Scientists fear not to share their agony with millions when they are isolated on issues related to development.
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Wednesday, 05 November 2008 06:07 UTC
Personal Experience: It was 16th September 1997. I was in a lift that was running from 8th floor to basement 2. The NMR instrument of our institute was kept in the basement 1. When I reached basement 2 the only person in the lift smiled and pointing towards my nmr tube asked – do you want to carry this tube to Taipei railway station? I replied humbly – sorry sir.I returned back to basement 1 and started recording my sample on 500 MHz nmr. During those days I was working on triplex, a project connected to gene therapy following the principles of nanotechnology. While in nmr room, I saw the same man standing by side of me and gazing at me curiously. He introduced himself as Dr. Ta – Shue Chou, the previous Director of that institute and wanted to know about me. He was attracted by my total involvement in that sample that I was carrying then. ‘It is a good sign’, he told and then asked me to see him on the next day. During 30 minutes of our exchange I could see in him a person of an extra ordinary sense that might have influenced any person from laboratory to central leadership of that international institute headed by a nobel laureate. Slowly I came to know that Dr. Chou was a cancer patient and was about to leave us sooner or later. While talking casually, one day, I wanted to know from him the wish that he possessed for those remaining days. He was a nice scientist and drove straight to show me his activities. He was interested to see Taiwan and Mainland China sitting together in a row. He initiated a program of mutual understanding and benefit during 1990 and went to Mainland with 40 Taiwanese scientists. As many as 60 Mainland scientists visited Taiwan in the year 1994 and thus a bridge was made to exchange ideas of mutual interest. A twenty talk series was initiated by him to place advanced science from this end to that end and to recieve again 20 in terms of problems from Mainland. He adviced me to start such twenty talk series in my country back home that I did after discussion with Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam during 2000 – 2001.He narrated several times to me his concern about Indian scientists – you are talented but you don’t have mutual respect – you talk against each other even when you are out side your country – you blame your govt and bureaucrats but fail to deliver something marvellous from your own soil – you run after money and position otherwise there is no need for you to come out – well exposure is other thing now and then.
Dr. Ta – Shue Chou expired on 25th February 1999 and I failed to stop my tears for several days while travelling through that lift that took me to basement 2 during my first encounter with this gentleman. The two Chinese Communities have started direct air services from Taipei to Sanghai and a direct trade understanding has taken shape in recent days. “They have problems and we have solutions – let us connect our brain and body till we equate our senses” – such a statement is recorded in growing history of mutual understanding. True, a scientist connecting his senses with national interest lives a true and beautiful life – may be painful and less than 50 years like that of Dr. Ta – Shue Chou of Academia Sinica Taipei Taiwan.
Regards
Dr. R. Dayal Yadav
Director – Reseach
Study Group DIM. IUI
Updated 05 November 2008 06:28 UTC
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Replies
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Dear Dr Yadav
I fully agree with the view of DR Chou you mentioned in your story. I do not understand why we are like that. I believe at least we should try to change our nature otherwise this blame game will never end.Raghava
I am impress and agree with following views. We should try to improve ourself
He narrated several times to me his concern about Indian scientists – you are talented but you don’t have mutual respect – you talk against each other even when you are out side your country – you blame your govt and bureaucrats but fail to deliver something marvellous from your own soil – you run after money and position otherwise there is no need for you to come out – well exposure is other thing now and then.
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Dear Dr. Yadav,
Our society is a lot feudal and scientific institutions too are not free of this malady. This is the reason why scientists hesitate to express their opion freely and try to say things/ideas which are sooting, apealing to seniors. Perhaps an initiative needs to come from the top to raise the level of thinking, working and social behaviour.
Om P Sharma
IVRI Palampur -
As Dr. Sharma said, India is a still feudal society. Our thousands years history of foreign invasion and rule by others broke our backbone and introduced a deep rooted culture of sycophancy. It’s very tough for a junior level employee to oppose higher authority. There is no systemic way to protect “whistle blower” in ANY organization in India, be it government or private. Most of the time you can expect to find the same person reviewing your complaint against whom you complained! In a country where 34% of the population is living below monthly income of Rs 450/- and 82% survive with a family income of equal to or less than Rs 2000/- per month, it becomes very easy to break one’s backbone, self-respect with slightest “favour”.
I was personally involved in a project which advertises to “have immense impact on poor people of India by enabling them to grow a certain crop and sell the product to the company at a “reasonable price” and also promised to minimize fuel/energy problem of the country. That slogan and the scientific mission/challenge attracted me very much. I felt that I have something to contribute there. I left US and joined that “mission” in India. Cutting the long story short, later I realized my mistake to believe everything I heard and came back to US again.
