In the fading winter of early 2006, the Lido show in Champs-Elysees, Paris didn’t disappoint. With multitude of costumes, dances, movements and songs, it enthralled the audience that paid a tidy sum to gulp champagne, eat dinner and revel in one of the greatest shows on earth. In the half century of its existence great artists like Shirley Maclean and Elton John have performed there. More than 70 artists, 600 costumes and 23 settings are meticulously planned, choreographed and presented to a dazed audience in a show that lasts a little over an hour.
But that year, a delegation from India (of which yours truly was a humble member) was among the audience. The show and its themes had much to do with India. The mythical figure of Hanuman was showcased as funny, risqué, bawdy and irreverent. Some of the members of my team were provoked by the show. One of the members took it up with the Indian Embassy officials. The diplomats said that a few others had also complained. But it didn’t make sense to ask to withdraw such references from the show or asking them to close down for being derogatory to Hindu mythological figures. The matter ended there.
Hindu mythology contains stuff that couldn’t be mentioned in front of polite society or impressionable children. Semitic religions have Genesis and other such illogical stuff like the inescapable subtext of incest. Wade through any old religious scripture and one is bound to stumble upon a loads and loads of nonsense. Religious preachers try to put them in some ancient context to rationalize such nonsense. I am afraid that if one day I am told that I need to believe in some God and religion to qualify for citizen’s rights, I would be spoilt for choice. Maybe I will choose Buddhism, the Ferrari of religions as Jeremy Clarkson, the BBC’s auto writer describes it. The bullshit meter reads lowest in Buddhism.
The French republic was founded on the principle of true separation of religion from politics. When the French display a deep aversion to visible religious symbols like the Burkha, headgear & Kripan we must try to understand why. The separation of state and religion is absolute in France, unlike in other western democracies where religion is visible in state affairs but tempered with tolerance of all religions. During the French revolution the property of the church was confiscated and divided among the poor. It is amusing to see Burkha debates on TV which show liberals argue that the French intolerance of Burkha is discriminatory. I believe that that the time of anti religion and liberal thought died in the 70s’ and 80s’ and the forces of darkness are back. These forces are in the garb of religious preachers aiming to convert an entire generation to piety and intolerance. We read Ingersoll, H G Wells, Abraham T Kovoor and M C Joseph when we were young and atheism was so in. Richard Dawkins may be popular today, but I suspect his readership is mostly confined to people of a certain generation. If in need of a spiritual fix, our youth is more easily swayed by TV evangelists, the most dangerous of the lot.
I have always encountered propagators of religion, dripping sympathy at me since paradise is not mine. Believe in my God, they say and paradise shall be yours. The religion that I am born into says you are doomed to be born again and again as lesser creatures if you do not live by the code of acceptable deeds. Facebook was banned in Pakistan and Bangladesh. They were restored after taking solemn assurances to remove all references to a drawing competition of the prophet. Books are banned for unsavoury references to living or dead Gods. India has its’ own sporadic communal riots like the big ones of Gujarat 2000 and Mumbai 1993. Ahmedis have been butchered in Pakistan for believing in their own prophet. Society is increasingly turning to religion, astrology and other claptrap without questioning the foundations of these beliefs. Some of the biggest crooks I have seen in life are deeply devout. They are regular at prayers in temples, mosques and churches. They wouldn’t bat an eyelid before slitting the next man’s throat.
With so much evil all around in the name of God and religion, I can only pray that God cultivates a sense of humour. God’s followers need to reinvent a smiling, tolerant God. Not the grim, humourless guy out to kill, maim, ban books & websites and stifle free thought.
Wednesday 16 June 2010
World Class
While studying in a foreign university that is ranked 16th globally, I was often asked why I chose the Australian National University (ANU) by my teachers. They half expected me to say wide eyed that I heard so much about the great education dished out there. I would disappoint them by saying that going to Australia was a childhood dream ever since I read “A Town like Alice”. A sis-in-law in Melbourne and an opportunity from the Government to have the Missus & Chathu along on a scholarship helped swing the decision.
In all fairness, I must say that I am not too enamoured by the education I received out there. I had to toil much more for grades in my Post Graduate Diploma in Management from MDI Gurgaon, 18 years back. Even a part time Law degree from Chennai needed some sustained hard work. This foreign Masters degree in Public Policy was a breeze. But I still rate the institution high for several reasons. While Indian colleges emphasize on memorizing, theoretical rigour and hard work, the Australians were high on fairness, transparency, maintenance of academic facilities, application oriented education, student’s capability to independently work and deliver. Do I welcome the advent of foreign universities to India? Considering that I am not supposed to voice my opinions on emerging government policies, I still can’t resist saying a thumping no. Two important reasons. One, only money spinners among foreign universities will be attracted to the idea of setting up shop here. So there would be no world class education as we have come to expect. Two, when we have global brands like IITs, NITs and IIMs, can’t we give them freedom to expand and establish more campuses independently in collaboration with State Governments and corporations? It is a no brainer that in due course we will be able to attract foreign students to this country. We have a reputation of having produced bright guys who did well globally. All we need to do is leave education to academicians and keep Babus/politicians out of it. Isn’t it ironical that most of the autonomous universities and professional colleges in India have been cornered by politicians? (with a liberal dose of help from Babus!!)
