What is the status of the Social Sciences   in India?
Why we have forgotten to teach the Political Science?
Is it not the king of the social sciences?

Gandhi, Nehru and Indira Gandhi legacy we talk about!
But we don’t analyse and articulate their legacies or their political ideologies!
Some peculiar Indian legacy!

In Bangalore, the other day, there was this celebration at the Institute of Economic and Social Change on the occasion of the V.K.R.V.Rao centenary. A galaxy of speakers, all venerable names in social sciences research, spoke. None, I noticed, mentioned the lacuena in our social sciences teaching and research agenda. Namely, the need for teaching and research in the king of political sciences. Political Science! Why? Is it fear or any other thing? Isn’t cowardice not to mention this science and also trace the reasons for the fall in standards in social sciences research for the simple reason, our rulers don’t realise that we have first lost sight of the need to elevate our political culture to what it should be?

We do much economic research but none dares to touch political sciences!
Our economists had had a ride almost! They had changed sides in the political spectrum, from leftwing to rightwing to all middle grounds!

See the Prime Minister, the economist’s own political credibilities! The political belief systems and our ideologies expose us to sheer opportunism. That is not good for the long-term health of the polity.

We need a completely revamped agenda for the social sciences!
Social sciences are taken to be economics and followed by sociology, anthropology and other areas like history and even geography.
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How to assess Sonia Gandhi’s leadership?

Kiran Bedi can’t have the cake and eat it too! While serving in uniform, you can’t play a Medha Patkar or a Mamata Banerjee!

Women empowerment is taken, mistakenly,as putting women in political office! This is just an empowerment by accident! The “widows syndrome”! In the Western societies women empowerment is much more rationally understood, where women come to social and political leadership through a process of educational and cultural attainments of women. In the USA, women have made to the top of the corporate world, we have so many success stories as with women CEOs!

In India, we don’t yet fully appreciate the women’s participation in male-dominated world. Even in bureaucracy, we see the gender discrimination blatantly. A Veena Sikri is fighting for information or a Kiran Bedi is fuming and the government, in panic, is said to have offered secretly Governor’s post!

Even the political parties don’t yet believe in the 33% women’s quota! The Communists make a ritual noise, the Dravidian parties only ask for OBC quota, the North Indian parties are more honest!

So, women empowerment should be seen from a broader angle, now many new avenues are opening up for competent women, media, corporate world, army, police and sports. IT industry has brought a radical change in employing an increasing proportion of women in software and related areas.

After the election of a woman President of India, we seem to be going through a process of new debates and deliberations about women empowerment. Mrs.Sonia Gandhi ,after announcing the ‘nomination’ of Pratibha Patil as the candidate said famously, this was a historic moment! How historic is it and how justified such a statement?

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A time for celebration. And a time for introspection

On an occasion like this, it is often easy to be nice and say the usual flattering things about ourselves. But in a more serious, purposeful sense it is rather imperative, a moral duty as well, to be more retrospective, more committed to see far and wide, back and forth and see what is in store for us, the present and the coming generations in India.
In many respects India’s birth in 1947 wasn’t unique. Many nations that were born during the same time, like for instance Israel, had similar experiences. If India was born in partition, then Israel was born in the face of flight of the Palestinian refugees who have later come back to form the new State of Palestine under Arafat. India was born, not out of anyone’s bidding or by a party. Again, as Israel was born not owing to Ben Gurion or the Zionists. Though we can also now see the role of Gandhi and the Congress for the birth of India in a similar vein. It all depends what we want to know or learn about these 50 years of freedom. Much more important, it seems to us, that now we are in the midst of an India where two generations have been born and lived. And for these two generations Gandhi and the Congress are names in history.

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Demolishing Churchill’s myth!
America is now a police state!
UK is now a racially intolerant country!
Creating awareness about India’s new strengths!

In India we seem to be living in the past, in the mould of Nehruvian era. Even in higher philosophical discourses our view of the world, our view of the West seem to be cast in the S.Radhakrishnan exposition of a heavy Indian emphasis that seems to be with no takers today.

