Of Authors and Addiction?

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Engaging with an idea requires enormous amount of involvement. This involvement may arise due to some attraction towards the incentives coming along with probing or seeking the answer from that area of study. As happens in romance, we forget everything else around us except the admiration, appreciation and adoration of each and every element of personality, virtue or natural scene in front of us. It seems to be compulsory prerequisite for any author that he/she embeds their heart and mind in certain kind of environment where romance with the idea is possible and enjoyable.

Michelangelo said, “Excellence is infinite patience.” To survive this type of infinite perseverance, one needs a consistent channel of calm, introspective, ambience where we can strive for achieving the life-sphere suitable for reaching pace to translate our thoughts in words. Any peculiar habit of authors which gives this freedom to schedule their working style in such a way that it is helpful in complementing and rewarding this lonely quest of engaging with the ideas is then adored endlessly. I do not wish to prejudice this conversation with examples but readers are aware about famous examples about tea, coffee, whisky, wine, walking, seashore, hills, any particular table, window and likewise without emphasizing on any kind of order.

Is addiction a fair word to use in this respect? Or it is just metaphor for author`s engaged frame of mind which restlessly seeks to wear the appearance of helpless addicted, obsessed person in search of solace through which they discover the true self. This discovery often leads to the point where original thinking meets the sincere expression, precise observation meets the analytical explanation and elegant treatment meets confident voice in terms of literary craft being developed.

Our chief concern is why these types of addictions are always being perceived as indispensable even though they are not and secondly how we can avoid relying on this probably dangerous dependence on external motivations for being lost in the writing exercise. I say this reliance in addiction is always sensed from the point of view of being indispensable because it gives feel and an opportunity to a thinking person for carving out a shortest path towards creativity. By being driven away in the environment where person who is writing does not compromise his/her solitude except for rare privilege given to the habits which help them developing a seed of an idea whose time has come. Solitude, not only in terms of loneliness but also in terms of resonating with the deepest and highest demands of involving in the never ending round the clock interaction with the wheels of contemplative whirlpool. This whirlpool then compels us to express in the different form or genre like poems, articles, essays, stories, novels and likewise.

Do we care about process of writing or we are only concerned about the end effect in the form of quality product? Appealing or convincing writing can be very argumentative, stylistic and sagacious. There are great deal of painful efforts involved in attaining the mind which respects decency towards ethics of representing the controversial, complex and immensely crucial questions in front of us in a manner enabling comprehension based on reasoned imagination and lively rationale. It may be pursuit of core scientific research or plot scripting of any novel or scene in drama or film. If we know how, in which condition with sudden serendipity or cumulative affirmation about any wild guess, we invent a new framework of perspectives helping us to understand nuances of our potential; then we can really seriously guide our writing initiatives. So, knowing those moments where slightest hint given by the accidental realization about the radically novel concepts which are still rooted in classic old times helps us to focus on drastically different imagination still able to connect to the contemporary commonality between us.

I do not think these types or any types of addictions supposedly helping any adventure or passion of a bibliophile are some types of comfort zones. On the contrary these are conflict zones of mind where limitations of our logical/illogical extreme form of thinking are challenged, recognized and get destroyed over a period of time to usher into new form of logical/illogical extremes. At the same time when someone is deeply intertwined with the natural beauty or entangled with material cravings of food, drink or likewise; those moments lead to create ambience necessary to nurture our mind. Then we are not trapped in contradictory frames of comfort and uncomfortable zones but we slowly learn to live in the reflecting universe where both these different perspectives actually emerge as alternative complement to each other. So, this feeling of stress while limitations being challenged actually demands some kinds of opposite compensatory force in the form of reviving, updating and recreating the intuition along with regeneration of other mental and physical energies which are very much necessary for continuing the work we are doing.

Authorship may revolve around authority and expertise. But writing can explore different colors in life, revelation of which may not be possible without the culture of thinking catalyst. These catalysts are spread everywhere in our unusual behavior, abnormal habits, flexible schedule, indefinite discipline, infinite capacity to experiment and diversify our working style, audacious way of maintaining uniformity in the direction of efforts necessary for germination of  ideas dormant since long time. This unevenness, asymmetry and genuine alternative perspective emerging from our defiance, dissent and questioning attitude towards belief about “why some can write better and why some cannot” will strengthen our morale to have solid first step towards writing and publishing. This will certainly give fillip to very peculiar way of habits converging with kind of initiatives, risks and journeys we usher in.

There should not be any excuse for arbitrary embrace to the easily available leisure of addictions by believing that it will award us secrets of multi-dimensional professional ability. 

This potential coming due to certain beliefs, ideologies and outlook towards everyday happenings and history enhances our capacity to judge the valuable issues of sustenance- social and global connections reflecting on the vexing problems of current, future time.  So this addiction may not gift us any kind of substitute for motivation to work around, develop and master a idea on the table. But the essential meaning of addiction which compels us to develop sense of belonging, a sense of “I cannot live without you…”, will certainly enhance the prospects of mingling and culturing the companionship with pen and paper.

