Getting to Know L.J. Joshi
INTERVIEW by Anh Lottman

Lankapalli Jayaprakash Joshi

            He considers himself a social commentator. He studies issues of cultures across the world, focusing on timeless contemporary studies. “My whole intent is to get the younger generation to reflect,” said Joshi, who has taught over 3,000 students at Chaffey College and Glendale Community College.

            Joshi is a learned man, and takes the search for the meaning of living and humanity seriously. As an example, he founded the Research Institute at the behest of his students so they could continue their group discussions.

            His goal is to turn people’s attention towards themselves. Although it seems like an egocentric approach, said Joshi, it is important for people to look at themselves in order for questions to be raised, issues probed relating to their life and contribution to their immediate community.

            “We talk about a global village…(but) we forget about the village part of it.” It is about people coming together democratically, said Joshi, to decide the issues of life.

            As a young man, he was very deliberate and focused. He said he sought solitude at the tender age of 5, not unlike an ascetic or mystic in his thinking. At 16, he was already known as a communicator, becoming a champion debater in English and his native language, Telugu, which about 80 million people speak.

            And Joshi learned his focus close to the hearth and home. His father, an English teacher, was the second person in Joshi’s village to get a Bachelor’s degree. Joshi went on to get two Bachelor’s degrees in India: one in Political Science, with an emphasis on economics and English literature, and one in Divinity. In 1992, he received a Master’s degree in Theology from Fuller Graduate School and, in 2002, he got is Doctorate in Inter-cultural Studies.

            Growing up, Joshi said he felt like his bi-cultural background was making him into a schizophrenic trying to not only to understand, but merge the traditions of Christianity with the traditions of a high caste Hindu Brahman. His great-grandfather converted to Christianity through the works of missionaries, but the family still retained their Hindu Brahman culture.

            This struggle formed the man Joshi is today, in what he terms as his “own restless quest and pursuit of knowledge.” He has always struggled to find the meaning of existence; therefore, he became a philosopher and theologian.

Joshi is divorced and has two children: Steven, 20, and Sheena, 13. He is publishing a book soon, written for his daughter Sheena, about the recent Katrina disaster (see book review).