Festival of Ideas, Goa Star-studded line-up for D D Kosambi Festival of Ideas A compilation
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT Panjim, Chief Minister Digambar Kamat inaugurated the D D Kosambi Festival of Ideas on Saturday at Kala Academy, Panjim, followed by a lecture delivered by eminent scientist Dr Raghunath Mashelkar. This is the fourth edition of this lecture series, and will be held from February 5 to 10 at Kala Academy, Panjim. Other speakers included another great scientist and former President of India Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, Tibetan leader and Buddhist luminary His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Indian-born British economist and intellectual Lord Meghnad Desai, Human Rights activist and former Judge of South Africa’s Constitutional Court Justice Albie Sachs and Rajya Sabha MP, Hindu leader and President of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) Dr Karan Singh. A son of Goa, Dr Mashelkar was born on January 1, 1943 in Mashel, Tiswadi, in a modest family. He went to school barefoot and almost had to give up studies owing to his family’s strained economic circumstances. Nevertheless, he was a rank holder in the matriculation examination. An apocryphal story says that his school principal and science teacher, Bhave, once concentrated the rays of the sun through a magnifying lens on a paper till it burned and told him, “This lens is you. If you concentrate on your studies, one day you will reach the sky.” Though his mother could not support his college education, Dr Mashelkar managed to become a chemical engineer, won a Tata scholarship, went overseas and got his PhD degree. He did ground-breaking work in polymer science and engineering, going on to become the head of the National Chemical Laboratory (NCL). He was then named Director General of the CSIR. Under his leadership, the CSIR was first in the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s (WIPO’s) Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) filings among developing nations in 2002. CSIR still has a 30-40 per cent share of all US patents granted to Indians in India during the last three years. His personal experience of reaching the very top of his profession from the most dire of circumstances has convinced him that India is fated to become one of the world’s greatest intellectual and economic engines. He has been responsible for creating an unprecedented national awareness in India on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). He led the challenge to successfully revoke the US patent on the wound-healing properties of Turmeric. He also chaired the technical committee that successfully challenged and revoked US patents on Basmati Rice. This set in motion a movement for the protection of traditional knowledge in the entire developing world. Mashelkar is presently the president of the Global Research Alliance, a network of publicly funded research and development institutes from the Asia-Pacific region, South Africa, Europe and the USA with over 60,000 scientists. He is also the President of India’s National Innovation Foundation. The Directorate of Art & Culture initiated the D D Kosambi Festival of Ideas to commemorate the birth centenary of Damodar Dharmanand Kosambi, Indian mathematician, statistician, physicist, historian and polymath, and a great son of Goa. This festival is the only one of its kind in the country. Goans can make a miracle happen for Goa: Mashelkar TNN, Feb 6, 2011, 03.05am IST PANAJI: Eminent scientist of Goan origin Raghunath Mashelkar said that he feels hugely optimistic about Goa's future given the strong feelings displayed by its youth towards their homeland. Mashelkar opened the six-day D D Kosambi Festival of Ideas 2011 with his lecture 'Making Impossible Possible' at the Kala Academy on Saturday to an auditorium overflowing with an enthusiastic audience. "I met 350 young Goans recently for the making of the vision document. And I gave them 10 out of 11 on this one count. For the feeling of 'my Goa' that I saw in them. It was incredible. I met the chief minister the next day and I told him that I am dangerously optimistic usually, but now I am supper optimist for Goa," said the president of the Global Research Alliance referring to his meeting to gauge the aspirations of the youth of Goa last month. Mashelkar heads the Goa Golden Jubilee Council which is to prepare a vision document 2035 for the state. Mashelkar, pointing to an article that Goa has the least number of deaths at birth in the country, said, "This article says that Goa is the best place to be born in. We can also get a headline saying that Goa is the best place in the world. When people talk about India being the third-most powerful country in the world, I also want it to be the happiest country in the world. And I want the same for Goa, and Goans can make it happen." Mashelkar, who has been bestowed with 28 honorary doctorates by renowned universities throughout the world, elaborated, "Goa will be the happiest state in 2035 when not just few but every Goan will do well. When every act of ours will be ethical. When every act of ours will be good and not when one is good only to oneself and one's family. When we are in