Science in Post-Independence India

When the World War II ended in 1945, Germany, Italy and Japan lost and France was badly shaken. Even Britain had suffered tremendous losses and its economy was almost ruined. Thus, the colonial powers which had ruled the world and spread poverty, hunger and disease everywhere, were in no position to suppress people anywhere any more. The constant struggle for freedom in the colonial countries had also reached a high pitch. The result was that, one after another, more than a hundred countries of Asia, Africa and South America became free.

The countries which had become newly independent had the tremendous problem of reconstructing their economy so that tolerable conditions of living could first be created for all their people. The old ruling countries, on the other hand, had to think of ways and means of continuing to drain the wealth of their erstwhile colonies.

Science and technology had to be deliberately employed by both sets of countries. The only difference was that the developing countries had to make a start from scratch-with hardly  any  institutions  or  people  who  could  engage  in  competitive  science  and technology, whereas the advanced or developed countries now had a stronger base of science and technology than ever before.

The Indian freedom movement had been conscious that political independence was only a stepping stone to economic independence. Our leaders had realised that our decisions about industry and trade would have to be taken by us alone without compulsion of foreign governments or their business counterparts. And that our economic development would have to serve the people and meet the minimum needs of their food, health, shelter, education, culture etc.

The role of science and technology was crucial for this endeavour and this was clearly expressed in the "Scientific Policy Resolution" adopted by the Parliament in 1958. This resolution was drafted and piloted through the Parliament by our first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. In the words of this Resolution:

The key to national prosperity, apart from the spirit of the people, lies, in the modern age, in the effective combination of three factors, technology, raw materials and capital, of which the first is, perhaps, the most important, since the creation and adoption of new scientific techniques can, in fact, make up for a deficiency in natural resources, and reduce the demands on capital. But technology can only grow out of the study of science and its applications.

Since  Independence,  and  particularly  after  the  passage  of  the  Resolution,  a  great expansion of science and technology in both education and research has taken place. The situation today is far different from what it was in 1947. We have now about  290 state public universities, 42 central universities, 50 deemed universities, 17 Indian Institutes of Technology, over 2000 engineering colleges and  150  medical  colleges,  a  few  hundred  scientific  research  laboratories  under  the Central and State governments, as also R&D units in private industry. Research is king done in almost all areas of modern science. The conspicuous success of our scientists in atomic energy, space research and agriculture is well known.

The funds allocated to research have also vastly increased over what they used to be 65 years ago. But in the modern world, it is not enough to be in the forefront of creative science or innovative technology. Out of the total world expenditure on research, excluding  the  socialist  countries,  98%  is  spent  by  the  developed  countries,  the  old imperial powers. Only 2% is spent by all the developing countries taken together. In this, India's share may be half a per cent. New discoveries and new inventions, therefore, still come from the advanced or developed countries.

Surely, this is neither a happy situation nor a stable one. The power of science has reached such a pitch that international relations have to be readjusted, and national effort has to be recast so as to bring about the benefits of science to the lives of common people.

-Hanmanthu and Pranitha

Scroll Painting

In India we have a rich culture in all aspect, like fine arts, theater arts, folk arts or in Martial arts but today we have to focus on  Indian Scroll painting. Though the Far eastern scroll paintings are also famous, like Chinese scroll & Japanese scroll paintings,

In India scroll paintings are famous in Bengal, Orissa, Telengana. In Bengal and Orissa it’s call patachitra painting and in Telengana it is call Cheriyal painting.

Now the question is, what is scroll paintings? 

Scroll paintings are the narrative story telling with the help of painting and singing. They start the story and unroll it in opposite direction til the story end.  

Kalighat painting

In west Bengal a traditional caste community of artists, called patuas. The kalighat patachitra is till famous but in modern time there is non of  the patuas are found in the kalighat area. They are scattered in Midnapur, Birbhum, Bankura  and puruliya districts in Bengal and there they continue with the patachitra painting.

They paint colourful scroll to accompany songs which they sing to relate historic, current and religious event. Past they traveled long distance to perform and singing the songs and unrolling the scrolls panel by panel but in modern time they are struggling to compete with the  other modern entertainment forms, such as cable TV, movies etc.

