Miscellany

'Recipe for success: Study while others are sleeping; work while others are loafing; prepare while others are playing; and dream while others are wishing'

Being defeated is often a temporary condition; giving up is what makes it permanent.

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J.K.Rowling wrote her first story, about a rabbit named Rabbit, when she was five or six years old.

Wrote much of the first Harry Potter book in a cafe in Edinburg, Scotland, since her apartment was unheated.

In 2000 she became the highest earning woman in Britain, netting about $30 million.

The idea for Harry Potter came to J.K. Rowling while she was traveling in a train.

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Are you a regular user of the computer? Then you might find this quite helpful. Is your mouse playing tricks ? Is your keyboard functioning okay ?

You will love using short cuts. Check this out - a right click on the mouse is the same as shift+F10 on the keyboard. If your mouse is acting strangely - not following your orders ? Then it needs cleaning. There is a ball inside that can be reached by removing the small cover at the bottom. Clean the ball with a soft cloth or tissue. Remove the dust from the inside, too. Replace the ball and the cover, and your mouse is back to form working as before.

Normally the mouse is operated with the right hand. If you are left hander, nobody can stop you from using it with your left hand. Just click the Start, Settings, Control Panel. Double click on the Mouse Icon. In the mouse properties dialog box, click the button tab. Then you cn select either the left or right hand for your button configuration. Press Enter, and you are done.

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The shortest national anthem, which is only four lines long. The longest is Greek national anthem, which is 158 verses long.

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The Japanese word Karaoke stems from the words 'kara' which is short for 'karano' meaning 'empty', and 'oke' which is short for 'okesutora' meaning 'orchestra'. Japanese singer Daisuke Inone made a tape recorder that played a song for a 100 yen coin, thus, inventing the karaoke machine in 1971. But he never bothered to patent it, losing his chance to become one of Japan's richest man.

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The world's first football club - Sheffield FC was founded in 1857 by Colonel Nathaniel Cresswick and Major William Priest, two British army officers.

In 1891, James Naismith, a physical education instructor, introduced modern basketball.

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Want to give pictures or paper an old ancient look for special projects? Just dip blank paper in cold tea and let it dry to make it look like an ancient manuscript or parchment. Pictures can be treated likewise to look old.

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· 1890 Dr. Herman Hollerith constructs an electromechanical machine using perforated cards for use in the US census.

· 1896 Hollerith founds the Tabulating Machine Co. and constructs a sorting machine.

· 1933 First electronic talking machine, the Voder is built by Dudley, who follows in 1939 with Vocoder (Voice coder).

· 1941 Colossus computer is designed by Alan M. Turing and built by M.H.A. Neuman at the university of Manchester, England. Konrad Zuse builds the Z3 computer in Germany, the first calculating machine with automatic control of its operations.

· 1944 Mark 1 (IBM ASCC) is completed, based on the work of Professor Howard H. Aiken at Harvard and IBM. It is a relay based computer.

· 1944 Grace Murray Hopper starts a distinguished career in the computer industry by being the first programmer for the Mark 1.

· 1946 Binac (Binary Automatic Computer), the first computer to operate in real time is started by Eckert and Mauchly, it is completed in 1949.

· 1946 ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer), with 18000 vacuum tubes, is dedicated at the University of Pennsylvania. It was 8 x 100 feet and weighed 80 tons. It could do 5000 additions and 360 multiplications per second .

· 1948 IBM builds the Selective Sequence Electronic Calculator (SSEC), a computer with 12000 tubes.

· 1961 IBM delivers the Stretch computer to Los Alamos. This transistorized computer with 64 bit data paths is the first to use eight bit bytes, it remains operational until 1971.

· 1962 APL (A Programming Language) is developed by Ken Iverson, Harvard University and IBM

1965 CDC founds the Control Data institute to provide computer related education.

· 1991 Go Corp. releases PenPoint, an operating system for pen-based computers.

· 1993 IBM reports its worst year in history with a loss of $4.97B on revenues of $64.5B.

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NASA has built 6 air-worthy shuttles; the first orbiter, Enterprise, was not built for space flight, and was used only for testing purposes. 5 space-worthy orbiters were built : Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour. Challenger dis-intergrated 73 seconds after launch in 1986, and Endeavour was

built as replacement. Columbia broke apart during re-entry in 2003.
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More than 60 years have passed from the beginning of our journey as a free nation. We have achieved much; economically, scientifically and technically. We could do much more but for the inherent weaknesses in the leadership of those who took the reign of the country at the beginning of its freedom which still plagues the country, besieged as we are with dangers unforeseen. To overcome such dangers we have to analyse the weaknesses and surge out of it, not only to be the leader of Asia but also of the whole world with the help of our age old spiritual resources, which is our inherent strength.

India’s spiritual teachings and yoga have been working. Orient and the occident, in the opposite spheres of the globe, are meeting through the teachings and establishments of moderns. The spiritual regeneration of India will lead to its becoming the leader of the world, gaining a global unity, leading mankind towards a higher life, away from war and strife. The may be fulfilled if the majority realizes the need for it and act towards realizing the truth, today or tomorrow.