Our political ideological fixations are as good as no fixations, all transient thoughts of political survival. Inside India, outside India. I want to share here some of my present thoughts on the present world. India is now at a world stage where the world stage is itself changing fast. The world, though looks like being dominated by the American military power, American power, political and economic power, is not making the world look to the USA for any help. The USA is also losing much of its moral weight in a world that is distorted beyond our imagination. The US today, after the 9/11 event and more so after the 9/11 anniversary seems to be a different political entry. Whoever wins, whether it is George Bush or John Kerry, it seems American power will take new hues and there is every reason to speculate and even predict with some confidence, American can’t win the world, win the world opinion.

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A culturally rich India! This is the India I want to promote!

What India we think of when we think of India? What is the genius of India? Ask a politician or leaders in any areas! Religion or industry. You will be disappointed!
They will have their own answers. As for the professional leaders they might think of their professions or they might speak from their point of view. Politicians we can dismiss! I don”t think we in India today have any political leader we can think of as role models. The members of the political class, those practising politics, are all selfcentered if not downright selfish. Luckily, the recent Assembly elections saw some hard lessons, the dynastic elements, the family members were all defeated or run for cover! Let us hope the Indian voters, the common people learn to do their democratic rights as seriously in the days to come. We are having a democracy and we have to defend it, explain it, make it more truly democratic a society and nation.

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There was this newspaper report on the rise in bad manners across classes and nations. President Bush America is shown up as a new high in political bad manners and bad behaviour among the high and mighty!

The September II terror attack coincided with the American President showing up in lacking moral courage, he went speechless for some time! And he was in fact teaching school children at that very moment When he must have showed up what leadership was all about! Also Bush language, his body language his verbal infelicity displayed to the wide world that here was a world leader,leader of the world’s most powerful nation, who is just a pigmy.

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Yet, the Indian mindset, our mentality remains the same!

Large scale Indian migrant population today.

Large scale racist, religious abroad, violence against fellow Indians in the Indian states!

Has the dominant Indian mindset changed?

A caste society might become progressively a class society?

Indians seem to be living blissfully unaware of the world outside, also the country inside. There is violence, racist attacks against Indian students, across the global arena where the Indians these days are jealous migrants!

Inside India, our selfish political locals has crafted a political culture of exclusion,anti-North,anti-Hindi,anti-Brahmin(TN),anti-Biharis(Maharashtra),anti-”foreigners” as ULFA does in Assam. So, where is India in all these chauvinistic politics, this fascist mindset? So, what Indian mindset we are witnessing or aspiring for? Who can ask such questions? Who can answer such questions either? So, every one of us seem to be living for ourselves, our families, building our own little dynasties?

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There is so much is happening in the world, everyday in our lives that often raise so much concern and questions of right and wrong and yet we don’t seem to go beyond the daily news items. Life has become faster and so too our attention span. Yet, such questions don’t seem to go away. They seem to be coming back and with such frequency.

The immediate provocation for this piece of writing was a series of news items and events, legal and judicial pronouncements that disturb our deeply held beliefs and convictions. First came the German Nobel Prize winner for literature, Günter Grass. He had hidden his past association with Hitler’s army when he was just 17.Now, his autobiography reveals that dark chapter in his life and there is uproar. In a short piece in the Guardian newspaper, John Berger, novelist and critic has defined Grass and has give his own defense. That is alright.

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The Hindu carried out a survey about the youth aspirations and where they are moving forward. It gave new insights and new thoughts.

Here are some of the basic findings.

First, the urban/rural information divides. Newspaper reading habits had grown up dramatically. 55% read newspapers and this 74% for the urban readers. On the other hand, book reading habits seem to have taken a beating. There is a clear sign that books are not read as widely as we would have imagined. Only 7% interviewed say they read books, for even urban readers it is just 14%.This is not a healthy sign. There is in fact a book publishing explosion and book festivals are now a universal phenomenon. Yet, in India it is see that books buying and reading is not as healthy as it should be.

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A letter to the President of India

India as a liberal and open society?

Recognize the transforming power of the individuals, institutions and the new technologies!

India as it is, a liberal and open society? Not yet? Not fully yet.

Our Constitution is a great document, it exceeds in its intrinsic qualities, its vision and wisdom that it has stood the test of the times. We have also mature state institutions, our Parliament, our Judiciary and Executive and a free press, now made more free and independent by the growing power of the visual media, the TV networks and the  rapid spread of the internet users, give Indians and the Indian ethos a rare power and sensitivity.

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