 In Orissa scroll painting is called “Pattachitra”and it is a traditional painting.

The story-based on Hindu mythology and specially inspired by Jagannath and Vaishnava cult.Itis a oldest art form and also most popular art forms of Odissa. In Sanskrit word patta meaning canvas and chitra meaning picture. This art form is more than thousand years old. The use of colour application is rich, creative motifs and design and also portrayal of simple themes, Mostly mythological in depiction. The centre of this painting is Puri, Konarkand Bhubaneshwar region. The best works are done in around Puri, especially in Raghurajpur village. In this village almost each and every body is an artist. Except this Paralakhemundi,Chikiti and Sonepur is also known for pattachitra paintings. 

We can see the mix style of folk and classical  elements in Orissa’s scroll painting. The dress style is shown Mughal influence. The lines are bold , clean , sharp and also angular. Basically in the painting there is no perspectives and no landscapes on the back ground, all the incidents are seen in close juxtaposition. The back ground is shown with floral motif and foliage mostly red in colours...it’s a mixture of design and figurative forms.

On the other side Cheriyal scroll painting is a stylized version of Nakashi art. Like the two other scroll painting this is also a narrative format, most like a flim or comics strips.this is Influence from Telengana region  local motifs. The stories are mostly from Puranas and epics. 

Like all the above said scroll paintings it is also face competition from TV, coumpturMovies too. This  painting is  presently made only in Cheriyal, warangal district of Telengana. The  balladeer community known as Kaki Padagollu are involve of the story telling. They display the scroll and accompanied by music and dance went from village to villageBased on the story of Indian epics and Puranas. In their five member team, two people would narrate the story and rest others accompanied by music, such as harmonium, tabla and castanets. The  scroll would flow like a film roll.

The size of the scroll is 3 feet in width and went 40-45 feet in length, it depending on the story. The traditional scrolls are mostly vertical format but illustrating stories in a series of horizontal format. A floral border in the middle separates the two panels. The scroll have at least fifty panels.

At the end I can say that we have to encourage   the artist to buy some of their works when ever we meet them. This is the way we can save the ancient folk art of India.  

-Mousumi and Sukalyan

Sankranti @ Sancta Maria!

The pre-primary section ushered in the new year with a special assembly dedicated to Sankranti, on 12^th January, a week after the re-opening of the school. The students, decked in traditional attire, were excited to learn more about the festival. 

 Students of PP2 performed a skit on the rituals and festivities of the Sankranti season. PP1 students mesmerized the audience with a unique performance of telugu folk song and dance. The nursery students also joined them to add more colour to the performance. Later in the day, the students indulged in decorating corridors using vibrant rangoli patterns. The afternoon brought an end to the celebration, with kites of all shades soaring high and bringing smiles to many flushed faces.

Spring time – All about plants - Why? What? and How?

Allowing children to explore the natural world provides a multitude of learning opportunities—from building observation and problem solving skills to encouraging physical activity.

Is plant a living thing? Needs of a plant? Parts of a plant? Uses of a plant? Types of plant?

Yes, we discussed all of that with our kindergarteners. To sum up all of it there would not be a better place to tour than a horti expo organized for the first time in necklace rd, the heart of the city of Hyderabad. Besides our field trip to the KBR park and the zoo, this was our third trip.

A warm friday morning filled with a breath of fresh air, we started off our trip to this world of plants.  It was an awe inspiring visit for the little ones. We visited stalls filled with vegetables, fruits, flowers, seeds, plant products and many more. There were stalls for flowering plants, desert plants, saplings, ornamental, seeds, fruit and vegetable plants. Climbers, creepers, shrubs, bushes and trees. They explored them all. The expo turned out to be more than a visual treat to their curious minds.

It was a unique opportunity for the teachers to expand the walls of our classroom and inspire our students to gain a curiosity about and an understanding of the role of plants in our daily lives.  

- Kamala Manda

Earth

Land, Water and Air
I am polluted everywhere
I ask them to help me
So they get to see my beauty.

Garbage, waste and smoke
believe me, it’s not a joke
Only if I could be clean
So they get to see me in green.