‘India must be Reborn, because her Rebirth is demanded by the future of the world. . . .It is she who must send forth from herself the future religion of the entire world, the Eternal Religion which is to harmonise all religions, science and philosophies and make mankind one soul.’- Wrote Sri Aurobindo in Bhawani Mandir, a revolutionary pamphlet.

More than 60 years have passed from the beginning of our journey as a free nation. We have achieved much; economically, scientifically and technically. We could do much more but for the inherent weaknesses in the leadership of those who took the reign of the country at the beginning of its freedom, which still plagues the country, besieged, as we are with dangers unforeseen. To overcome such dangers we have to analyse the weaknesses and surge out of it, not only to be the leader of Asia but also of the whole world with the help of our age old spiritual resources, which is our inherent strength.

Jawaharlal Nehru, a fine orator, scholar and gifted writer, was fond of dabbling seriously with words and dreaming the fine things. But in spite of all fine speculations he failed in taking right actions at the right times. It was unfortunate that the charge of free India was entrusted on his shoulders by the one who was a kingpin of his time in Indian polity. The choice of Nehru was one of the series of blunders committed by M. K. Gandhi which resulted in the failure of almost all his political actions, leading to his becoming almost a persona non grata at the beginning of India’s political freedom.

With Western education and rational mind Nehru journeyed through India in the company of the mighty travellers from China and Western and Central Asia, who came here in the remote past. With others he too observed, ‘Surely India could not have been what she undoubtedly was, and could not have continued a cultural existence for thousands of years, if she had not possessed something very vital and enduring, something that was worthwhile. What was this something?’ 1

A Brahmin pundit from Kashmir, Nehru denied his heritage, he was not spiritual in any sense so it seems that he never realized that something.

It is to his credit that he created the voluminous The Discovery of India, a history and culture of Indian past and present within a period of some five months in Ahmednagar Fort Prison in 1944. In view of the fact that there are large number of quotations and references, it seems that either the writer had access to all such books quoted in the prison itself or he might have quoted from other books as secondary sources or the book was later edited though he mentioned that no additions or changes were made later.

However, we know him through this book- ‘I do not usually burden my mind with such philosophical or metaphysical problems. . . . But usually it is action and the thought of action that fill me . . . ‘2

Without denying the fact that there were great people who professed divinity, without denying the existence of the beyond, the invisible world, he did not bother to go into them for ‘Religion, as I saw practiced, and accepted even by thinking minds . . . did not attract me . . . . superstitious practices and dogmatic beliefs . . . . certainly not that of science.’ 3

Mysticism irritated him. He thought that they were intellectual speculations which did not affect his life. Though the logic of karma and soul had some appeal to him, any idea of personal god seemed very odd to him. ‘While I accepted the fundamentals of the socialist theory, I did not trouble myself about its numerous inner controversies. I had little patience with leftist groups in India.’ 4

He was, in short, interested in this world, in this life, not in the other world or the future life. Not a Marxist, he understood the Vedas and the Upanishads through the spectacles of the Western scholars. He did not have an iota of spiritual sense though on it was built the edifice of Indian culture.

Once on 13 June 1963, he with his entourage, visited the Mother of Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry. Two days later while talking to her disciple she said, ‘I saw Nehru – it’s awful! Understands nothing, nothing, nothing, absolutely obtuse . . . . you see, he takes Gandhi’s asceticism for spiritual life- always the same mistake! There’s no way to pull them out of it, unfortunately the whole world has caught the same idea. . . .

‘I had asked S.M. (Surendra Mohan Ghose, the Congress leader) to come while Nehru was here (he is a friend of Nehru. . . .) and S.M. did all the talking. But I saw that if he had been silent, if Nehru had been sitting in his armchair with me, saying nothing and no one to listen to, he couldn’t have stayed! He would have left. It would have been too strong, he couldn’t have stayed.’ 5

Let us see how he acted in the country’s affairs before and after he became the first Prime Minister of India for 17 years.

With the fall of Penang and Singapur, as the Japanese advanced in Malay, England faced a dangerous situation in April 1942 against the Nazis and Japan who threatened to invade Burma and India. The British War Cabinet sent a mission under Sir Stafford Cripps, expecting Indian cooperation, offering Dominion Status to India. This was a dangerous as well as special situation. Sri Aurobindo the yogi had foreseen the boon of the offer. He welcomed Cripps and his offer and the later responded positively. He sent a telegram to the Congress- ‘Accept, whatever the conditions, otherwise it will be worse later on.’ 6

He sent his messenger, Barristar Duraiswami Iyer, who met Gandhi and the Working Committee separately. Among other things, Sri Aurobindo’s view was that British imperialism was an old decaying one but Japanese imperialism was a greater menace. He advised cooperation with the British in collaboration with the Muslim strength. While Duraiswami met with stony silence from the Working Committee members, Gandhi advised Sri Aurobindo through him to come out and lead the country, saying that Bengal needed him most. Sri Aurobindo was away from direct politics from 1910 but he had interest for the country’s welfare, worked to the extent possible in yogic way for the whole humanity. Gandhi further said, ‘Why is that man meddling? He should be concerned only with spiritual life.’ 7

There is a feeling of grudge in Gandhi’s question and kind advice. The Mother had given the reason for it too during her talks. Many others later realised and K. M. Munshi, a prominent minister, said publicly in 1951 that had they accepted Sri Aurobindo’s advice, there would not have been any partition later. Partition brought in its trail blood-bath, human loss, refugees, hatred, war with Pakistan and terrorism. What perpetual holocaust! Could they not be avoided?

