E D I T O R I A L   P A G E

EDITORIALS

Bush or Gore?
THE long, tedious American presidential campaign is into the last lap. Now that the two finalists have been identified, the man-to-man race will hurtle to an edge-of-the-seat climax. So far, there has not been much of negative campaigning but that possibility now looms large in the wake of the heat and dust that have been generated and will most probably become more pronounced in the days to come. Name calling, finger pointing and passing blame; all this is likely to be an integral part of the game.

Japan calling IT India
IT is heartening to see India cruising along in the fast lane of the IT highway. If the politicians and the bureaucrats do not throw the spanner in the works, as it were, the country's IT professionals now appear better equipped than others to turn India into an economic power in the world. 

OPINION

US PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN
Where have all the liberals gone?
by V. Gangadhar
THAT great historian, journalist and chronicler of American presidential elections through his “Making of the President...” series, Theodore H. White, would have shuddered at the thought of covering and then chronicling the 2000 AD presidential polls. Had he been alive and commissioned to cover the election, he would have shrunk off, preferring to write about the world series in baseball. 

OF LIFE SUBLIME

Look back as you rush ahead
by Puspa M. Bhargava
ON a rainy morning in November, 1963, my wife and I drive into Salem from Cape Comorin, on our way to Hyderabad. One of the wipers of our car had given way on the way. The weather had almost cleared and there was only a trace of a drizzle — as we drove by a garage. The person in-charge was extremely polite and, suggested that we should go and have our breakfast and by that he would fix the wipers. 

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

P.R. Kumaramangalam

FOR full one week everyone knew that Union Energy Minister Kumaramangalam was fighting a losing battle for life; yet his death has come as a shock to the entire political fraternity. Fortyeight years is no age to die, not for a man so full of life and energy. Many disagreed with him on his ideology, or lack of strict adherence to it. But as a young leader with lot of promise, he was in the league of the small number of second rung leaders like Rajesh Pilot. When such a person dies, politicians as a class lose something invisible but very powerful. Like other political parties, the BJP too is woefully short of competent young leaders ready to take over. If Pilot, who died recently in a road accident, fixed his eyes on the national scene, Ranga, as Kumaramangalam was known, was widely thought of as a future Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. It is on him that his party pinned all its hopes of widening its base and emerging as a force to reckon with. Other leaders are not known beyond their district units and certainly do not have the media exposure that he enjoyed. He was one of the few in the party who could win a Lok Sabha seat on his own without depending on the party’s appeal or the leader’s charisma. The spontaneous popular response in Tiruchirapalli to his death is a testimony to his rapport with the voters and the way he had nursed his constituency. At the state party conference at his constituency, Tiruchirapalli, early last year he talked of the BJP gaining a majority of its own and forming a government in Tamil Nadu. That stray remark was typical of his over-confidence and his weakness to speak out. That also marked the starting point of the AIADMK’s rift with the BJP, leading to Ms Jayalalitha quitting the coalition and toppling it. Another five years, he would have grown as a front-rank BJP leader and its tallest from Tamil Nadu. He was not famous for making friends but was very amiable to those close to him and enjoyed making hurtful remarks about his political rivals.

Politics was in his veins. He was a scion of an illustrious political family. His grandfather, father, mother, aunt and uncle on the paternal side and two uncles on the maternal side were leading politicians and members of the Lok Sabha. When his father Mohan Kumaramangalam died in an aircrash in 1973 he inherited his Salem constituency and also the affection of Indira Gandhi. In a manner of speaking, he owed his rapid climb in politics as much to his dynasty as to his sustained work as a student activist and a trade unionist. In Tamil Nadu, Ranga’s political base, it is very difficult to carve out a secure leadership position without being part of either of the Dravidian parties. But he proved an exception, proving the old but forgotten axiom that mass work is an antidote to the politics of negativism many practice these days. His death is bound to intensify the controversy about the failure of the Apollo hospital to diagnose his blood cancer. That disease is medically manageable but undetected it turned a routine infection of the blood into a killer. An inquiry is being ordered and the Union Health Minister, himself a reputed doctor, should block efforts to sensationalise the issue to prevent a controversy. Ranga’s death, as much of his life, had an element of drama. He easily travelled across political borders — from the Congress to the Tiwari Congress before settling down in the BJP. The last party got a ready-made leader and hence its loss is both genuine and twice over. 