Addiction gives us a feeling of some kind of shameless-mad commitment to that area of enquiry or virtue we wish to cherish through accomplishment of relaxed moments in which we pursue our passion towards writing. Once we realize massive amounts of returns it is awarding then it is the matter of few days or so, we will surrender ourselves to that form of persistent, never ending love affair with desirable and healthy forms of addiction. 

No addiction is advisable for any kind of voyage of literature.  But if you have one, then go for creative and constructive marriage of that with the blossoming world of letters. In this wordy world we can derive courage out of this process to leave behind those addictions and emerge as a happy merchant who compensates loss due to any grave grief by very little investment of few passionate moments in the form of romance with ideas, books and treasure of writing.

Thus any kind of side effects coming from exiting extraordinary reliance over these addictions are much more worthy of neglecting because they will be flyovers or express bypass routes to reach the mood of sensitivity the horizons which are necessary to sustain the momentum of cascading continuum of thinking and writing. Best wishes to all of you for that.

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"Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards." ---Aldous Huxley

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           Policies for Science and Technology must always be mixture of 

           realism  and idealism.

       ---Chris Freeman (1921-2010) [Pioneer of National Innovation Concept]

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A recent UNESCO Science Report 2010 broadly captures what Fareed Zakaria is trying to tap in the book “Post American World”. Development in global economy has been arrived due to the assertive role of developments of science and technology. The reasons are as follows. A) Cheap and easy access to new digital technologies such as broadband, internet and mobile phones have accelerated the diffusion of best practice technologies revolutionized the internal and external organization of research and development centers.  B) Countries have been catching up rapidly in terms of economic growth and investment in knowledge as expressed in investment in tertiary education and R&D.  C) The impact of global recession on post 2008 challenged the north south technology trade and growth models.  This recession is being viewed as challenging western S&T dominance. It is interesting that emerging economy which once served as repository of outsourcing of manufacturing activities, they have now moved on to autonomous process technology development, product development, design and applied research. 

Achieving knowledge intensive growth is the top priority of the countries. Value creation depends increasingly upon better use of knowledge, whatever the level of development, whatever the form and whatever its origin; new product, process or technologies developed domestically, or the re-use of and novel combination of knowledge developed elsewhere. Increase in stock of ‘worlds knowledge’, as epitomized by new digital technologies and discoveries in life sciences or nanotechnologies, is creating fantastic opportunities for emerging nations to attain higher levels of social welfare and productivity. The old notion of technological gap is being considered as blessing for the countries possessing sufficient absorptive capacity and efficiency to enable them to exploit their advantage of their relative backwardness. 

        There is growing recognition that it is the systemic congruence between the various knowledge components of the innovation system that counts when it comes to devising a successful growth strategy. There is growing emphasis on STI Policies on sustainability and green technologies. National STI policies clearly face a radically new global landscape in which territorial policy focus is coming under severe pressure. Knowledge accumulation and knowledge diffusion is possible to happen at faster pace, involving a growing number of entrants and providing a threat to established threat to institutions. 

Out of all key factors mentioned above, let us focus on one factor alone for the sake of greater understanding of the part of the progress/development/changes underway. Considering the higher education as a citadel for the symbiosis of innovation, economic growth and quest for sustainable development, let us understand some of the keen issues facing this sector. “The current landscape of advanced degrees is increasingly varied. This has resulted from the many changes and developments in recent years within the Higher Education sector where supply must adapt to more diverse demand. On one hand, research degrees continue to denote advanced study in a chosen discipline with a view to the pursuit of an academic career; in this respect expertise in research methodology and investigative skills are acquired. On the other hand, there is a growing demand for Masters and doctorates related to a specific field of professional activity such as business studies or administration. Though sometimes referred to as “taught qualifications” which may be undertaken concurrently with actual workplace activity, these involve a certain degree of research both for the professors and the students involved.”

Five main areas merit special attention:

a)   Challenges for students researching advanced degrees in developing countries (notably in scientific fields)

b)    The research component in “in demand” degrees which are awarded on the basis of taught courses

c)   The current advantages offered by open and E-learning with regard to the demand for advanced degrees

d)    The benefits of “jointly delivered” advanced degrees which aim for rapid and quality credentials

e)   The impact of branding and networking strategies for advanced degrees earned from research-reputed universities.

2006 Global Colloquium of the UNESCO Forum on Higher Education Research and Knowledge debated the status of research universities worldwide. The conclusions stressed the urgency of resolving the major problems identified:

a.   The precarious nature of research in non-OECD countries

b.    The major cleavages in research between wealthy and emerging countries in terms of capacity, agendas, contexts, criteria, climate and partnerships

c.   The need to accelerate networking and cooperation amongst universities to strengthen research

d.    The urgency of building improved research capacity in countries of the South and elimination of the isolation of their researchers.

e.    The rapidly increasing political nature of national research agendas

f.     The need for countries to map and analyze their research systems, to pinpoint their major challenges and to benchmark themselves in relation to similar emerging economies.

