A Nobel prize!
Everybody is happy that V Ramakrishnan has got the Nobel prize. Let us make a list of happy people.
Tamilians are happy that he is the 3rd Tamilian who has won the Nobel prize. Physics students are happy because Mr. Ramakrishnan is a student of physics. Biologists are happy because he won it for Chemistry.
Now let us say a woman had won it. There would be many womens organisation saying “Ha first Indian woman to win (if you call Mother Theresa an European)”. Inspite of so many restrictions on women she has won….blah blah blah.
Let us see from a Brahmin’s point of view. V Ramakrishnan studied in Baroda (did he not get admission in Chennai – 1972 peak of anti Brahmin / anti Aryan / anti Hindi movement? I do not know. He is the 3rd Tamilian to have won a Nobel. He is also the 3rd Tam Bram to have won it. OOps did it hurt? Thanks to the discrimination against the Tam Bram they were pushed out of TN. I guess they are lucky. They went all over the world and prospered.
Now there are some more happy people – the Brahmins, the people from Chidambaram, the Tam Brahmins! Ha ha I once met a Bengali Babu who was proud that 3 Bengalis had won the Nobel prize – Tagore, Amartya Sen and hold your breath Mother Theresa!
Dr Mohammed Ali Khan
It was a Tam Bram called Rajagopalachari ( Rajaji ) who was advocating economic liberalization and free trade way back in the 1950s. One of his statements was ” The business of the Government is to govern, not business “. Maybe if we had listened to him then we would have been a developed country by now..
In 1921, Albert Einstein presented a paper on his then-infant Theory of Relativity at the Sorbonne, the prestigious French university. “If I am proved correct,” he said, “the Germans will call me a German, the Swiss will call me a Swiss citizen, and the French will call me a citizen of the world. If relativity is proved wrong, the French will call me a Swiss, the Swiss will call me a German and the Germans will call me a Jew.”
But Subra
I feel that ANY kind of identification with any caste or community is primitive and idiotic. We are all Indians, and better still, we are all Human Beings, and better still we are all life forms, and better still we are all parts of the Universe.. Thats the only identity we have. Its silly to claim virtue in the accident that one happens to have been born in the same community of a genius..Really silly
A genius is a genius, regardless of the number of morons who belong to the same race—and a moron is a moron, regardless of the number of geniuses who share his racial origin.- Ayn Rand
subra
You also need to remember that Ayn Rand who espoused ‘Virtue of Selfishness’ spent her last few years in an asylum. I am not for identifying or not identifying. Simple just do not throw a guy out when it is convenient, and then when he becomes big claim ownership. Rajaji actually said “Raja bane vyapari, Praja bane bhikari”. He meant if the govt. does business the people will become poor. Difficult to argue for this or against this. PSUs may not have made too much money, but they have created a huge talent pool to recruit from. Hdfc bank, I Bank, Kotak bank…all are full of people from Psu banks. Oil cos. draws its talent from govt. cos. Stock holding corporation is a big supplier of people for shares demat business. However my post was more like a Nazi post – wanted to see the reactions. Got more reactions orally!
Dr Mohammed Ali Khan
Ayn Rand spent her last days in an asylum?. I find no reference to that. Her husband whom she loved very much died in 1979. She died in 1982 of heart failure. But after her husband’s death she did a talk show with Phil Donahue.. The video is available on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzGFytGBDN8.. She seems to be remarkably coherent, certainly not an asylum inmate..