Bush or Gore?

THE long, tedious American presidential campaign is into the last lap. Now that the two finalists have been identified, the man-to-man race will hurtle to an edge-of-the-seat climax. So far, there has not been much of negative campaigning but that possibility now looms large in the wake of the heat and dust that have been generated and will most probably become more pronounced in the days to come. Name calling, finger pointing and passing blame; all this is likely to be an integral part of the game. To make it a razor’s edge finish, the two candidates are evenly balanced. Democratic candidate Al Gore, after trailing behind Republican George W. Bush, has finally managed to gain a slender lead in opinion polls. A tremendous lot of bouncing and pouncing is inevitable in the days to come. The first presidential election of the new millennium is going to be about ideas as well as personalities, substance as well as packaging, bites as well as soundbytes. Mr Gore is a claimant to the legacy of the prosperous Clinton era. But at the same time he also has to emerge out of the not all that flattering Clinton shadow. That is why he made it a point to say at the party convention in Los Angeles: “I am my own man”. He has been portrayed as an automaton lacking warmth. To shed that image, he gave a lingering, passionate kiss to wife Tipper in full glare of the flashbulbs. That was a deliberate act for the nationwide audience, and is a sign of things to come. The Democrats must be hoping he will have similar tricks up his lips when televised debates start. The “dull boy” also made good use of his staid image by admitting: “I know I won’t always be the most exciting politician. But I will work for you every day and I will never let you down”. Hear, hear! Even if you have heard that many times before. On the other hand, Mr Bush comes out as a more personable, easy-going claimant. He also has the advantage of having a better set of advisers and copywriters. (The latter rubbished Mr Gore’s sundry election promises by calling them a “laundry list of old promises”.)

The problem with the campaigning is that both candidates are so well tutored that they seem to be uttering the same lines. Just as the girls taking part in a beauty pageant are all keen to serve the poor, protect the environment and devote themselves to the glorification of womanhood, the presidential hopefuls are itching to fight for the working families, the ordinary Americans. This is the time for them to promise the voters the moon, the sun and a few stars thrown in. In the media-aided hoopla, there is nobody to ask questions like where the money for all these fantastic schemes is going to come from. It has been observed in election after election that the candidates who look so promising during the preliminaries don’t measure up all that well during the final stages. Mr Gore and Mr Bush must be hoping that the apprenticeship that they, respectively, enjoyed under Mr Clinton and papa Bush will stand them in good stead. Both sides are expected to concentrate on domestic issues and foreign policy will come into the picture only in passing, if at all. Conventional wisdom is that the lead that a candidate enjoys around Labour Day, falling early next month, more or less decides who will make it to the inaugural platform in Washington in January. Right now, the bets are wide open!

Japan calling IT India

IT is heartening to see India cruising along in the fast lane of the IT highway. If the politicians and the bureaucrats do not throw the spanner in the works, as it were, the country's IT professionals now appear better equipped than others to turn India into an economic power in the world. US President Bill Clinton's visit to Hyderabad in March confirmed the country's growing clout in the field of information technology. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori too has now formally joined the club which has a healthy respect for India's contribution to the IT-related global talent pool. The healthy competition between Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka for attracting international attention to their contribution in making India a prime destination for IT talent scouts has also made other states take interest in the power of silicon. President Clinton obliged Andhra Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu by visiting Hyderabad for discussing the future and scope of strengthening the evolving IT partnership between the two democracies. This time it was the turn of Karnataka Chief Minister S.M. Krishna to play host to an equally important member of developed world. Mr Mori made the right noises during his day-long visit to Bangalore, the original silicon city of India. From all accounts it was a fruitful visit for both the Japanese and the Indian IT professionals. The high point of Mr Mori's Bangalore visit was the decision to introduce a training programme for 3,000 Indian engineers in Japanese business practices, organise an IT summit in October for drawing a road map for the future, send a Japanese economic mission to India, relax the visa regulations for Indian businessmen and promote private sector economic exchanges between the two countries.

