श्रीमद भगवद्गीता

इस वर्ष की पहली तारीख को मुझे न्यू जर्सी में अर्षबोध केंद्र में स्वामी तदात्मानंद का प्रवचन सुनने का मौका मिला. यह अनुभव इतना शालीन और मन को छू लेने वाला था कि इसके बारे में लिखने की बड़ी इच्छा हुई.

स्वामी जी अमरीकी हैं और इंजीनियरिंग की शिक्षा पाई है. उन्होंने बाद में स्वामी दयानंद से शिक्षा पा कर सन्यास की दीक्षा ली है. अमेरिका में भारतीय मूल के लोगों के सहयोग से वे यह आश्रम चलाते हैं. उनके कार्यक्रम बच्चों, और किशोरों के लिए भी हैं और वेंदांत के विषयों पर हैं.

स्वामी जी की वेब साईट पर उनके प्रवचन और कक्षाओं की ऑडियो फाइलें हैं. उन्होंने प्रत्येक श्लोक का छंदबद्ध अनुवाद किया है जिससे गीता को अंग्रेजी में भी गा कर पढ़ा जा सकता है. संस्कृत के श्लोक तो पहले से ही छंदों में हैं.

उनकी व्याख्या बड़ी सटीक और सरल है. और वे सबको श्लोकों को गाने की सलाह देते हैं. 

गाने का महत्व असाधारण है. 

उन्होंने एक बार दिल्ली में गीता जयंती के अवसर पर इसका पूरा उच्चार किया. उस समय तक उनका संस्कृत ज्ञान इतना अच्छा हो गया था कि उन्हें श्लोकों के अर्थ अच्छी तरह समझ में आ रहे थे. गीता के श्लोक इतने गहरे और इतने उत्कृष्ट हैं कि इस अनुभूति में विह्वल हो कर उनकी आँखों से आंसू छलक पड़े. आंसू अंतःकरण को शुद्ध करते हैं. भक्ति में आंसू आना अनिवार्य माना जाता है. ऐसी गहरी अनुभूति का उल्लेख कुछ मुस्लिम विद्वानों ने काबा में जाने पर होने का किया है.

संस्कृत की शालीनता तो असाधारण है. गीता के श्लोकों का उच्चार और उनकी व्याख्या सुनना एक अत्यंत ही प्रिय अनुभूति है.

Discovering Geeta

The new year experience this year (2012) has been quite revealing during a visit to Arsha Bodha Center in New Jersey. 


There is Swami Tadatmananda, an American engineer turned a Swami, trained in traditional Indian style of learning from the guru. This session was about Shanti Path where a gathering of some 500+ people chanted many Vedic shlokas wishing peace and happiness for ALL.


What was remarkable was that the audience a) sung these, and b) with the correct pronunciation. Sanskrit means elegant. And well sung Sanskrit is magically beautiful. And all these verses were wishing peace and happiness for ALL.


Then I went to the website of the Center and downloaded the many lectures of the Swami. I started listening to his talks on the Geeta (Shreemad Bhagwadgeeta). He makes the audience sing the verses (which, I realized for the first time, were in in the right technical meter). His explanations are clear and logical. In fact, I have heard some Indians talk about Geeta but this was the clearest and quite easy to relate to. He has even translated Geeta into English in the rhythmic meter.


He related an anecdote of participating in Geeta Jayanti (the Geeta Day!) where participants gathered and recited the full Geeta. By that time the Swami had mastered Sanskrit enough to understand it fully. The verses are so powerful that he said he had tears flowing from his eyes. Tears in these experiences are an expression of pure feeling from the soul. I have heard some Muslim scholars talking of similar tears when they had an occasion to visit the Qaba.


Swami's translation into English should hopefully give a similar feeling to those comfortable in English.


I have heard several of his lectures already and its been such a joy! I realize how my thoughts have got somewhat western in terms of study and learning techniques. Listening to and chanting Sanskrit is absolutely elegant. Highly recommended.

