The discovery of India
Walk into the world of India and its civilization as seen by Pandit jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of Independent India
Stats for nerds
2recommend
4mentions
4people
2015–2023years
50% recommend50% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- It honestly feels a statistical inevitability. I highly recommend the book "The Discovery of India" by Jawaharlal Nehru [0] - I think it is a must read, for non-Indians and Indians (especially) alike. India, if anything, has been under-contributing to the world in last couple of centuries.
As an Indian, I feel both fear and cheer about the "Indian influence".
India has been a deeply hierarchical society for a millenniums, and people of Indian subcontinent (I like the term "Thaalis") still have this inertial, hierarchical mental holdover, conscious or otherwise. My hope is that instead of it manifesting[1][2], it is challenged and defeated in the long run. And 'the good parts' are utilised for the betterment of the world.
(Of course, it is never a one-way street, influence is dialectic. In many ways Thaali itself has been deeply influenced by the world. Not saying that's a good or a bad thing necessarily)
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Discovery_of_India
[1]: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/06/02/google-...
[2]: https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/caste-...
- I would also recommend The Discovery of India by Jawaharlal Nehru. It's an awesome book.
- More than all of this - the key is political leaders. Visionary political leaders make or break their country or end civilizations. Both India and America are witnessing this currently with their respective elected right-wing "leaders" in Narendra Modi and Donald Trump.
In India Astrology is now being treated as a Science and the Modi government is considering allowing alternate medicine (Ayurveda / Homeopathy / Unani) "doctors" to prescribe allopathic medicines.
This when India's first Prime Minister sought to promote "scientific temper" in independent India:
> "[What is needed] is the scientific approach, the adventurous and yet critical temper of science, the search for truth and new knowledge, the refusal to accept anything without testing and trial, the capacity to change previous conclusions in the face of new evidence, the reliance on observed fact and not on pre-conceived theory, the hard discipline of the mind—all this is necessary, not merely for the application of science but for life itself and the solution of its many problems." —Jawaharlal Nehru (1946) The Discovery of India
And the constitution of India itself emphasises:
> [It shall be the duty of every citizen of India] To develop scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform.
Political leaders are the key, and the answer to why science and culture flourish and die in any civilization. The west will experience this too.
- * A short history of the world by HG Wells.
* Discovery of India by Jawaharlal Nehru.
A bit of history dose this month.
