Prof.Irfan Habib’s insightful criticism of the PM! What is at stake? Dr.Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister, had been duly honoured by Oxford University with a honorary degree. It is Doctor of Civil Law, not D.Phil, as the Hindu newspaper’s typical longer than usual ponderous editorial wrongly carried it! On reflection I thought it is how…
Author: V.Isvarmurti
Economics at Oxford
Studied economics, didn’t become an economist ! I became an entrepreneur! I had always wanted to become an entrepreneur, wanted to have my own independence, I wanted money, lots of money and do a great many things! In this I encountered obstacles at every turn. Yes, it is ironical that I studied economics both at…
Engineering and medical education
The trends and the tensions! Nearly 1 million engineering graduates and others are now being employed in the IT industry in India. This is expected to go up fast, given the projections for the IT potential in the coming years. He says it is the small start-ups, by unknown names and faces in Bangalore that…
Greek ruins
The Parthenon-the temple of goddess Athena is a masterpiece of architectural beauty. This was a rebuilt version of an earlier one, to celebrate the victory of the Athenians over the Persian conquerors! It proclaimed the greatness of the Athenian Empire. Even today, it remains unsurpassed by its originality. We haven’t exceeded the original design! Imagine!…
Ranganadananda
I made him speak at Oxford! Swami Rangandananda,till now the president of the Ramakrishna Mission had passed away recently. Born in the Kerala village of Trikkur, near Thrissur in 1908,the swami had very impressive life, starting as a humble young boy to reach the top and emerge as a scholar, speaker and philosopher.Why I write…
Education for all: Attainable Objective?
When the current regime assumed office in Delhi with Deve Gowda at the helm, there was some noise about making education for all a reachable goal by 2000 AD. Under Gujral, this goal seems to have receded to the background. No one talks of education these days. Education at any time is a boring subject,…
What makes for good schools?
Schools occupy the minds of parents, thinkers and governments as the very basis of a civilized society. No country underrates the importance of educating their children. There are advanced countries like the European nations and the USA where schooling evokes strong feelings of warmth and fierce criticisms. Warmth as schools gives families and children that…
What is history?
History is series of accidents Big events have no big causes! Marxists believe history has a pattern or lessons. Non-Marxists like Alan Taylor (who taught me history) thought history is a series of accidents. As Taylor had said many a time the first war was triggered because on the “fateful July 28 1914,all the six…