We should be able to replicate the administrative systems in foreign universities. In fact it is the easiest part. In ANU, the number of printouts that I could take from the online network printer during each semester was specified and anything above my quota has to be paid for. My identity card could secure me entry to buildings after University hours if I wanted to sit late and work on an assignment. Assignments are submitted online, and they are checked by “turnitin” software for academic honesty. The University offered a good quality of life. Libraries are extremely well maintained and computerised. Every facility is linked to our identity. Class rooms are bright, clean and well maintained. The lawns are neat and trimmed. Probably, our universities could train their administrators to replicate world class facilities here- at a much lower cost. The tougher part comes next. The Academic supervisors out there were fair in their assessment- no mean task, considering that in Australia, we were such a diverse group of students from all over the globe speaking in several accents. Fairness and transparency has to be built in over a period of time. For Indians that could be the real challenge.
It is surprising to hear icons of Indian software industry arguing for higher fees and autonomous, self-sustained universities so that students could take loans and pay for a world class education. They can always pay back the loans when they start working, they say. I disagree. I suspect a section officer in my Ministry can hardly afford to send his child to IIM even if he gets admission, if the fees were very high. We are just not that kind of people (who won’t mind taking a loan to give a pricey education for our kids). On a government Babu’s salary, it is a tough choice. So the fees need to be calibrated at an affordable level, with more scholarships and some government grants.
Lastly, education might be the next revolution waiting to happen. I can see it in my home state, children of auto rickshaw drivers, maid servants etc, struggling to educate their children for an Engineering or medical degree. It wasn’t like this in our time. The flip side of it is that the opportunities for vocational education and careers in blue collar have not kept pace. The not-so-bright among us ought to have opportunities for vocational education and lead a decent life, get married, educate their kids and move up in life. In Australia plumbers often earn more than doctors. Professional standards for any vocation are stringent and well defined out there. It is getting tougher to find a good professional plumber or carpenter in India these days. Plumbing is a demanding job that involves fixing toilets or in other words dealing with shit. A doctor isn’t insulated from that either…
In all fairness, I must say that I am not too enamoured by the education I received out there. I had to toil much more for grades in my Post Graduate Diploma in Management from MDI Gurgaon, 18 years back. Even a part time Law degree from Chennai needed some sustained hard work. This foreign Masters degree in Public Policy was a breeze. But I still rate the institution high for several reasons. While Indian colleges emphasize on memorizing, theoretical rigour and hard work, the Australians were high on fairness, transparency, maintenance of academic facilities, application oriented education, student’s capability to independently work and deliver. Do I welcome the advent of foreign universities to India? Considering that I am not supposed to voice my opinions on emerging government policies, I still can’t resist saying a thumping no. Two important reasons. One, only money spinners among foreign universities will be attracted to the idea of setting up shop here. So there would be no world class education as we have come to expect. Two, when we have global brands like IITs, NITs and IIMs, can’t we give them freedom to expand and establish more campuses independently in collaboration with State Governments and corporations? It is a no brainer that in due course we will be able to attract foreign students to this country. We have a reputation of having produced bright guys who did well globally. All we need to do is leave education to academicians and keep Babus/politicians out of it. Isn’t it ironical that most of the autonomous universities and professional colleges in India have been cornered by politicians? (with a liberal dose of help from Babus!!)
We should be able to replicate the administrative systems in foreign universities. In fact it is the easiest part. In ANU, the number of printouts that I could take from the online network printer during each semester was specified and anything above my quota has to be paid for. My identity card could secure me entry to buildings after University hours if I wanted to sit late and work on an assignment. Assignments are submitted online, and they are checked by “turnitin” software for academic honesty. The University offered a good quality of life. Libraries are extremely well maintained and computerised. Every facility is linked to our identity. Class rooms are bright, clean and well maintained. The lawns are neat and trimmed. Probably, our universities could train their administrators to replicate world class facilities here- at a much lower cost. The tougher part comes next. The Academic supervisors out there were fair in their assessment- no mean task, considering that in Australia, we were such a diverse group of students from all over the globe speaking in several accents. Fairness and transparency has to be built in over a period of time. For Indians that could be the real challenge.
It is surprising to hear icons of Indian software industry arguing for higher fees and autonomous, self-sustained universities so that students could take loans and pay for a world class education. They can always pay back the loans when they start working, they say. I disagree. I suspect a section officer in my Ministry can hardly afford to send his child to IIM even if he gets admission, if the fees were very high. We are just not that kind of people (who won’t mind taking a loan to give a pricey education for our kids). On a government Babu’s salary, it is a tough choice. So the fees need to be calibrated at an affordable level, with more scholarships and some government grants.
Lastly, education might be the next revolution waiting to happen. I can see it in my home state, children of auto rickshaw drivers, maid servants etc, struggling to educate their children for an Engineering or medical degree. It wasn’t like this in our time. The flip side of it is that the opportunities for vocational education and careers in blue collar have not kept pace. The not-so-bright among us ought to have opportunities for vocational education and lead a decent life, get married, educate their kids and move up in life. In Australia plumbers often earn more than doctors. Professional standards for any vocation are stringent and well defined out there. It is getting tougher to find a good professional plumber or carpenter in India these days. Plumbing is a demanding job that involves fixing toilets or in other words dealing with shit. A doctor isn’t insulated from that either…
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