complete harmony with nature. When we can have development without destruction. When we are developed as spiritual beings as well." The former director of the National Chemical Laboratory said that his lone prayer to God would be to allow him to come to life in 2035, if he is not alive by then, to see this progress Goa will have achieved by then. "I am sixty-eight years old now and will not be alive by 2035. So I will pray to God to take one month from whatever time I have on earth and to allow me to instead come back in 2035 and look at my Goa." Mashelkar said that India has had 'three independences' and not one. "In 1947, we got political independence. On July 24, 1991 we got our second independence when Manmohan Singh as finance minister opened up our economy. In 2008, we got our third independence when we signed the nuclear deal. Our fourth independence will come when India can meet the basic needs of all its people and not just a few. India owes it to its people for a long time now." Mashelkar also narrated to the audience the inspirational story of his life where from battling poverty as a child, he went on to become a scientist who has worked with all major scientific bodies in the world. "We can make miracles happen," Mashelkar told the audience. APJ Abdul Kalam: Creativity for Innovation First of all I would like to congratulate the Govt of Goa and the people of Goa for celebrating in a beautiful way DD Kosambi Festival of Ideas. My greetings to the organizers, participants, distinguished guests assembled here. As per the words of Basham, Kosambi seemed to have “only three interests, which filled his life to the exclusion of all others – ancient India, in all its aspects, mathematics and the preservation of peace”. He worked hard and with devotion for all three, “according to his deep conviction”. But his intellectual journey led him to traverse diverse disciplinary fields. While engaged primarily in mathematics, he wrote a paper on genetics which was very successful. What became known as “the Kosambi formula for chromosome mapping” was widely used by professional geneticists, although, as he says, he was “accused at times of not appreciating his own formula”. The formula was an advance over the existing chromosome theory of heredity, comprising the arrangements of gens and their recombination through the phenomenon of crossing over. What inspired me was, he was a larger than life personality and even his personal life was an important message. His integrity – personal and intellectual – was beyond question. Secularism formed the core of his personality. He had a tremendous capacity for hard work – any time of the day or night. He had a strong preference for Subbulakshimi bhajans, which is also my preference in music, since I used to hear M.S. Subbulakshmi bhajans every day. The more I studied the life of Dr. Damodar Dharmanand Kosambi, the more I am inspired about the great life, Dr. Kosambi historian, Dr. Kosambi mathematician, Dr. Kosambi Archeologist, Dr. Kosambi scientist, Dr. Kosambi Sanskrit Scholar and above all Dr. Kosambi is a man of independent thinking away from any establishment and most importantly, Dr. Kosambi fountain of ideas. Friends when I am in the midst of this intellectual gathering, I would like to discuss on the topic “Evolution of a Better World”. Creativity for innovation India is in the process of transforming itself into a knowledge society. The growth of any Knowledge society is directly proportional to its innovations. Innovations come through creativity. Creativity comes from beautiful minds. It can be anywhere and any part of the world. It may start from a fisherman hamlet or a farmer’s household or a dairy farm or cattle breeding center or it emanates from classrooms or labs or industries or R&D centers or Government. Creativity has got multi dimensions like inventions, discoveries and innovations. Creative mind has the ability to imagine or invent something new by combining, changing or reapplying existing ideas. Creative person has an attitude to accept change and newness, a willingness to play with ideas and possibilities, a flexibility of outlook, the habit of enjoying the good, while looking for ways to improve it. Creativity is a process through which, we can continuously improve ideas and find unique solutions by making gradual alterations and refinements to our works. The important aspect of creativity is: seeing the same thing as everybody else, but thinking of something different. Inclusivity in innovation The challenge of adopting a technology and applying technology to generate a new product, in my opinion lies in the challenges of techno-globalization. We must study the impact of technology with reference to the various strata of the society and make sure that there is no long term and short term damage. While we penetrate products and new kinds of services in the market, we should also consider that whenever we innovate and try to generate new ideas, products, process and solutions, we should focus in the sense of “inclusivity”. We should accord Inclusivity a top priority, when we are dealing with the society in particular. If we are inclusive in ideas, we will integrate better, we will connect the seam of society where in differences