It’s not the Sepia Mutiny model to just post news items without comment, but sometimes the material doesn’t leave us with much to add. With that said, here are the latest developments in Bombay dining:
NAVI MUMBAI: A new restaurant at Kharghar has actually been named as Hitler’s Cross and it was inaugurated by the who’s who of Navi Mumbai on Friday evening.
A huge poster of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler was put at the inauguration function of the restaurant in sector 4 of Kharghar, much to the surprise of the invitees.
Actor Murli Sharma, who has featured in films like Apharan and Teesri Ankh, was one of the guests present at the inauguration. “I found the huge posters of Hitler at the restaurant amusing. That’s all I can say,” he told TOI over phone.
When asked if he felt disturbed by the name of the restaurant, Sharma said: “I am not really agitated as I have not read much about the man (Hitler). However, from what I know about Hitler, I find this name rather amusing.”
Important dignitaries such as Navi Mumbai mayor Manisha Bhoir and former mayor Sanjeev Naik were also invited as chief guests to the restaurant by one Sablok Builders group, who are reportedly behind the management of Hitlers Cross.
A Reuters report picked up by DNA has more:
“We wanted to be different. This is one name that will stay in people’s minds,” owner Punit Shablok said.
“We are not promoting Hitler. But we want to tell people we are different in the way he was different.“…
“This place is not about wars or crimes, but where people come to relax and enjoy a meal,” said restaurant manager Fatima Kabani, adding that they were planning to turn the eatery’s name into a brand with more branches in Mumbai.”
Someone in Mumbai is going to have to do the investigating on this. A field report from Manish, perhaps?
bengali comment #208.
That is completely incorrect. The naive and ahistorical view is that history is made up of little disconnected events. And British history from 1600(creation of East India Company)to 1947 was TOTALLY related to yours and my history. In fact it’s so inextricable that it’s staring you in the face even as you write in English. It isn’t a matter of liking or not liking something. Slavery did not just happen in the US. It involved circuits of trade that included the Caribbean, Africa, India (coolies) and the United States. I can’t even imagine where you got your idea of history from. Do a survey–ask any practicing historian what they think of your comment.
RC,
Perhaps the key point is “more sensitive” as compared to “sensitive full-stop”. One may obviously be more sensitive to issues that affect one’s (more or less) immediate environment and/or concern one’s own ancestors; however, that does not preclude the necessity for sensitivity towards issues concerning “far away” parties, at least on a basic humanitarian level, ie. just basic empathy for one’s fellow human being.
The atrocities in Rwanda and, more recently, Darfur have received huge publicity (at least in the UK) and the distance between Europe and Africa does not mean people here have not been horrified by what has happened there or do not have any sensitivity towards people from that part of the world.
I agree that, for the various reasons we’ve all discussed here, one would not expect “everyone” back in India to necessarily be as clued up on the Holocaust as those in Europe and the United States. However, someone with a loose interest in a historical figure like Hitler — whether it’s the restaurant owners or the college students which others here have mentioned — would be wise to at least be thorough in their research so that they get a proper understanding of the kind of individual they are “admiring” or using as some kind of publicity-seeking, “aren’t we controversial” restaurant theme.
Information on such matters (and world history in general) is freely available these days in India, as I mentioned before, even if one may have to be a little proactive in order to find it.
The Ukranian Famine was something Europeans did to Europeans, it wiped out a significant chunk of the world’s Ukranian population, yet many people west of Poland have never even heard about it.
Nanda Kishore,
Escape from Sobibor was widely televised in India as a mini series in the late 80s and also the CBSE and ICSE history text books discuss the world wars and nazism at length. That being said naming the restaurant after Hitler was stupid.
Less than 15 percent ( A very generous assumption) population knows enough English to watch a series like that. The penetration rate of TV’s in India in the 1980 was extremely LOW. Only after 1982 TV started going out of the 4 major cities. “Widely available” is completely inaccurate.
If the media in India picks up this story, they could actually do some good for a change. For once a media circus would be useful.
ADIA, I disagree (in case you’re still here). I did not say there was any bias wrt the treatment of the holocaust in our history books. I just said, from my own experience as well as that of friends/colleagues, that it’s not adequate. A colleague of mine watched Schindler’s List a couple of years back and then did some Googling to find out more. He’d never known about it before. He grew up in rural Maharashtra and is highly educated and smart. I don’t have any statistics to justify my opinions, but this has been my observation.
I think that this might have more to do with the approach to teaching rather than the content itself.
Textbooks in India do cover world history to a reasonable extent. As has often been said, textbooks in the United States comparatively do not have very considerable coverage of history outside of America. There are tons of folks in America who don’t know very much (or anything) about the Opium Wars or the British Raj. On the other hand, textbooks in India do cover these. Yet, as you have said, the coverage does not seem adequate. The problem, in my opinion, is that students aren’t actively encouraged to engage with these issues from a personal point of view.
