"Governance" is a trendy concept today. Governments, corporates, politicians and bureaucrats talk about it passionately. Institutions such as the World Bank have been researching on developing indicators to measure the quality of governance in a country. Now and then countries are rated and placed on a governance ladder which smells a little like ‘teaching these natives the values of civilized society’. But all the talk about governance reform doesn’t seem to have made even a bit of a difference to the performance of state institutions in India.
"Governance" is a trendy concept today. Governments, corporates, politicians and bureaucrats talk about it passionately. Institutions such as the World Bank have been researching on developing indicators to measure the quality of governance in a country. Now and then countries are rated and placed on a governance ladder which smells a little like ‘teaching these natives the values of civilized society’. But all the talk about governance reform doesn’t seem to have made even a bit of a difference to the performance of state institutions in India.
In this issue, Udayan tries to analyse the reason for the yawning gap between the expectations of people and the performance of state institutions. While doing this he compares today’s constructs, rooted in the colonial past, with the classical Indian conception of governance as a dyad of rights and duties, brilliantly portrayed in Kautilya’s Arthashstra.
Is science a European enterprise, while spirituality and mysticism that of the East? If you believe most science historians and the traditional history taught in schools then it seems so. Scholars like Joseph Needham and D P Agrawal have tried to point out the truly global nature of the development of science and technology through meticulous research. This issue’s Peepul ke Neeche carries an eye-opening interview of C K Raju who has written several authoritative works on the ancient traditions of Indian mathematics. Raju establishes the historical exchanges between India, Persia, Arabia and Europe from the time of Alexander or even earlier. Also he contrasts the Indian way of looking at mathematics as a tool for solving practical problems, as opposed to the rigid metaphysical approach that evolved in Europe.
There is a tendency among researchers to focus on documented knowledge. However a lot of knowledge of nature, materials and technique exists in rural communities and tribes in oral forms or even in the form of myths and legends. D P Agrawal exposes the weaknesses of this over emphasis on the written ‘shastras’ while ignoring the desi or folk knowledge systems. He gives many examples of the same from the central Himalayan region of Uttarakhand.
In the section Jewels of India, Shivanand Kanavi exposes us to Sarvajnya-a radical poet who strode through Karnataka five hundred years ago.
In the concluding part of his reminiscences, Salvinder Dhillon continues to reflect on his unsettling experiences as an Indian immigrant in the UK and his confrontations with prejudiced colonial history.
In the Travelogue section, S Raghavan transports the reader to the ancient city of Xi’an — located on the romantic Silk Route. He points out that several centuries back relations between India and China, the two great civilisations of the time, were marked by mutual respect and exchange of goods and ideas.
In the Books section, Shivanand appreciates a play by Girish Karnad in Kannada on the great warrior king Tipu Sultan.
Inspired by the interview on "British colonialism and the Indian legal system" carried in the previous issue of this magazine, S Raghavan weaves a short story on dispute resolution in the Pandya kingdom several centuries back.
The last page carries poems of Akka Mahadevi from 12th century Karnataka.
We have strived to make this issue too as provocative and enlightening as previous ones. You could write your feedback to jarihai@ghadar.org.in