lies today be it a digital divide and any other divide you may refer to. Let me discuss the results of ideas that led to a difference. Kalam-Raju stent I was traveling in a non-stop train from Delhi to Dehradun. I was absorbed in a book “Man, the Unknown” written by Dr. Alexis Carell. There was a vacant seat next to me. Suddenly one passenger greeted me and he wanted to convey certain aspects. I asked him to sit by my side. He introduced himself and said he is working in a government office. His name was Mr. Jitesh. Jitesh said, Mr. Kalam I want to thank you for giving to people like me Raju-Kalam stents which is fitted in two of my arteries. I was fitted with these stents in Hyderabad Hospital almost at no cost, since at that time, I could not afford a high cost imported stent. Thank you Sir. My family also would like to greet you. His lovely family with the kids were all in smiles. Raju-Kalam stent emanated through the working of missile lab and medical institutions on a mission mode. It was a successful mission of medical and engineering teams. I thought of sharing this incident with you to stress the importance of medical and engineering teams to work together for developing medical systems, devices and equipments at an affordable cost as a societal mission. Dr. Soma Raju is one of the founding members of society for biomedical technology (SBMT), an inter-ministerial initiative of the Government of India to develop affordable medical devices and technology. Since then he has been instrumental in shaping the development of cardiology and cardiac surgery in Andhra Pradesh in the private sector. Dr. Soma Raju founded Care Hospital and setup a bench mark in providing affordable cardiac interventions and cardiac surgery. We made a coronary stent together. The KR stent, as it was called, resulted in the availability of all international brands of coronary stents in India at the most nominal prices. Today KR stent transformed into multiple versions and recently a new version of KR stent has gone in production and celebrated 10 years of research, production and marketing. Greatest Happiness in Life Dear friends when I see you all, first of all I would like to share one experience with you. When I was teaching in Gatton college of Business and economics of Lexington in USA, one of my students asked me, Kalam, you have done many tasks, tell us which one task gave you the bliss. How to answer? It is important for me to answer. Let me share with all of you. When we launched the first indigenous satellite launch vehicle SLV3, it gave me lot of happiness! When we launched AGNI, it gave me a different kind of happiness! When I and my team had successfully tested the nuclear weapon at the 52 degree centigrade in Pokhran desert, it gave me great joy! When our team prepared the Vision 2020 document for transforming the nation into a developed nation, it gave me a good sense of happiness. But what gave me bliss!? That is the memorable event which I would like to share with you now. During my visit to one of the hospitals in Hyderabad, I found many children were struggling to walk with an artificial limb weighing over 4 kgs. At the request of Prof. BN Prasad of NIMS, Head of orthopedic department at that time, I asked my AGNI missile friends why we cannot use the composite material used for AGNI heat shield for fabricating FROs for polio affected patients. They immediately said that it is possible. We worked on this project for some time and came up with a FRO for the child weighing around 400 gms in place of 4 kg, exactly 1/10th of the weight which the children were carrying. The doctors helped us to fit the new light weight FRO on the children and the children started walking and running around. Their parents were also present. Tears rolled down on all of their faces through the joy of seeing their children running with the light calipers. With the light weight device provided by the hospital they could run, ride a bicycle and do all sorts of things which they had been denied for a long time. The removal of the pain and the freedom attained by the children gave me a state of bliss which I never experienced during any other happiness in my life. Hence dear friends, we have witnessed many innovations in the country and the world which has continuously enriched the quality of life of the people. When we celebrate the success of the innovators who brings difference to the life of the common man, we should see what the connectivity is and what motivates them to achieve. That is the vision. Every one of you has the vision to achieve something great in your life time. Vision drives the nation, state and individuals. Let us look at what is the vision which drives India towards realizing the Developed India vision 2020. Now, let me describe my visualization of the distinctive profile of India by 2020. Each pillar is an idea, needs developmental focus by young and experience. Distinctive Profile of India by 2020 1. A Nation where the rural and urban divide has reduced to a thin line. 2. A Nation where there is an equitable distribution and adequate access to energy and quality water. 3. A Nation where agriculture, industry and service sector work together in symphony. 