On 8 August 1942 the Quit India resolution was passed. The next morning most of the leaders were arrested and put behind the bars. They were brought out for discussions when the British could no more continue to safely keep the Indian empire. The Quit India movement took its expected shape, mostly non-violent. So it is not that Gandhi, Nehru and their group led the non-violent movement towards Indian freedom.

Before the resolution, though Nehru felt depressed with the report of the Mission, he tried with C. Rajagopalachary, it is said, to accept the proposal. So with a demurral, with a prick of conscience for having lost the chance, Nehru later observed- ‘A revolutionary change, both political and economic, is not only needed in India but would appear to be inevitable. At the end of 1939, soon after the war started, and again, in April, 1942, there seemed to be a faint possibility of such a change taking place by consent between India and England. But those possibilities and opportunities passed because every basic change was feared. 8

That Subhas Chandra Bose escaped from the country on the night of January 16-17, 1941 was a great relief to many, who were seeking the throne and their supporters. But Subhas Chandra and Vallabhbhai Patel were many times more efficient than Nehru to be the Prime Minister of India. Gandhi knew that Patel was a real Hindu but not anti-Muslim. ‘It would be a travesty of truth to describe Sardar as anti-Muslim’, Gandhi assured the Muslim leaders. Patel would have broken ties with Nehru more than once but Gandhi made him promise to support Nehru as the Prime Minister and to cooperate with him- an example of personal favouritism at the cost of the country. That is why Nehru became the Congress President in 1946, after a long spell of Presidentship by Maulana Azad, to be the Prime Minister next. He disregarded later the naming of Jinnah as the Prime Minister by Gandhi.

Gandhi non-cooperated with Subhas when he became Congress President for the second term in 1939 against his own man, Pattabhi Sitaramaya. Here we may say that non-violence does not mean non-killing only. Non-violence is in action and thought also. Non-cooperation by Gandhi and his clique with Subhas brought a series of massacres later. Subhas’s going out was disastrous for him and many others though it helped to gain the Indian freedom beyond the conception of most of the leaders. Let us remember him, the Chief Commander of the Indian National Army, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, with a Jai Hind.

After his total disappearance, called death by them, Gandhi observed as the consequence of it, ‘The whole country has been roused and even the regular forces have been stirred into a new political consciousness and have begun to think in terms of Independence.’ 9

Gandhiji did not dream of what Subhas did. And let us see what Jawaharlal felt about it. ‘The story of Indian National Army, formed in Burma and Malaya during war years, spread suddenly throughout the country and evoked an astonishing enthusiasm. The trial by court martial of some of its officers aroused the country as nothing else had done, and they became the symbol of India fighting for freedom. . . Hindu and Muslim and Sikh and Christian were all represented in that army. They had solved the communal problem amongst themselves, and so why should we not do so?’ 10

We know how miserably they failed to do it- Gandhi, Nehru and other leaders of both Hindus and Muslims- during the independence time.

The march of time and events were not lagging behind. Those who really acted did not fear. Congress leaders with Muslim League were summoned to the negotiation table.

On 8 May 1946 the Cabinet Mission offered two schemes of independence- Scheme A for united India with options for provinces and princely states to decide their fate later with a lose federation, with more powers for the provinces than the Centre. Scheme B proposed a divided India. Though Muslim League gave their consent to accept Scheme A with certain conditions, Nehrus did not agree to go with a weak Central Government. So a divided India with its inevitable choice of Nehru as the Prime Minister was the only path left. Many have observed that this was the last opportunity of remaining united while gaining freedom. It would be immensely beneficial for India, Asia and the World, they have argued.

However much depressed Nehru had become, the two communities, provinces and princely states were accorded choice to decide their future in the Cripps proposal. The British Government always made it a point to include such clauses in their agreement with Indian parties while proposing to give freedom.

In June 1947 V J Patel was given charge of 565 princely rulers with options to merge their territories with India in two months before 15 August 1947. With apt negotiations he brought all princely states within the fold of Indian Union except three- Kashmir, Junagadh and Hyderabad which too later agreed to become parts of India. In Hyderabad he used force quite efficiently. But he was not allowed to do so in respect of Kashmir for the Deputy Prime Minister was under Nehru, a man more internationalist than nationalist with a mind concentrated not on India alone.