These days the notion of “third stream” of activities or third mission developed from research activities is being discussed vigorously. The starting point is the assimilation of fundamental research to codified knowledge and thus to information. This economic assimilation is critical since it tells that this “good”, once produced, is very difficult to appropriate. It has two consequences. The first one is that no economic actor will invest into fundamental research since he will not be able to recover its investment, thus the need for governments to invest in fundamental research. The second consequence is that its take-up and circulation are “free” for interested economic actors. There is thus no need of specific mechanisms that help knowledge flow from public sector to the economic and social worlds.”

Universities do not structure themselves along the three missions, but that they articulate differently these three missions depending upon the “functions” they fulfill. I see three central functions or activities which I have labeled: “mass tertiary education” (with the bachelor degree as a central feature), “professional specialize higher education and research” (with the professional master as a central diploma, and “problem solving research” as a central activity) and “academic training and research” (with the PhD as the central diploma and articles as the central output). While the first and the third activities are clearly located respectively at the local and world levels, the second is focused on professions and follows their internationalization.

All universities are thus a specific and probably unique mix of these three functions. The choice of this positioning is often mostly the result of contingent historical factors. Making it evolve, and turning it into a “constructed” choice is key to the articulation of the university with its environment. In such an approach, the activities gathered under the third mission become the outcome of this positioning (whatever the conditions through which it has been arrived at). It also provides a different lens through which to look at connections with the external world, considering education and research on a similar footing.  The scientific elite, however, have pushed back by redefining their role: (I) destroying the earlier status-quo and re-linking themselves to state institutions, (II) managing S&T development and lobbying for the scientific community, etc.; (III) acquiring other functions; apart from their cognitive role, i. e, influencing the citadel of power and public opinion directly in favor of its own relevance to societal and scientific progress.

Second important aspect being mobility. The scientist mobility has various forms: a common, social form involves moving along the career ladder (upward and downward), moving between generations (inter-generational) and within a generation (intra-generational). The occupational aspect is a transition from one scientific discipline to another, from one scientific field to another, transition from one research institution to another, or in a pathological form it is when scientists leave science for other jobs, or in a geographical form it means territorial movements of scientists.

R&D, innovation and technology are now being increasingly recognized as important drivers for growth, exports, and competitiveness of businesses in globalizing economies such as India and China. Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) have also been leveraged by several developing countries such as Korea and China to enhance their technological, management and trade capabilities when FDI policies are appropriately integrated with other domestic policies including S&T, trade and industrial policies. Corporate and medium & small firms in India are also restructuring their business strategies, attracting FDI, and investing more on R&D, technology acquisitions and technology related capacities in several sectors since the implementation of new policies from 1991 onward. The government policies and mechanisms have also been supporting the initiatives of enterprises and corporate, resulting in high growth rates of economies and exports. However, there are very limited studies and documentation available for India in the context of technology and exports.

Lastly it should be remembered that now-a-days, any policy making is done after a long interaction with government representatives, private enterprise as well as nongovernmental organizations. Complex dynamics in the contemporary world makes new forms of regulations and governance replacing established government norms. Government policy framing and implementation is largely affected by market agents with diverse economic interests, public interest groups, social movements and activists, self-help organizations and various professional associations with different motivations and goals of political, economic and idealist dimensions, e.g., industrial and labor market conditions, environment, natural resources, consumer interests, genetic engineering and gender differences.

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References:

a)   Liberalizing Research in Science and Technology: Studies in Science Policy, Edited by Nadia Asheulova, Binay Kumar Pattnaik, Eduard Kolchinsky, Gregory Sandstrom. Saint-Petersburg: Politechnika, 2010. (ISBN 978-5-904031-76-3)

b)   Toward a Third mission for Universities, P. Laredo, UNESCO Forum on Higher Education, Research and Knowledge. 2007

c)   The Role of Post-Graduate Education in Research Systems, Kearney, M-L, UNESCO Forum on Higher Education, Research and Knowledge. 2007

d)   UNESCO Science Report 2010

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“If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all.”---Michelangelo

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“I write only to free myself from my pain.”  
            --- Vittoria Colonna (Soulmate of Michelangelo)

Pain is indispensable in creating the art, more than that of quest of pleasure. This statement may be contested successfully. But just take a look at the lives of great artists adored for centuries. They were more felicitated because of simplicity, elegance and class of their art and also for their legendary sufferings which carved out the path for enlightened attainment of the virtue of heritage which has always remained contemporary, though historical still leaping for the restoration of the future sensitivity. 