Philosophical Encounters

I normally keep to myself in my journeys but indulge in long conversations when, sometimes, there is a matching interest in a fellow traveler. While heading for the airport from Orchid Hotel there was an elderly gentleman sitting next to me in the bus. Somehow he figured that I, like him, came from Pune and asked me the standard Puneri question - where do you live in Pune? 

"Camp area. Salisbudy Park. How about you?"

"Pashan"

"You must be with a DRDO lab then", I ventured

"No, I teach in University"

"What do you teach?"

"Philosophy"

It turned out that he is the just-retiring head of the Department of Philosophy in University of Pune - Prof Subhashchandra Bhelke. My eyes must have lit up. I have ventured to study some material in philosophy and have formally studied a couple of disciplines of logic during engineering. I have had some curiosities and questions and here was an experienced academic largely at my disposal as the queue was going to take a couple of hours to its completion.

I asked him a series of questions for nearly 2 hours and here is a gist that you may find interesting.

How is the state of education in Philosophy in India? Very bad, he said. There is a serious dearth of quality teachers and the younger lot is not devoted to the field. A lot of poor crop is thrust into the system due to reservations. The policy itself may be debated but the implementation is such that the Vice Chancellors and Heads of Departments have no choice but to recruit literally anyone applying from those categories.

There is an equal dearth of students. They do not necessarily come because of their interest but because they could not find anything else. He himself started with research in Hindi Literature but got bored after a few years. Then he moved to philosophy later and he finds the thirst for the quest for reality is still not quenched despite having spent some four decades in the field.

I told him that although I have a Masters degree in engineering the system barely exposed philosophy as a subject to me except in IIT Kanpur where there were several electives to choose from. He said IIT Kanpur actually had one of the top 5 departments in philosophy in the country and named some professors to me. I had been taught by a couple of them. One of them, Prof Rajendra Prasad, had been a mentor to him as well. When we talked in some detail he explained that there are few universities in India that could teach some of the more sophisticated fields of logic while these were offered as electives to undergraduate students in Kanpur.

I mentioned my favorite book 'The Story of Philosophy' by Will Durant. This book is meant for common folks and is very approachable. In its preface the author mentioned hearing from the librarian of New York Public Library that the circulation of their books on philosophy had increased after their readers had read this book. I told him that I had also read Bertrand Russel's 'History of Western Philosophy' but liked Duran's book better. Prof Bhelke said that Russel's standard was much higher but Durant is accurate and yet approachable. I have read some books by S Radhakrishnan but none of his books is like Will Durant's What is the equivalent for Indian philosophy? He told me to read The Essentials of Indian Philosophy by M Hiriyanna. I just started and it's nice so far.

During my professional years I have come around to the view that study of philosophy is quite essential for a matured view on anything. I have toyed with the idea of having a brief training for staff in Cygnus on philosophy. Why is our education system so stingy about teaching philosophy at junior levels? Prof Bhelke thought that although it is there in the syllabi of boards but schools do not see the demand nor do they encourage it.

The university has attempted to create some brief courses for the public and there has been some interest but the university treats all departments with the same brush. So they require that students be charged in similar ways as MBA students are charged and so on. University is quite bureaucratic and freedom of professors is restricted. They have installed a biometric system that monitors the amount of time spent in the university. Many professors feel disappointed as they pursue the profession as a matter of love for the field and deserve academic freedom. They actually spent more time in campus before the monitoring system got installed. He was also not very happy with the recent Vice Chancellors of the university as they are more interested in advancing their careers than work for the university.

I asked him of his views on Chinese and other eastern philosophies. He said that their system are primarily based on Buddhist philosophy although there are some earlier strands. He pleaded ignorance of Islamic philosophy but he said that it did not excite him for the reason that it presupposes a finality of the Quran and the Prophet. This goes against the grain of academic scrutiny. I told him that Indian system is accommodating of diverse, even conflicting, viewpoints. And that I found many similarities between Bhagwadgita and the Quran. He agreed but said that interpreting the Gita is common but not so with the Quran.

