Exciting things are happening in evolution research. Evolution of man is not simply to be explained, in my humble opinion, in biological sense alone. I was glad to read a latest survey of the evolution in the December issue of The Economist magazine (December 24th 2005). The survey titled “The Proper Study of Mankind” covers…
Category: Education
An open letter to the Prime Minister of India
“Tagore’s University in progressive decline!” “Please do something to save the institution!” Visiting Calcutta and Santiniketan After 20 long years! The plane approaches Dum Dum almost without any sign of the great city down below. Once you are out of the airport, you notice again all the relics of a bygone era, the dust-laden grime,…
Education? The competitive pressures, not silly principles!
Yes, that makes for elite education in Delhi! Our School Curriculum must be raised to international standards. Reading India’s English language papers, we mean at least some of the widely read ones by the elite, could be quite disheartening! Delhi society, the very core of the power wielders, seems very brutal and ruthless when it…
Ranganadananda: I made him to speak at Oxford
Swami Rangandananda, till now the president of the Ramakrishna Mission had passed away recently. Born in the Kerala village of Trikkur, near Thrissur in 1908,the swami had very impressive life, starting as a humble young boy to reach the top and emerge as a scholar, speaker and philosopher.Why I write about himhere is that I…
Sir A Lakshmanaswamy Mudaliar
A long-serving Vice – Chancellor & a formidable educationist Dr. S. Radhakrishnan is known for his unique distinctions. He served as vice-chancellor of Andhra university at Waltair for two terms and he recruited talented persons as university staff. He consulted far and wide, leading scientists in Europe when he searched for science staff. He appointed…
Oxford — What it means to me?
Readers in India, specially in Southern India would realise what it was for an young man of 25 from a rural family to venture on his own efforts to go to Oxford. Before me, may be some Brahmains must have gone to Oxford for I.C.S or on some research projects but not in the country…
My years in Santiniketan
There are some provocations for this month’s cover story. Some are personal and some are of great public interest. Some pleasant and some sad. Santiniketan is invariably linked in my mind to the recent developments and hence the writeup. Let me put them down in order of priority. 1. There is a letter lying in…
British class system and the choice of schools
The school one attends still determines ones social status in British society. There is a clear division between State schools and independent (privately funded) public schools. Having a child in a public school is a powerful symbol of wealth and status among the Britons. Class is a tricky topic, these days. More thank money and…