good piece - add family connections, money, and caste and you get a more complete pic.
On 2/4/21, Rajan Parrikar <parri...@gmail.com> wrote: > I just finished “An Extraordinary Life - Manohar Parrikar” by Sadguru Patil > and Mayabhushan Nagvenkar. This post is not about the book. I may offer an > assessment at a later time. For now, a one-sentence summary will suffice: a > shallow account of a shallow man. > > What triggers this note is the following passage from the biography, one > that illuminates a facet of the modern Indian mindset. Almost certainly the > authors did not mean it to. > > https://www.parrikar.org/misc/ITI-IIT.jpg > > I have never understood the Indian apathy, bordering on disdain, for those > who work with their hands. Whether it is the plumber, the mason, the > mechanic, or the welder, the practitioners of these trades rank low in the > Indian imagination. > > In my childhood I knew a couple of boys who were exceptional at building > things. They were tinkerers, fashioning something useful and surprising out > of everyday objects. In a different geography their talents would have > flowered and they would have gone on to lead productive lives. But in India > and Goa, they had one tragic shortcoming - they were at the bottom of their > class at school. For that reason they were targets of derision and made to > feel worthless, their confidence gutted. I remember the pejorative word > “bhoto” used to refer to those who fared badly in school. > > The great inventors in America, Britain, and France have always been > tinkerers at heart. Aimless play has attended every great invention. But in > India the only thing that counts is “scoring marks” in worthless > examinations. The “ITI” guy doing an honest day’s work is looked down on > and the “Eye-Eye-Tee” cockalorum venerated. > > The disproportionate adulation reserved for the IITian is puzzling, > especially when there is no evidence that it is merited. Can you think of > even ONE item you use in your daily life, from the time you rise until you > retire at night, that can be credited to any Indian, IITian or otherwise? > Your technological world would be no different with or without the IITian, > not even by a smidgeon. Contrast that to tiny Hungary that gave us a John > von Neumann, to cite just one example. That you can read this right now has > something to do with von Neumann. > > When I worked at a satellite manufacturing company in Silicon Valley, I > would often drop by the workshop and see the techs (the American equivalent > of India’s ITI products) who worked the metal. All working class whites, > the very group reviled and spit upon today by the vile Left, whose > forefathers built what is today’s America. Their level of workmanship was > astounding. You sensed the pride in their work, and the culture didn’t > penalize them because they preferred to master a trade instead of acquiring > a fancy degree at Stanford. They were machinists because they wanted to > be, not because they were condemned to that line of work. Of one thing I am > certain - 10 of these techs would be more useful to India than a 1000 > preening IIT or engineering college peacocks. > > The low regard accorded the “ITI” trained worker is why Indians have to > live with shoddy workmanship both inside and outside their home. Look > around you - the Indian fit & finish screams Third World. > > > r >