Scientists' Oratory

Once on being asked as to what is a modern day laboratory, a collegue of mine in DRDL promptly replied,"In modern laboratories scientists are engaged in less of Lab work and more of oratory." I remembered him the other day after I saw the proceedings of an international symposium at I.I.C.T.,Hyderabad. Prof. CNR Rao,chairman of the prime minister's advisory committee on science and technology, shared his valuable thoughts by observing,"Science needs a lot of generosity.As a scientist, you need to give a lot to your students. But science is not doing well in India because we are too selfish." Not to be seen as left behind, Dr.R.A. Mashelkar, former chief of CSIR stressed,"We need to look at this country as 1.2 billion brains and not as 1.2 billion mouths." and that "innovation was needed to access equality for everyone despite income inequality." My friend was right in describing the modern day laboratories.

Bura jo dekhan mein chala.....

Question arises, are we always good at all times? Don't we all have our positive and negative points? While it is good to accept ourselves and other people the way they are, with all their positive and negative points, it is more important to accept that all of us have been good and bad at different points in our life. Are we always right about everything that we say and do? Don't we all make mistakes and are we not wrong on several occasions? Depending on the context, the situation, the person, the time and the state of mind and heart, we behave differently at different points. Then, why do we malign a person because of our coloured vision and prejudices? Why do we allow ourselves this indulgence of making sweeping generalisations? Perhaps we were unfortunate to interact with this person at the wrong time or the situation was not right. Let us learn to think in a mature manner and rise above our own prejudices. Let us not measure everyone with the yardstick of our own experiences. Let us not form opinions about people and pass judgement on their behaviour based on a few isolated experiences. And then before we raise an accusing finger on other people, let us ponder more seriously on our own flaws and try to improve on them ( a very difficult thing to accept and implement indeed!).

Poetic renaissance

The purity of ideas is like air, and continuity of life comes from keeping it fresh and free for all. It enters our system and with a sense of metabolic psychological continuity makes us do different things. Today the media takes out one's inner quest and fills the mindspace with what helps them bring eyeballs. Sensationalising politics, condensing and repackaging cricket and devaluing films and glamorising the tinsel world does not leave the common man with time to delve inside, to find his deeper connect with art. The future of our nation lies in the realm of visionary global creativity and not escapist consumerism. We have inherited their lingua franca only to remain second to the original, be looked down upon and ridiculed. Now our entire Indian elite has no choice. Even if it wants to connect with its own poetic world, it can't. It is a tragedy for the future of Indian renaissance.

Itching Fingers

Carrom has an intelligent beauty about it, and also a lot of Newtonian physics.
If measuring the right force, mass and acceleration to propel a disk with the force emanated from the tip of one's fingers is a crucial aspect of carrom, having an intution for Euclidian geometry is another. How to knock one of your coins that is partially eclipsed by your opponent's piece into a pocket is a skill that mixes neuro-engineering with a politician's feel for the force. And when a particularly acute-angled shot leads to a coin sliding across the wooden board and into a pocket--hit not too hard that the striker too goes in but also not too slow that the disk freezes midway--we witness a beautiful act of the calibre of a Federer forehand, a Laxman leg glance or a Messi chip.
Carrom needs that kind of "theoretical support" where experts will talk about matches, make legends out of great games,build heroes,disseminate and discuss key moments of carrom history. The thought of a crisp, super slo-mo TV replay of a glorious bisecting shot pocketing a coin along with an intelligent commentary could give you goosebumps.
Sad that Chennai based A.Maria Irudayam is not a known name even in India despite being a two-time World Carrom Champion, a nine time national champion and a recipient of Arjuna Award.

The Little Professors

At every stage in our lives, the presence of a teacher is imperative. Our parents become our first tutors, holding our hands and literally helping us to stand on our feet. When we start going to school, the teachers dedicate themselves to inculcating values and morals in us to make us worthy denizens of Mother Earth. Even after we settle down in our respective careers most of us feel the need of a Guru. Hence, we seek the guidance of spiritual masters who become the beacon in our lives and guide us in the right direction. In this elite list of illustrious teachers who help us graduate successfully in the school of Life, I propose to add another group: our children.
Childhood is an absolutely pure phase when there are no barriers regarding gender, caste, creed or wealth until we, 'well minded' adults, knowingly or unknowingly, teach them lessons of divisiveness through our words and actions. Instead of doing that, why not observe how a child behaves equally with one and all, and imbibe the trait? It will help alleviate so much pain and misery.