From: Veeramany.Sthanumurthy@bbs.oit.unc.edu (Veeramany Sthanumurthy)
Subject: Re: The Last Word (was Re: What a Shame !)
Organization: Extended Bulletin Board Service
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 13:36:40 GMT

In article <l96f6jINN6pf@sal-sun85.usc.edu> ramachan@usc.edu (Sudarsan Ramachandran) writes:
>
>In soc.culture.indian Veeramany.Sthanumurthy@bbs.oit.unc.edu (Veeramany Sthanumurthy)writes:
   and SCT
>
>>Firstly, it was ill-phrased. Almost designed to provoke. That
>                              ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>was probably intentional. Unfortunately, I guess many people
>I can tell you it wasn't. In any case there are people always getting
>provoked, so what's new ?

I stand corrected as to your intentions. But, my opinion that it
was provocative stands.

>>A self-fulfilling prophecy, indeed!
>
>Firstly I don't see what is "self-fulfilling" here. Flame wars can

Perhaps, you don't really see it. In that case, never mind.

>>Secondly, whenever you lump any group of people together, you
>
>When I wrote the first article, I had targetted it exclusively at the
>Tamils (you would notice it if you had *read* it. If you haven't I'll
>mail you a copy. Do I hear you say, "No, thanx"?). Then I added a line 
>inviting Non-Tamils' opinions just for the sake of balance of viewpoints. 
>And this too,  by email. The most pleasant responses were from non-Tamils;
>the only stinker was from a Tamil.

I really don't see how this has reference to my comment. Anyway, 
I *did* read your post. If you had read my response carefully, 
I mentioned that I framed a reply and before I could mail it 
the session was aborted and I decided against re-typing the stuff.

["compliment"ary stuff deleted ...]

>>and leave. No summary for *at least* those who contributed to
>>your "survey". Zip.
>
>It is unfortunate that you have made this statement. Ofcourse,
>since you didn't  contribute, you wouldn't know. I have
           ^^^^^^  ^^^^^^^^^^
Yes, I didn't. But, that does not justify your walking away without
as much as a summary of the responses for the newsgroups where you
originally posted your comments. I thank you for the partial compilation
you sent me.

>Enough has been said. It is for everyone to guess the tolerance levels here.
>I can very well imagine the response if a non-Tamil had posted the
>views instead of me.

Unfortunately, you are revealing the bias I spoke of again.

>I do not wish to kick up another storm. Personally, I feel SCT is not
>much different from other "fundamentalist" newsgroups like ... where there is 
>very little tolerance towards the non-mainstream thoughts. I did not expect this
>in SCT; guess  I discovered this much too late.  Posting a summary would result 
>in more hooey (or whatever it is) getting spewed. What is the point, if all 
>that is expected to be heard all the time is "Tamil is the greatest". You 
>might not get that in a summary. If you wish to have the last word on this,
>go ahead, have it.

From reading the responses you sent me, I don't see all of this. I don't
know why you leave so much innuendo with "newsgroups like ...". If you
have something to say, say it.

Some final comments:

1. As a matter of curiosity, the responses you received would
be interesting. Any conclusions you draw from them will be flawed.
That is IMHO. You are free to disagree.

2. I repeat: To look at any group as having some collective psyche
which gets expressed *just* on account of their coming together was
in my opinion your prophecy. You fulfilled it.

3. Maybe I should add my anecdotal experience-related observations
about another collection of people - Maharashtrians. Having interacted
with them on a daily basis for a period of 5 years, I can say that
their knowledge of Tamils covers the spectrum from *zero* to a good
conversational knowledge of the language. There were quite a few
misers and comparable number of spendthrifts. There were tolerant types
and intolerant types. There were those who took care to translate stuff
for me and those who didn't bother (the harder words.) Lastly, I went
to a school filled with Tamils/Malayalees in Bombay with one or two
others (Maharashtrian and Andhra.) To make observations of the type 
your email correspondents have made takes skills which I have tried my
best to avoid sharpening. The same goes for your observations.

(*zero* = Tamil is Southie or Madrasee and Madrasee applies equally
well to Kerala and Karnataka residents - I don't know about AP!)

>
>Sudarshan

Sthan.

PS. My comments are only about your responses. Treat them as such.
Whether these are my last words or not will depend on your words.
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