In the movie 3 Idiots, the hero tells his compatriot in one
of the many gripping moments- “Do not run after success but follow excellence.
Success will then run after you.” In this era where aspirants far outnumber
opportunities the line between success and excellence has faded. The definition
of success has been diluted and excellence has been restricted to advanced
countries in popular perception. If you look at Indian history you will notice
that we had necessarily gone in search of excellence and success of the Indian civilisation
was it’s by product. Our kings were knowledge lovers who aimed at making the
best universities, temples, sculptures unparalleled anywhere else in the world.
As early as B.C 4th century Chandragupta Maurya built temples of
learning at Takshashila and Nalanda, in the present day state of Bihar.
Students from China and the Middle East came there to learn about the Indian
civilisation thus making them global universities. We had known the art of casting
Iron and preventing it from getting rusted long before the industrial
revolution took place in Europe. There were sculptors who put in their entire lives
to get perfection out of a stone. Today we stand in amusement looking at the
carvings, be it at Beluru and Halebidu
in Karnataka or at the Sun temple in Konark, Orissa. But India of the 21st
century with a population of 1.3 billion has settled in for mediocrity. Success
or in layman’s terms securing the next meal becomes more important than
building world class universities or thinking beyond the usual referred to as
excellence.
The transformation of
India
Thomas Macaulay
changed the education system in India to suit the British East India Company in
1835. All that the British wanted from the Indian education system was to churn
out efficient clerks. The natural instinct to explore and learn more was most
often killed due to shattering poverty. Only the rich and extremely brilliant
could cross the shores to Europe or America to learn more. But the majority
were deprived of the quality education which ignited their minds. Many became
government servants and never got promoted above the grades of clerks. After
Independence, the state of affairs continued. Though we took baby steps in
correcting the wrong, it was never sufficient because as a country we were left
very far behind in terms of research and development. We had gotten upon
ourselves far greater problems, such as widespread poverty, malnutrition and
threat from hostile neighbouring countries. We turned to the west for
inspiration and advice in terms of technology and never really gave importance
needed to strengthening our indigenous research and development capabilities.
Shankar Aiyyar, a noted journalist in his recent book “Accidental India”, notes that India is
the only country which trusts the private sector of foreign countries but
distrusts its own in terms of defense procurements. It is largely true of all
other major sectors as well. This explains why the Information Technology
industry in India which boasts of 100 billion dollars of software exports every
year, has so less number of research patents to its name when compared to the
western software industry. That is why people working in the software sector
are touted as “computer coolies” because all that they do is obey what their
western bosses tell them. Even as a society we are awed by everything foreign.
Made in America still makes us pay the top dollar for the goods, though made in
China is in vogue these days. Made in India brand isn’t entirely trusted by its
very own countrymen. It has got little to do with patriotism but the standard
of goods that is made in India. This deep rooted malaise is to be uprooted only
by strengthening our capabilities in research and development. The oft made
argument that if Indians are going to the west and doing world class research,
they can do it at home too is true provided there is a congenial atmosphere that
we build for it.
What makes research
difficult in India?
Research in India is confined to the inner walls of a
handful of institutions and universities accessible to only a few. They publish
their research findings in foreign magazines which do not get circulated
elsewhere other than a few university libraries. Many do not even have an idea
of them. The systematic scheme of keeping research away from all student
universities has done more harm than good. Keeping research opportunities out
of the realm of a wider audience has served no purpose whatsoever. Not many
renowned international research journals are published from India while there
are hundreds from the west. That is because every institution of higher
learning is a platform for pursuing research there. India has always been a
bureaucratic country. Everything has to go through red tape. This has crushed a
lot of aspirations of young men and women across the country. The IITs and IIMs
were visualised by Prime Minister Nehru as the seats for research in
engineering and management sciences when he got them established by an act of
parliament in 1958. But today, not even a single of the 13 operational IIMs and
16 IITs figure in the list of top 100 research institutions in the world. When
these institutions eventually became just launch pads for greener pastures in
the United States and India got satisfied by foreign remittances, that is when
we cut the branch of the tree that we were sitting. To say the least, it proved
detrimental to the nation in the long run.
What needs to be
done?
If you observe the geographical location of Israel you would
notice that it is surrounded by hostile neighbours all around. But Israel has
guarded its borders so efficiently because of its extremely hardworking
citizens and its importance for indigenous research. Nearly 1/6th of
the country’s budget goes into research. From a barren waste land that it had received
from the United Nations in 1948, Israel today is the top exporter of
agricultural/horticultural produce in the world. Its defence mechanisms are all
state of art and any enemy would think twice before attacking its territory.
The western countries are advanced because they are advanced in their research
and developments. In the United States, there are more than 1500 policy think
tanks, while there are close to 800 in China, but in India we have a meagre 300
odd. The statistics are many and are damning.
The government should recognise the urgent need of promoting
research capabilities in the country and provide social security to bright
students who are interested in pursuing it. It should be ably supported by the
system of schooling and complacency should be thwarted. This is where teachers
play a very important role. All fields of higher learning should be made
competitive and should attract young men and women who do not want to settle
for the normal. History, Politics, Public Administration, Management, Science,
Film making, Fashion designing all fields have an equal stake in the country’s
progress and can contribute significantly to the country’s economy. By
extending this argument we understand why many of our films and music is a
crappy imitation or remake of the popular western films and albums, why jeans
is a fashion statement in India though originally the fabric was designed for
coal mine workers in the United States. We need a complete over haul of the
existing Macaulayian system.
India is a land of infinite opportunities. That is why it
remains buoyant and relevant even after a thousand years of oppression. What we
need to concentrate is on the economic and social security of Indians. As Bill
Vaughan, an American columnist and author says- “Money won’t buy happiness. But
it can pay the salaries of a large research team who can analyse the problem
for its solution”.
Note: The article was originally written for Pinnacle Academy yearly magazine 'Envision' published in April 2013.
Note: The article was originally written for Pinnacle Academy yearly magazine 'Envision' published in April 2013.