4. A Nation where education with value system is not denied to any meritorious candidates because of societal or economic discrimination. 5. A Nation, which is the best destination for the most talented scholars, scientists, and investors. 6. A Nation where the best of health care is available to all. 7. A Nation where the governance is responsive, transparent and corruption free. 8. A Nation where poverty has been totally eradicated, illiteracy removed and crimes against women and children are absent and none in the society feels alienated. 9. A Nation that is prosperous, healthy, secure, devoid of terrorism, peaceful and happy and continues with a sustainable growth path. 10. A Nation that is one of the best places to live in and is proud of its leadership. Integrated Action for developed India To achieve the distinctive profile of India, we have the mission of transforming India into a developed nation. We have identified five areas where India has a core competence for integrated action: (1) Agriculture and food processing (2) Reliable and Quality Electric power, Surface transport and Infrastructure for all parts of the country. (3) Education and Healthcare (4) Information and Communication Technology (5) Self-reliance in critical technologies. These five areas are closely inter-related and will progress in a coordinated way, leading to food, economic and national security. The major mission is the development of infrastructure for bringing rural prosperity are through Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA) through creation of three connectivities namely physical, electronic, knowledge leading to economic connectivity. The number of PURA for the whole country is estimated to be 7000. Educational institutions can participate in evolving a road map for development of PURAs in their region. I have come across such examples: in Periyar PURA at Vallam in Tamil Nadu, where students and teachers of Periyar Maniammai College of Engineering and Technology are working in the planning and development of a cluster of sixty five villages involving one lakh population. Similarly, a number of PURAs are coming up in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh. Govt of India recently launched 11 PURAs in the different states in the country. I am sure, all of you can create a PURA in a rural area. Global world system for prosperity and peace: World Vision 2030 Evolution of better world is possible only if we evolve a better nation with peace and prosperity. India has a vision to realize peace and prosperity as per the Vision 2020. What should be the World Vision to achieve Global World System for prosperity and peace. Incidentally, when we look at the life of Dr Kosambi, he was seriously involved in the World Peace council in 1950’s and led a Indian delegation to the World Peace Conference at Helsinki, Finland in June 1955. Recently I had an opportunity to take a course on “Evolution of Happy, Prosperous and Peaceful Societies” at the Gatton College of Business and Economics at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, USA. Based on the experience with the course participants, I have been discussing with the students from multiple institutions, and disciplines, on ideas which can lead to the realization of a World Vision 2030. Let me present to you these visualizations. 1. A world of nations where people live in a green clean environment without pollution. 2. A world of nations having prosperity without poverty, 3. A world of nations with creative leadership who ensure effective mechanisms to resolve conflicts between nations and societies in a timely manner keeping overall peace and prosperity of the world as a goal. 4. A world of nations having peace without fear of war and a happy place to live for all humankind This is the kind of the world which we have to bequeath to the youth of the world. The foundation of the world vision 2030 shall be enshrined in regional cooperation and development. The regional development will ultimately empower the individual nations to realize the vision. Friends, Dr. Kosambi, in his lifetime always advocated the necessity of solar power for India compared to any other resources realizing the solar clean energy and to have the natural form of energy sources. Here I would like share with you about the new initiative called Kalam-NSS Energy Initiative from solar power. Space Based Solar Power On the 30th May 2010, I addressed the International Space Development Conference (ISDC) where I talked about the possibilities of harvesting energy from space through space based solar power. This conference was attended by many of the experts from the space community, who got interested with the presentation I had made. This led to further discussions and formulations which culminated into the evolution of the idea of Kalam-NSS Energy Initiative with the focus on convergence of competencies from different nations towards the realization of a futuristic mission for green energy from space. On the 4th of November 2010, this initiative was declared to the global audience by National Space Society of United States and was participated by representatives from Indian Space Research Organization and Artemis Innovation Management. A sequence of actions will flow on Kalam-NSS energy