Japan is among the leaders in the field of hardware technology while India has established itself as a key market player in the software sector. During the stopover in Bangalore Mr Mori unfolded an interesting package on "Japan-India IT Promotion and Cooperation Initiative". Minimum official interference should see the initiative blossom into a fruitful partnership between the biggest democracy and the dominant economic power of Asia. India is emerging as an important member of the new information society which is making intelligent use of the Internet not only for connecting people through computers but also for operating mobile phones, home electronic appliances, automobiles and railways. The Indian software industry should be able to take a giant leap to the top slot now that Japan has also offered a comprehensive assistance package of $ 15 billion over the next five years, particularly to countries in Asia which have the potential to meet the growing IT-related needs of the global community. Mr Mori has indirectly indicated the renewal of assistance to India, which was stopped in 1998 to express Japan's disappointment with the nuclear tests. If the script which was unfolded by him in Bangalore is not altered, the coming months should mark the beginning of a hectic phase for the Indian software sector. A visit by Japan’s Federation of Economic Organisations and the delegates to the Japan-India Business Cooperation Committee in October would mark the commencement of the season of strengthening the IT bonds of cooperation between the two countries.

US PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN
Where have all the liberals gone?
by V. Gangadhar

THAT great historian, journalist and chronicler of American presidential elections through his “Making of the President...” series, Theodore H. White, would have shuddered at the thought of covering and then chronicling the 2000 AD presidential polls. Had he been alive and commissioned to cover the election, he would have shrunk off, preferring to write about the world series in baseball. White, who chronicled the great personality battle between John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon (1960) and the ideological clash between Lyndon Johnson and Barry Goldwater (1964) would not have taken kindly to the lacklustre, bruising campaign coming up during the next four months. It is devoid of issues and revolves around personalities who matched each other in dullness and lack of vision.

As I write this, the Republican party in Philadelphia convention is over, after spending nearly $ 63 million and endorsing the George Bush (Jr)-Dick Cheney ticket. The Democratic Party convention at Los Angeles will cost an estimated $ 50 million. Vice-President Al Gore, who is the party candidate for the White House, made the surprise choice of conservative Jewish Senator, Joseph Lieberman as his running mate.

The Bush endorsement coincided with the lethal injection deaths of two convicts in Texas. Both had confessed to killings, but one of them was presumed to be mentally retarded. Their mercy petitions were rejected by the State Governor, Mr George Bush (Jr), because such an act would sully his image as “toughic” on law and order issues. Mr Lieberman’s nomination as the vice-president candidate resulted in joy among Zionist hawks in the USA and warmly welcomed by the Israeli government as well as the national opposition. There was not much talk about any further progress in the West Asian peace talks, though.

Several hours of the Philadelphia party convention was telecast live by the CNN network and reflected the changes in American politics. Over the years, people had become aware of the deteriorating quality among international politicians and nowhere was this demonstrated better than in America. The Kennedys, Nixons, Humphreys, Johnsons and Carters did have major faults, but they did have a vision of the world, several new ideas and something to offer to the USA and the rest of the world. They could at least talk of the “Brave New world” or the “Great Society”. Can anyone among the present crop of American leaders think of a concept similar to that of Kennedy’s “Peace Corps”? I doubt very much.

Despite a booming economy, unprecedented wealth and its emergence of the only super power in the world, the quality of American politicians has gone down steadily. Mr Bill Clinton, who will lay down office in January, 2001, did have a vision, but was rendered helpless by his tainted moral character. The Monica Lewinsky affair left an indelible black mark on his character which would continue to haunt him for the rest of his life. As former President George Bush once mentioned, “Being attacked on character by Mr Bill Clinton is like being called ugly by a frog. No one should worry about it.”

As the Republican convention ended and the Democratic gala was about to begin, one had a clear view of the issues for the 2000 campaign. Morality, character, strengthening of the American defence, a definite leaning to the right, tougher laws on the crime front, a more conservative moral code and ways and means to establish the US hegemony throughout the world. The new US President, backed by the Senate and Congress, will try his level best to control the United Nations, and international agencies like the World Bank and the IMF. The message from Philadelphia was clear, the world must accept the USA as a supreme power and woe to those who dared to challenge the same!