Supposing the teacher in 9th grade had said, “Did you or one of your family experience terrorism or violence? Did someone come over from Sri Lanka after having personally experienced terrorism there? How did that make you feel? Did someone in your family come over during partition? How did they feel?” Surely, that would help people know that these political issues from far away do affect their lives and the lives of those they know, and help them empathise in a political context more deeply. It would, at the very least, build a sense of sympathy for injustice everywhere. Not that such sympathy doesn’t exist. It already does. It just may not have come from history classes.
The problem, in my opinion, is that students aren’t actively encouraged to engage with these issues from a personal point of view.
Good point. Sadly, most rural/semi-urban schools take that approach, except in cases where the teacher is quite knowledgeable and/or passionate about the subject.
I better hang up now, it’s well past midnight in Eastcoast Oz. Hopefully, we’ll have an update saying the restaurant owner received some gyan and has changed the name 🙂
Only after cable television was allowed did ANY broadcast come into India from the outside. Doordarshan had state controlled monopoly of all visual media. Best bet for outside news was on shortwave radio listening to BBC or VOA. Exposure to libraries depended on how good your school was or if you had access to the local univesity. Researching anything beyond what was fed to you by the state meant initiative on your part.
One thing I was never taught in India (atleast after completing 10th grade) was how to conduct appropriate research and find information via credible sources. In my senior year of high school in Chicago, we had to do a term paper (do your research, reliable sources, going through a minumum number of sources to ensure, write a good bibliography, give the right credit, etc.)
A question to our commentators from India: Is the appropriate method of researching, writing, giving approriate credit, etc. – A term paper, ever emphasized in education there? I had to do one in college, too, and obviously continue that practice with reports, projects, and papers in engineering. But the basics were taught before I ever entered my specific field of education. Senior english and my first year college english classes.
For some reason, I’ve never asked this question.
Is the appropriate method of researching, writing, giving approriate credit, etc. – A term paper, ever emphasized in education there?
Practically unheard of in village or small town schools, or even small town colleges. I never had to write a paper until I did a project in my post-graduation.
A question to our commentators from India: Is the appropriate method of researching, writing, giving approriate credit, etc. – A term paper, ever emphasized in education there?
It all depends. The bandwidth of quality of education is incredibly variable. Maybe, someone right now in India from Modern School, Kandriya Vidyalas (Govt. Public Schools), or the new prep schools in Bangalore etc. can give a current picture.
Re TV: Somewhere in early 80s, the reach of TV has been almost complete. Even with Doordarshan only, they (the Government in power) knew that they can win/ loose elections via TV. Now, with credit, TV is seen everywhere. I agree with RC that English is understood by smaller section of population. Right now, you can see History/ Discovery Channel in India in Indian languages (dubbed).
Wow! so much publicity for nothing… Man, I am opening a restaurant in Bangalore next week… Could you give me some free publicity too guys… Oh! and well I think the name is in very poor taste myself… BUT BOY I WOULD STILL LOVE THE PUBLICITY!!! Dang! we are all crazy in our own way!
Kush,
I did go to Delhi Public School and the curriculum back then did not involve any emphasis on case studies. The academics link on the CBSE website provides some insights into curriculum development and many interesting courses like enterpreneurship, bio-technology etc are being introduced to the curriculum.
Re: TV, my comment above does not in any way imply that an english language problem received wide audience in the late 80s, I was trying to point out Indian Urban Population’s access to programs depicting the holocaust.
A question to our commentators from India: Is the appropriate method of researching, writing, giving approriate credit, etc. – A term paper, ever emphasized in education there?
It all depends. The bandwidth of quality of education is incredibly variable. Maybe, someone right now in India from Modern School, Kandriya Vidyalas (Govt. Public Schools), or the new prep schools in Bangalore etc. can give a current picture.
This is from more than a decade back, but as far as the Kendriya Vidyalayas go, the answer is “No, even in the cities”. Even in engineering, not until you start writing papers do you start getting into the appropriate method of researching, attributing, etc. There is nothing, of course, in college to prevent people from starting to learn this stuff on their own.
Damn, typed up a post and it got chewed up the net.
Till 8th std (grade) my school followed a central board material like Kendriya Vidyalays, after which it shifted to the state board. I haven’t encountered any data that suggests critically evaluating any subject (History, Science, Business, Literature, etc.) has ever been emphasized as a fundamental in school or the first few years of college. The idea never came up until this thread raised the question of why people from India a certain way, history, Hitler, the usual [enter your beef the United States here, it has to be mentioned every time], information…
Beyond the basic english classes, all the engineering classes with a project, paper, or report had a bibliography with the properly sourced material. One of my criticisms of Indian education I had was it didn’t encourage critical thinking skills. As Kush has said, the variablility of education in India is all over the place. My experiences were over a decade ago, so things may have changed.
It may not have any impact on the discussion at hand, but maybe emphasis on those tools would result in bettering the quality of Indian journalism or print media, eventually having the right impact on the masses. Smart or curious people eventually figure things out, but knowing how much the US education system pushes these techniques, it is suprising that I haven’t heard much about it in India.
you are giving some village idiot too much credibility for his/her ignorance. I think that is the whole purpose of naming his/her restaurant after Hitler.