initiative based on the conference planning in May 2011. What I will be remembered for? Friends, with these thoughts, now I am going to share with you some thoughts on the topic: what I will be remembered for? I am sure, you would like to do something different – out of box missions. Just look at the top of you, what you see is lights and lights. There is a great personality behind them, that is Thomas Alva Edison. Whenever we receive a call on telephone, we remember another mighty personality that is Graham Bell, is it not? When we fly or the sound of a passenger flight is heard that brings before us the 1903 event, when Wright brothers who flew the first flying mission. Friends, when you have an opportunity travel in the sea, you will see the sky horizon and sea merged with blue and blue vision. This is a phenomena of scattering of light. For this observation, and scientific experiment and research one of our great scientists Sir CV Raman, for which he won the a Nobel prize. Another soul we cherish in India for introducing a new concept for fighting for freedom is through Ahimsa actions, that is Mahatma Gandhiji. Also cherish Gandhiji’s Ahimsa movement in South Africa for his fight against apartheid. There are human minds which challenged the impossible and made them possible. Inventions and discoveries have emanated from creative minds that have been constantly working and imagining the outcome in the mind. With imagination and constant effort, all the forces of the universe work for that inspired mind, thereby leading to inventions or discoveries. Conclusion: UNIQUE YOU Dear young friends, when I saw you all, I thought of sharing with you an experience. I have met, so far, 11 million youth in a decade’s time, mostly in India and abroad. I learnt their aspiration, their hopes and also their pain. Every youth wants to be unique, that is, YOU! But the world all around you, is doing its best, day and night, to make you just like “every body else”. It starts from home, schools, colleges and finally the work place. The challenge, my young friends, is that you have to fight the hardest battle, which any human being can ever imagine to fight; and never stop fighting until you arrive at your destined place, that is, a UNIQUE YOU! My best wishes to all of you in your endeavor to make a better nation and a better world. May God bless you. HH the Dalai Lama Delivers Lecture in Goa: Ethics for the New Millennium February 8th 2011 Panaji, Goa, India, 7 Feb 2011 (Various Media Reports) - The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has said that his deep-rooted relationship with India would not be affected by recent developments, including that of the Karmapa controversy and also in the broader context of India's relationship with China. At the end of a Goa State Government sponsored lecture on “Ethics for the new Millennium” at the D.D. Kosambi Festival of Ideas 2011 here on Monday, the Dalai Lama was answering a specific question whether he was concerned about the implications of the recent controversy and about the otherwise “growing feeling of inconvenience about his relationship which existed over decades” with India. He dismissed the Karmapa episode saying it was the result of “carelessness to keep proper records of money” and called it “a mistake and nothing serious” to have any consequences on their long-standing relationship with India and the future of the Tibetan community in India. “Our relationship is not just a matter of a few decades, but a few thousand years. I view this relationship like the guru-chela relationship in the greatest Indian tradition — India our guru and we its chelas.” The Dalai Lama recalled a letter addressed to him by Morarji Desai in response to his congratulatory letter wherein he had described India and Tibet as two branches of one Buddhist tree and said, “the tree grew in India and spread its branch to Tibet. That is the basic sort of relationship with this country.” "Six million Tibetans are physically controlled by China but 99% of their minds look at India," he said. Commenting on Indian politicians, the Dalai Lama said they lack the spirit of great freedom fighters like Mahatma Gandhi. The Dalai Lama recalled that he was invited when a huge statue of Mahatma Gandhi was installed in front of the Parliament. "I am not a politician but at that time I had told Indian politicians that they must remember about Gandhiji''s truthfulness," he said. The Nobel laureate said that Indian freedom fighters had worked selflessly and fearlessly for the country. "They did their work honestly," he said, adding that although India got independence 60 years ago, "the current politicians lacked spirit of these freedom fighters." He said that compared to other nations, India was stable because of democracy and independent judiciary. "If people involved in justice are even little corrupt then it would be a disaster for the nation," he added. During his two hour long lecture, the Dalai Lama also asked the media to play a responsible role. "People in media have a special role to play. They can stop the wrong doings," he said and added that media should have a long nose like an elephant and should be able to smell things which are beyond the superficial reality. "Investigate