"Intelligence is the
ability to adapt to change."
—Stephen Hawking (British,
1942-2018)
Word for the day
Bunglesome (adj)
Clumsy or awkward
Malice towards none
Xi is permanent.
Putin is almost permanent.
Merkel just got 4th term.
Trump is least sure about
the second term.
NaMo's second term also gets
less certain.
Draw your own conclusions!!
First random thought this morning
Though BJP is putting up a brave face after the bypoll setback,
the panic in its actions is conspicuous. Every day they are issuing 1-4 full page
advertisements in all national newspapers highlighting their
"achievements". Yesterday, two page spread highlighted achievements
of UP government in past one year in most metro editions. (Last year when Delhi
government had done so, BJP had criticized it severely.)
Over weekend, one full page advertisement highlighted improvements
made to Lucknow railway station. Well if the government of one of the most
powerful economies in the world counts installation of escalator on a railway
platform amongst its achievements worth showcasing, keeping cynicism from
creeping in become really tough.
Worship Einstein, do not demean him
The Union Science and Technology Minister while addressing the
inaugural session of the 105th Indian Science Congress in Imphal reportedly
said “We recently lost a renowned scientist, cosmologist Stephen Hawking. He
emphatically said on record that our Vedas might have a theory which is
superior to Einstein’s theory of E=mc2.”
The minister later tweeted, “Each and every custom and ritual of
Hinduism is steeped in science; every modern Indian achievement is a
continuation of our ancient scientific achievement”.
Couple of months back, Union Minister of State for HRD Ministry (a
former Additional DGP of Maharashtra) challenged the theory of evolution of
human saying, "Darwin's theory is scientifically wrong. It needs to change
in school and college curriculum. Since the man is seen on Earth he has always
been a man."
There are many reports attributing various quotes to the prime
Minister, other ministers, senior BJP leaders and senior RSS functionaries
claiming the advent of plastic surgery (Implant of Ganesha's head), genetic
engineering (birth of Pandavas and Kauravas), missile technology and nuclear
weapons (Brahma Astra, etc.) and aviation technology (Pushpak Viman) in ancient
India, thousands of years before civilizations dawned upon the western nations.
The popular reactions to all these statements, claims and
assertions are starkly divided.
The elitist group, who claims to be civilized, modern,
intellectual and scientific in approach rejects all these claims as ridiculous,
pretentious and regressive.
The other group, who claim to be nationalist, savior of Hindu
traditions, cultural, believer and proud to be Indian, find these claims
totally credible.
If one could resist the temptation to join any of these two
groups, and assess the situation objectively, the situation appears somewhat
like this.
The elitist group appears suffering from deep and mostly
ill-founded prejudice. Being on their side might give someone a false sense of
elitism, and save her/him from undertaking the difficult pursuit of truth and
knowledge.
Their whole premise seems to be based on the current irrational
practice of old principles, traditions and culture. Without studying,
understanding, and analyzing the treasure of conventional knowledge and wisdom,
they seem to have chosen to reject it.
They refuse to believe the maxim of Friedrich Nietzsche —
"The irrationality of a thing is no argument against its existence, rather
a condition of it."
In my view therefore this group is totally avoidable.
Now coming to the other group. I find this group responsible for
damaging the traditional Indian ethos, as against the first group, which
outrightly rejects it.
I must have met more than 100,000 people from this group, spread
across the length and breadth of our country. Still my sample could be unrepresentative
but not small in anyways. I may tell you, none, yes NONE, of them has ever
studied the original text of any of the religious Hindu scriptures.
Their knowledge of Ramayan and Mahabharat is limited to the TV
serials and movies based on these scriptures.
The four ancient Vedas, Upnishad and Purans are usually not
available easily. None of the people in my sample had ever seen a physical (or
digital) copy of these scriptures.
I visited some Sanskrit schools in UP and MP. These schools were
mostly seen preparing priests who could help people in performing the rituals.
None of the schools I visited was actually preparing any Vedic scholars.
Arya Samaj is supposed to impart and promote Vedic knowledge only.
Visit to various Arya Samaj Temples, I rarely found any young people there. The
weekly, monthly sermons I attended were not at all focused on any systematic
study of scriptures. The preachers in many cases themselves appeared driven by
hubris of their rarity suffering from deep prejudices.
The people in this second group, including senior politicians and
social workers, love to live in India's glorious past. However, they
steadfastly refuse to accept that the glorious past doesn't in any way
guarantee a bright future in itself.
We would need to work even harder to preserve and grow our legacy.
Could these proud minister please inform the people what did their government
do for a Vedic renaissance in past 4yrs!
They, in their hubris, might have distanced many youth from their
cultural roots. Many youth, finding their claims and utterances ridiculous, may
have in fact begin to reject all things that are traditional, believing them to
be ridiculous and regressive. One of the side effect is tremendous rise in the
friction in the relationship between the generations of father and child.
In my view, the government needs to urgently address this subject.
If we want to preserve our separate and unique identity, we must take adequate
steps to revive our ancient traditions of "seeking",
"learning" and "evolving".
The scientific approach to everything in life will have to be resurrected;
and that cannot be done just by political rhetoric. They should daily read
Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the whole world is a family), the verse of the Mahopnishad
engraved at the entrance of the Parliament House. This will allow them to
accept that true knowledge is universal and not proprietary. If Einstein
studied Vedas better than us, we should be worshipping him and not demeaning
his work as plagiarism.
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