Why should the USA be rather diffident on this issue? Ever since the collapse of international communism and the levelling of the Berlin wall in the early 1990’s, the USA has become the only super power in the world. Russia, beleaguered by economic problems, secession issues and the whims of an alcoholic president, Mr Boris Yeltsin, watched helplessly as it abandoned its stellar positions in many fields and war reduced to go around with a begging bowl to the Western powers. The USA saw to it that Russia grovelled to the West for economic aid. Russia had no say in international affairs, it watched helplessly the bullying of Iraq, the expansion of NATO powers almost to the Russian borders.

And yet the Republican leadership was not satisfied. One of the key issues in the forthcoming poll will be the multi-billion dollar new missile system meant to “protect” the USA! Protect America from which hostile nation? The Bush campaign will focus on the Clinton administration’s failure to go ahead with the new missile system, which, in today’s world, was of no relevance. The Americans were very much in control of this world and the skies. Why do they need such an expensive missile cover?

But the Republican hawks were determined to highlight how Mr Clinton “weakened” America’s defence system. The best way to do this was to elevate Mr Dick Cheney as Mr Bush’s running mate in the campaign. After all, he was former President George Bush’s Secretary of Defence and handled the Gulf War which brought Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to his knees. The tone of the convention made it clear that more such “hawks” will be inducted to campaign for the Republican party candidates.

Arrogance of power is typical of American society, and it bursts forth during every presidential campaign. Cuba and, of late, Iraq had continued to bug American leadership and the Bush-Cheney ticket may get support if it promises to drop nuclear bombs on these two rebel nations which had dared to defy the USA. To certain sections of the Republican party, China was still the “enemy”, but this was not shared by the big business lobby in the party which looked hungrily at the huge Chinese market.

The philosophy of the Republican convention was clear. Toe the US line or get punished. The USA with the help of toadies like the UK could instigate hot wars, or starve the “enemy” to submission through economic blockade. The Gore-Lieberman duo will have to come out with something new to combat charges of being “soft” on the enemies of the USA. A couple of bombing raids over Iraq and the downing of Iraqi military aircraft may come in handy for the ruling Democrats.

Such tough guy postures have a role to play in local issues too. Mr George Bush (Jr) had been a champion of the National Rifle Association and had apparently not been moved by the number of gun-shot deaths in the nation instigated by youngsters. Every shooting spree in schools and colleges remained short in public memory. Americans were buying more and more guns and the Democrats will have to go easy on the issue. How can the gun-wielding macho American be deprived of his favourite defence weapon? If the school boys and other youngsters killed themselves using guns, that is their misfortune. The gun was only an instrument, the guilty person was the one who used it wrongly. On the wrong persons at the wrong times.

Even for a country which has made tremendous advances in science and technology, the USA, particularly during the presidential polls, debates religion. School prayers figured prominently during the past elections. Here, too, the Republican party had adopted a strong pro-religious trend, but it could have met its match in the selection of Sen. Lieberman. An orthodox Jew, he is seen as a serious moral force in the USA. At 58, he observed the rigid dietary rules of Judaism. On Sabbath days, he did not travel, work, indulge in political activity or even use electricity! Such an attitude was all right for a US Senator, but how can he handle tricky international issues as Vice-President? But the choice of Mr Lieberman has been greatly welcomed by the ultra-conservative rabbis in Israel.

In fact, as the poll approached, everyone involved in the campaign is trying to outdo others in the issue of religion. Vice-President Al Gore revealed that he was a born-again Christian, who often asked himself the question, “What would Jesus do in such a time?’ To play the “God Card”, Mr Gore had to choose someone like Mr Lieberman, who mentioned God 13 times in 90 seconds at a Nashville speech.

What a contrast to the 1960 campaign when Catholic candidate Kennedy kept religion out of politics. It was only the diehard Republicans who chose to debate the issue, while Kennedy came out with a series of jokes on his faith, without offending anyone, but defusing any kind of tension. Well, Mr Al Gore is no Kennedy, that is for sure. But the US presidential campaign, 2000 AD, may be a shot in the arm for our own Sangh Parivar people! If the US leaders can talk of religion in their campaign, why can’t we?

