MARK TULLY: A LOVER OF GOLDEN MEAN AND HINDU MODERATION

Tully writes that forty years of living in India has changed him and his outlook. He states that one of the lessons he has learnt from India is to value humility, avoid thinking in black and white, to be suspicious of certainties, to search for the middle road and to acknowledge that there are many ways to God. Being a lover of the golden mean and moderation Tully finds the same moderation, balance, harmony, and equilibrium in Indian society and admires it for all these qualities. Since, by disposition he is averse to violent social and political shake ups, he has developed a fondness for the people of India and their culture which regenerates itself after every devastation and this power of constant regeneration will sustain it in future also. I shall discuss Tully's perception of Indian society, his views on Indian way of thinking and living, his disgust of the Western imperialism, all inclusiveness of Hinduism and Indian thought, India's genius for absorption and adaptation, the Indian tendency for maintaining balance, harmony, and equilibrium in this chapter. I shall also try to analyze what he thinks is the guiding principle of Indian society and culture and afterwards I shall enumerate distortions brought into this culture through Western socio-cultural contact as mentioned by Tully in his books.