Sudhir Kakar (born 25 July 1938) is an Indian psychoanalyst, novelist and author in the fields of cultural psychology and the

psychology of religion Psychology of religion consists of the application of psychological methods and interpretive frameworks to the diverse contents of religious traditions as well as to both religious and irreligious individuals. The various methods and frameworks c ...

Education and personal life

Kakar spent his early childhood near

Sargodha Sargodha (Punjabi and ur, ) is a city and capital of Sargodha Division, located in Punjab province, Pakistan. It is Pakistan's 12th largest city by population and one of the fastest-growing cities of the country. Sargodha is also known as ...

, now in Pakistan and also in

Rohtak Rohtak () is a city and the administrative headquarters of the Rohtak district in the Indian state of Haryana. It lies north-west of New Delhi and south of the state capital Chandigarh on National Highway 9 (India), NH 9(old NH 10). Rohtak fo ...

, where his father was an additional district magistrate during the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi language, Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Q ...

and during the

partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

, and the family moved quite a bit from city to city. At age eight he was enrolled as a boarder in Modern School, New Delhi; he would later write about homosexual encounters in the school dormitories. He next attended

St. Edward's School, Shimla , motto_translation = "Follow the Light" , established = , founders = Irish Christian Brothers , oversight = Simla Chandigarh Diocese , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic , clos ...

. He began his Intermediate Studies at Maharaja's College, Jaipur, in 1953 after which his family sent him to Ahmedabad, where Kakar lived with his aunt Kamla Chowdhry, and attended engineering college. After his B.E. degree in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, ...

from Gujarat University 1958, Kakar obtained a master's equivalent in business administration (Dipl.-Kfm.) at the University of Mannheim (1960–64), and a doctor's degree in economics at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich h ...

. He began his training in psychoanalysis at the University of Frankfurt's Sigmund-Freud Institute in 1971. In 1975, Sudhir Kakar moved to Delhi with his aunt, Kamla. Kakar now resides in Goa and is married to Katharina, a German writer and a scholar of comparative religions.

Career

After returning to India in 1975, Sudhir Kakar set up a practice as a psychoanalyst in Delhi where he was also the Head of Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at Indian Institute of Technology. He has been 40th Anniversary Senior Fellow at the Centre for Study of World Religions at Harvard (2001–02), a visiting professor at the universities of Chicago (1989–93), McGill (1976–77), Melbourne (1981), Hawaii (1998) and Vienna (1974–75), INSEAD, France (1994-2013). He has been a Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Study, Princeton, Wissenschaftskolleg (Institute of Advanced Study), Berlin, Centre for Advanced Study of Humanities, University of Cologne. Kakar was in private psychoanalytic practice in New Delhi for 25 years before moving to his current place of residence in Goa, India. He is currently a Visiting Professor at Goa University. He created controversy in a symposium regarding the Death Penalty for Child Rape in 2018 by advocating leniency towards perpetrators of child rape, emphasizing protection of the family reputation and the family bond over the child's safety.

Psychoanalysis and mysticism

A portion of Sudhir Kakar's work involves the relationship between

psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might b ...

and

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...

. His analyses of personages include that of

Swami Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda (; ; 12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta (), was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the intro ...

in ''The Inner World'' (1978),

Mohandas Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

in ''Intimate Relations'' (1989), and

Ramakrishna Ramakrishna Paramahansa ( bn, রামকৃষ্ণ পরমহংস, Ramôkṛṣṇo Pôromohôṅso; , 18 February 1836 – 16 August 1886),——— — also spelled Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, born Gadadhar Chattopadhyaya,, was an In ...

in ''The Analyst and the Mystic'' (1991). Kakar’s novel ''Ecstasy'' (2003) was "written exclusively for the senses of the skeptic and the mind of the mystic" and "is the beginning of a journey through the soulscape of spiritual India". The story is set in

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

of 1940s or 1960s Psychoanalyst Alan Roland (2009) writes that when Kakar applies his psychoanalytic understanding to these "three spiritual figures wami Vivekananda, Gandhi, Ramakrishna, his analyses are as "fully reductionistic as those of Jeffrey Masson". Roland also disputes the Kakar's theoretical understanding of mysticism from a psychoanalytic standpoint, and writes that it is "highly questionable whether spiritual aspirations, practices, and experiences essentially involve

regression Regression or regressions may refer to: Science * Marine regression, coastal advance due to falling sea level, the opposite of marine transgression * Regression (medicine), a characteristic of diseases to express lighter symptoms or less extent ( ...

." At a personal level, Kakar feels that spirituality for him consists of moments of profound connection with a person, nature, art, music, and for those who believe in God, with the Divine. His spiritual beliefs have been influenced by a combination of a rationalistic, agonistic father and a religious, ritualistic mother.

Awards and honors

Kakar's was awarded the 1987 Boyer Prize for Psychological Anthropology of the American Anthropological Association. He received the Order of Merit, Federal republic of Germany, Feb. 2012, Distinguished Service Award, Indo-American Psychiatric Association, 2007, Fellow, National Academy of Psychology, India, 2007, Member, Academie Universelle des Cultures, France, 2003, Abraham Kardiner Award, Columbia University, 2002, Rockefeller Residency, Bellagio. April–May 1999, Goethe Medal of Goethe Institut, Germany, 1998, Watumull Distinguished Scholar, University of Hawaii, Spring Semester, 1998, National Fellow in Psychology, Indian Council of Social Science Research, 1992–94, MacArthur Research Fellowship, 1993–94, Jawaharlal Nehru Fellow, 1986–88, Homi Bhabha Fellow, 1979-80.Karolyi Foundation Award for Young Writers, 1963. The French weekly Le Nouvel Observateur profiled Kakar as one of 25 major thinkers of the world while the German weekly Die Zeit profiled him as one of twenty one thinkers for the 21st century Oxford University Press, Delhi is in the process of publishing 4 volumes of Kakar’s essays in their series Great Thinkers of Modern Asia.

Works

Non-fiction *''Mad and Divine: Spirit and Psyche in the Modern World'' *''Inner World: A Psycho-Analytic Study of Childhood and Society in India: Psychoanalytic Study of Childhood and Society in India'', OUP India, 2Rev Ed (14 October 1982) (10), (13) *''Shamans, Mystics, And Doctors'' *''Tales Of Love, Sex And Danger'' *''Intimate Relations'' *''The Colors Of Violence'' *''The Indians'' **''Die Inder. Porträt einer Gesellschaft'' (2006) *''Kamasutra'' *''Frederick Taylor'' *''Understanding Organizational Behavior'' *''Conflict And Choice'' *''Identity And Adulthood'' *''The Analyst And The Mystic'' *''La Folle Et Le Saint'' *''Culture And Psyche'' *''The Indian Psyche'' *''The Essential Writings Of Sudhir Kakar'' *''A Book of Memory'', 2011 Fiction *''The Ascetic Of Desire'' *''Indian Love Stories'' *''Ecstasy'' *''Mira And The Mahatma'' *''The Crimson Throne'' * The Devil Take Love

Notes

References

External links

Official website

Asia Source interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kakar, Sudhir 1938 births Living people Indian social sciences writers Indian psychologists Psychoanalysts Indian spiritual writers 20th-century Indian novelists Novelists from Haryana People from Rohtak People from Sargodha Punjabi Hindus