Why do MiGs continue to crash?
by R. S. Bedi

IN the fifties the IAF first earned the dubious distinction of flying “coffins”. It had resurrected some aircraft for its use from the junkyard of B-29 bombers left behind by the Americans after the war, instead of flying them all the way back to the USA. Soon these multi-crew junk aircraft began to fall from the sky. The same sobriquet has now been earned by the IAF’s MiG-21s. No air force stretches the life of its aircraft to the extent that they begin to tell on the lives of the pilots who fly them.

Only a few days back, a promising young pilot lost his life in a MiG-21 crash at Palam airport. Every MiG-21 crash raises the hackles, but soon the calm prevails and nothing changes. It is shocking to learn that during the decade 1989-99, a total of 124 major accidents involving MiG-21 variants took place in which 95 were written off altogether. In the past three years, 55 of these aircraft have been lost, killing 22 pilots. The toll keeps on rising without a break. In the past four months, seven MiGs have crashed. Does somebody care for this carnage?

The issue is not whether it was a case of a bird-hit or an engine flame-out or the aircraft catching fire on take-off. There has to be a cause to an accident. The question is: why are the MiGs crashing? The fact of the matter is that the MiGs are too old and too tired to continue to fly safely. Being at the fag-end of their total technical life (TTL), their airworthiness is in doubt. The senior commanders have an unenviable task of keeping these aircraft in the air and simultaneously keeping the morale of their pilots intact.

The IAF flies three different versions of MiGs. MiG-21 FL, the oldest, entered the service in 1963. It has logged lakhs of hours by now. It is one of the most difficult aircraft to land in the world perhaps. And we are using it for the phase-III training of our pilots. The IAF is forced to employ this aircraft for the training role in the absence of a proper advance jet trainer. MiG-21M/MF entered the service in 1974 and the last of the series, MiG-21 BIS in 1977 or so. All these versions are generations behind in technology. But the IAF is stuck with a large contingent of MiG-21 BIS which, under the circumstances, it can ill-afford to discard.

Inability to replace them with indigenous or imported state-of-the-art aircraft led the IAF to seek the upgradation of MiG-21 BIS. A contract was signed with MiG-MAPO (Russians) for the upgradation of 125 of these aircraft at a total cost of Rs 1200 crore. After four years, the Russians are still struggling with it. It is understood that the task may not be completed before December, 2003. Meanwhile, accidents involving MiG-21s continue to take place. Of the 28 aircraft lost in 1999, 14 were MiG-21s. Nothing underscores more the need for early completion of upgradation programme. Interestingly, the Israelis have already demonstrated their capability to upgrade this fighter plane.

Accidents are inherent in fighter flying but within acceptable limits. These can occur due to inadequate training, inexperience, misjudgement, inadequate technical supervision or improper technical practices. But what is most unacceptable is the factor of the aircraft being aged and the lack of product support. With age, the aircraft system’s reliability goes down. And lack of spares results in a technical malpractice called cannibalisation. That is to remove a functional component from a grounded aircraft and fit it on to another to make it airworthy. It’s a tedious and potentially hazardous practice. Because of its time-consuming and repetitive nature, technicians dislike it. Ageing and lack of spares are the two primary causes of the ever-increasing MiG-21 accidents.

Indian pilots are recognised among the finest in the world. If human material was the problem, how is it that we have had only three Mirage-2000 crashes during the last 16 years of their flying. The IAF’s record on other modern aircraft is equally good. Long-term re-equipment plans (LTREP) drawn by the Air Force to keep the technology levels current and meet the threat requirements remain an exercise in futility. The government’s apathy to the IAF’s requirements is outrageous, to say the least. In fact, everything depends upon the politico-bureaucratic benevolence. The DRDO too has failed the IAF. The LCA was scheduled to replace MiG-21s in the eighties. It may take another half a decade before it can enter the service. It is singularly responsible for upsetting the IAF’s LTREPs and the decision to upgrade the MiG-21s of the seventies’ vintage. All these problems result in ad hoc procurements.

