Prism of isms

 During my school years, I used to be intrigued by the suffix Bada or Vada. While reading newspapers or magazines, different forms of Vada or ism would turn stumbling blocks. Understanding them took years and even continues to this day, in many ways. Then, each field has its own set of isms. Thus, perceiving the world through the prism of different isms proves to be a perpetual intellectual struggle.

Those days, Marxism was the reigning ideological climate in Odisha, and many top public figures were influenced by it. J.N. Mohanty writes in his autobiography how he was struggling to choose between Gandhi and Marx, since his two famous maternal uncles were following one of the two. He also notes another contradiction he was trying to solve. Whether Sri Aurobindo is correct or Shankara, in interpreting the reality.

Sisir Kumar Maitra has reminisced that, had he read the Arya magazine when it was being published, it would have saved him from enormous intellectual struggle with Hegel and others that he underwent through next twenty years. D.P. Chattopadhyaya has expressed regret that his portrayal of Hegel is to some extent faulty in his Sri Aurobindo and Karl Marx book.

It is pertinent to recall how Kojève's lectures on Hegel had misguided many. Koyré had to go elsewhere and Kojève filled his place. This turn of events turned history to some extent. Georg Lukács has expressed regrets on this score. In a different context, Nietzsche didn't acknowledge of reading Stirner, although it is widely believed that he borrowed his ideas.

Today, Dilip Mandal has written an article on how Modi's twelve-years' rule broadly conforms to some tenets of the Conservatism of Burke. In another context, I read about Buckle, the historian. The world of ideas and isms are ever expanding. Thankfully, AI has arrived to answer any question, in a second. Apropos of Hegel, Rimina Mohapatra has two co-authored volumes on him, to her credit.