The Maharaja of Kashmir, Hari Singh, signed a stand-still agreement with India and Pakistan on 18 August 1947 but the agreement was violated by Pakistan. Tribesmen from there invaded Kashmir on 22 October 1947. Nehru, on 27 October 1947 congratulated the Maharaja for his agreement and for his letter to the Governor General of India. He decided to send Indian Army troops to Kashmir and mentioned all arrangements to the Maharaja seeking his help and ended his letter- ‘The way the people of Kashmir, Muslim, Hindu and Sikh, are facing the situation and preparing to defend their country is most heartening. I trust that in this defence we shall give a demonstration to all India and to the world how we can function united and in a non-communal way in Kashmir. In this way this terrible crisis in Kashmir may well lead to a healing of the deep wound which India has suffered in recent months.’

But the historians have held him responsible for further developments and the debacle. They think that he lacked the courage and determination too. He referred the invasion of Kashmir to the UNO in January 1948. P.O.K. was created and the internecine problems with Pakistan and terrorists continue till date. If the Iron-Man was in the Prime Minister’s chair, they think that this would never have happened.

After the partition and transfer of power, ‘Gandhi, sidelined by his erstwhile lieutenants, wandered about the country . . . . like some later day Lear . . . to quell the communal furies. . .’, commented Anil Seal, a modern historian. 11

He further wrote that Gandhi’s own brand of social conservatism through personal reformation, his project to uplift Harijans, desire to take India back to its traditional non-industrial rural roots, keeping communal harmony through Satyagraha and the desire of curbing violence just remained as fragile crust of order in Indian society. His civil disobedience movements scratched the surface of Indian society. They had not shaken the British Raj. ‘Gandhi’s love affair with the India of his dreams had left him jilted.’- Wrote Seal. 12

Acharya Kripalani said in 1954 that, ‘Nehru became a prominent leader of the freedom struggle basically because of the colonial mindset of the Indians. He is an Englishman in Indian clothing. So the respect for him.’

So we found him friendlier with Lord Mountbatten and his wife. So a book, Freedom at Midnight, describing such things vividly, received the grace of the press and his followers in the Government.

Nehru praised China often and on in his Discovery of India- ‘India and China look towards each other and past memories crowd in their minds; again pilgrims of a new kind cross or fly over the mountains that separate them, bringing their messages of cheer and goodwill and creating fresh bonds of a friendship that will endure.’ 13

So he tried to befriend them with bond of Pachasheel, with a loud slogan- Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai.

The friends, crossing the mountains, suddenly attacked us on 20 October 1962 and rapidly pushed inside on 26 October. A mini war! Many braced death heroically. India declared a state of emergency. Unprepared, Indian troops were utterly defeated by the then militarily weak China, who a month later unilaterally declared a ceasefire and withdrew troops.

The Mother of Sri Aurobindo Ashram who knew the Chinese people through her occult sense and eyes, acted on them spiritually and caused their withdrawal. She said that they wanted domination. They claimed huge land in India as theirs. They have recently claimed an area of 90000 sq km of Indian territory including Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, as theirs.

Speaking about Nehru, Mother said on 15 June 1963, ‘It seems that when the Chinese attacked it was a violent blow to his conviction; he thought it impossible that the Chinese would do such a thing (!) He was very deeply shattered.

‘Naturally, they see no further than the tips of their noses, and then they are surprised when circumstances (laughs) don’t agree!’ 14

Rajeev Srinivasan, in the Special Independence Day Issue, 2004 of Outlook, made a strong case against India’s undesirable defeat in the hands of the Chinese. Nehru personally helped China to get a seat in the UN Security Council. India is still hankering after it. Nehru could neither imbibe the heritage of India nor could he be a true socialist. He dreamt of a socialistic type of society. For his weakness India lost the war to the communist imperialist aggressors, who have annexed Free Tibet for their own benefit. Indian Government is still as weak as it was before, not able to speak the truth.

Sri Aurobindo, the yogi, warned from his secluded room in 1950 about the possibility of Chinese aggression on India and of occupying Tibet.

Tibet is the source of rivers that give water to the subcontiment and to some other South Asian countries. Brahmaputra, Mekong, Irrawaddy originate there. It has controls over Ganga-Brahmaputra-Doab valley. In Tibets high plains China stock nuclear missiles, dump nuclear wastes. In open day light China has colonized Tibet, destroyed its religion and culture. It poses a great danger to India.

Mother never considered Nehru as a worthy Prime Minister though she, on his death said in a message, ‘Nehru leaves his body but his soul is one with the Soul of India that lives for Eternity.’ 15 But it is a matter of soul, beyond Nehru’s ken and concern.

Indira Gandhi became the General Secretary of the Congress during Nehru’s time. It was the platform for her to become the Prime Minister of India from 1966-77 and 1980-84. She proved to be a very strong woman of India but she had to adopt several harmful methods and actions mainly to secure her political position. She had greater understanding than her father, the Mother said and helped her. But the declaration of emergency in 1975 resulted in horribly upsetting the progress of the country. Her sons got the opportunity of pushing their ways unofficially. Her time has been marked as dark economic age in which 50 Acts, many draconian, were passed.

