NCERT Book Class 12 English (kaleidoscope) Non Fiction 5 The Argumentative Indian

176/KALEIDOSCOPE

5
The Argumentative Indian
Amartya Sen was awarded the Nobel Prize in
Economics in 1998 for his contribution in the
field of welfare economics. He is Lamont
Professor at Harvard.
This text forms the opening sections of the first
essay in Sen’s book of the same title published
in 2005. The sub-title of the book is ‘Writings
on Indian Culture, History and Identity’. Sen
argues in this essay that in India there has
Amartya Sen been a long tradition of questioning the truth of
Born 1933 ideas through discussion and dialogue.

Prolixity is not alien to us in India. We are able to talk at
some length. Krishna Menon’s* record of the longest speech
ever delivered at the United Nations (nine hours non-stop),
established half a century ago (when Menon was leading
the Indian delegation), has not been equalled by anyone
from anywhere. Other peaks of loquaciousness have been
scaled by other Indians. We do like to speak.
This is not a new habit. The ancient Sanskrit epics,
the Ramayana . and the Mahabharata, which are frequently
compared with the Iliad and the Odyssey, are colossally
longer than the works that the modest Homer could
manage. Indeed, the Mahabharata alone is about seven
times as long as the Iliad and the Odyssey put together.
The Ramayana . and the Mahabharata are certainly great
* Krishna Menon was India’s Defence Minister from 1957 to 1962. He led the Indian delegation
to the United Nations, and on 23 January 1957 delivered an unprecedented 9-hour speech
defending India’s stand on Kashmir.