TL/DR: I live-blogged my first conference as an independent speaker to a non-familiar audience via WhatsApp. This is a more composite blog in complete sentences.
Long read:
Who? What? When? Where?
This is perhaps the strangest blog I've written, but bear with me. After a long hiatus of being (more or less) thrown out of TIFR, my journey to academia begain again in 2014 with the Certificate Course in Archaeology (2014-15) at the Centre for Extra-Mural Studies, University of Mumbai. It led to me taking more courses, going on archaeological explorations, writing papers on the Bene Israel and then other subjects (Indo-Roman trade, bullock-carts, numismatics), getting interested in the anthropology and religion of the Bene Israel and so on...
My first International Conference was the Locomotive Heritage Conference, where I presented my paper on bullock-carts co-authored with Dr. Kurush Dalal. But that was to an audience that included the genial Dr. Anura Manatunga. There I met Dr. James Ponniah of the Department of Christian Studies, University of Madras (They haven't changed their name to Chennai. Bully for them!), who invited me to "Madras University Post-Centenary Diamond Jubilee International Seminar on Pilgrimages and Social Capital: Experiences in ‘Bonding’ or ‘Bridging’?", one of the many seminars the University is holding because it finished 160 years in existence. Now I've never attended, leave alone spoken at, a conference on sociology and religion, but I had some material from my explorations of Bene Israel cemeteries and synagogues, and so I thought to myself, why not? And so comes to be this report.
13 March- Day 1: Inauguration
So here I am, on 13th March, 2018, 9:36 AM (What a boon time stamps are for the obsessive-compulsive!) waiting for the inauguration, which because the V-C came 25 minutes late, though his office is right across the floor, wouldn't start before 10:34 AM.
Finally came the Inaugural 'function' (why are events called functions in India?), which included speechifying by a number of people, including the heads of all the religious studies departments, and sundry other dignitaries including the V-C. Also, they played nadaswaram and thavil music (recorded of course) for the lamp-lighting, something I've never seen before, and which made me feel like I was in a wedding. Maybe it's customary in the South. Unlike ceremonies 'up north', they do not sing the National Anthem at the start, but instead the state anthem, officially called 'Invocation to Goddes Tamil'. I can only sing 'Neerarung Kadaloduthu' and then I must mumble my way through, till the last three 'Vazhthuthumay! Vazhthuthumay! Vazhthuthumay!', when I make up in loudness what I lack in knowledge.
The keynote was given by Prof. M. A. Venkatakrishnan, ex HoD, Vaishnavism (UoM is the only university in the world with a department like that), on Ramanuja, his establishment at Melkote and his struggles to liberate Vaishnava theology from the trappings of caste, which he based on Vishishtadvaita philosophy. I didn't quite catch the whole speech because I was a bit drowsy, and his gigantic namam was very fascinating.
This was followed by Dr S Sumathi, HoD, Anthropology on the theory of social capital. Which, in essence, goes as "Who you know sometimes matters more than what you know... You earn capital by doing people favours and spend it by asking for favours... You have more social capital if you have a broader network of people you've done favours to, or are seen as someone whose favour is to be sought...". Gives me a new framework to think of archaeology.
Among those who spoke was Mr Chordia, who is the sponsor of the Jainology department (he actually represents a body of the Jaina community in Chennai who pooled in money for enodowing the department). Curiously (that is, I found it curious), he spoke on the need to respect other people's food habits. Whether that was targetted at Jainas, or at others, I can't say.
Dr Amanullah, of the Islamic Studies department then spoke on the nature of the Hajj pilgrimage before Mohammed's time, and how it came to be the among the central pillars of Islam, drawing upon Quranic and historical references.
Prof. Fr. G. Patrick then explained the dynamics of the conference, and why the sessions were so structured. I have selfish reasons to remember him well, for he said my paper was one of the few he appreciated.
*grins inwardly*
Dr James Ponniah finally gave the Vote of Thanks (for the Inauguration). He was the one who invited me when I met him at Kelaniya.
13 March- Day 1
First Plenary Session
Because the morning session droned on despite starting late, they trimmed the talk time for the plenary sessions. The section started nearly an hour late. This was a pity, for the first speaker, Dr. Jeremy Saul of Mahidol University, Bangkok gave an interesting talk (lots of pictures!) on the pilgrimage to Balaji (which is a name for Hanuman, not Venkateshwara) in Rajasthan, and the caste conflict between the Jats and Marwaris who patronise the shrines in the region straddling Marwar (where the Marwaris have their origin-shrines (kula-devata) and Shekhawati region, which is dominated by Jats. The Jats think that the richer Marwaris are stealing their deities using money to bribe the trust and forcing modes of worship that alienate the Jats. At the Salasar Balaji temple, the Jats believe that the Marwaris literally stole the original icon and installed a duplicate one, and that access to the original can be had only for exorbitant fee. On the other hand, the Marwaris believe that Salasar Balaji is their original deity and the Jats are outsiders.