Hugo Boss said, “Art and fashion have always gone hand in hand. Sometimes radical and shocking, sometimes traditional and conservative, both are judged according to subjective standards of taste. Each represents in its own way the moods and spirit of the times. They stimulate the senses and create objects of desire as fetishes of an affluent society and legacies of culture.” Why we should care to study art history? Do we not have any urgent tasks ahead of updating social networks and skimming through page 3 novels? Why should we visit museums? Are we so free out of our schedule to visit periodically to malls and multiplexes? What is takes to create a ordinary looking painting which in a sense extraordinary because it can change perceptions of the elite class to interpret the world in a manner like never before? So, this ordinary of tomorrow becomes classic heritage of tomorrow. This radical point of view of aesthetics becomes the majoritarian perspective of beauty in the coming days. “If the economic expression of neoliberalism is sharper inequality, and its political expression deregulation and privatization, then its cultural expression is surely unrestrained consumerism.” And we all in today`s world only see art as an object to be worthy about discussions of galleries and auctions; nothing beyond that. 

“Contemporary art still defines itself against mass culture, and necessarily so because of its shunning of mass production, which has a further effect on its subject-matter. Marx argued that production and consumption are bound together to the point of unity. Not only does one depend upon and complete the other, but production always involves consumption (for instance, of raw materials), and consumption production (for instance, eating sustains the labouring body). Both making and selling are unusually controlled in the art market. Dealers often sign exclusive contracts with artists who are then encouraged or instructed to produce particular kinds, sizes, and numbers of work. How often has one seen in commercial galleries decorative and wall-bound spin-offs of some apparently recalcitrant anti-commercial installation? For obvious reasons, these urgings usually remain secret. Buyers are vetted for their commitment to collecting, since it can be dangerous to an artist’s reputation or even to the market as a whole to have a sudden and unexpected sale of work. There is less regulation in the so-called ‘secondary market’ of the auction houses, but even there the market is hardly free. Aside from scandals about systematic price-fixing, reserve prices are set below which works will not sell, and bidding is manipulated by collectors and dealers.”

“The situation is most starkly illustrated with art made in reproducible media; artists can cheaply produce photographs, CDs, or videos in large numbers, and try to achieve wide ownership of their work. Yet the great majority of them produce tiny editions, each piece being accompanied by a certificate of authentication, for very high prices. Ownership of such a piece grants status to the collector, and reciprocally the price paid grants status to the work. This is the defining characteristic of art as against other areas of high culture: drama, the concert or opera achieve exclusivity through requiring that an audience be present at a live performance (and of course high art can do this, too); other forms – novels, poetry, music, and film – produce objects that are industrially fabricated in large numbers and are widely owned. Only in high art is the core business the production of rare or unique objects that can only be owned by the very wealthy, whether they are states, businesses, or individuals.” [1]

“Bottom-line: Art is borderless. Thinking causes over-seriousness and the deflation of fun and beauty, which are equated with aesthetic pleasure. To think means to think too much, and is in conflict with experiencing (which is thought of in binary terms and is thus associated with feeling, i.e., feeling/experiencing vs. thinking).”  “Today`s situation is marked, however, by distinct tensions and contradictions. We have seen that art’s uselessness – its main use – is being sullied by the particular needs of government and business. In a linked development, art’s elitism is challenged by the attempt to widen its appeal: business values art for its exclusivity, while states are generally interested in the opposite, and wish to widen its ambit. Finally art’s means of production, increasingly technological, have come into conflict with its archaic relations of production. The question of art’s use takes us back, naturally, to art’s freedom. That the very concerns of art – creativity, enlightenment, criticality, self-criticism – are as instrumentally grounded as what they serve to conceal – business, state triage, and war – is the consideration that must be concealed. And it can be, because the local liberation offered in the production of art, and its enjoyment, are genuine. Bourdieu cites a letter by Flaubert on art’s freedom: That is why I love Art. There, at least, everything is freedom, in this world of fictions. There one is satisfied, does everything, is both a king and his subjects, active and passive, victim and priest. No limits; humanity is for you a puppet with bells you make ring at the end of his sentence like a buffoon with a kick.” 

The Psychology and method of inquiry about history of art and biography are discussed in depth by Liebert who throws light on life of Michelangelo.[2] Liebert explores the events in his life so as to build the logic about the connections of psychological instability, mental uncertainty and dynamic developments in life generating repeated cycle of pain responsible for his art, known today worldwide. He claims that there is pattern in work of great artist`s lives which make the creation of classic art an inevitable event. He has envisaged study of this pattern in the frames as: a) Repetition of same inner conflicts in successive works by artists. b) The basis for artist`s choice of a specific work from antiquity as inspiration for formal structure of particular creation. & c) Interpretation of artist`s unconscious motives that contribute to distinctive creative solution. So, let it be. We are going to look further deeper how this happens/happened.

