An apology to Mr. Kelkar

Mr. Kelkar wrote :
"We do not think that Sanskrit was the
first language spoken by "Man" or that the Rig Veda is divinely
inspired or,India is the greatest of all lands etc. The Rig Veda is a
liturgical text that is open to examination by ALL, not just
comparative linguists. There are astronomical, geographical,
geological, zoological, botanical, agricultural references in the Rig
Vedas which have been used by experts in these fields to arrive at
estimates of when that text may have been composed. Many times these
estimates are at variance with those worked out by comparative
linguists. But again these are scholarly disagreements not debated
between creationist crackpots and scientists as some would like to
portary them."


Fair enough : after reading Mr. Kelkar's answer, I feel I misjudged his
motives and owe him an apology. He comes through as both rational and
dignified. Having spent quite some time in India (my wife is Indian), I
have become somewhat (maybe excessively) suspicious of Hindutva rhetoric
but my fears have been alleviated by this last post.

Alas, I still have difficulty in believing that the Hindu scriptures
were written in "Harrapean times". I am almost certain the words for
rice, etc. are non-indoreopean but I do not have my books with me. I
wrote that the Ganga river was not mentioned "in the oldest vedas", the
most ancient ones which were composed when the incoming indo-iranians
still lived closed to the Afgan border. The river does appear in later
vedas.

Bharat me sab kuch ho sakta hai...

Yours sincerley,

Daniel Koechlin