On the Missive from India here I don't know Ani Palmo and she doesn't know me, but I just read her letter off the Cool Cleveland website. I am an American of Indian origin and teach sociology and Asian American Studies at Oberlin College. I wanted to write and say that with all due respect, I found this letter a bit offensive. I assume that Ani Palmo is a cool person and could teach me a lot about Buddhism. I agree that the conditions sound very difficult. And I found the joke about Mother Teresa funny. But, the letter regurgitates a tired narrative of the American who finds her/himself in the "3rd world" and can only talk about the filth. India comes across as a land of chaos and dirt, as if that represents the total sum of the country. Instead, such an impression represents as much about the person seeing the country as the country itself. But the letter does not suggest this reflexivity and instead reinforces stereotypes that pit the "3rd World" vs. the enlightened and crisis-free "1st World." I have been raised in the U.S. and visited India a half dozen times, and I often feel the same way as Ani Palmo - being overwhelmed in Delhi by the exhaust and numbers of people. Darjeeling seems even harder to handle. Yet there is a difference between noting the challenges in one's environment given one's own experiences and upbringing outside of that environment, and simply dwelling on the conditions that one must bear as if a victim of their uncivilized ways. The "natives" are patronized as having good hearts but little brains ("the little monks ... are so beautiful") I found probably the hardest part to read. Why not talk about why the town is in such bad shape, as opposed to other parts of India? Why not step outside of oneself and ascertain others' impressions of the town? Why not acclimate to a degree and then offer a nuanced critique? Experiencing "culture shock" is common and we all go through it. But how one talks about one's culture shock differs. I think one should acknowledge one's own culture and advantages that come from living in the U.S. in the process and not just be shocked at someone else's conditions (that often stem from the fact that we enjoy a privileged lifestyle in the U.S.). Critiquing the village in this way reinforces stereotypes of India and much of the developing world as backwards and complimenting the West as enlightened. Whether or not Ani Palmo (or others involved in publishing her letter) feel this way, the letter gives that message. The general problem with letters such as these (and please note, I am referring my comments as best I can to the letter, not to Ani Palmo) is that they play off the false and problematic binary that poses the West as intellectual and the East as spiritual/mystical. It's this tone that permeates the letter. It allows for South and Southeast Asians to be seen as totally different from "us," as "cute" and "noble" while still somewhat "savages" - not mean and hostile but not as intelligent/rational as us Westerners and as one-dimensional. I guess publishing the experiences of a middleclass, Midwestern woman (who is White?) adjusting to a harshly challenging environment can be interesting, or it can be Orientalist if the focus is only on her adjustment to "natives'" ways w/out attention to the "natives" as thinking, complicated persons who must adjust as well to her presence in their lives. I feel to a degree that I should apologize since I don't know Ani Palmo, and critiquing what someone says w/out knowing their circumstances is often misguided. I see that she has traveled throughout Asia. So, I wouldn't refuse to retract much of what I have said if I learned more about the situation. Still, publishing such a letter in a public format with hardly any context is problematic. I think it's important to recognize how one's impressions, while felt as valid, can still be influenced by essentialist notions that reinforce out-dated images. Finally, I also am troubled about which excerpts Cool Cleveland decided to use on its newsletter (that I look forward to reading every week). It selected the most Orientalist parts - on how barbaric the village is as fitting our stereotypical impressions of all of India and the "3rd World." from Cool Cleveland reader Pawan Dhingra pawan.dhingra@oberlin.edu
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