There will always be globalisers and anti-globalisers as long as there is an unequal world. Eric Hobsbawm concludes his survey of the end do Communism in these following words: “We do not know where we are going. We only know that history has brought us to this point. However, if humanity is to have a…
National traits, attitudes and character
A series of scandals ! Yet Indians deny themselves all truths! What about the special Indian traits? Our attitudes? Our character? Why we don’t talk so much about our Indian weakness for double talk and double standards? Each nation and culture has its own special traits, attitudes and character. US President George Bush talks and…
Science Education – Evolution is now day-to-day news!
Exciting things are happening in evolution research. Evolution of man is not simply to be explained, in my humble opinion, in biological sense alone. I was glad to read a latest survey of the evolution in the December issue of The Economist magazine (December 24th 2005). The survey titled “The Proper Study of Mankind” covers…
My Oxford-day intellectuals and scholars
They defined the truth and stood up for wisdom! There were a heady mix of great minds,in several disciplines. Of course, philosophers came first and they were in good number,some of the top names who still dominate the world thought. Then came the political and social philosophers, it was time when politics took a back…
How to define knowledge and wisdom?
The world needs more interactive civil society activism! There is a Knowledge Commission deliberating about creating a knowledge society. But what is knowledge precisely? Knowledge is a word first coined by a management guru,Peter Drucker, 30 years ago. So also came the knowledge worker. And now the talk of competitive advantage for a more knowledge-based…
What is an autobiography? A process of self-discovery?
Yes,all serious writings can be only autobiographical. Then,all autobiographies don’t attain the status of great literature. To reach such a status,the mind has to evolve to new dimensions of self-discovery. That has been my experience so far. Writing an autobiography or essaying into one’s own thinking and action has been the perennial human quest down…
300 years of the European Enlightenment Revitalising Power of Reason!
Can philosophy shoulder the burdens of the world? Yes, ideas shape the world! How to understand the world?To understand the world,you have to have a philosophy! No philosophy,no world!Yes,as simple as that! But it took 2,000 or more years to reach that conclusion! How to judge the present situation of the world? Optimistic? Or, pessimistic? …
An open letter to the Prime Minister of India
“Tagore’s University in progressive decline!” “Please do something to save the institution!” Visiting Calcutta and Santiniketan After 20 long years! The plane approaches Dum Dum almost without any sign of the great city down below. Once you are out of the airport, you notice again all the relics of a bygone era, the dust-laden grime,…