what's going on thoroughly and inform people in unbiased form," the spiritual leader advised. The Dalai Lama also said that India should focus on printing books that enable to spread the wealth of knowledge present in the country. "There should be libraries in temples instead of statues," the Nobel Laureate said while responding to a query. India has been a store house of information for the last 3,000 years and libraries in temple would motivate people towards education, he said. "For thousands of years India has been a messenger of ''ahimsa'' and religious harmony. This itself is a message to the world," he said. The Dalai Lama recalled an incident when a person told him about plans to build a Buddha statue. "I told him, a Buddha statue does not speak. Instead of it, print more books that is more important," he said, adding after several wars in the last century, the 21st century should be known as the century of dialogue. The Dalai Lama also said he was once "very much" attracted to Marxism and even wanted to join the Chinese Communist Party, which he now feels is bereft of Communist ideology. "I was very much attracted to the internationalism of Marxism. I wanted to join the Chinese Communist party, (but) today the Chinese Communist Party is without Communist ideology," he said during the interaction session. The spiritual and temporal leader of Tibetan Buddhists, living in exile in India for decades, still does not find anything wrong about Marxism as an ideology. "As far as socio-economic theory is concerned, I am a Marxist," he said terming the present day Communism in China as "Capitalist Communism". Maintaining that there was a time when Chinese Communists really worked for the needy, the Dalai Lama said, "The spirit of Marxism died in China, after the Chinese Communist Party started silencing both criticism and critics of people in power." 'Reform, don't glorify social structure' Lord Meghnad Desai Ahva D'Souza, TNN, Feb 9, 2011, 12.50am IST PANAJI: His words were eventually as stunning as his characteristic mop of white hair. Addressing the fourth day of the D D Kosambi Festival of Ideas, British economist, Labour politician, writer and baron Meghnad Desai is of the opinion that if the Congress and the BJP unite, India will grow faster. But before waxing eloquent on this, Desai began his lecture 'Kosambi, modernity and the question of social inclusion' with a few words in Konkani. It was the "most difficult" part of his speech and brought laughter and applause from the audience. Claiming to have been influenced by Kosambi in the 1950's, Desai focused his lecture on "equality" and the need to view ancient Indian culture critically rather than with uncritical admiration. "If India is to establish equality of people before the law it has to undertake the kind of philosophical critique that Kosambi was involved in," said Desai. "People usually worry about income and not about inequalities. Of course they are right. But the real essence of a society is social equality, equality of respect, equality of human dignity, equality in which people no matter the colour, race, religion, treat each other as equal. And this equality of respect is still a big struggle in India." Far from trying hard to reform the social structure we have come to glorify it, and we have come to glorify social inequalities, said Desai. Touching on the "sensitive part of our beliefs", and the struggle that Kosambi began with but left midway-the critique of the Bhagwad Gita-Desai said, "The Bhagwad Gita has become a great document, but we should treat it not as a song sung by the Lord, but as a historical text. It is necessary to examine it and see what it says, why it says this and should we believe what it says." He also touched on the Mahabharata and quoted Kosambi's practical explanation of the war, which he says was impossible to have taken place given the situation at the time. Going back to the Bhagwad Gita, Desai said, "We need to understand that the Bhagwad Gita was created for a certain purpose-to fight Buddhism." "Buddhism was an egalitarian religion. It was a great challenge to vedic brahmans, as Buddhism was a philosophy, a way of life, and was based on the fact that all human beings are equal. This was a profoundly revolutionary idea for the 5th- 6th century BC. Hinduism finally won over Buddhism by philosophy," said Desai. He then added, "The Gita being an authoritative book is a great obstacle to India building an inclusive society. The task of building social equality in India (inclusive development), cannot be performed unless we take on the task of critically examining this un-egalitarian philosophy that we have been comfortably dealing with." Despite, legislation and 'Mandalization', what we have done is that we cannot question the hierarchy structure and the many jaatis and the whole discourse of Mandal accepts that this is an unequal society. The challenge of equality of respect and challenge to citizen rights without fear or favour have not been tackled by India 62 years after Independence, said Desai. Quoting Kosambi, he said, "The slippery opportunism of the Bhagwad Gita, characterizes the whole book. We have accepted inequality as our religion. Society today cannot live with this