Guest guest Posted August 16, 2004 Report Share Posted August 16, 2004 --- Sandeep Kodali <doktersandy wrote: > VFA-members, > friend_vijai > Sandeep Kodali <doktersandy > Mon, 16 Aug 2004 06:42:24 +0100 (BST) > Re: [VFA-members] The Gypsies and their > Journey > > > Hi, > > These are the various groups which I created, are > dedicated to various Gods, Goddesses and Deities of > Hinduism. Please do join these groups; share > pictures, knowledge, mythology, Vedas and Vedantas, > stories, punya ksethras (religious places) and > devotional songs and hymns of Gods, Goddesses and > Deities etc. in this group. But please do not post > irrelevant material, unrelated to the particular > God, Goddesses, and Deity or about Hinduism. > > I do hope that you like them. I also hope that you > take an active part in this group, be devotional, > remember God in every step of life, at least once > every day if not every moment. Please do speak the > truth always, practice ahimsa (non-violence), do not > harm others or yourself either. All The Best to you > all. May God Bless You. Take Care. > > Thanking You, > > Sandeep. > > > > > > > > > > > > AllDeitiesGodsandGoddessess > > GoddessDurga > > goddessgayatri > > GoddessKali > > GoddessParvathi > > GoddessSanthoshiMaa > > GoddessSaraswathi > > GoddessSriLakshmi > > GoddessVaishnoDevi > > LordAyyappa > > LordBrahma > > LordDattatreya > > LordKumara > > LordNarasimha > > LordRama > > LordShivaShankara > > LordSriKrishna > > LordVenkateshwara > > LordVinayaka > > LordVishnu > > SriHanuman > > SriSaiBabaofShirdi > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > friend vijai <friend_vijai wrote: > > > > Bury Me Standing--The Gypsies and Their Journey > > by Isabel Fonseca (New York: Vintage, 1996) > 322 pages, $13 > > Reviewed by C. J. S. Wallia > > http://www.indiastar.com/wallia2.htm > > Gypsies, the long-lost children of India, number > about 12 million worldwide. In Europe, the 8 million > Gypsies constitute its largest minority. Recent > films like Tony Gatlif's Latcho Drom: A Musical > History of the Gypsies from India to Spain (1994) > and books like Isabel Fonseca's Bury Me Standing: > The Gypsies and their Journey (1996) will help > ensure that the Gypsies do not again disappear -- > outside the world's consciousness. > > Bury Me Standing -- the title comes from the Gypsy > saying, "Bury me standing, I've been on my knees all > my life"-- is a compassionate book about a > marginalized and much-maligned people. Nonetheless, > over the past seven centuries, the Gypsies have made > many contributions to European folk music, dance, > and lore. An outstanding example of these > contribitions --Flameno-- highlights the Cannes > award-winning Latcho Drom . > > When Isabel Fonseca, an American journalist and > former assistant editor of the Times Literary > Supplement, set out to write this book in 1991, she > "had in mind that the Gypsies were 'the New Jews of > Eastern Europe.'" After four years of field work > that included living with Gypsy families in many > European countries and researching library > documents, she concluded that the Gypsies "alongside > with the Jews are ancient scapegoats." > > Traditionally, Gypsies never kept any written > records nor sustained an oral history. The research > on their origin began with a systematic philological > analysis of their language, Romani, which has been > firmly established as a Sanskritic language. Words > like dand (tooth), mun(mouth), lon (salt), akha > (eyes), khel (play) are identical with those in > Punjabi spoken in northwest India. Fonseca does not > comment on the obvious resemblance with Punjabi, > presumably because of her unfamiliarity with it or > any other modern Indian language. She is also > puzzled by the Gypsy habit of shaking head > side-to-side to signify yes. This distinctive > gesture alone suffices to pinpoint their India > origin -- rendering all linguistic evidence > redundant! If confirmation were needed, it would be > readily provided by the Gypsy music's use of the > Indian ragas such as Bairavi, Mulkausa, and Kalyani > as well as the bol (the rhythmic syllables -- tak, > dhin, dha -- imitating drum beats). > > Fonseca seems to think that the current scholarly > consensus is that the Gypsies are from the Dom group > of tribes, still extant in India, making their > living as wandering musicians, smiths, metalworkers, > scavengers, and basketmakers. They migrated first > from northwest India to Persia in 950 A.D. at the > invitation of Shah Behram Gur. As recorded by the > contemporary Persian historian Hamza, the Shah "out > of solicitude for his subjects, imported 12,000 > musicians for their listening pleasure." > > Fonseca errs in stating that the Gypsy designation > for themsleves as Roma is derived from Dom, one of > the outcaste tirbes in India. Roma is a variation of > "ramante," a Punjabi word meaning moving, wandering. > This etymology is cogently discussed in W.R. Rishi's > book "ROMA: The Panjabi Emigrants in Europe, second > edition" published in 1996 by Punjabi University, > Patiala, Punjab, India. Rishi traces the origin of > the Roma to the 500, 000 prisoners of war taken by > Muhamad Ghaznvi in 1001 from the Punjab to > Afghanistan and subjected to Islamic conversion by > the sword. Many of them resisted by escaping > westward to the Christian lands of Armenia and > Greece. To this day, the Roma use the word Gajo, > derived from Ghazi-- the Koranic title of > infidel-killing Muslims-- as a disparaging term. The > Roma are from the warrior castes of the Punjab. > > The Roma appeared in Europe first in 1300 A.D., > fleeing from forcible Islamic conversions by the > Turks. In Europe, ironically, they were accused of > being advance spies for the Turks, and persecuted > again. They were also mistaken as Egyptians, whence > the folklore origin of