Indira made her son Rajiv the G.S. of the Congress resulting in his becoming the Prime Minister of India. After him, his wife has become the party president and she has made her son the same, General Secretary of the party. The move may be guessed.

Sri Aurobindo, the prophet of Indian nationalism and the poet of patriotism, as said C. R. Das in the Alipore court, was the founder of Spiritual Nationalism. He with B. G. Tilak, Bepin Chandra Pal and Lala Lajpat Rai lead the Indian freedom movement at the beginning of the twentieth century. Referring to that Karan Singh wrote, ‘The nationalist movement moved out of the conference halls of the elite and entered the streets and villages.’16

In his message to the nation through Tiruchirappally Radio on the occasion of Indian independence falling on his 75^th birthday on 15 August 1947, Sri Aurobindo spoke of his five dreams, the third being, ‘Another dream, spiritual gift of India to the world has already begun. India’s spirituality is entering Europe and America in an ever increasing measure. That movement will grow; amid the disasters of the time more and more eyes are turning towards her with hope and there is even an increasing resort not only to her teachings but to her psychic and spiritual practice.’

In spite of disasters, we know how his hope is being fulfilled. In spite of the nuclear bomb dangling over our heads, with all reverence to Techno-India’s grand target by 2020 as set by A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, with all reverence to the spree of software growth and industrialization, we may say that India’s spiritual teachings and yoga have been working. Orient and the occident, in the opposite spheres of the globe, are meeting through the teachings and establishments of moderns like Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Yogananda Paramahansa, Mahesh Yogi and the latest, like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Amritanandamayee Mata, Satya Sai Baba and the nearest activist, Swamy Ramdev, who has been demonstrating physical asanas and pranayamas to help mankind keep sound health and mind. More the age old Indian culture spread more the mankind will be benefited against all negative forces like war and terrorism, pernicious drugs and experimental medical treatment. These are the positive sides of spiritualism against the exclusive materialism.

India, almost a continent, containing almost all the physical, mineral and environmental varieties of the world, is the cradle of one of the oldest civilizations on earth. I wish to share Rabindranath Tagore’s sentiment that my birth here is significant. Many things come to the mind as to how we can build a New India. While there are innumerable opinions and beliefs, we may put forward our ideas in the background of what has already been discussed in brief outlines, for each becomes a subject when we come to realize it through discussions and actions.

Sorry, we cannot accept Nehru as the Gentle Colossus, as wrote Hiren Mukherjee, the CPI leader whose birth centenary is here. The result of Nehru’s presence as Prime Minister has been observed. What has happened in the vast modern India with such intelligent man power towards development, is less than expected. None of the Nehru family contributed exceptionally towards building of the nation except creating slogans. Two stalwarts among them were, very unfortunately, brutally killed. We do not understand how after all monarchies gone, hierarchy continues in a modern democratic republic like India or how does a democratic party put forward such a scheme of placement superseding all superiors and seniors. India stands for thousands of years. Let each discover it according to his consciousness, taste and capacity but can others be compelled by such discoveries? It is for the good of the family and the country that such a thing is discontinued forthwith.

We want a united India; it is quite possible at least on the basis of federation of countries. All the communities living in this subcontinent will be benefited by it.

The history and heritage of all ages, as far as possible, must be preserved without being tainted by different ideas. Students must be given the differing views about the past written by eminent writers helping them to come to their own conclusions.

If cast is an old issue we wish to annul, how could we play with it for our political mileage? Free India is more than 60 years old- most of all who were deprived for the prevalence of cast system have passed their life time. Reservations or suppression of merits cannot continue for ever. Let the opportunities for education and training be opened to all with special care for the deprived and less developed ones but merit must be given due honour for the country’s well being.

Trafficking is a heinous crime. Victims are terrorized by various means. In a civilized society it must be stopped. Why on earth some women should live separately, why their main activity shall be to sell their bodies? Are there not many other functions of human beings and do such persons not have many such qualities to work on besides selling their bodies? Why should they be called sex workers? Large numbers of people have vested interests in them but it must be noted that no such person is noble or great in any sense, none of them is really a friend of the victims. Sweden has passed a unique law: They treat buying sex and broking for it as criminal activities whereas all the prostitutes are treated as victims. If a civilized society aspires to progress it should give up the system of harlotry, abolish the brothels. Similarly all transsexuals should be honourably rehabilitated in the society as they too can do everything except sexually, in the normal way, which is in no sense a real bar in life. We should sympathize with them for the nature’s onslaught on them.

Nature and Wildlife must not be allowed to be further dwindled if we have to continue to live like human beings. Proper environment must be maintained. Villages must not be made hybrid products while facilities of the modern world should reach there. Agriculture and agriculturists in a country like India must be given their proper share in life and society. Industrialization and proliferation of software should be done in harmony with other sectors of economy.