Young pilots are more prone to accidents due to lack of experience. Old aircraft like the MiGs only add to their woes. A recent study has revealed that 69 per cent of human error accidents involve pilots in the age group of 20 to 27 years. 15 per cent in 27 to 30 years and 9 per cent in 30 to 35 years. Aircraft are no doubt expensive, costing in the region of Rs 100 crore to Rs 200 crore a piece, but these are all the same replaceable. Human loss is irreplaceable. It too costs crores in training pilots.

The government institutes committees when it does not want to take a decision or want to stall a commitment. Then, at best, it implements some of the recommendations and ignores the rest. The La Fontain Committee, constituted in 1984, came out with a number of recommendations, including the procurement of AJTs. Then came the Abdul Kalam Committee in September, 1997, which too gave many important recommendations, including the reorganisation of infrastructure, redesigning of the training pattern and the requirement of keeping the IAF at the current level of technology. It’s not enough to say that 55 of the 84 recommendations have been implemented when more important 29 are still in the boiling pot. The AJT was projected in 1984. The Cabinet Committee took the decision to procure it after nine years in 1993. The snail pace decision-making only reflects the government’s lackadaisical approach and apathy to the IAF’s woes.

The MiG toll is rising by the day. Let our pilots not be the victim of the “who next syndrome”. The government must act fast to save innocent lives and the big loss to the exchequer. But who cares?

The writer, a retired Air Marshal, is a former Director-General, Defence Planning Staff, Union Ministry of Defence.

Of Life Sublime

Look back as you rush ahead
by Puspa M. Bhargava

ON a rainy morning in November, 1963, my wife and I drive into Salem from Cape Comorin, on our way to Hyderabad. One of the wipers of our car had given way on the way. The weather had almost cleared and there was only a trace of a drizzle — as we drove by a garage. The person in-charge was extremely polite and, suggested that we should go and have our breakfast and by that he would fix the wipers. He also offered to get the car cleaned, if we would leave the keys with him. We hesitated for one fleeting moment and then handed over the keys of the loaded car with unlocked suitcases and all our money and papers in them. We were given an escort and two umbrellas to reach the restaurant. Inspite of our telling our escort that we would find our way back, we found him waiting as we came out after our breakfast. The car was spic and span, the wiper fixed and working. A bill of Rs 7 which was the list price of the wiper was all that was given to us.

A few years later, my wife and I were driving back from Madras, and had planned to spend the night at Guntur. About 40 km south of Guntur, it started raining heavily. Soon, we crossed a causeway with just a few inches of water over it. A kilometre or two later we had a flat tyre. As we finished replacing the tyre, a car came from the opposite direction and stopped to enquire where we were going. We said that our immediate destination was Guntur. They gave us the information that just before Guntur a bridge was being constructed for which diversion had been created. A truck had overturned on the diversion and blocked the road from both sides. They too were going to Guntur but had to come back. We decided to take another route to Guntur for which we had to go back and cross the causeway again. But we could not cross it as the water had risen several feet.

The occupants of the car who had told us about the problem near Guntur had also mentioned a village nearby and said that they were going to spend the night there. We also found our way to the village where we were met by a number of inquisitive people. There was the language barrier but we managed to communicate. The villagers were extremely helpful. There was a dharmashala and we were welcome to use it. We went to the dharmashala and parked ourselves on the floor in its hall. A little later two thalis of food arrived, when we made the mistake of asking if we could compensate them in any way for the food and the facilities. We had forgotten that hospitality towards needy strangers has been an integral part of the traditions of our country.

These incidents took place some three decades ago. Going back further in time, let us look at the incidence of murder, rape and robbery five decades ago and compare it with what we have today. In 1953 we had 9,802 murders, and perhaps less than 600 cases of rape in the entire country. Some 40 years later, that is in 1993, we had 38,240 murders and 12,218 cases of rape. Even taking into account that our population had grown roughly two-and-a-half times during this period, the increase in such grave crime is substantial. Bride-burning was unknown in our country till 1950. Rape has increased well over 25 times since Independence while our population has increased only three times.

The loss of traditional values like the ones cited above could indeed be a consequence of increased awareness of human rights without concurrent provision of equal opportunities. The British had realised that, from the point of view of governance, lack of awareness of basic human rights coupled with lack of opportunities is better than awareness of human rights with the same lack of opportunities.