the term Gypsy. Fonseca > apparently is unaware of yet another etymology: > Punjab-say -- from Punjab, which was what the > earliest immigrants to Persia replied when asked > where they have come from. By the time, they reached > Byzantium, the locals heard Punjab-say as Jabsay, > Gypsy. The locals took Gypsy to mean from Egypt, a > country they had heard of. > > The history of the Roma in Europe, gleaned, for the > most part, from court- and church-records and from > rare academic publications, is a horror--Europe's > heart of darkness. One of the examples Fonseca cites > is the 1783 dissertation published by Heinrich > Grellman of Gottingen University. In his book, > Grellman describes an event of the previous year in > Hont county, Hungary: "The case involved more than > 150 Gypsies, forty-one of whom were tortured into > confessions of cannibalism. Fifteen men were hanged, > six broken on the wheel, two quartered, and eighteen > women beheaded -- before an investigation ordered by > the Hapsburg monarch Joseph II revealed that all of > the supposed victims were still alive." > > During World War II, the Nazis exterminated 1.5 > million Gypsies. At the Nuremberg trials, the Nazis' > lawyers argued that the killing of the Gypsies was > justified since they had been punished as criminals, > not as a race. There was no one to speak for the > Gypsies, and the international tribunal accepted > this as exonerating defense! Ah, humanity. > > Although tyrants, bigots, and the misinformed have > often stereotyped the Gypsies as congenital > criminals, sociological studies show that the > Gypsies commit crimes no more than others. A > large-scale study cited by Fonseca: In Romania, > which has the largest Gypsy population of any > country, out of all criminal convictions that of the > Gypsies total 11 percent. Their population in the > country? Exactly 11 percent. (The Gypsies in Romania > do not have equal access to the justice system. > Their situation is worse than that of the Blacks and > Hispanics in the U.S.A.) > > In recent decades, a Gypsy intelligentsia has begun > to emerge. Fonseca presents detailed profiles of > several. Dr. Ian Hancock, an American Gypsy, and the > author of The Pariah Syndrome, was instrumental in > bringing about, in April 1994, the first-ever > Congressional hearing in Washington, D.C., on the > human-rights abuses of the Gypsies. After prolonged > efforts, Hancock also succeeded in the Gypsy > inclusion in the United States Holocaust Memorial > Museum. Gypsy inclusion had long been opposed by > Elie Wiesel, the Nobel Peace Prize winner! It was > only after Wiesel's resignation, writes Fonseca, > herself an American Jew, that one Gypsy was allowed > onto the museum's 65-member council. (The council > comprised more than thirty Jews as well as Poles, > Ukranians, and Russians among others but not a > single Gypsy.) > > Saip Jusuf is the author of one of the first Romani > grammars and a principal leader in Skopje, > Macedonia, which has the largest Gypsy settlement > anywhere. Jusuf helped organize the first world > Romany Congress in 1971 in London. The conference > was financed in part by the Government of India, and > at its urging the U.N. agreed first to recognize the > Rom as a distinct ethnic group and several years > later accorded voting rights to the International > Romani Union. > > In an interview with the author, Jusuf, having > converted from Islam to his ancestral Hinduism, > joyously displayed his new icon collection of > Ganesha, Parvati, and Durga . Ramche Mustupha, a > poet, showed his passport. Under "citizenship" it > recorded Yugoslav; under "nationality," Hindu. The > lost children of India, having found their ancestral > land, are very proud of its ancient civilization -- > the oldest continuous civilization in the world -- > "Amaro Baro Thanh" (Romani for "our big land"). > Fonseca observes: "Many of the young women, fed up > with the baggy-bottomed Turkish trousers they were > supposed to wear, have begun to wear saris." > > Unlike other beleaguered and marginalized > minorities, the Rom are not seeking a homeland of > their own, a Romanistan, in or outside India. The > Rom are resisting, as they always have, to maintain > the freedom for a life-style of their choosing. "To > allow this to the Gypsies," Vaclav Havel, in Prague, > said, "is the litmus test of a civil society." > However, Havel's is a lonely voice. All over Central > and East Europe "Death to the Gypsies" graffiti can > be observed. Since the Velvet Revolution in > Czechoslavakia, twenty-eight Gypsies have been > murdered. > > Fonseca cites several specific cases of terrorism > against the Gypsies during the 90's. "In February > 1995, in Oberwart, Austria, a town seventy-five > miles south of Vienna, four Gypsy men were murdered. > A pipe bomb had been concealed behind a sign that > said, in Gothic tombstone lettering, 'Gypsies go > back to India'; the bomb exploded in their faces > when they tried to take it down. The first response > of the Austrian police was to search the victims' > own settlement for weapons; 'Gypsies killed by own > bomb,' the papers reported." Oberwart, Austria, is > in Burgenland, where the Gypsies have been settled > for three centuries. > > The resurging repression of the Gypsies is Europe's > continuing crime against humanity. At the Nazi > trials in Nuremberg, there was no one to speak on > behalf of the Gypsies. Now, the Gypsies have at > least this eloquent book exposing Europe's > recrudescing genocidal threats to them. > > > > > > > > > > Sponsor > > > > Links > > > VFA-members/ > > > VFA-members > > Your use of is subject to the > > > > India Matrimony: Find your life partneronline. Mail is new and improved - Check it out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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