Indigenus

We (Indians) are a little less than 20% of the world population. So its not surprising that we have a strong contribution in scientific professions in a country that is built on the foundation of "equal opportunity to excel". In fact, the simplest extrapolation would suggest that at least about 20% of the scientists anywhere in the world (including the US of A) should be of Indian origin. So 12% is still falling short of it.

The question is that in spite of such scientific presence, why do we still need (and for good reasons) foreign approvals to gauge quality of theses for Ph. D.s to be awarded in India. The question is that in spite of such presence, why do we still formulate and/or follow ideas that are deemed important in the west and not our own (e.g. take a look at "innovation schemes" like SBIRI of DBT, its quite nicely "inspired" by SBIR program of NIH: reminds me of Anu Malick in music or more recent work of Mahesh/Vikram Bhatt in movies). The question is that with so many Ph. D.s why can't we still meet recruitment standards for IITs and IISc.

Figures are figures. Look at the folks of Jewish origin from former USSR and European nations. One will find powerful numbers of senior most scientists (both federal and university wise including the ivy leagues). US of A welcomed the top brass and gave them citizenships/dual citizenships.

Its great that many who share their motherland with me are shining somewhere else. But thats because they could not excel here. Why?

Figures will be figures.

Let this debate take place in Vigyan Bhavan in open. Please ask policy makers and Generals of Indian science to face us in public. We will prove that Indian brains are better than any other brains in the world because of the prevailing system - good or bad. But these brains are not allowed to take shape in their respective fields and most of the time they are not allowed to enter the fields because of strong lobbies.

Regards
Dr. R. Dayal Yadav
Researcher Study Group DIM

Only one inspirational encounter or a simple experience can propel one to outstanding levels of scientific curiousity, irrespective of peer pressure. From personal experience and from those of many others, this does go a long way in predicting the growth of scientific temperament in the individual.

If the objective, as I would imagine, is to glorify the nation's scientific prowess, then more than anything, we need good, inspiring teachers in high schools, to make students think out of the box and help them realise the beauty of synthesis rather than assumption. I, for one, disagree with the notion that building great institutions of higher learning as mentioned above, can by themselves inspire young minds to detach themselves from the lure of a comfortable life or material riches, and delve into the deeper charms of scientific and philosophical revelations. It makes me think of Srinivas Ramanujam in the least!

And now it appears that these happy figures might actually have a question mark at the end instead of a smiley! The first criticism of these figures, apart from those made by my fellow bloggers here, has come from the Association of American Physicians of Indian Origin. It says no more than 10% of physicians in the US are of Indian origin.
The figures, it seems, were collated from a hoax e-mail circulating for a while.

The inescapable irony in this matter that almost borders on the hilarious is this: when the government talks of enhancing research prospects in this country, is this the kind of research we want to promote -- half baked, unverified, misleading?

We all know what the famous saying about statistics is, don't we?

Well, hoax or no hoax, luckily for me my simple extrapolated comment still stands.

As for the government and bureaucrats pretending to be scientists, I stress, there is no point trying to initiate a discussion with these folks. They will still look at "innovation" only in terms of inspired/plagiarized or certified by the dollar/pound material. Good science comes from the passion of a scientist towards her/his problem of interest. Not from policy enforced areas in which problems are forced to be swallowed. And creation of this interest in students requires not only role models but also a system conducive to watching the Discovery or National Geographic channels as much as watching Himesh Reshamiya sing, Shahrukh Khan dance or Kareena Kapoor change the Y chromosomal presence in her life.

In that regard, Nature India is an excellent attempt. I hope that even school level education starts participating in this venture.

Its a shame India is losing the most talented people...they should learn from their loss.

They will never learn form this. People are not going to foreign countries for fun. I am a scientist working in the US of A. I applied for a position back home in India. A candidate with inferior qualifications was selected because of the reasons known to everybody.

I wonder how we can be so naive about our scientific achievements in this electronic world where things are lot more transparent than before. It is pity to see these numbers in forwards (e-mail) and media alike. I do not know why we are so proud of these numbers when a little common sense to gauge ourselves will provide us the actual truth than relying on some magic numbers, whose origin no one seems to know. We have to just look at all the text books we read and all the things we use in our everyday life and ask ourselves who discovered/invented those. It soon becomes clear that there are hardly few things that figure as our contribution to the world. Whenever I argue about this with my Indian friends, they are quick to take me back in time and ask me a series of obvious questions – Who wrote the first book on surgery? Who came up with the concept of zero? How did we know so much about our solar system and planets way before the west knew? And the list goes on. It is not that I do not realize these things, but it is just that we have to start looking at present than still live on past glory. It is unfortunate that India is deprived of its recognition in all these disciplines, but at the same time it is also unfortunate that instead of taking relevant steps to make the world realize and acknowledge these contributions, we whine and crib about arrogance of west.

There is no point in looking at Indian names in the scientific community and including them in the numbers game. It is true that there are decent number of people who were born and educated in India and are now doing good is various disciplines in the United States and elsewhere. At the same time, it is equally true that just because a person has an India name, we cannot start claiming his contributions as an Indian contribution. Just because evolutionary origin of humans (Homo sapiens) goes back to Africa, would we all agree if Africans claims that the entire humanity is their contribution? This is an analogous situation we have here. Many of these people are born and brought up outside India. Their entire education is outside India and if you look at many of them carefully, they do not even have Indian citizenship!! So, instead of praising ourselves as the smartest lot on planet earth, we should make substantial contribution and let our actions and achievements speak for themselves. Let us stop all the whining and get into some serious work.

Having completed a major tour of 5 cities coast to coast, and meeting India doctors and scientists to give seminars and hold detailed discussions in all of them, I can verify that Indian science is lively everywhere, and flourishing at the highest levels.

Professors Emeritus, leading young Professors at Harvard and MIT, Stanford, UCSD etc. all attest to the subcontinent's vitality!

Is there not a need for a world class institution, where foreign scientists can visit and learn of India's supreme scientific achievements, both contemporary and historical, in a myriad of scientific fields?