Between Two Worlds, East and West: An Autobiography

146 Pages·2002·4.204 MB·English

by  Jitendra Nath Mohanty

GRAD
5134
.M644
A32
2002
An Autobiography
T . N . M O H A N T Y
Between Two Worlds
East and West
Professor J.N. Mohanty
Between Two Worlds
East and West
An Autobiography
J.N. Mohanty
OXJFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
6 /
5'3 4
, OXPORD
h !.û t ui
UNIVERSITY PRESS
1
c —- YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi 110 001
p \
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the
. University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education
by publishing worldwide in
Oxford New York
Auckland Bangkok Buenos Aires Cape Town Chennai
Dar es Salaam Delhi Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata
Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi
Sào Paulo Shanghai Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto
with an associated company in Berlin
Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press
in the UK and in certain other countries
Published in India
By Oxford University Press, New Delhi
© Oxford University Press, 2002
The moral rights of the author have been asserted
Database right Oxford University Press (maker)
First published 2002
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press,
or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate
reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction
outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department,
Oxford University Press, at the address above
You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover
and you must impose this same condition on any acquiror
ISBN 019 564 8358
Typeset in Times New Roman 10.5/12
Byjojy Philip
Printed by Roopak Printers, Delhi 110 032
Published by Manzar Khan, Oxford University Press
YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi 110 001
Sar. • ol
\^;
'.'U o'i
In remembrance of my aunt Rama Devi Chowdhury
who showed, but did not say,
how life can he good, beautiful, and holy.

Contents
Foreword ix
The Town and the Village 1
School and College 5
The Family 10
Calcutta, Oh! Calcutta 19
Gottingen: Then (1952-54) and Now (1993) 36
A Gandhian Experiment 56
Back in Calcutta 60
From the Ganges to the Red River:
in Oklahoma in the January of 1970 78
New York City and the New School 84
Oxford and Freiburg 91
The City of Brotherly Love 98
Visits to India 104
Philosophical Journey, Roots, and Religion 109
American Life in the Last Three Decades 121
Keeping a Promise 125
Epilogue 129
Appendix My Contribution to Philosophy 131
Glossary 134

\M
Foreword
This is the life story of an Indian philosopher who has spent his life in
three countries: India, Germany, and the USA.
The writing has gone through many phases. Large parts were written
in Germany and in Calcutta. I am sending it to press almost fifteen years
after I began writing. One thing I did not want to do was write another
book on philosophy, or even an account of my philosophy. However,
since my life has been primarily dedicated to the pursuit of philosophi­
cal ideas, the connection of the story of my life to my philosophical
interests was almost unavoidable. It was equally important for me to
retrieve my ‘origin’, my ‘roots’ in my village in Orissa, India. Calcutta
and Gottingen have been recurrent presences in between, shaping my
mind and spirit.
Kenneth Merrill patiently read the penultimate draft of this book. His
unfailing sense of the English language and his sympathetic Verstehen
of my life helped remove many of my linguistic infelicities and lapses.
Without the help of Bina Gupta, this book could not have been pub­
lished. Bina Gupta improved the story with her sensitive responses; but
for her willingness to prepare the final draft, the book would not have
been published.
I present here a story of how one person, Indian by birth and upbring­
ing, Hindu by faith, philosopher by profession, living in the USA for
three decades, thankful to the country of adoption but never forgetting
the Indian heritage, has responded to the world at large and interpreted
his life. Remembrance and interpretation have mingled—this story is a
response to history.
J.N.M.