Sometime around here we were directed to different counters. I did not see him after that. He would have headed to Frankfurt and I spent another day at Doha.

अँधियारा गहराया

कुछ ऐसे लम्हे रहे हैं मेरे जीवन में जब अभिव्यक्ति के लिए शब्द नहीं मिलते

'सारांश' फिल्म का यह गीत मुझे ऐसे में अक्सर याद आता है. इसके बोल मैंने ढूंढें पर मिले नहीं. सुन कर नीचे लिखा है. दो तीन त्रुटियाँ हैं शायद. 

इसका संगीत अजीत वर्मन का है और बोल वसंत देव के.

अँधियारा गहराया, 

सूनापन घिर आया, 

घबराया मन मेरा,

चरणों में आया 

क्यों हो तुम, 

यूँ गुमसुम,

किरणों को आने दो

पत्थर की आँखों से,

करुणा को झरने दो

अँधियारा गहराया,

सूनापन घिर आया,

घबराया मन मेरा,

चरणों में आया 

पत्तों तिनकों का

बना था घर मेरा, 

ढह गया, बह गया 

अब कहाँ बसेरा

भीगा है मन पाखी

मंजरी में पलने दो

अँधियारा गहराया,

सूनापन घिर आया,

घबराया मन मेरा,

चरणों में आया 

ये उदासी, अगर, छाई है मेरे लिए

पीर की वाहनी, है बनी मेरे लिए 

सह लूं मैं हर जनम  

चन्दन वो पलने दो

अँधियारा गहराया,

सूनापन घिर आया,

घबराया मन मेरा,

चरणों में आया 

Doing Ph D

Saw a post from Prof Dheeraj Sanghi on Ph D programs in IITs. This is not a counterpoint but just a perspective.

1. The importance of research for any country, society, or economy is critical in developing its reservoir of ingenuity as the key tool for survival, sustenance, and growth. Ph D programs need to contribute to that reservoir significantly
2. As Ph D programs are long drawn the trade off between the 'real' world and the 'academic' one is a very hard choice. One wishes for an ecosystem where cutting off from the 'real' for 3-5 years is not the only way to do a Ph D. What is more important than the degree is the contribution to research whose cumulative effect should weigh more than the degree itself
3. Perhaps a collaborative program between institutions and industry where a series of research efforts is reasonably directed and can be deemed to be equivalent to nano, micro, mini or mega Ph D may be a workable way of encouraging a culture of research
4. I recall a comment by Late Prof V K Deshpande of IIT/K in one of those student/faculty discussions (how I loved IIT/K for that openness) where he mentioned that he must have learned at least five times since his Ph D. Clearly Ph D is not an end but the start of a mindset that empowers with tools for investigation and problem-solving. Cultivating that mindset in undergraduate and postgraduate programs is equally critical
5. Horror stories of dictatorial culture in universities abound where Ph D scholars are often supposed to be at the mercy of their guides/supervisors
6. When I finished my B Tech I did not fancy doing more of academics without having seen the 'real' world as I was not convinced of doing Master or Doctoral work without getting one's hands dirty was the right thing. The 'real' world was a mixed bag that kept one extremely busy with responsibilities leaving little time to do anything else. I 'escaped' after some time to do M Tech at another IIT. But when it came to doing a Ph D I told myself that there has to be a topic that I must fall in love with to do a Ph D. That love never came! There must have been dozens of smaller flings but not one that would entice me enough to go away with it for a few years! I suspect that being in a community that included academics may have helped find such a love
7. I met Prof Singaperumal in Santa Clara in PanIIT 2007. He had taught pneumatics to us in IIT Madras. His advice/request was to come to IIT M for a Ph D. He said you don't need to come to campus much for doing this. So there is hope I guess
8. I guess 25 years of career should count for a little more than GATE as far as doing Ph D is concerned. Institutes that are restrictive in getting research fellows on the basis of GATE scores certainly need to prioritize slightly differently. Universities need to lead not follow rules blindly