While it is individual right to belong to any religious group or not, to accept God or not, no one should play with religions for political or such gains with the net of secularism. Proselytizing should be prohibited. Spiritualism is above ritualistic ordinary religions. Once mankind embraces it there would not remain petty quarrels over religions. Sri Aurobindo brought down the highest spiritual consciousness, the Supramental light and force for the upliftment of mankind, supported and helped by the Mother. It is open to man to aspire for it towards higher life leading to Life Divine. Sri Aurobindo wrote on 14.1.1931 ‘The Supramental is not inconsistent with a full vital and physical manifestation: on the contrary, it carries in it the only possibility of the full fullness of the vital force and the physical life on earth. . . . All other yogas regard this life as an illusion or a passing phase; the supramental yoga alone regards it as a thing created by the Divine for a progressive manifestation and takes the fulfillment of the life and the body for its object.’ 17

The spiritual regeneration of India will lead to its becoming the leader of the world, gaining a global unity, leading mankind towards a higher life, away from war and strife. The may be fulfilled if the majority realize the need for it and act towards realizing the truth, today or tomorrow.

EDUCATION AND YOUTH IN A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY
------by Nani A. Palkhivala
(This text is based on the Convocation Address to Karnataka University Graduates on 2nd Feb. 1974 at Dharwar, Karnataka)

THE ROLE OF EDUCATION IN A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY

Education has made vast strides since we attained Independence. We have about 100 universities today, as against 19 in 1947. Today the number of affiliated colleges and university teaching institutions exceeds 3,000 in the aggregate, as against less than 700 in 1947. Enrolment in the arts and science colleges has increased from 212,000 in 1946-47 to 2.5 million today.

But the multiplication of universities and colleges has hardly kept pace with the insatiable needs of the world's most populous democracy. By and large, our educational system has not been adequate for the task of turning out a sufficient number of young leaders who can lift the country out of the polluted waters of our public life and the slime and sludge of a corrupted economy.

The first objective of higher education should be to turn out integrated personalities in whom have been inculcated nobles ideals. As Alfred North Whitehead said, "The vigour of civilized societies is preserved by the widespread sense that high aims are worthwhile. Vigorous societies harbour a certain extravagance of objectives, so that men wander beyond the safe provision of personal gratifications". On the university campus we must stress the importance of individual self-fulfillments, but not self-indulgence, group cohesiveness but not group jingoism, work and achievement but not power and acquisitiveness for their own sake.

All growth depends upon energetic activity. There can be no development without effort, and effort means work. Work is not a curse to be kept at bay by holidays and bandhs; it is the prerogative of intelligence and the only instrument for national advancement. What the country needs is dirtier fingernails and cleaner minds.

Your education has been in vain if it has not fostered in you the habit of clear, independent thinking. There are well-dressed foolish ideals, just as there are well-dressed fools, and the discerning man must be able to recognize them as such. As Bertrand Russell observed, "There is no nonsense so arrant that it cannot be made the creed of the vast majority by adequate governmental action. Man is a credulous animal and must believe something; in the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones."

Without clarity of thought and readiness to admit our mistakes, it would be impossible to solve our economic problems. "A man", said Lin Yutang, "who has an ulcered stomach spends all his thoughts on his stomach, so a society with a sick and aching economy is forever preoccupied with thoughts of economics." Last December, when 17 vacancies were advertised by a State Government for jobs as unattractive as those of poorly paid social education officers in the villages, nearly one lakh of qualified graduates and post-graduates applied for the 17 vacancies. If eager boys and girls are not to be thrown on the scrapheap of the unemployed, it is imperative that we stop our ideological incursions into the higher forms of irrationality. If we cannot have economic policies that make for plenty, let us at least have policies that make sense. It is so sad to find the anguished cry still going up in India, "Oh God, that bread should be so dear, and flesh and blood so cheap."

A University campus is the one place where the virtues of discipline and non-violence should be written as with a sunbeam on every student's mind. Undisciplined trade unionism is as dangerous as undisciplined capitalism; and undisciplined demagogy is as dangerous as undisciplined student power.

We can do with a little more of the spirit of moderation. Learned Hand, one of the greatest judges of the century, defined the spirit of moderation as "the temper which does not press a partisan advantage to its bitter end, which can understand and will respect and other side, and which feels a unity between all citizens." This is in contradistinction to the spirit of fanaticism which, said George Santayana, consists in redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim. Democracy depends upon habits of consent and compromise which are attributes only of mature political societies. The lawful Government by the majority, under the rule of abiding law, and with freedom of opposition and dissent, is, both geographically and historically, an exceptional human achievement rather than the normal way of organizing nations. Where the spirit of moderation does not prevail, society degenerates into divisions and hatred replaces goodwill.

When we live in a democracy, we live in hazard. There is no amenable God in it, no particular concern or particular mercy. Democracy involves the co-operation of all perceptive citizens in the active work of running the country. It means payment to the State, not only in taxes but in time and though. In Daniel Webster's memorable words, "Nothing will ruin the country if the people themselves will undertake its safety; and nothing can save it if they leave that safety in any hands but their own." When new dangerous tremors are working their way through the subsoil of our national life, it is only the character and dedication of the young generation that can ensure the survival of freedom. Always keep before your mind's eye Buddha's last words to his disciples: "Look not for refuge to anyone besides yourselves."