As for the virtues of selfishness.. What she really means is ” long term, rational, self interest ” the key word being RATIONAL. For example caring for people whom you value is self interest.. going to an yoga class is self interest,a heart surgeon working and studying hard to be the best cardiac surgeon is self interest. To quote Adam Smith: Its not the because of the charity of the butcher or the baker that you get your food on table, but because of their personal self interest”.
subra
Self interest is too narrow. If you read ‘Supreme Yoga’ – or Vashista Yoga as it is called. Brighu does 100 celestial years of penance. When God asks him what he wants, he says “Let everybody in the world do well”. This is Indian philosophy. ‘Rational Long Term Self Interest’ did not protect Raju, Lehman,….etc. But the theory of “Let all be well with the world” attitude has made Ratan Tata survive 150 years of corporate greed. JRD Tata says : When I look at a project, I see ‘will India benefit’. If the answer is yes, I go ahead. That is “dharma”. Non Indians cannot understand Dharma so easily.
Dr Mohammed Ali Khan
Was it rational for Raju to cook the books.. Look where it landed him..
Was it rational for Lehman to indulge in products which even Ben Bernanke could not understand
The examples you give above are of irrational Short term actions of these guys..
“When one speaks of man’s right to exist for his own sake, for his own rational self-interest, most people assume automatically that this means his right to sacrifice others. Such an assumption is a confession of their own belief that to injure, enslave, rob or murder others is in man’s self-interest—which he must selflessly renounce. The idea that man’s self-interest can be served only by a non-sacrificial relationship with others has never occurred to those humanitarian apostles of unselfishness, who proclaim their desire to achieve the brotherhood of men. And it will not occur to them, or to anyone, so long as the concept “rational” is omitted from the context of “values,” “desires,” “self-interest” and ethics.”
Ayn Rand
subra
Rationality is a stupid economics assumption. Never found in real life except in real life. Rationally man should eat boiled potato, drink water, exercise, keep fit, not smoke, not drink, be celibate till marriage, then be monogamous, …Sir you must be joking. Ayn Rand thankfully is fiction. Her concepts work in a novel. Somewhere greed takes over, and worse, money becomes a scorecard instead of a medium of exchange. There is no logic for the VP of Ford to tell his banker ‘he did not get the expected bonus, so he cannot repay his personal loan’. Ayn Rand is wrong. Human beings are not rational. Ask Dr. Spook.
Dr Mohammed Ali Khan
Human Beings are irrational.. Agreed.. Then the people who are irrational pay the price.. Thats where Self Interest comes into play..
If you are responsible for yourself and behave irrationally only you or your immediates or the people who irrationally beleived in your irrationality pay the price.
But when a person wants to ” Serve Humanity ” or ” Serve the nation ” or ” Serve the society ” behaves irrationally Humanity, Nation and Society pay the price. The irrationality is magnified.
Rationally man should eat boiled potato, drink water, exercise, keep fit, not smoke, not drink, be celibate till marriage, then be monogamous… Ive been doing all of these.. Except Boiled potatoes.. too much carbs.. I eat lot of vegetables and greens instead.. Though I am from a Muslim family I hardly touch non-vegetarian diet. A lot of people I know do the same.. In fact my grandfather who was an egg merchant used to walk 20 kms a day in his native town of Attur, Salem( amazing if you think about it ), he remained very healthy till the age of 85. So rational people do exist..
mansoor panjwani
Mr. subra and Dr. khan,
Good discussion.
bye
mansoor panjwani
Dear subra and Dr. khan
Whether a person lives for 85 years or 35 years what’s the difference? both would be departing empty hands,with just a piece of cloth,occupying a piece of land that too temporary till the body is decomposed.
Rationality or Irrationality cannot change the clock of life.
A rational person with self discipline can depart at the age of 32 or an irrrational person with lot’s of self indulgence survives for 85 years.
It all about the clock of life, this is the reason, why allah, ishwar, bhagwan, god etc. gets their importance from.
I am not a learned person like u both are, i cannot give any examples of philosophers or thinkers from western world,but i can think of swamy vivekananda with self discipline departed at young age, and Dr. khuswant singh with all kind of self indulgence still surviving at 85+, its all about clock of the life, nothing is in our hand except debates and discussions.
i apologize if chota muh badi baat ho gayi ho thoh.
mansoor panjwani