The Argumentative Indian
Understanding the Text
1. What is Sen’s interpretation of the positions taken by Krishna
and Arjuna in the debate between them?
[Note Sen’s comment: ‘Arjuna’s contrary arguments are not
really vanquished... There remains a powerful case for ‘faring
well’ and not just ‘faring forward’.]
Answer:
2. What are the three major issues Sen discusses here in relation
to India’s dialogic tradition?
Answer:
3. Sen has sought here to dispel some misconceptions about
democracy in India. What are these misconceptions?
Answer:
4. How, according to Sen, has the tradition of public discussion
and interactive reasoning helped the success of democracy in
India?
Answer:
Talking about the Text
1. Does Amartya Sen see argumentation as a positive or a negative
value?
Answer:
2. How is the message of the Gita generally understood and
portrayed? What change in interpretation does Sen suggest?
Answer:
Appreciation
This essay is an example of argumentative writing. Supporting
statements with evidence is a feature of this kind of writing.
For each of the statements given below state the supportive
evidence provided in the essay
(i) Prolixity is not alien to India.
(ii) The arguments are also, often enough, substantive.
(iii) This admiration for the Gita, and Krishna’s arguments in
particular, has been a lasting phenomenon in parts of
European culture.
(iv) There remains a powerful case for ‘faring well’, and not
just ‘forward’.