“Creative art, neurotic symptoms and dreams all draw upon repressed more primitive thoughts. It is after all, artist alone, who is able to make constructive contact with this conflicted material being overwhelmed by it. Placing emphasis on ego strengths of artist, it can be said that, artist is distinguished not by specific nature or depth of his/her inner conflicts, nor by trauma in his early history. Rather he/she is distinguished by their capacity to sublimate unacceptable drives by expressing them creatively in images. He/she is also pressed by a need to communicate with and be responded to by others through symbolic medium.  Liebert says that Michelangelo has always been very abstemious in his way of life, taking food more out of necessity than for pleasure. He used to say, “However rich I may have, I have always lived like a poor man.”  

If an unconscious conflict is sufficiently strong to be a major determinant of distinctive aspects of any particular work of art, it will reappear as a discernible influence in other works by artist. Unconscious conflicts gives great art but is rarely resolved by successful artist`s sublimation forever.  During the time around his father`s death he wrote:

            “I live in my own death; If I see right

            My life with an unhappy lot is happy;

            If ignorant how to live on death and worry

            Enter this fire, where I am destroyed and burnt.”

In a letter to friend Niccolo Martell in 1541, Michelangelo writes: “I am a poor fellow, and of little worth, plodding along in that art which god has assigned to me, in order to prolong my life as long as I can.” In another letter to friend Luca Martini he says: “I am an old man and death has robbed me of dreams of youths---may those who do not know what age old means bear it with what patience they may when they reach it, because it cannot be imagined beforehand.

            My age is now detached,

            From desire, blind and deaf;

            I make my peace with death,

            Since I am tired and near the end of speech.”

To conclude by paying tribute to Michelangelo, let’s have a feel of a sonnet written by him in 1533-34, which I consider is the essence of his painful life giving all of us the gift of “Forever Creative Heritage.”

            “I with your beautiful eyes see gentle light,

            While mine are so blind I never can,

            With your feet, on my back bear a burden.

            While mine are crippled, and have no such habit.

            Having no feathers, on your wings my flight,

            By your keen wits, forever drawn toward heaven,

As you decide it I am flushed and wan,

Cold in the Sun, at the cold solstice hot.

           

My wishes are within your will alone,

Within your heart are my ideas shaped,

When you have taken breath, then I can speak.

It seems that I am the lonely moon,

Which our eyes fail to see heaven,

Except the fraction of it that the sun may strike.”

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[1]  Stallabrass, Julian, and Julian Stallabrass. Contemporary Art: A Very Short Introduction. Very short introductions, 146. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. Print.

[2]  Liebert, Robert S. Michelangelo, a Psychoanalytic Study of His Life and Images. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983. Print.

[3] Michelangelo, Buonarroti, Creighton Gilbert, and Robert N. Linscott. Complete Poems and Selected Letters of Michelangelo. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, 1980. Print. 
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Judgement Day about National Security Strategy is no more a matter of planning, it has arrived!

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Senior strategic intellectual Brahma Chellany recently mounted scathing attack on the “Governance Record” of the Indian state citing the deterioration of it has resulted as a biggest Security Threat ever. He says, “India confronts several pressing national security threats. But only one of them — political corruption — poses an existential threat to the state, which in reality has degenerated into a republic of mega-scandals. The pervasive misuse of public office for private gain is an evil, eating into the vitals of the state, sapping India's strength. When important decisions, from arms procurement to policy changes, are often tainted by corrupt considerations, it is inevitable that national security will get compromised. If India today is widely seen as a soft state, much of the blame must be pinned on the corrupt and the compromised that lead it. Such ‘softening' of India has made the country a tempting target for those seeking to undermine its security.”

 When India gained independence in 1947, the members of the Constituent Assembly took oath dedicating them for the quest of attaining the self-righteous place in the world and further for promotion of world peace and welfare of mankind. This was the historical base of India`s outlook towards the relation of outer world with the domestic policies and can be aptly described in the terms of “Enlightened Self-Interest” which seems to be guiding India`s recent initiatives in the realms of foreign policy making. How far India was successful in realization of the goal of this ‘enlightened self-interest’ is a matter of historical inquiry.

 What does the framing of India`s Security Strategy really means? Is it all about Defense Policy, Security Policy, Strategic Policy, Foreign Policy? There are big changes taking around all of us. The challenges in front of nation are urging to redefine the engagement with the continents and the countries. These are the moments to reflect on the past, these are the moments to visualize the future. By looking at the governance record of the Indian state in last 20 years we cannot resist ourselves from mentioning what Charles Dickens said, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way."

Change is inevitable. When we are talking about India to be a third largest economy in coming few years, it is inevitable that the diverse, versatile and all round kaleidoscopic dimensions of the national security strategy should entail multi pronged approach. A security strategy means mobilization of all national resources to achieve a political objective kept in front of nation. This is a grand exercise about how nation strike balances between means and ends. When we talk about managing resources and objectives in a grand way, fundamentally there is always room for change. Resources dwindle and resurge. We cannot abandon old and at the same time there should be no sympathy, mercy and scope for obscurantism. 