My heart is warmed and gladdened to be at the Seventh Convocation of this young and forward-looking University. I extend my hearty congratulations and good wishes to those who have carried away the prizes. My sincere wish is - May God grant them the fulfillment, in their mature years, of the promise of their college days. I know how much industry, patience and stern discipline, and how many hours of self-denying toil, are represented by the young men and women who have distinguished themselves at the examinations. To the others who have also taken their degree at this Convocation I wish a bright future and fulfilling life-work.

As regards those who have not been as successful in their examinations as they thought they deserved to be, I can only recall the words of Professor Walter Raleigh that the College Final and the Day of Judgment are two different examinations. They may also take some consolation from the fact that A.E. Housman, the great scholar of Greek and Latin, and better known as a poet, once failed in the papers on those very languages at the Oxford University. His biographer Richard comments, "The nightingale got no prize at the poultry show."

Before I say a few words to my fellow students, -- I call you fellow students because, I hope, I have not stopped learning, -- I would like to pay my tribute to the teachers and professors here and at the other universities of our country who trim the silver lamp of knowledge and keep its sacred flame bright from generation to generation. They expend their lives on significant but unadvertised work. Quite a few of them plough the lonely furrow of scholarship. Their dedication bears witness to the selflessness of the human spirit.

In the hoary history of our land there is one fact which deserves to be brought to the surface of our minds. In ancient India, Kings and Emperors thought it a privilege to sit at the feet of a man of learning. Intellectuals and men of knowledge were given the highest honour in society. King Janaka, himself a philosopher, journeyed, on foot into the jungle to discourse with Yajnavalkya on high matters of State. In the 8th century Sankaracharya traveled on foot from Kerala to Kashmir and from Dwarka in the West to Puri in the East. He could not have changed men's minds and established centers of learning in the farflung corners of India but for the great esteem and reverence which intellectuals enjoyed.

Unfortunately, in our own times we have down-graded the intellectual and have in fact devalued the very word. Today an "intellectual" means a man who is intelligent enough to know on which side his bread is buttered.

And now I would like to say a few words to the graduates who are about to face the struggle of life. It has been said that there are two kinds of fools in the world - those who give advice and those who do not take it. I propose to belong to the first category, in the hope that you will not belong to the second.

Education has been called the technique of transmitting civilization. In order that it may transmit civilization, it has to perform two major functions: it must enlighten the understanding, and it must enrich the character.

The two marks of a truly educated man, whose understanding has been enlightened, are the capacity to think clearly and intellectual curiosity.

In the 18th century, Dean Swift said that the majority of men were as fit for flying as for thinking. Technology has made it possible for men to fly, or atleast to sit in a contraption that flies, but it has not made it possible for men to think. If your education has made it possible for your to think for yourself on the problems which face you and which face the country, your college has done very well by you. If this habit of thinking for yourself has not yet been inculcated in you, you would be well advised to acquire it after you leave the college. As the cynic remarked, a formal education at a university cannot do you much harm provided you start learning thereafter. The capacity to think clearly should enable the student to sift, and reject when necessary, the ideas and ideologies which are perpetually inflicted on him by the mass media of communication. It should enable him to realize that these mass media are in chains,--- in chains to the foolish and narrowing purposes of selling consumer goods, and to the narrowing and stifling purposes of politics. A liberal education is a prophylactic against unthinking acceptance of the modern "mantras" which are kept in current circulation by the mass media.

If you have imbibed the ability to think clearly, you will adopt an attitude of reserve towards ideologies that are popular and be critical of nostrums that are fashionable. It is true that in a democracy the majority view should prevail. But never make the mistake of thinking that the validity of a proposition or the correctness of a doctrine depends on the number of people who believe in it. As you grow older, the truth will come to you that in the fields of politics and economics, the soundness of an ideology is often in inverse proportion to the popular support it commands.

As Alfred Marshall said, "Students of social science must fear popular approval; evil is with them, when all men speak well of them. It is almost impossible for a student to be a true patriot and have the reputation of being one at the same thing."

Intellectual curiosity would enable the student to continue, nay, to intensify, the process of learning after he has come out of the comfortable cocoon of the University and is thrown into the maelstrom of life. Over the centuries, mankind has built up a treasure house of art and knowledge, --- of thoughts that wander through eternity, and of art which is the wide world's memory of things. The pursuit of knowledge and the exploration of the priceless cultural heritage of India and other countries, are too vast for the longest life. After all, any human life, long or short, is just a brief candle---

"Life is but a wintry day;
Some come to breakfast and away;
Others to dinner stay
And are full fed;
The oldest man but sups
And goes to bed."

A well-furnished mind is as rare as a well lived life. I hope you will not commit the error, as you go through life, of merely doing your chore day after day. Reserve a few minutes for great literature. I would recommend to you the habit of reading at least a few pages of an immortal classic every morning before going down into the battle and the chocking dust of the day. It is amazing how great books of yore replenish life and make it fuller and richer. In the beautiful words of T.S. Eliot, which are inscribed on his tomb in Westminster Abbey, "The communication of the ideal is tongued with a fire beyond the language of the living."