two-tier, four-tier, sixteen-tier arrangement, whereby the top tiers get heavier and the bottom tiers get crushed. We will all pay the price because in the middle of it we will be encouraging the cancer that is inequality." Asked later by the audience to elaborate on his political views, Desai said, "In coalition politics we have observed that large parties are held to ransom by smaller parties. Small parties have become very arrogant and immune to any kind of law, especially if they are a majority government elsewhere. My idea is that if you have two large parties coming together then the smaller parties will not have much sway. Although the two large parties have their differences, their differences are not larger than India. South Africa has learned a lot from the Indian judiciary: Justice Sachs Nigel Britto, TNN, Feb 10, 2011, 01.17am IST Panaji: Clearly, the crowds that stormed Kala Academy for the first four days of the D D Kosambi festival of ideas grossly underestimated the stature of justice Albie Sachs. His name did not have the instant recognition of the Dalai Lama or APJ Abdul Kalam, but the humorous South African legal luminary with an inspiring life story made sure the 700-odd people who came to hear him had an intellectually stimulating evening they're not likely to forget. Clad in a printed silk shirt and sporting a red dot on his forehead, the iconic judge who abolished capital punishment, legalized gay rights and founded South Africa's constitutional court didn't speak much; the rainbow nation's Ambedkar preferred to let his achievements speak for themselves. As a white screen rolled down and Sachs walked down to the front row beside his friend Charles Correia, he led his audience to a virtual tour of the institution he started and nurtured, South Africa's Constitutional court. He explained the quirkiness of its architecture and design, and explained how every little detail used in its construction had its roots in South Africa's rich colonial and cultural history. Sachs, who was appointed judge by Nelson Mandela in 1994, retired from his beloved court in 2009, and while he was there, often led tours around it, detailing how the building serves as a symbol of the South African people's new-found rights. Much like Mandela, Sachs too had to undergo torture, imprisonment and exile before returning triumphant to his homeland. During his travails in the former Portuguese colony of Mozambique, he was the target of an assassination attempt. When a bomb placed in his car exploded, Sachs lost his eye, but retained his vision; he lost his arm, but retained his spirit. Like the former pope did before him, Sachs later met his assailants to extend his forgiveness. The story goes that they cried for two weeks after the emotional meeting. In any case, tears are not alien to Sachs; he says he wept when a particular judgment of the court restored the rights of an HIV positive man to work for South Africa's national airline. "I cried because I was so happy to be part of a court that can finally protect people's basic human rights," he said. Even in the auditorium, when conducting the virtual tour of the court, several members of the audience had to dab their eyes with handkerchiefs as Sachs explained how every aspect of the court (built on the grounds of a former prison) and its procedure served as a metaphor of a nation reborn. "We realized we needed to stop locking each other up and figure out a way to live together like decent human beings," he said. The happy design of the court does just that; outsiders can look through the windows at proceedings, "justice has to be transparent, not secret", he said. Even the colonial procedures were done away with. "We didn't want to be called 'My Lord' or 'Your Honour'," he said. Also, "instead of black or red robes, we wore green ones to symbolize the nascent court. We discarded Latin terminology too. Instead of words like inter alia or contemplate, we used 'among others' and 'envisage' respectively." Sachs also made sure the constitution he fathered did away with legal jargon and was worded in the most accessible language possible. Known for his funny side, the judge once started a judgment with 'does the law have a sense of humour?' Even after his recovery from the assassination attempt in Mozambique, he twisted Descartes' words and said, "I joke, therefore I am". He also recalled how he told himself jokes during the darkest moments of his life. Speaking about India's contribution to South African jurisprudence, he said, "South Africa learned a lot from the Indian judiciary; in the 1970s and '80s we received a lot of good judgments from the Supreme Court, particularly by justices Bhagvati and Krishna Iyer." In response to a question, he also declared that "democracy is available to all countries", arguing that "those who oppose democracy are usually dictators who oppress and torture their subjects". After the lecture, many listeners went to the nearby stall where books by the speakers were being sold. Unfortunately, most had to go home disappointed as the stall had books by all speakers except this one. Introduce religious principles in schools: Karan Singh PANAJI: Observing that with the establishment of the concept of ‘secularism’ in the country, the