Majority of the “knowledge based” companies are mainly interested to get the govt subsidy in that sector and have no real plan for producing novel product or service. This is also true for those companies involved in drug trials for multinational drug companies. Neither Govt nor any honest employee can dare to oppose such highly corrupt business practice. In reality majority of Indian “knowledge based” companies have no plan for real R&D but eyes only the BPO type jobs (including those famous IT companies) and/or producing cheap generic drugs. There people go abroad and learn some jargon (they term it as “technology”) or see some fascinating instruments. They buy those instruments or try to implement those fancy technologies there in India. I worked in some Indian institutes which have much better physical facility (e.g table top ultra centrifuge, DNA sequencer, peptide synthesizer, MALDI-TOF mass spec, HPLC, FACS etc) than majority of even highly productive labs in the west. But the output of such huge facility is nothing more than some junk papers in some in-house journals (very fashionable in many Indian institutes) or in very low impact Indian journal (not that they wanted that Indian journal to improve but could not get anywhere else to publish) or some Indian/foreign patent that hardly anyone is interested to buy. It’s also alleged that purchasing costly equipments or setting up a R&D centre do have “other” personal (or organizational) financial benefits, as there is hardly any accountability in the system or fear of being punished. There is no way to protect any rebel type employee or a “whistle blower” either in govt or in private sector.
I am able to speak all these maninly because I am out of that system and less likely to be “taken care of” by those people who might get hurt by such straight and plain talking. In current Indian system, if you like to implement and propagate the ideas of Dr Kalam or Dr. Ta – Shue Chou, it have to be top down approach. People in the top need to take the lead. Unfortunately there are very few people in the top who has the ability and honesty to take such a lead and that’s why people like Dr Kalam is an exception. -
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Early morning mail – good morning.
We are banking on exceptional people. However, good or bad we all are Indians. We are to die here – we are to survive with this system. Thus a search of like minded people to stand in a row and say – let us join hands for a better tomorrow.
Regards
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I was born, experienced the system there in India but refuse to die in that system. To me, a common person without having any “Godfather” to protect me, it’s better to try to change that system keeping myself out of that system. I tried the other-way round, but it did not work and now I realize that it will not work in near foreseeable future. I am contributing my own way in whatever small it may be. Recently I contributed to a planning commission report (my current supervisor is its author) to reform secondary agriculture in India (I am from agriculture background). I could not have done it if I were in India and if we wanted to make constructive criticism to change the existing system. I have no control if the proposed measures will be implemented but we have to keep on trying, as I feel.
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We appreciate your effort and each of your words would be placed on the right bench irrespective of your hot nature – it is natural for a person who has suffered.
Regards
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I am giving you one example. Once I was a student in a very famous institute in India. There, a very powerful “scientist” used to take classes on “protein structure and function”. Most of the time he used to be away or abroad. During few rare examples, when he took classes, he used to come at least 15 mins late (for a class of 45 min) and would start telling us how great Germany is, how beautiful Canada is, how nice Japanese rail network is and so on. One day I asked him if he will finish the course, as we were supposed to take a test. That made him a bit upset and annoyed. He told me to meet him after the class. There he told me, “Jayanta, you are totally misfit here, in our society and research in India”. I could not agree more, considering my earlier dreams to become a “scientist” and what I was experiencing after joining “research”. The sermon of that “scientist” went on, asking me not to waste my time and their time. He also offered me “all help” to get ANY fellowship for UK (he used to be very powerful person in selection for many UK bound fellowships). I did not accept his offer, mainly because that would imply that I myself were not capable of getting that. Initially I used to think that if one has capability and determination, s/he can do research in India, as my parents and grandparents told me. I was so convinced about it that I tried my best to be in India and do some “meaningful research”. After few institutes and 7 years (after my MSc), I realized that it’s easier to get God than a straight-forward, honest human being and a real scientist to supervise Indian students who (unfortunately) wants to do “research”. I was trained in classical genetics (during my BSc) by one of the finest teachers. He was a very productive and highly talented scientist I ever met (trained in the famous university in Wageningen, The Natherlands). He came back to India when he could have easily got a productive career there in the west. Later he was so frustrated that he preferred to keep aloof and confine himself in a much less famous college in a small town in Bengal. Later I met few such people and almost alll are highly frustrated and generally aloof, both from the society and the general scientific community in India.
Humility and politeness probably does not work in India, as the system is manly ruled by corrupt but highly vocal people. They are generally very aggressive, manipulative and politically well-connected to perpetuate the present system of corruption and nepotism. A few isolated efforts by some exceptional personalities like Dr Kalam probably will not bring much change to it (as a system), unless we make general people aware what is going on and what need to be done and bring back accountability into the system. It will only happen when general people start demanding that. Being polite will not help towards that direction. General Indian people are less worried about science and research. Survival with one’s own dignity and honesty itself is a great achievement in India today. Only naked truth, how rude it may be, may be, just maybe, able to shook them up and force them to start thinking how their money (tax payer) is being used, what they deserve and what they get as a person and as a nation. ONLY then they will start demanding accountability and that’s the only way to reform the system in a sustainable way, according to me.
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