Kashmir Confusion

Kashmir has been a concern for most of us in India for over 20 years.
I figured only recently how confused and deceptive this demand for independence is. 
A recent interview of Hurriyat's Syed Ali Shah Geelani by Seema Mustafa shows that his idea of independence is not freedom as a sovereign state but freedom from the Indian rule.
Another interview with Kashmiri Youth is about joining neither India nor Pakistan but being an independent nation.
However, this deception is perpetuated by all these people who have inflicted nothing but death and destruction on the hapless population of Kashmir.
The stone throwers are supposedly venting their anger armed with nothing but stones! Well, with these stones they have disrupted lives and created conditions that are hurting common people. They deserve no sympathy.
In Pakistan, we have a prime example of how a country created in a rush can be devoid of institutions and hijacked by anyone with gun, money, and greed.
Kashmir's independence is a foolish idea to start with - having Afghanistan, Pakistan, and China next door. If created it can only surpass Pakistan and Afghanistan in creating misery for its inhabitants.

IIT/K's Place Under the Sun

IIT/K in its initial years was generally considered the odd one by most. Bureaucrats in the government were exasperated at the radical ideas and thoughts that went into building this institution. Universities, and even other IITs were a lot more conforming to the thinking of the time.

IITs were not meant to be 'me too' institutes. It was therefore in the fitness of things that people creating these institutions thought out of the box.

But that was then. India did not have many great institutions, self-confidence was relatively low, resources were scarcer, and role models rare.

It's different today. A fairly fast growing economy, young population that is a lot more aware, confident, and ambitious, infrastructure and social indicators that could be better but are quite enough to launch a thousand (make it a few millions, or hundreds of millions) dreams.

Crucially, IITs then were in nascent stages without a significant number of alumni. IIT alumni today are estimated to be about 150,000 now with  experience profiles from 0 to 50 years. They are found in most geographies, in most fields, and in all variety of career types.

Premier institutes are meant to provide leadership in thought, training, and action.

IITs do have to carry out that role.

Typical talks on IITs surround around what IITs could do in the field of education, research, and transformation. The focus really should be on helping IITians accomplish a lot more than they have in the past.

It is generally believed that IITians have by and large been successful in most fields they have ventured into. There are plenty of iconic individuals with stellar achievements next to their names.

Yet, these are individual successes. There is no institutionalized mechanism or forum where sharing of vision, values, dreams, goals, strategies, and resources that can catalyze the IIT community to make a 100x mark on the world.

We need to come up with a shared vision and SWOT of contemporary India and the world at large as seen by a premier university and its alumni.

The ecosystem needs to facilitate IITians to become great performers both individually and as a community leveraging the synergies of ideas, resourcefulness, resources, collaborations and so on.

Entrepreneurship is one such area. In many ways the success factors presented by the contemporary ecosystem for entrepreneurs are still quite fragmented and obscure. A lot of false starts and eddy currents can be removed in the journey of the budding entrepreneurs by the many who have 'been there, done that'. A virtual Silicon Valley serving the community of IITians is critically needed with a fairly ambitious agenda.

Why the virtual Silicon Valley for IITians?

Quite simply Silicon Valley is about shared values, attitudes, passions, and dreams. IITians from all campuses always talk about how easy it is to break ice and get along with other IITians. So shared ingredients do exist.

This virtual Silicon Valley should help succeed IITians at least at the scale that the one in California. In fact, Brand IIT should make a much bigger impact in the happening country that India is today.

What about the IITs when the focus is on IITians?

IITs are great nuclei to anchor these initiatives serving the community that is wildly dispersed in both space and time.

The Mentoring Program is a great initiative and I hope it is a firm and forward step towards the goals above.