Finally, he won since he got his 15 minutes of fame and everyone is talking about it. Just ignore them.
Beyond the basic english classes, all the engineering classes with a project, paper, or report had a bibliography with the properly sourced material. One of my criticisms of Indian education I had was it didn’t encourage critical thinking skills. Word. Also, engineering research generally involves a different type of criticism and analysis than the humanities, say, for instance in history, literature and so forth. What then are some of the avenues for acquiring these skills in the U.S. today if you happen not to have gone through the program? Writing courses? Self study? Just get a good reference book on writing, maybe. What are some of the avenues for acquiring these skills in India (online would probably work well)?
India’s Jewish community speaks out.
It hits a bit harder when you actually see the picture. Speaks volumes about what is and isn’t considered taboo in India, if a business owner in the US even dreamed of envisioning of talking about owning a place like that he’d better wake up and apologize.
Puneet Sabhlok is an ASS.
My professor and I were talking about this, and she asked an interesting question: “What kind of food do they serve?”
I know this isn’t the point of the convo–it’s definitely a digression–but still, does anybody have any idea? Perhaps Manish…
Now that the BBC has picked up ths story, it might seem to the uninitiated there is anti-semitism in India. Sigh!!! Of course, the BBC has not provided any context. As usual, the Beeb is at the forefront when it comes to covering anything negative about India.
It does seem that this jerk Puneet Sabhlok is actually aware of the history of Nazism. That makes him a first rate a-hole.
We studied the First and Second World Wars ad infinitum in the ICSE and ISC history syllabi. In fact, we didn’t do very much world history other than the age of discovery, the renaissance, the French Revolution, American Revolution, and the World Wars. We also did a “project” in the 8th grade on the world wars, which included information on the major battles, the numbers dead, literature and poetry from the period, etc. I’m sure people in the US and Europe study the holocaust in greater detail and it is closer to home for them, but I disagree with the idea that Indians don’t know about the holocaust.
The Hindi play I mentioned, “Ek aur ek gyarah,” was a very black and white morality tale set in a “village” which pitted the idealistic lefty supporters of Gandhi against the supporters of Hitler, as I remember.
But Nanda Kishore is absolutely right to say that Indians don’t read much history beyond the school level, and it’s true that Stalin continues to be glorified in West Bengal and Kerala. We studied the Russian Revolution and the history of the USSR in Calcutta in 11th grade and there wasn’t much discussion of the numbers of people Stalin killed compared with the numbers that Hitler killed, just some lines about “purges.”
obviously this man knows what he is doing! He says he doesnt know much about hitler, then why is he using his name?? Using Hitlers name to create publicity..tho what he doesnt realise is the -negative- publicity he is creating. If he hasnt put any thought into his “branding” exercise, he will soon find out that he and his food will be associated with all that is negative. It shows total ignorance, lack of understanding and actions driven purely by money. He knows its a provocative name. He has brought much disrepute to the indian community outside of India. Yes, Indians in general are not so sensitive to the Holocaust as they were not involved, but those that have atleast the slightest wisdom and knowledge will tell you that 6 million being murdered by a man named Hitler is not something to be taken lightly. There are people who are still alive today from the Holocqaust period and will recall and tell you the atrocities carried out by Hitler. Wake up man..if you have any sense of decency in you..and an ounce of intellect…use better branding tacts!
Forget Hitler. Even more outrageous is the misplacement of the apostrophe.
I get it! It’s the Hitler family, and that’s their cross! Like Hitlers’ Pass, or Hitlers’ Forge…
I thought that the Cross in the name referred to the Iron Cross handed out to those who made themselves useful in some way for the Third Reich.
And hey, don’t trash the Beeb! 🙂 It is one of the most unbiased newssources I have ever come across. And I can assure you that in this desi family all the BBC’s plus the online news service are religiously watched. Besides, they have great programming as well.
Just another thing: I’m confused. Way up towards the top of the thread, there is some discussion about the directions in which swastikas turn. But unless my memory fails me, I swear most of the swastikas I’ve seen in South and Southeast Asian contexts face in the same direction as the one on the Nazi flag: right. Even Wikipedia, that ever-reliable font of knowledge, indicates that the swastika was widespread across Eurasia, and both right- and left-facing swastikas exist, even within the same broad religious tradition. Specifically, Hindus use both, but mostly the right-facing one. That’s what I thought too. So which is Hitler’s and which is the Hindus’? Have I misunderstood something?
Anyone who is interested in patronizing the restaurent, well here’s a link for your info … http://www.hitlerscross.com. Please do click on the link and included in posts about this restaurant. (You’ll see what I mean when you visit the site.)
This thread just got its first full-on Holocaust denier comment. Immediately deleted and banned of course. Probably a sign that it’s time to close the comments and move on. Peace, everyone.