He went on to speak of how urban shrines are more open to mixed caste congregations, but rural shrines are more caste-specific, and like to keep 'other' castes away, especially if 'higher' castes start worshipping at 'lower' caste shrines, a trend that's happening in Rajasthan as rich Marwaris look for shrines to patronise.
Speaking next, Dr Midori Horiuchi compared the circular pilgrimages of Varanasi and Shikoku. Varanasi has a particular fascination among the Japanese, who visit it and other places nearby associated with the Buddha. Akin to the Panchkroshi Parikrama of Kashi, the pilgrimage to Shikoku involves some 88 shrines in a circuit. There are other such pilgrimages in Japan, such as the Hyaku-kannon pilgrimage which involves some 100 temples across Japan of Kannon, the Bodhisattva of compassion (Avalokiteshwara or Guanyin), but it is the Shikoku one that was considered special historically. These shrines were away from the Japanese mainland, and it involved the pedestrian pilgrim of bygone times undertaking many hardships. The people of Shikoku were nice to these pilgrims, but now with a bride connecting Shikoku to the main island of Japan, pilgrims come on motorcycles and in buses and cars, and there is some loss of the sacredness of the pilgrimage. A special feature is the Shuin-cho, a passport-like book that you get stamped at all the shrines you visit in your pilgrimage. Today, proving that the Japanese are just as human as the rest of us (notwithstanding manga and shinkansen), the interest seems to be in getting the Shuin-cho stamped as quickly as possible, so you can rush back to your material existence and show it off to friends...
Lunch
Madras does lunches differently, too. (This only proves, in my eyes, The Economist's assertion that Tamil Nadu was an independent country in a currency union with India). Instead of a buffet, we were served wedding-pandhi style in the library of the Department of Christin Studies (which is, in fact, very large). The first course was Veg. biryani plus channa masala (it's always spelt with a double 'n' and Chennai is ifinitely fascinated with it), followed by an incomprehensible second course of Sambar Rice and Aviyal, followed by the mandatory third course of Curd Rice and pickle. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. Too bad I took no photos of it.
Second Plenary Session
That was my session, and my time stamps tell me I was done with it at 3:41 PM. I couldn't take any photos except this one, because I was on the stage, and the only one who I might have asked (had I overcome shyness) was Dr. Ponniah, who was the chair of my session. But it was over and done with soon. Deciding to discard my prepared draft, I spoke extempore, exhibting my slides and showing the audience lots of pictures of Bene Israel pilgrimage sites, including Eliyahu Hannabi cha Tappa and Panvel Synagogue. Oh yes, the title of my paper was "Pilgrim Practices of the Bene Israel: A bridge between Dharmic and Semitic Spiritual Experiences". I'm happy to say that the paper was well-appreciated.
Preceding me was Dr. Edward Ulrich, who spoke of a very curious set of pilgrimages by Swami Abhishiktananda to Thiruvannamalai, where he met Ramana Maharishi to learn about Advaita. The Swami was in fact a Catholic Priest who remained Christian throughout, but who has done his share introducing Advaita to the West. More of this when the Proceedings come out. Too bad I couldn't take a picture as I was on the dais (which is pronounced 'dace', and not dias, as most Indians do), and I thought it would be embarassing to whip out your mobile phone when all were on you. But Dr. Ulrich is the one on the right in the Inauguration photo.
First Parallel Session
Parallel sessions in academic conferences are invariably hair-pulling. Each mixes boring and interesting papers, and you either sit through a session and take the bores in your stride, or you keep running between halls like a kutti-potta poonai. I decided to choose Parallel Session 1B, out of the simple idea that the talks were about specific pilgrimages, and offered a chance to get out of the air-conditioning (yes, even in Madras, hot, hot, hot Madras, you can get tired of the A/C). Plus, one got to check out the Saiva Siddhanta department (that's another one-of-a-kind department too).
K Varadharajan spoke first on the idea of Nama-sankirtana (chanting of names) as a means of building social capital: pilgrims 'bond' better as they walk together chanting names. In passing he mentioned Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his patronage/tolerance by Muslim rulers, who saw in his ritual chanting the mirror of their own zikr.
Next, Sr. Lily Grace spoke of pathayathirai (pilgrimage by foot) by Hindu and Christian women to Our Lady of Health, Velankanni, and how it acts as a 'bridge' between the women who come from the same neighbourhoods in Chennai. Some of these women have been doing it for a quarter-century, and I guess it is the act of pilgrimage rather than its ends that has meaning in their lives.
