I had the opportunity of motivating a group
of students in DAV Mogappiar to look beyond
the now. Like always one comes out enriched
after such sessions. It gets you to think,
let me share my thoughts out here.
Philosophy the Queen of Sciences
Yesterday I mentioned to the students about Philosophy being in the top of the learning hierarchy and Technology at the bottom. A lanky bespectacled lad walked up to me at the end and said I want to become anengineer and I love philosophy. I was quite intrigued. Something snapped within me and I said ‘You ought to be both‘ he just picked up my email id and went away smiling and he seemed happy.
I recalled the Swayamvara ceremony of Sita. The one who could string Shivas bow and shoots wins the princes. Rama attempting to string the bow breaks it displaying his strength and wins over Sita.
Philosophy requires a great amount of intuitive understanding, instead of just empirical data to come to a full understanding of it. Its the combination of both that will be meaningful. Knowledge and strength that is acquired with technological pursuit needs to pursue the queen (and win her over).
What would this mean? Any engineering or scientific pursuit a vast array of facts and figures that are so much apart have contradictions woven into it, unless we rise above its level it will be impossible to bring together these contradictions and grasp them. (stringing the bow)
This in simple language may suggest that Technology is an urchin running around at the base of the pyramid, far from it. Its not the heirachy in the power sense, its more on the distribution of resources and capabilities. The progress of a society would surely rely on those who toil at the bottom but for the toil to be meaningful there needs to be ‘swamyamvar’ that will set you face to face with the queen. The queen needs it too, to find meaning it is not meet for her to choose a partner from her own setting, lest the Bread and Cake gets blurred and she becomes a power hungry beast fit enough to be slayed some day.
As a nation we have set our mind on philosophical thought. Today the flavor seems to be in pursuit of technology and commerce. Children like lemmings are blindly running towards the steep cliff, mindlessly and thoughtlessly pursuing a life of comfort and not a life of meaning. Its time we organize Swayamvara ceremonies. Win over Sita boys. Only she can get the best out of you.
Tilted Plus 