by Islam, or
if it is not destroyed as the Aztec was by the Portuguese and the
Spaniards, must seek to recover; even Indians in Latin America have
not given up the effort. Surely, since no one can possibly suggest
that Indian culture was either swallowed up or destroyed; it is only
natural that it should seek to recover its genuine self. Surely,
this is neither an anti-Islamic not anti-Western activity.
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