Inevitably, the young men and women who are about to face the world will find disappointment and disillusionment in store for them. They will be inclined to agree with the witty skeptic who suggested that the vast astronomical distances may be God's quarantine precautions: they prevent the infection of a fallen species from spreading.

Let me now come to the second function of education - enriching the character. What we need today more than anything else is moral leadership, --- founded on courage, intellectual integrity and a sense of values.

As Sir James Barrie said in his address to a famous Scottish University. "Courage goes all the way." We are surrounded by too many persons who are willing to compromise ad temporize. We have in our midst far too many "boneless wonders". With such men, expediency is all. A man who has the courage never to submit or yield is like a rock in the wilderness of shifting sand.

In India today there are shortages of many commodities, but nothing is so scarce as intellectual integrity. Closer contact with the world will convince you that intellectual integrity is a much rarer quality than financial integrity. The treason of the intellectual consists in his not speaking out loud and clear for the values that he, by his vision and the very nature of his personality, holds sacred. What is needed is the resolute courage to stand up and be counted in support of a view which is not popular. Everyone finds it easy to swim with the tide. The great scientist G.H. Hardy said, "It is never worth a first classman's time to express a majority opinion. By definition, there are plenty of others to do that."

There is no substitute for a sense of values. As Einstein observed, "It is essential that the student acquire an understanding of a lively feeling for values. He must acquire a vivid sense of the beautiful and of the morally good. Otherwise he - with his specialized knowledge - more closely resembles a well trained dog than a harmoniously developed person". These are pregnant words. They do not exaggerate the importance of a sense of values in your future life.

A nation cannot live by the gross national product alone. The quality of life is even ore important. In a free democracy like ours the quality of life is to a large extent determined by the availability of the basic human rights and civil liberties, which are placed in the Chapter on Fundamental Rights in our Constitution. I have no doubt that as the years go by, you will become more and more conscious of how farsighted our constitution makers were in guaranteeing these Fundamental Rights to our people, because without them the quality of life would be gravely impaired. We are quite right in making constant endeavours to the standard of living of our people. But the standard of life is even more important than the standard of living. If we lose our sensitivity towards the quality of life, it can mean that while our knowledge increases, our ignorance does not diminish.

A sense of values will enable you to find happiness within yourself and joy in the most ordinary of things which we often pass by unseeing. As Robert Louis Stevenson said in "The Celestial Surgeon"

"If beams from happy human eyes
Have move me not; if morning skies,
Books, and my food, and summer rain
Knocked on my sullen heart in vain;
Lord, Thy most pointed pleasure take
And stab my spirit broad awake."

To those of you who are familiar with the immortal heritage of India, the importance of a sense of values will need no elaboration. R.W. Emerson, who knew the literature of a dozen countries, observed that the writings of ancient India, including the Upanishads from which some extracts have been read out to you by the Vice-Chancellor, represent the summit of human thought. The knowledge of our old sages was intuitive. The other type of knowledge which is acquired from teachers and from books is repetitive, imitative and derivative.

After decades of intensive research science has come to certain conclusions which the intuitive seers of India had already recorded more than 4,000 years ago. For example, the ancient Rishis had taught that in the last analysis there is no difference between animate and inanimate matter, and the scientific advances of the last ten years seem to point to that conclusion. Likewise, what our old sages said about the nature of Ultimate Reality seems to coincide with what our greatest scientists of today think regarding the baffling nature of matter. If you have in parallel columns some quotations from our ancient classics and from the findings of modern science, you will be amazed at their correspondence. Such is our marvelous heritage, and yet we turn so seldom to it, being absorbed in passing trivialities.

Galbraith has remarked upon the contrast between the character and outlook of the poor in India as compared to other countries. Talking of the inner strength of the Indian masses, Galbraith observed that there is a "richness in their poverty". The inner strength of our people which enables them to be dignified and to hold their heads high despite their adversity is the result of our age-old tradition of spiritual values. Today there is a definite risk of our losing that richness, while failing, at the same time, to shed poverty.

There are periods in world history which are characterized by the loss of the sense of values, and the times we live in are pre-eminently such an age. All our troubles may be summed up in three lines (if I may quote T.S. Eliot again)---
"Where is the life
We have lost in living ?
Where is the wisdom
we have lost in knowledge ?
Where is the knowledge
We have lost in information ?"

At various recent Convocations, students haven been known to say bluntly that they want jobs and not degrees. I understand your problem and sympathize with your predicament. But never forget that problems of poverty and unemployment cannot be solved either by aspirations or by slogans. They are never solved by purblind ideology or by opaque ignorance masquerading as progressive politics. They can be solved - and other nations have solved them - by realistic and pragmatic economic policies which can harness the immeasurable reservoir of the people's faith and response, energy and enterprise.

My gratitude to your University for having enabled me to be with you this afternoon and to dream once more that I am young.