So apart from Defense Modernization, reassessment of non-alignment policy and adapt and guide the changing global geopolitical order, comprehensive domestic policies which can assure the Good Governance and developing capability to anticipate and respond to the dynamic and long lasting changes around us is the priority in front of such likely evolving Grand Doctrine of National Security Strategy. There should be prolonged, informed debate about the foreign, defense, security policies in the country. This enduring debate will certainly permeate, subvert the conventional wisdom in such a way that it will help to generate new ideas about prospective policy making. Questioning current policy must be the priority because questioning alone can make the discourse immune from complacency and stagnation in the dynamically spiraling stratosphere of the security environment of the country, domestically and internationally. Therefore it is very crucial to look back and check the contours of the foreign policy. There is a great deal of grave urgency to historicize the foreign policy of India. 

This brings us to the question of how think tanks influence all this process of journey of germination of idea towards blooming flower of policy. There are five areas in which India`s foreign/defense/security policy needs to look so as to have relook towards the changing strategic discourse and reality around the world. A) Challenge of consolidating Space and Territory. While doing this, there is a great deal of significance attached to generation of new resources, ideas, capabilities. There is need to break the confusion and persistent confusion between cooperation and regional integration. In the changing world, posing the problem in different possible ways and posing new questions is more important than dwelling great amount of time in debating the details of policy making. The age-old system of thinking is no more sustainable. 

The south Asian region is the most profound ring of strategic realignment, encirclement and geopolitical entanglement. What are the impacts of the initiatives of players like NATO, Russia and China will have on the south Asian region?   B) Structure of Foreign Policy- Ideas of nonalignment has undergone radical transformation. The energy and context for the conduct of this non-aligned foreign policy comes from the backdrop of start of the cold war. The relevance and references for continuing of that policy has lost all possible reasons to do so. Conducting international affairs in independent way is no more possible in today`s world; especially when India is poised to emerge as a responsible power or is expected to play a crucial role because of great success of Indian democracy, diversity and dedication towards the human welfare and civil rights of Liberty, Fraternity and Equality.  Attitudes of the policy making must be fundamentally different compared to the past.   C)  Attitudes towards power: Our approach towards the world has been greatly defined by the ethos and values of Indian Freedom Struggle.  The nation states liberal and progressive understanding has gone through consistent pressures, shocks and upheavals. Nature of International Relations is very brutal. There is scope for idealistic thinking but there is no scope to act upon them. 

D) Attitudes towards world order: So we have to face the diploma and struggle between moral politics & Indian thinking vis-a-vis pragmatic geopolitics deeply rooted in coalition, alliances of the forces along with the technicalities of international institutions.  India`s historical approach towards world has been influenced by perception of global order as transcendental, super national power. Nation went through different alternate phases which believed in intervention-non intervention strategies. India also stood against exploitation done in South Africa and in other countries. Country has always been pursuing the values of promotion of democracy. There is train compartment metaphor to explain behaviour of players who seek power status and mentality who enter the club of powerful players. No passenger inside full train compartment will allow the people running on the platform to enter the compartment even though realizing fully its own status some time ago on the same platform. There should not be any confusion about the approach “to do it or not to do it.” So India have to apply and enforce its prudence and judgement for the multilateral institutions and international policy making in different coalitions. 

E) Attitude towards political values: Is democracy a defining value of Indian existence. The country has to determine what are the consequences of conduct of foreign policy in the framework of promotion of democracy in the first, second and third world. India was anti-colonial state. Is India anti-imperialist? Does India wish to represent the third world in international fora? What are the guarantees that the changes desired will be brought in the line of quest of democracy. Will India intervene whenever there is unilateral invasion or threat to the democracy? These are the questions by which India needs to ascertain its status among the comity of the nations of east and west. These are the questions of power and alignment. History has taught us that circumstances matter rather than high philosophical thoughts. Any initiative on the front of introspecting the strategic discourse should be reflective, critical, self questioning and frightfulness.  Can we afford to have wishy-washy strategy? Can we afford to lose the opportunity to initiate and engage the dialogue process with pluralistic society across the world? Are we ready to distinguish the vital political ideology of the domestic discourse from that of vital interests of the nation state? Are we ready to locate this vastly dangerous chasm? 

