A Crisis of Self-Identity

In the late twentieth century, news about new findings vindicating old truths sent shock waves through the Indian intellectual community. Since the British took over India in the late eighteen century, many of India's elite had been educated in European-style universities where they had been thought to sneer at their  own ancient traditions. 

The majority of Hindus, taught in the traditional Indian guru system, clung to the old beliefs. But lots of prominent Indians had swallowed the Western retelling of their past hook, line, and sinker. Important Hindus like Jawaharlal Nehru, independent India's first prime Minister, had undergone painful crises of self-identity, rejecting much of their Hindu heritage and identifying instead with their British conquerors After all, the Europeans were men of science. India, they had been told, was a backwater of superstition that subsituted myth for reality.

Now it turned out it was the European view of Hindu history that was the myth! Disillusioned Hindus quickly began to form influential new academic organizations like the World Association for Vedic Studies, designed to sort out the truth about their Vedic legacy. Their exciting work is reshaping the way educated Hindus think about themselves and their ancient sciences and religion.