Where We Fail: Can C N R Rao Not Be An Icon Of Indian Students?
By Dr. Vivek Kumar Srivastava
21 November, 2013
Countercurrents.org
The Bharata Ratna award to C N R Rao and Sachin Tendulkar was the right decision of the Government of India. It honoured achievers from two different fields, studies and sports, albeit both are treated as antagonistic in India rather as complementary for the proper development of the body and personality.
Sachin is symbol of commitment, values to the elders and sustainability of efforts. He has exhibited best of an Indian youth which is almost lacking in vast section of youth in the contemporary India. C N R Rao comes from different field where studies and research needs perseverance of being solitary in the work unlike the sports where chanting of the spectators enrich the whole ambience and the player finds in the thick of the people and their chants. The field of Rao is demanding where affluence is the last ladder unlike the cricket where the money is printed with every ball.
In India most are unemployed, poor and desirous of even having a smile on their faces by capturing the meal of two times. Along with it exists a neoliberal order where exhibition of splendour of life style impregnated with affluence is a common phenomenon.
Between these two lie a middle class which in normal calculation is comprised of twenty crore people who are sand witched between these two. They have a regular income with a potential to purchase any thing except things of leisure, maintains a life of drawing room culture , means has a well maintained drawing room with many other things on the bank loans and faces the challenges of maintaining a good life.
This class is lifeline of India and in many cases of most of the developing societies. The developing societies in recent times have emerged societies of middle class to which the neo liberal order look as its source of oxygen in the form of main purchaser in the market, consequently all the firms and companies target it.
This class has its own web of problems, It has to maintain its standard , not of the survival but of the status Quo so that it is not pushed out of the bracket and may find itself in the class of poor. Its main bet is therefore its own children on whom its future depends.
They find its solution in the studies. Every family wants that its child should get one of the most premium jobs in the country, they are aware that it is possible only by putting the hard labour on the studies. Hence the studies become the main task of every family member , every one from father to mother, student to teacher are continuously involved in the affair of studies. From Super 30 to Kota, Delhi, Kanpur are visited to put the child in an institution where they can sharpen their skill in order to get a god job.
Here comes the crucial question when the whole middle class and a certain section of the poor class as labour and farmer also want that their children should rise to the pinnacle, when every one is only concerned to this particular issue then why one of the greatest achiever in the field of studies C N R Rao was widely ignored by the Indian society. Songs in praise of Sachin were sung , media was flooded with ceaseless programmes, news, articles on Sachin but who cared so much for the C N R Rao who could easily be presented as the best icon of studies to the students who could find a motivator in their goal. Alas the neoliberal order with corporate tilt in the society failed to live up to basic social ethical norms.
C N R Rao has authored about 48 books, 1600 research papers, not a mean achievement. A simple calculation suggests that one page of a book contains 350 words and a normal book has 200 pages, a simple calculation shows that he wrote abbot 34 lakh words, similarly each paper contains about 6000 words in normal way, hence he wrote about 96 lakh words. Thus in total he wrote about the 1 crore 30 lakh[about 13 million] words. For a person, about one hour is spent in the writing of 1000 words on computer, it means he invested around 13000 hours in writing his research work, this is a great achievement. I have deduced that the most premium service of India, I A S can be qualified with the consistent efforts of 4500 hours by an average mind with proper guidance.
C N R Rao invested much time only in writing works , his research time stands separated from it. It shows that he is icon of all the Indian youth who has to do something from studies and he must be brought into focus by the mainstream media and his way of working and study methods be made public as he is real motivator for the students. Sachin’s value system too be highlighted as it is the only solution to the ever falling ethical values of the Indian society where hard work is usually despised by the youth.
In this respect a collective failure has taken place at the level of society and individual. Families and the elders in the homes have failed to bring the great achiever in field of studies CNR Rao in the minds of their children, society has not discussed his achievements in extensive manner, teachers and mainstream media have not given the thought that Indian students need to be introduced with him in comprehensive manner.
It is sad commentary on the present state of affairs in the Indian social system which possess the highest number of young ones in the world, whole country is making efforts to emerge as the knowledge hub in the world but the real focus is lacking. The country needs to correct it the earliest.
Dr. Vivek Kumar Srivastava has twenty years University level teaching experience, presently Assistant Professor in CSJM Kanpur University[affiliated college],Vice Chairman CSSP, Kanpur a think tank and educational hub for deprived section of society, Consultant Rainbow Guidance & counseling Centre, have presented papers in Chile, Australia, Finland, South Korea, Sweden etc., regular contributor to Mainstream Weekly, have been published in Dainik Jagran, AJ newspaper. Recent paper, “Soft Power and soft diplomacy: Nature, Comparison and impact,” The power of knowledge: Asia and the West, 7th NIAS conference, Denmark,4-8 November 2013, available at www.knowledgennc2013.niasconferences.net/ Email: [email protected]
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