(Courtesy: http://www.omenad.net)
Rajiv Trivedi
Education brings an individual mind nearer its potential and collectively, it brings minds together. India has traditionally been considered a Guru, nations of the world have benefited from whose wisdom. Of the few ancient civilizations that retain continuity, India could succeed in fabricating a harmonious coexistence of man and nature through seamless integration of religious, political, economic and social systems. It achieved an invisibility of structure that modern cyber world aims at, but is still far from. Civilizations with more structured form of religion shared some of the Indian ideals. Faith, universal brotherhood, truth, duty and so on have been ideals of Christianity, Islam and many other religions. However natural curiosity and its intellectual equivalent, ‘Rationality’ began to paint the world in fresh colours during renaissance.
Superstitions were questioned as were sacred truth. Industrial and then technological revolution changed meanings and relationships. The philosophical leap from monarchy, plutocracy to democracy, empowered the ordinary man. Poets equated the ordinary with noble and sublime. It was no longer a shame to be plain. Plainness even became fashionable. After the second world war, more and more nations gained freedom and sovereignty. They came together to collaborate towards progress. And through peaceful means! It was a welcome change. Welcome in this instance, because change traditionally has held negative connotations. Continue reading