Friends,

Future, what a wonderful word !

Future would treat us a very backward for our mindless superstitions.

No doubt, provided we survive!

Isnt there acute danger of a DELUGE due to global warming, and therefore of survival ?

The atmosphere, the water, the Earth and sky is being polluted at a dangerous rate.

Future would consider us as  'short sighted H. sapiens'.

Superstitions may be attributed to ignorance and fear. But such a dangerous 'short sightedness, what can it be attributed to? All intelligent and educated persons ar einvolved in it.

To be considered backward  may be natural because we are progressing in knowledge, so past is backward, therefore natural. But to be shortsighted?

VMT

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From: "anant deshpande" <apd1942@...>
Reply-To: indiansciencefiction@...
To: indiansciencefiction@...
Subject: RE: [indiansciencefiction] Discussion on Indian Mythology and sf concludes.
Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2007 20:52:31 +0530

Arvind ji,

Your conclusion is fine except todays SF cannot be a mythology for future since all the proofs will be left behind and can be traced back by the carbon dating technic of that time as we cannot give a proof to Pushpak or Agnyastra etc.

However,future will lebel us as very backwards in the light of all superstitions that we possess.

A.P.Deshpande

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From: "arvind mishra" <arvind_drmishra@yahoo.co.in>
Reply-To: indiansciencefiction@yahoogroups.co.in
To: indiansciencefiction@yahoogroups.co.in
Subject: [indiansciencefiction] Discussion on Indian Mythology and sf concludes.
Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:31:10 -0000

Dear All,
Kindly permit me now to conclude the lively debate on Indian mythology.
I must admit that it was really an exhilarating experience which also
enriched my intellect by the scholarly views expressed by young members
like dear Swapnil, Zakir, Zeashan and Rukhshana as well as by aged and
respected
generation represented by Anant ji, AVM Tiwari ji, Dr(Mrs.)Seth etc .

There appear to be a wide dichotomy /chasm on the basic understanding of
subject which has been conceptualized by Mr.Swapnil as `two schools of
thoughts' on the issue. While Mr.Swapnil's school visualize mythology as
a dead subject in context of sf and advocated that fresh ideas for sf
themes
must be only derived from present day S&T,AVM Tiwari ji emphasized
that there is no harm in exploiting our myths for newer sf theme ideas.
Anant ji recapitulated that mythology could also be considered sf of
its time and by that implication validated the moderator's stand i.e.,
sf is a contemporary mythology.

It looked once as if the debate was heading towards yielding more heat
than light but it ultimately attained an undertone and ended amicably
on the premise of "agreeing to disagree". Well, it's all well that
ends well. Now some concluding remarks by the moderator who of course
enjoys the liberty so kindly sanctioned to him by you all.

Indian mythology apart, sf creates its own myths- you have only to
look for those exaggerations, gadgets and alien looks in sf stories.
Today's sf may appear mythology to a remotely future civilization in
certain contexts and circumstances.
In a sense certain kinds of religious myths/ beliefs which remain
static and final in their contents are definitely different from sf
which embodies continuous change.
Arabian Night may also be a source of ideas for sf. One has only to
appreciate the thought of such an obedient monster i.e. Aladdin's Jinn
who does whatever Aladdin wishes. We all wants the machines of
tomorrow to posses the same trait quite unlike to the frankensteinian
developments.
And lastly but by no means the least, Lagrange points in space and
AC Clarke's visionary communication satellite is so tempting to
remind us of Trishanku- The popular fantasy character of Indian
Mythology.
It could very well be concluded that our mythological fantasies do
some times anticipate the future S&T.
With thanks and regards to members who participated in
lively discussion.
Arvind Mishra

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