Narratives of French Travelers’ and Adventurer’s of Indian Education System

The French travelers and adventurers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries stated that Hindu philosophy, meteorology, Sanskrit language, literature, history and culture were taught by the Brahmans in schools. Indian education system has been a fascinating domain for the French voyager‟s observation who make compare and contrast with standard, knowledge and rationality of the Orient with Occidental world. Most of the travelers showed in their observations, a kind of superiority in terms of rationality and scientific knowledge of the west in comparison to east. These travelers highlighted a demeaning picture of Indian education system which according to them was based on sluggish, monotonous and irrational basis. The objective of this paper is to narrate the observations made by the French voyagers regarding Indian education system and its implications. Many firsthand French adventurers‟ records have been used in this paper in order to make an assessment of Indian education system by analyzing their records

French Travellers’ Treatises on Oriental Diseases and Symptoms: Indo-French Medical History

French travellers and adventures of the 17th and the 18th centuries had shown immense interest to explore the medical knowledge of the Orient. This article systematically analyzes their observations and evaluation on different diseases, symptoms and effects on patients which helped the travellers and adventurers of the later times by providing medical precautions to be taken before sailing on a voyage to the Orient. This article, based on many translated and un-translated records written in the form of letters, memoirs and travelogues by the French, who visited India, focuses on the varied facets given by them on medical knowledge and history of the Orient. Undoubtedly, the Portuguese and the English travellers also provided interesting accounts on oriental diseases, symptoms and their therapies but those given by the French are yet to be explored in detail

University students’ perceptions of an ideal English teacher before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: A study

AbstractThis survey study examines how online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic affected the students’ perception of an ideal English teacher. A close-ended questionnaire prepared in light of the students’ short descriptive views on the characteristics of an ideal English teacher was used to collect data about personal, social, and professional aspects of an ideal English teacher before the Covd-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, the survey was repeated. The present article compares and contrasts the calculated percentage of the data collected prior to and during the pandemic to conclude how the circumstances created by the global crises changed the students’ perceptions of an ideal English teacher. Based on comparative analysis, this research is a quantitative, descriptive study with some interesting results. The results reveal that, with the change of circumstances, some aspects of an ideal teacher remained irrelevant (e.g. age, gender, etc.); some others remained considerably compelling (e.g. the teacher’s interaction with the students, reading skills, listening skills, and punctuality); some became more important (e.g. show concern); some became less important (e.g. dress sense and physical features). The article touches on the Indian value system to interpret the results

French Encounters Of François De La Boullaye-Le Gouz In India: Hindu Mythological Illustrations and Narratives

Seventeenth-century French travellers’ records ignited the curiosity of the Occidental world, especially the French imagination, because of their commercial and religious understanding of the Orient, mainly India. Among their authors, the most unresearched traveller is François de la Boullaye-le Gouz, who wrote a fabulous account about his voyage to India. His understanding of the Hindu religion ideologies and pictorial representations require analysis based on this hitherto unused manuscript. This article examines the distorted and under-researched facts about his biography, followed by scrutinizing Gouz’s perceptions of Hindu gods and goddesses and their significance in Hindu mythology. These observations, interpretations and misrepresentations of Hindu religious illustrations through Gouz’s perception are analyzed by examining printed French untranslated memoirs (printed in 1653) in comparison with Gouz’s abridged manuscript (codex). Varied approaches of scholars such as Subrahmanyam, Sapra, Beasley, Marsh, Dew and Teltscher have criticized Said’s Orientalism. Our research contributes fresh insight by undertaking an in-depth comparative study of this Oriental knowledge (Gouz’ Hindu mythology observations) with Oriental records, his narratives and codex. This ascertains the credibility of knowledge that formulated French’s Oriental image of India in early-modern Europe

Utopia or dystopia – deterrents to ecotourism development in Fiji

This paper draws on sustainability and ecotourism literature and aims to identify the deterrents to ecotourism development. The research opted to use Abaca Ecotourism Park, located in the Koroyanitu National Heritage Park in Western Viti Levu Fiji, as a case study. Three studies exploring management, local residents, and tourists’ perspectives were undertaken to determine the factors that deter from the further development of the selected ecotourism project. Study 1 conducted an interview with the management team of the ecotourism park to gain insights into the factors that influenced the project’s development. Study 2 was undertaken with the villagers who reside in the region where the ecotourism park is located. Longitudinal secondary research covering 20 years of data was used in Study 3 to identify tourists’ visitation and consumption patterns. Some findings were consistent across the three studies. The results reveal a range of deterrents to the ecotourism development, including infrastructure constraints, issues related to inequality, overdependence on neighbouring countries, and political vulnerabilities. The implications for the literature and practitioners conclude the paper