I am the home of mankind
But, it’s not there anyone’s mind
I do believe
That one day I will find relief.


All may say that I should not lose hope
But with the tragedies I can’t cope
Your is needed by ,me
So you get to see my beauty.

-Sonia

Being Successful in What We Choose to Do

I have often asked myself the question, what’s the difference between success & failure? Indeed a very interesting question. Whether one is a student, professional or an entrepreneur at some point we do think about our ability, intelligence, diligence, the decisions we make etc.

Lee J. Colan in his book, Sticking to It: The Art of Adherence, quotes David Corttell, who says, “Frequently, the difference between success & failure is the resolve to stick to your plan long enough to win”.

Lee talks about sticking to a strategy long enough, to win the game. Many of us are tempted and do change strategies all the time. Sticking to a strategy long enough, is what he calls, Adherence. Mathematically he shows a very interesting correlation between Strategy & Adherence and how it equates to Success or High Achievement Levels.

He explains that: Strategy + (Competence x Passion x Focus) = Achievement Level
                              <------------Adherence------------>   

He talks about COMPETENCE as, being the sum of Skills + Experience + Knowledge + Attitude. An average performance coupled with Consistent Execution will certainly yield Excellent Results. What this means to me is, if one has the required skills & knowledge of a topic or subject, relevant experience in it and a positive go-get attitude, the competence level increases. For e.g., many successful Sports personalities or other successful individuals we may know of, have high levels of COMPETENCE coupled with a great strategy, which helps them achieve high degree of success in what they choose to do.

Speaking of PASSION, I remember this great story of these 3 people whose job is to crush rocks all day….indeed very monotonous and hard work. So, one day someone asks these 3 men, “What’s your job?” they all gave 3 different answers: The first said, “I do what I am told for 8 hrs a day”. The second person said, “Well, I crush Rocks”. The third person proudly said, “I am building a cathedral”…..that is what passion is about, love doing your job and know the big picture and have appreciation for the work you are doing.

FOCUS is, keeping things simple and learning to say a ‘NO’ at times. A good example that Lee quotes is the focus that Walgreens Store management had with their strategy. Walgreens is a very big convenience drug store chain across the United States. At one point they had 500 restaurants. The Walgreens management at the time took a strategic decision and said ‘No’ to the restaurant business as they wanted to ‘FOCUS’ only on the convenience drug store strategic business. Sure enough, their stock outperformed the stock market 15-fold from mid-70’s to around the year 2000.


I recollect knowing this good family friend of ours, a young energetic go-getter, who initially chose to get into the technology field and also managed to get a good position in of the leading Software Company. But he soon realized his passion for medicine was much more. He re-mapped his career goals, strategized an approach and got admission in med-school. With his ardent desire to be a medical professional, all thru’ his med-school journey he raised his competence level thru’ the opportunities he got and kept great focus on outcomes. Today, he is well on the way to becoming a doctor in Southern California. Sure, he too had challenges along his journey – as they say, nothing is a bed of roses – but he stuck to his planned strategy long enough and success is following him in what he chose to do.

-Rakhi and Janaki

CHILDHOOD – The Wonder Years of Life

Childhood is a short season but the most important. Before we realize, the children around us soon grow big and what they learn or don’t learn determines their adulthood. Most of us think children cannot understand the world like adults, true! Their level of knowledge and intelligence may not be as high as adults and they may be just beginning to understand reason and logic. But, they have their own ways of exploring and understanding the world around them. They simply think differently.The famous Psychologist Jean Piaget calls them as a “little scientists”.

From Eric Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development, we come to know that, children from the age of 3-5 years are in a very important stage of their development. During this phase they try to explore the world through direct play and social interactions. Parents and teachers play a vital role in child’s life during this age as they see us as models from whom they observe and learn. Since they learn more through exploring and experimenting, children who are given this opportunity to explore the world will be confident, successful and capable in life, and will be able to maximize their potential. On the other hand, children who are restricted and controlled in their opportunities to learn, will grow up with a sense of doubt in themselves, guilt and low self esteem. This keeps them from taking initiative and curbs them from becoming the person they can be. 

“Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity.” 
-Kay Redfield Jamison”

By: Sowmya Goli