values have gone out of the window along with the religions, just like a baby being thrown out along with the bath water, the Rajya Sabha MP and president of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Dr Karan Singh stressed on the pressing need for introducing abstract, universal principles from various religions in schools, for value-based education. Life is not a boring journey from womb to tomb but is an exciting opportunity for spiritual growth, which most of us miss, the former regent of the state of Jammu and Kashmir said, adding that ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ - entire world is but one single family - is the dictum that needs to be followed to the core in today’s world, in spite of all hatred and animosity existing between people and the countries. “That is because in the final analysis, there is divinity in all of us and this spiritual link should convert human race into a family,” he pointed out. Delivering the final lecture at the 4th D D Kosambi Festival of Ideas at Kala Academy on Thursday, Dr Singh said that if we have to convert the concept of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ into reality, and look at it as an intellectual construct, then the best way is to reconstruct the global economy in such a way that the curse of poverty is at last lifted. “We are a race programmed for either self-destruction or spiritual evolution as great men had said,” he stated, “and not knowing which way to go, we must work towards ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ as our motto,” he opined. Speaking on the theme, ‘The relevance of Vedanta in today’s context,’ Dr Singh said that no religion has monopoly over divine wisdom and so this is not accepted anymore. “Religion, in fact, had a mixed history down the corridors of time and more people have been killed in the name of religion than in any other name,” the former Union minister observed, noting that the time has come for the acceptance of multiplicity of paths to the divine. He also lamented that the interfaith movement still remained along the peripheral, and not moved to the core. “Unless and until there is harmony among religions, we will never have peace on earth,” Dr Singh maintained, pointing out that we should work on the doctrine of confluence of civilisation and not clash of civilisation. “And that can be achieved if only we carry out our duties while demanding out rights,” he retorted, adding that the Vedic principle of ‘Bahujan Hitay, Bahujan Sukhay’ - the welfare of the society - should be kept in mind all the time. “We live in an age of transition and turmoil when the old struggle to live and new struggle to be born; and at a time like this, we look to our scriptures not to go back in time but to see what is there in our culture and tradition so as to provide us strength, wisdom and compassion for facing modern day challenges,” Dr Singh began his lecture, adding that philosophy of scriptures like Vedas needs to have relevance to our human conditions. Observing that Vedanta is a high watermark of not only Indian but world philosophy, the Rajya Sabha MP said that Vedanta comes at the end of the collection of Vedic scriptures. “If one likens Vedas to Himalayas, the Upanishads are those Himalayan peaks, which represent the highest,” Dr Singh stated, observing that ours is a dialogue-oriented civilisation with everything emerging from dialogues, whether it be Upanishads or Bhagwad Geeta. “Though it is difficult to encapsulate the teachings of Vedanta, some important cardinals can be discussed,” he maintained, opining that the concepts of Upanishads are not intimidated by the advance of science and technology, but offer their creative use to the modern world. “All pervasiveness of the divine pointing out that there is no ultimate duality in the universe, and the divinity being inherent in all human beings with each human being carrying spark of the divine are the two major concepts of the Upanishads,” Dr Singh said, adding that fanning of divinity in ourselves and understanding the inner meanings of divine realisation is the highest destiny of human life, which in Sufism is expressed as ‘Roohani Noor.’ “Vedanta, in fact, provides us with in-built regulator,” he noted. “Yoga is the methodology and philosophy of joining Atman - the soul, with Brahman - the greater soul, and has various paths such as Dnyan Yoga - the way of knowledge based on mind, Bhakti Yoga - the way of devotion based on heart, Karma Yoga - the way of work based on physical offerings to divine and finally, Raj Yoga - the way of psycho spiritual practices based on the royal path,” Dr Singh maintained, stating that we can introduce their small parts in ourselves. Interacting with the audiences, Dr Singh said that whenever there is fundamentalism, whether of religion or ideology, it ends with a disaster. “If the SAARC group of countries moves along the lines of the European Union, then there would be great economic, political as well as social advantage for these countries, leading to their growth and development,” he replied to another question from the audiences. Earlier, Dr Subodh Kerkar introduced Dr Singh, while the Minister for Tourism, Mr Nilkanth Halarnkar presented him with a bouquet.