Below, you see Mr Fazlur Rahman presenting his first ever academic paper. He's asst. registrar of IGNOU Regional Centre, Chennai and is due to retire next year. He spoke like a shayar, repeating his points forcefully, and gave a delightful account of how people were selected for the Hajj subsidy and subsequently trained for the Hajj pilgrimage, he being a trainer himself. He also spoke of an interesting Hajj practice - that you can undertake the pilgrimage for a deceased relative of yours, which will count as them having done it in their lifetime, and apparently adds to their merit in Heaven (or might mitigate their passions in Hell if they are there). However, the Haji then has to do the Hajj for himself separately. Also learnt to differentiate a Haji (one wo has done Hajj once) and Alhaj or Alhaji (one who did the Hajj many times). But most of all, he had an infectious cheer!
The one below I picked an argument with. He spoke of the law relating to pilgrimages, and how different states have over time, enacted under powers in the Concurrent List of the Indian Constitution, for various perceived political benefits, laws and subsidies enabling pilgrimages to various places such as Jersualem, Kailash-Manasarovar, Nankana Saheb etc. He then went to demonstrate that the scrapping of the Hajj subsidy creates a Constituional imbalance under Articles 25-28 that pertain to the Right to Freedom of Religion. By scrapping the subsidy, Muslims are left with nothing, while states have granted rights to other denominations. Although his legal arguments may be sound (he is a law professor and I have no standing to question him), I did take issue with him that if he claims vote-bank politics, he needs to adduce evidence.
After that it was back to Guduvanchery, eat and sleep, till Day 2 came along!
Long read:
Who? What? When? Where?
This is perhaps the strangest blog I've written, but bear with me. After a long hiatus of being (more or less) thrown out of TIFR, my journey to academia begain again in 2014 with the Certificate Course in Archaeology (2014-15) at the Centre for Extra-Mural Studies, University of Mumbai. It led to me taking more courses, going on archaeological explorations, writing papers on the Bene Israel and then other subjects (Indo-Roman trade, bullock-carts, numismatics), getting interested in the anthropology and religion of the Bene Israel and so on...
My first International Conference was the Locomotive Heritage Conference, where I presented my paper on bullock-carts co-authored with Dr. Kurush Dalal. But that was to an audience that included the genial Dr. Anura Manatunga. There I met Dr. James Ponniah of the Department of Christian Studies, University of Madras (They haven't changed their name to Chennai. Bully for them!), who invited me to "Madras University Post-Centenary Diamond Jubilee International Seminar on Pilgrimages and Social Capital: Experiences in ‘Bonding’ or ‘Bridging’?", one of the many seminars the University is holding because it finished 160 years in existence. Now I've never attended, leave alone spoken at, a conference on sociology and religion, but I had some material from my explorations of Bene Israel cemeteries and synagogues, and so I thought to myself, why not? And so comes to be this report.
13 March- Day 1: Inauguration
So here I am, on 13th March, 2018, 9:36 AM (What a boon time stamps are for the obsessive-compulsive!) waiting for the inauguration, which because the V-C came 25 minutes late, though his office is right across the floor, wouldn't start before 10:34 AM.
Finally came the Inaugural 'function' (why are events called functions in India?), which included speechifying by a number of people, including the heads of all the religious studies departments, and sundry other dignitaries including the V-C. Also, they played nadaswaram and thavil music (recorded of course) for the lamp-lighting, something I've never seen before, and which made me feel like I was in a wedding. Maybe it's customary in the South. Unlike ceremonies 'up north', they do not sing the National Anthem at the start, but instead the state anthem, officially called 'Invocation to Goddes Tamil'. I can only sing 'Neerarung Kadaloduthu' and then I must mumble my way through, till the last three 'Vazhthuthumay! Vazhthuthumay! Vazhthuthumay!', when I make up in loudness what I lack in knowledge.
 |
| Dr. K Dayanidhi, i/c HoD, Vaishnavism welcoming the participants |
 |
| Prof. M. A. Venkatakrishnan, ex HoD, Vaishnavism, UoM |
 |
| Dr S Sumathi, HoD, Anthropology, UoM |
 |
| Mr Chordia, sponsor of the Jainology department |
 |
| Dr Amanullah, Islamic Studies, UoM |
Dr Amanullah, of the Islamic Studies department then spoke on the nature of the Hajj pilgrimage before Mohammed's time, and how it came to be the among the central pillars of Islam, drawing upon Quranic and historical references.
