Recently (April - July , 2012) I visited Germany and other European countries and then USA (June - Oct , 2013 ). I utilised this opportunity to try to find out the answer to the question as to why India does not have scientists, inventors, discoverers, excellent scholars or original thinkers in any field when compared to European or West countries and as to why the Renaissance and again the Industrial Revolution took place in Europe, though they had a very new civilisation in comparison to ours. I tried to observe closely their way of life, family and social fabrics and behaviour - parental and social control over a child , education system , the way they dress, etc. Apart from various other factors, I noticed two basic differences which make the people of West taller than those of India or for that matter , Asia so far as fostering of questioning mind is concerned.
Indian children are bound by misconceived concept of obedience and the so-called family tradition. Their thinking patterns; the whole way of life - how to sit, how to stand, how to walk are set by guardians. Questioning the wisdom of parents, elders and teachers is a taboo for them, it is not only disliked but also discouraged and frowned. There are instances where children are even beaten for arguing with parents when they face uncomfortable questions from children and are unable to give a proper answer. They try to silence children not by reason but by brute force. The children suffer from over-active control of either father or mother or grandparents or some other immediate family member. We are not tired of giving example of Lord Ram " who set the highest ideal of an obedient son by meekly obeying the wish of an old father to placate the whims of a young step-mother".Thus they become very meek, submissive and followers of beaten-path. They lose enthusiasm for initiative, courage for doing something new, something adventurous or something different. Elders are angry if a child delays or does not do something exactly the way he was told to do. The elders want to influence the whole thinking pattern of their children, and thus deprive them of all inquisitiveness, habit of inquiry and reasoning, initiative, innovation and courage from their personality.In sharp contrast, these things are unthinkable or at least rare in Western society. Corporal punishment is banned. Their family and social life is such that their children have greater freedom for innovation, questioning, doing new things and doing things of their choice. After class-XII, they are free to choose the way of life they want.
The Western education system fosters and encourages self development of a child according to his or her interest, aptitude and ability. Teachers minutely observe the activities of a child in different fields and give elaborate and honest comments periodically - weekly, monthly, 6- monthly and annually - on each important aspect. His future academic career is charted out by parents or the government accordingly. A school student is encouraged to ask any question freely and frankly from his teacher without being branded undisciplined or argumentative. At university level,students are encouraged and given all opportunities and facilities for fostering research works, inventions and discoveries. A student can question even a world renowned scientist. That is not considered discourteous.Creativity is encouraged rather than copying ideas. In India, the academic field to be pursued by a child is decided by his parents without scantiest regard for his aptitude and ability. Everyone is forced to become an engineer or a doctor or an IAS/IPS officer. Teachers themselves have inadequate knowledge and so they do not encourage or even like questions which they cannot answer. The Indian children observe total servility towards teachers in the name of "guru - shishya parampara" For Indian students, to call their professors by their name is considered to be discourteous and is totally unacceptable. They start their question with "sir", punctuate with "sir" and end with "sir". "Sir" does not mean challenging the established norms - it means accepting them in deference to the traditional hierarchies of age, relation, class, gender and ethnicity. Such servility increases as they migrate from university to jobs.
Hence if we want scientists like Bose, Bhabha and Raman; scholars like Amartya Sen, Ramanuj and scores of others enriching the labs of Western countries; and litterateurs like Ravindranath Tagore, we, as elders, should change our mindset and should not demand servile obedience from our children. Instead we should encourage questions challenging our established or basic things even if they are traditionally held in high esteem. All philosophies and sciences owe their birth to the tradition of questioning established facts.