Let us go back further into history. A great deal of what is recorded in our ancient history would not stand the scrutiny of modern science-based knowledge. Yet what has been recorded by our ancestors, at least from the Vedic period onwards and has been shown to be valid using stringent internationally accepted criteria of validity, is extremely impressive. Our expertise, from the time of the Harappan civilisation onwards, in diverse areas such as metallurgy, astronomy, surgery, agriculture, perfumery, medicine and mathematics, to name a few, is well documented. It is, therefore, pertinent to ask what were the reasons of our successes in science and technology in the early period of our history, just as we must understand why during the same period we also perpetrated and advocated so many scientific untruths with religious fervour and dogmatic certainty.

Let me answer one of the two questions: the basis of our success in science and technology in ancient and medieval India. It was simple, "observation". Our ancestors were compulsive observers. Nothing escaped their notice, no matter how trivial it might seem to the uninitiated. They also recorded their observations faithfully and accurately. We can learn more by observation than by formal education, if only we know how to observe and take note. We have simply lost this ability as a nation. First, we are not interested in observing. Secondly, we rarely record our observations with the objectivity of our ancestors. We see what we want to see, and record what is most beneficial for us to record. With the lack of this quality, we cannot be a nation of outstanding scientists.

Lastly a word about our legends. Just look at one element of commonality between the two epics, Ramayana and Mahabharat, which have shaped our lives over the millennia. I wonder how many of those who pay lip-homage to these two wonderful books, realise that many of the major events in these books have centred around the absolute importance of keeping one's word. There would have been no banvas for Ram if it was not a religion for the rulers of that time to keep their word, and there would have been no Draupadi Cheeraharan if a word given by one in a closely knit group of five would not have bound all of them. For what percentage of our population today, specially the privileged ones, is a promise made a promise kept?

One of the most dismaying aspects of the present-day situation in the country is that we have history as no other country has, but we have the least sense of history among the countries of the world. We have never looked back as a nation at what is relevant and permanent in terms of values in our heritage and we have never taken the challenge of marrying these values with the compulsions of the time and the social and scientific advances that have taken place. We have all the ingredients of a new fabric that we and we alone in the world can weave — a fabric woven with threads of ancient history and of modern science, and dyed with the permanent and fast colour of traditional values validated and enriched by science. Such a fabric is what the world would need to protect itself against the onslaught of the devils of today and tomorrow.

Will we succeed? That is the question.

A Padma Bhushan awardee, the writer is founder and former Director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad. He is also a CSIR distinguished fellow.

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

Death is certain of that which is born; birth is certain of that which is dead. You should not therefore lament over the inevitable.

*****

Those who realise Me in the Adhibhuta, in the Adhidaiya and in the Adhiyajna, they of steadfast mind realise Me even in the hour of death.

*****

And whoever at the end of his span of life, when leaving the body, remembers Me alone, he attains my own being; of this there is no doubt.

Whatever state of being he recalls when at the end he abandons his body, to that state he attains, being ever assumed into that condition.

*****

If at death with steady mind, disciplined in love and the power of yoga, he locates his vital strength between the eyebrows, he will reach the Supreme Person.

— The Bhagavad Gita, II, 27; VII, 30; VIII, 5-6; VIII, 10

*****

Do not burn him or utterly consume him,

O Agni, Do not scatter his limbs and his skin!

Perfect him, O you who survey men's deeds,

and send him on to the abode of the Fathers.

The sun receive your eye, the Wind your spirit!

Go, as is your merit, to earth or heaven,

or, if that be your lot, to the waters,

with your body diffused in the plants of the field.

— Rig Veda, X, 16:1, 3

*****

The correct perception of death and its inevitability frees one from the haunting fear of death.

— Baba Hardev Singh, Gems of Truth

*****

Forgetfulness of God is death.

— Baba Avtar Singh, Spiritual Sparks

*****

He lives as long as he lives

Then when he dies, then they carry him to the fire.

His fire, in truth becomes

the fire; fuel the fuel; smoke the smoke;

flame, the flame; coals the coals; sparks the sparks.

In this fire the Gods offer a person (purusha).

From this oblation

Arises the man having the colour of light.

— Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, 6.2.14