(about 300 words)
The last week (6 to 12 January 2008) was one of the most intellectually stimulating week for me. I had the good fortune of listening to four brilliant and hard thinking men of contemperory India on four consecutive evenings starting 8 January 2008. I wish the Indian politicians listened to them too! All these public lectures were held in Bangalore.
R. Chidambaram, the Scientific Adviser to the Government of India (and a former chairman of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission) spoke about the status of nuclear energy in India. He talked on the basis of his vast experience as an active scientist as well as a science administrator with international exposure.
A. P. Venkateswaran, India’s former ambassador to China and a former foreign secretary spoke on `India and China – a comparison’. He was very cynical about India-China relations. He was not sure whether there would be any true friendship between the two countries in spite of the visit of India’s prime minister Manmohan Singh who is in China now.
Ramachandra Guha, a political and cricket historian, spoke on the `Beauty of Compromise’ (a term borrowed from Mahatma Gandhi). He felt that most conflicts in Asia can be solved by dialogue. However, on the subject of Kashmir he felt that solution was not that easy.
M. S. Valiathan, a cardiac surgeon by training and a former vice chancellor of the Manipal Academy of Higher Education spoke on the Science of Ayurveda. He traced the 2000-year history of this ancient Indian concept and practice with special reference to the works of Susrutha and Charaka and ended with the current status if research in this field in India.
In some subsequent issues of Penumbra I will try to share with you what I learnt in these lectures.
S .Gopal
…Keying in is better than idling