 |
| Prof. Fr. G. Patrick, HoD, Christian Studies |
 |
| Dr. James Ponniah, Asst. Prof, Christian Studies. |
*grins inwardly*
Dr James Ponniah finally gave the Vote of Thanks (for the Inauguration). He was the one who invited me when I met him at Kelaniya.
 |
| Dr. Jeremy Saul, Mahidol University, Bangkok |
First Plenary Session
Because the morning session droned on despite starting late, they trimmed the talk time for the plenary sessions. The section started nearly an hour late. This was a pity, for the first speaker, Dr. Jeremy Saul of Mahidol University, Bangkok gave an interesting talk (lots of pictures!) on the pilgrimage to Balaji (which is a name for Hanuman, not Venkateshwara) in Rajasthan, and the caste conflict between the Jats and Marwaris who patronise the shrines in the region straddling Marwar (where the Marwaris have their origin-shrines (kula-devata) and Shekhawati region, which is dominated by Jats. The Jats think that the richer Marwaris are stealing their deities using money to bribe the trust and forcing modes of worship that alienate the Jats. At the Salasar Balaji temple, the Jats believe that the Marwaris literally stole the original icon and installed a duplicate one, and that access to the original can be had only for exorbitant fee. On the other hand, the Marwaris believe that Salasar Balaji is their original deity and the Jats are outsiders.
He went on to speak of how urban shrines are more open to mixed caste congregations, but rural shrines are more caste-specific, and like to keep 'other' castes away, especially if 'higher' castes start worshipping at 'lower' caste shrines, a trend that's happening in Rajasthan as rich Marwaris look for shrines to patronise.
 |
| Dr Midori Horiuchi, Tenri University, Japan |
Lunch
Madras does lunches differently, too. (This only proves, in my eyes, The Economist's assertion that Tamil Nadu was an independent country in a currency union with India). Instead of a buffet, we were served wedding-pandhi style in the library of the Department of Christin Studies (which is, in fact, very large). The first course was Veg. biryani plus channa masala (it's always spelt with a double 'n' and Chennai is ifinitely fascinated with it), followed by an incomprehensible second course of Sambar Rice and Aviyal, followed by the mandatory third course of Curd Rice and pickle. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. Too bad I took no photos of it.
Second Plenary Session
 |
| The dais with my name on it, for now the only proof I spoke at the Conference:-) |
That was my session, and my time stamps tell me I was done with it at 3:41 PM. I couldn't take any photos except this one, because I was on the stage, and the only one who I might have asked (had I overcome shyness) was Dr. Ponniah, who was the chair of my session. But it was over and done with soon. Deciding to discard my prepared draft, I spoke extempore, exhibting my slides and showing the audience lots of pictures of Bene Israel pilgrimage sites, including Eliyahu Hannabi cha Tappa and Panvel Synagogue. Oh yes, the title of my paper was "Pilgrim Practices of the Bene Israel: A bridge between Dharmic and Semitic Spiritual Experiences". I'm happy to say that the paper was well-appreciated.
Preceding me was Dr. Edward Ulrich, who spoke of a very curious set of pilgrimages by Swami Abhishiktananda to Thiruvannamalai, where he met Ramana Maharishi to learn about Advaita. The Swami was in fact a Catholic Priest who remained Christian throughout, but who has done his share introducing Advaita to the West. More of this when the Proceedings come out. Too bad I couldn't take a picture as I was on the dais (which is pronounced 'dace', and not dias, as most Indians do), and I thought it would be embarassing to whip out your mobile phone when all were on you. But Dr. Ulrich is the one on the right in the Inauguration photo.
First Parallel Session
Parallel sessions in academic conferences are invariably hair-pulling. Each mixes boring and interesting papers, and you either sit through a session and take the bores in your stride, or you keep running between halls like a kutti-potta poonai. I decided to choose Parallel Session 1B, out of the simple idea that the talks were about specific pilgrimages, and offered a chance to get out of the air-conditioning (yes, even in Madras, hot, hot, hot Madras, you can get tired of the A/C). Plus, one got to check out the Saiva Siddhanta department (that's another one-of-a-kind department too).
K Varadharajan spoke first on the idea of Nama-sankirtana (chanting of names) as a means of building social capital: pilgrims 'bond' better as they walk together chanting names. In passing he mentioned Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his patronage/tolerance by Muslim rulers, who saw in his ritual chanting the mirror of their own zikr.
 |
| K. Varadharajan, Vivekananda College, Chennai |
 |
| Sr. Lily Grace, JDV, Pune |
 |
| Mr Fazlur Rahman, Asst. Registrar, IGNOU Regional Centre, Chennai presenting his first ever academic paper. |
 |
| Dr. D. Kannan, Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law Universty |
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