Rajeev Srinivasan said, "Europe innovated after their so-called Enlightenment, for instance by inventing colonialism and racism. Americans created the idea of capitalism". While he goes on to list many good ideas from India. He has one line each for Europe and USA. What about the innovations such as light bulb, telephone, electricity all from USA? What about printing press and steam from Europe? What about internet, telecom, semiconductor? Some of the ideas might have been in ancient India already but western progress truly universlized it. In our nationlistic zeal, it is wrong to discredit entire western scientific progress.
I am an avid reader and fan of RS and I am mostly in sync with his thoughts.. I dont know what shape the world future will take and what role would India play but I have an observation that I believe might hold good... I am talking about "Darwin's law of survival of the fittest".. I am sure this law has been proven to hold good and we can treat this as an axiom and having done so I regrettably know that the Indians are by far the fittest race in the world.. For that matter most of Asia and not just India.. Just take a look at the average height of a European and an Asian and the truth is there to see.. I believe although regrettably that nature has chosen its course and Asians will be the first to be wiped out in a few thousand years and you will have a monopoly of the current day Europeans and the Americans migrating to our lands and using whatever Asians are left as slaves. If there is any God, it has to be nature and if there are any universal laws, those are the laws of nature.. Nature does not lie and we Asians are on the path to extinction, not withstanding the billions Indians and Chinese population.. They can be wiped out in the future in a single strike...
my reasoning of history is that at all periods there has been one part of this world that has topped over the others. also, there has been no period where one power has returned to supremacy again. US runs on ideas. people here believe in something called the cyclical revival and fall of the economy. each revival being caused due to sucess of an idea. i found an example for this in a recent TOI article, a US man having lost his IT job to B'lore came out with t-shirt having something like this "i lost my job to b'lore and all i got in return was this stupid t-shirt". last heard, he's a millionare. i believe articles like this are inspiring and should not be critisized in a religous level like i found on this thread. all countries have problems. it is the manner in which they come out of it that makes them great or ordinary. everyone who's invaded or indegeneous has left their mark in some area or the other. but for now, we need ideas.
super powers are not made solely on the stock piles of nuclear weapons or a booming treasury of gold and silver. it also requires a sound society that dares to be independent in thoughts, has a voice that can express and question.... without complexes, that can dare to dwell into the unknown... with an attitude to adventure. it is these raw human ingredients that bring vibrancy to an empire. it is such vibrant societies we see in great empires amd powers. societies made of people who donot give a damn to what others approve and donot. people who dare to be independent and different. what india needs is not songs of approval but voices that are loud and intelligent. the feel good factor must be complimented with the right work. indians need to realize the importance of such active and energetic participation in daily life. shed the lazy feeling. be the indian in forest who would question alexander his abilities. the indian who is loud and intelligent. indian who never cared approval for his actions. we can do it as good as the rest of the world and beat them at it.
This is very ambitious article, but doesn't make any sense at all to me. Forget about all those glorious mythological past. Military, Economical superpower needs productivity and $$$$. India GDP 03022442183800 USA GDP 10980000000000 Matching India GDP 40259668944600 (Population!!!) India groth rate 7.6 (Very high, very rare!!!)
Assuming that USA is not growing at all, India needs 35 years to reach current USA GDP and 176 years to reach Matching USA GDP. I have no idea how/why people are dreaming Superpower India in 20 years!!! Practically, India have to invade USA to achieve this "20 year super power goal"!!!!
In my opinion, all India needs is: Viable plans to role out a "any time trackable good social security plan" and that will automatically make 95% of the population to be good, nice and responsible. Next, infrastructure improvement is needed. Set gols and execute things, leave out unrealistic superpower dreams, right now!!!!
There are a lot of idiot muslims/christians/hindus/secularists/commies uttering BS about India's past, the barbarian invasions, the caste system, etc.
Most notable of the Hindu haters on this site are Muslim-with-a-Hindu-name-Sameer, and the we-are-Hindus-who-hate-ourselves-Gauzbig/Ruxak. These three are then accompanied by a bunch of characters like the "garrulous [Muslim] nut" Haphar (to paraphrase his own sentence about Hindus), brainwashed Hindus like Poo, Christian fanatics like George, and virulently anti-Hindu radicals like Ouseph. Ouseph seems to be new to the list, but the other ones are quite familiar to the regular Rediff reader.
I'm tired of reading BS by people like Sameer saying that the Muslims didn't committ any atrocities against Hindus. I'm tired of hearing Gauzbig's ridiculously bombastic rhetoric. I'm tired of suffering through Ruxak's defense of the "intellectuals."
Here's a goldmine of a site that will make those blind fools see.
RE:Read this . . . .
by shailendra on Jul 16, 2004 09:41 PM
<"Hey, here comes another Mallu writer tumbling out of the saffron closet.
With sweet reasonableness, Rajeev tells us how great India was...but only during the Hindu period. He gets amnesia for the next 1000 years. He sees no worth in the art and culture of Islamic India, for they are Muslims and therefore mere invaders, not Indians.">
Well then mr. Ouseph, why dont YOU tell us what are the inventions and discoveries done during muslim rule in India?? And I mean inventions, which helped human being to come to a place where it is now and that is what RS is talking about.
Lal quilla, Tajmahal and thousands of tombs (of muslim rulers and generals) spread throughout this land are not inventions!!! Did Shahjahan build Tajmahal for the benefit of mankind??
Muslim rulers were the most selfish people who made these things for their comfort spending public money. But I am sure you and your red head (Communists) friends wont agree.
Rajeev, didnt you forget to mention the invention that had the greatest impact on indian history? Isnt it the caste system? oh..thats what made us the worst racist culture on the planet, right? May be, you know, when you drive 90% of the productive population out of the mainstream and the rest lead us to our current mess, we can easily see who messed up our beloved civilazation. ..hmm..why should i point fingers.we all gotta take responsibity? agreed. its funny when mallus start bragging about the greatness of this failed civilization, bcoz, you know, they are pretty much pragmatic people(especially when they are outside kerala). most of us know that this 'my grand daddy had an elephant' kind of talk is not going to take us any where. Yet..Rajeev..why are you doing this again and again..
RE:'my grand daddy had an elephant'
by Om on Jul 19, 2004 10:10 AM
Mallu dude, I think your views are perenially distorted.
Consider a knife, you can use it to cut an apple or slit a throat...similarly with all the inventions. The caste system was introduced for administrative purposes, and people were categorised based on their occupation. It then got distorted and became something to be inherited. Just like India voted Sonia Gandhi to power not because she deserves it but because she is a "Gandhi", finally everything comes down to inheritance. Indira inherited the "throne" from Nehru, Rajeev from Indira, Sonia is a caretaker till Rahul is mature enough to inherit the throne and rule us.
I think people like you are more dangerous than the Togadias, the Laloos, the Congress and the Leftists. You dont conribute anything useful to society other than contaminating it with your pessimism and lack of self-respect.
