"Science" in India

[nanda chandran]

>There obviously are many top-flight Indian scientists around -- some quoted
>in the article -- but on the average what passes for scientific education
>in India is abysmally poor.

But your theory doesn't work if you take into consideration the
numbers involved.

It is said that there're atleast 100,000 engineers passing out of
schools every year in India. Accepted that quite a few of the
engineering colleges are ill equipped and inadequately staffed. But
even if that rules out 90% of the total turnout as poor in quality,
we still have 10,000 engineers to contend with - those who have
passed out of good schools with a high level of training. I doubt
if any single country in Europe produces 10,000 engineers a year.
So this 10,000 engineers is still a substantial group who can
effect a considerable change in whichever area they put their minds
to work in.

>If scientific training is this mediocre in India, why would we expect
>first-rate thinking when Indian engineers turn to history.

"first rate thinking"? In Indian history? C'mon where does serious
thinking figure in Indian history? It is only a game of imagination
and speculation guided by political ideology.

>Please note that OUTLOOK -- which has the widest circulation of
>any magazine in India -- is on the whole a fairly nationalistic
>magazine. It certainly cannot be accused of India-bashing.

India Today would contest your claim about OUTLOOK having the
widest circulation in India.

Outlook is a leftist magazine too, but to give it due credit it is
managed and staffed by a much smarter bunch than usual variety
of leftists in India - who're basically tame puppies of China.

And readers accusing it of being anti-national is a regular feature
in its "letters to the editor" section, which the magazine surprisingly
shows little hesitation in publishing! Infact it seems to take pride
in it! Needless to say, this can happen only in "secular"/"democratic"
India!

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