What is the relation between foreign policy and strategy? Both are daintily not same. Upendra Bakshi very delicately deals with the virtues of judging about political situation. Though he is talking about capacity of delivering judgment, they are still relevant for understanding the necessary virtues to judge international situations. He says, “Judging is an act of will and that act arises through the political activity of ‘balancing’ and ‘conciliating’ conflicting interests (or repression). The taming, the disciplining of that political will, the will to power, is, ultimately enduring problem of human civilization. Informed evaluation of political action, a continuing expose of reality as it is untinged by ideal visions, proposing agenda of alternatives and the capacity to enter into an effective dialogue with those who wield power by those who do not are, ultimately, the basic ingredients in any exercise in the taming of political will in a free society. There are no doubt other strategies: terror, insurgency or revolution. Each one has to choose. And the choice is very, very difficult. That is why great Einstein had to acknowledge that ‘politics is harder than physics’. At any rate, the critic of the court is engaged in a phenomenon no less complex than nuclear physics; and he remains as responsible for its benign and sinister consequences as the scientist.” 

The urgency in the quest for Grand Security Strategy has arrived due to the systemic changes in the international order which is being visualized as 'Post American World.' The transformation in first decade of twenty first century marked by weakening of USA due to two wars and financial crisis has hinted to subtle, unavoidable, irreversible changes in the parity amongst economic, military and technological powers of the world. Identifying these changes without falling prey to the stagnating thoughts, rigid cold war mentality and by responding the responsible power status of the vast country like India remains the fundamental challenge ahead of strategic community. In last ten years political leaders led by former Prime Minister Vajpayee and current PM Dr. Singh have innovated more than compared to that of vast thickets of realists/liberal/centrist or any other kind of Strategic think tanks/commentators/thinkers. So, pivotal aberration in the thinking of scholars being the reluctance to invite/appreciate/debate new ideas. Radical ideas often come from minority group of thinkers. Defining various paradigm shifts in the making, analyzing/describing the nature of changes in the process, providing the diverse cause, effect framework and providing fresh solutions remain at the core of think tank`s role. Scholars need to do their work properly before complaining to the establishment that they have not initiated enough regarding the foreign policy and security policies. 

Again I cannot resist myself to refer to what Upendra Bakshi said while he was dealing with the scholars. Though his comment was about the legal scholars, the matter of integrity remains convergent in all walks of life. He opines, "This leaves us with legal scholars. My tribe too has been trigger happy. We look at the decisions of the court from time to time and criticize the court or praise it. We are in no hurry to analyze the court`s normative output. We, quite frankly, have more leisure than justices of the Supreme Court and most of us make use of that leisure in a creative grasp of the realities of judicial process only episodically. More than the politician and the lawyer , the lagal scholar`s responsibilities are gravest. It falls to his lot to study the court as an institution, not just a factory manufacturing legal and constitutional norms. What is worse, it also falls to his lot to develop a theory of evaluation of the judicial role. He has to develop a body of standards by which he evaluates the work of judges and courts. This is so difficult and daunting a task that some of us just do not want to do it."  Same goes with the Strategic Thinking in India. Senior Analyst Dr. C. Raja Mohan during the four days conference in IDSA highlighted this issue time and again to create the atmosphere of open, innovative and versatile debate in this direction.

We will continue to see what are the grand elementary evolutionary characters of the National Security Strategy are, in coming few days. (to be continued...)

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Science Communication Safari: Elephant as per Each one`s Convinience !!!

Public Communication of Science and Technology 2010

“…Do not believe on whatever you are told or you  yourself have imagined it, unless you testify it. Do not believe whatever your teacher says just because you respect him, but believe only after your own examination and analysis; it would be your guiding factor that will never let you down. Even do not believe on whatever I say, unless you have tested it with due experimentation as a goldsmith does for testing of gold by putting it in fire!…”

--- Gautama Buddha

11^th Public Communication Science and Technology Conference concluded in New Delhi recently. The focal theme was ‘Science Communication Without Frontiers’. Five Scientific Sessions with the following Sub Themes were organized as follows.

Sessions related to ‘A Critical Review of Science Communication in the World’ conversed about science communication having different functions in industrialized and developing countries. What are some of the new national approaches being taken in different countries, and how do they compare? Sessions related to ‘Science Communication Studies & Research’ focused on practical aspects linking the theory of science communication to practice, including novel and innovative practices, techniques and models of science communication, besides teaching science engagement to scientists and communicators.                                          

 Sessions related to ‘Role of Science Centres & Science Museums’ elaborated on case studies and success stories on various aspects of science centres and museums. It will include discussions on science cities, mobile and fixed science exhibitions, science circus, science cafe and planetariums, etc. Sessions related to ‘Science Communication through Mass Media’ discussed  S&T coverage in mass media, including new media approaches. How can media be employed to promote societal dialogue rather than one way dissemination a in a media society?  Sessions related to ‘Globalizing & Localizing Science Communication’ examined the global issues with local significance and vice versa, while focussing on networking efforts at global, regional and local levels to encourage flow of contents, policies, methods and practices in science communication and their institutionalization.

