Mr Bagchi's piece on innovation is timely ,his point about architecture being an outward symbol of a flourishing society is well taken;(and so, too, his point about Belur, etc things which many Indians tend to miss as being not so important, being Indian and to boot, the "South"-as if it were a land at the South pole or a land of barbarians). There are however a few areas at which the author attributes too much importance/causality to innovation.For instance, he attributes to innovation too much change, hence confusing issues with invention/discovery. The mobile phone was an invention/discovery, not an innovation, whereas its uses are;similarly,with no inventions in transportation technology for more or more years, train(even in New York)remain similar to their 1960's counterpart. It is therefore obvious that invention determines the extent of innovation, and hence is central to progress.His attribution of the unity of work and thought to Shlok is similarly strange,since that is the central message of the Bhagvad Gita. Finally,his utopian dream of The People Shall Truimph seems too, well, Utopian, and the Internet is merely A medium of change,not The medium,as has been seen already
RE:On ''innovation''
by Dola on Jan 24, 2007 08:25 PM
The article is good and innovative indeed but unfortunately my interaction with Mr Sombit Sengupta in person after hearing such a lot about him was pretty depressing ..
very good article... an eye opener for us we have to change in pace with the other leading nations in all aspects. and to become role model for other countries
Good, provoking article. Though rather unidimensional. Innovation can be a state, or a need. The 'grassroots' level innovation that is neither recorded nor marketed happens all the time. It happens in populations that are monolithic in composition, perceived as non-creative. Just that they don't see it as an 'innovation' but a requirement of having to go on with the business of life. Innovation is also in process or procedure, not necessarily form or a creation. Long before Western Union got around, havala dealers were doing transactions across the globe! Yes there are certain kinds that went slow for a couple of centuries, and the article hits that nail on its proverbial head.