In the inaugural speech, former President Dr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam said that, “The purpose of science is to understand the nature where we live. The role of science communication is no longer limited by communication bandwidth but the imagination bandwidth of scientists.” He suggested three important tasks for the experts engaged in science communication:  To make all citizens, particularly those in remote and rural areas (e.g. India has 700 million rural population) to feel excitement about science; To make all the citizens to know about the advances of science and their role in the society in economic and health development and to bring more and more of fruits of science within the reach of their daily lives while being sensitive to the sustainability of our planet and our responsibility towards it and To motivate the students and entice them to embrace science as a profession. Also there are many young inventors and imaginative citizens (including from remote rural areas), sometimes without a formal training, who can be brought to public attention and encouraged.

Then Dr. Kalam appealed to prepare for Missions for Science Communication by outlining the possible agenda in front of the scholars and practitioners of the Science Communication. Key elements out of his vision are: 

a)     Bringing out a document and may be a website, on the number of science communicators available different regions, nations and states and in different languages. Based on this data, efforts should be made to treble the available science communicators across the length and breadth of the country in multiple languages within the next three years.

b)     Like the discovery channel, there is a need to establish science channel through innovative communication methodology. It would cover a vast array of innovations, researches and interesting scientific facts.

c)      Promoting systems science education among the youth and experienced for enabling informed debate on public policy leading to development oriented decision making.

d)     Generating the content for primary and secondary level science education and putting it up on an open source web based media, which can be available in multiple languages

e)     Bringing out at least ten volumes on researched biographical information of scientists from different parts of the world within the next three years. These biographies must pay particular attention to describe the interest and enthusiasm shown by the young scientist in learning and applying science. These stories will motivate the younger generation to take up science as a carrier.

f)       Bringing out “Science & Technology Daily” newspaper which can internet based, open source and contributed by the best of the scientific community and written in user friend language.

g)     Publishing case studies from experiences from the work novel/innovative work of educational institutes, universities as to how exposure to imaginative simple experiments increase the broad base of scientific education in the country.

While modern science and technology is now accepted everywhere as an integral part of one`s everyday living, few ever stop and think about the obligations which rest on the users of the benefits of science and technology. The most important of these understanding of the scientific method and the development of the scientific outlook. Scientific method rejects revelation as a means of discovering truth and substitutes itself by techniques of observation, experimentation and deduction. Once it has permeated at every level of existence, method of science must become a way of life and it should not be construed as a mere knowledge system but a way of thinking. 

The term scientific temper is an attractive one having brevity and comprehensiveness. This indicates all the hues of man`s thinking and rational having adjective of scientific. Responsibilities of scientist and non-scientist must be considered when we talk about scientific temper. For demography like us having huge disparity of wealth, education, technology and social recognition is also starved of rare but very much achievable scientific professionalism by every day common sense embedded in our quest for survival and bread-butter. The challenge lies in developing the willingness to work out, to understand the basic concepts, discovering and eschewing those which are in conflict with basic common sense and every day reason. 

One of the ways, therefore, a man can develop his/her rationality is by conscious study and debate with self and others. Everyone will be benefited by the energised discussion. One has to have opinion leaving behind passive attitude. The exercise of scientific temper or scientific humanism is not only relevant to the intellectually and economically developed nation, but it is more than important for the emerging, developing, least developed countries. It gives a unique capability to induce a awakening thought to the fallen societies by making a vast population a creative force for the much needed transformation where every citizen has equal role to play. 

Obscurantism has pervaded in all walks of our society. Today obscurantism may be considered as encompassing across in terms of communalism, unscientific ideas and beliefs, superstitions and dogmas, blind adherence to religion, customs, convention and tradition. Across the decades and centuries of history full of social, political, economic conflicts scientific knowledge was not assessable to all the people. Science progresses through the leaps and bounds of the efforts of the few and by debatable reasons most of the others who were party to the progress, did not or to put in a better way could not accept the validity of the discoveries, inventions, and innovations always. Reasons being arguments of the scientific discovery are not comprehensible common people. So role of education in eradicating obscurantism is paramount. 

Scientific temper could lead to the better appreciation of the impact of science and technology on society and thereby provide the kind of atmosphere needed for S&T to flourish along with their recognition. Much of the S&T done today requires expenditure of public funds directly or indirectly, and utilization of it requires permeation of the scientific temper in the masses.  

So one cannot resist to recall the person who gifted this world the term ‘Scientific Temper’ which was later incorporated in our constitution in form of fundamental duty to pursue unlike all other nations all over.  Clause (h) of the Article 51A of the Constitution of India which deals with the Fundamental duties proclaims that to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform. Thus Jawaharlal Nehru contemplated and acted, “Our age is a different one. It is an age of disillusion, of doubt and uncertainty and questionaning; it is an age of disillusion, of doubt and uncertainty and questioning. We can no longer accept many of the ancient beliefs and customs; we have no more faith in them, in Asia or in Europe or in America. So, we search for new ways, question each other and debate and quarrel and evolve any number of ísm’ and philosophies. As in the days of Socrates, we live in an age of questioning, but the questioning is not confined to a city like Athens; it is worldwide.”    

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