NEEMRANA (Raj), Nov 16: An anti-Western perspective was damaging for India and it should adopt a “binocular vision” taking the best practices followed in the West, senior Congress leader Karan Singh has said.
“Anti-Western approach is not extremely wrong but is definitely damaging for the country. We can take from the West what is useful, but opposing everything that is from the West is wrong,” he said while delivering the sixth annual lecture at NIIT University here.
“We need a binocular vision which with one eye keeps an Indian or Asian perspective, the other eye has a world perspective,” he said.
The 83-year-old politician, who is also the Chancellor of the university, said that ‘consciousness research’ will be the new buzz in the research world.
“Articulation of consciousness, what is mind body relationship what are the psycho-spiritual linkages, this whole area of consciousness research has become growingly important in America too and other parts of the world. Science and religion are finally going to come together and they can be studied as quantified,” he asserted.
Established in 2009, NIIT University, offers BTech programmes in Computer Science engineering, Biotechnology, mechanical, electronic and communication areas. The M. Tech programmes include those in Educational Technology and Geographic Information Systems.
The varsity also offers some dual degree and doctoral programmes. While around 1200 students are enrolled in the various courses, the university also has signed an MoU with the University of Missouri in United States for offering five-year programme.
The annual day lecture is organised by the university on its foundation day on November 15.
Singh also became a spiritual guide for the students in the lecture titled ‘The messages of Gita’ and decoded the messages delivered by Krishna to Arjun in the holy text and explained their relevance to them in the present context.
“Bhagwad Gita is a scripture of conflict and that is how it is relevant in our day to day lives. We are in middle of some conflict, some battle every day, be it in academics, politics or any other area,” Singh said.
According to him, its the ‘theory of correct action’ elaborated in Bhagwad Gita by Krishna which details what should govern our actions and decisions.
“There is no do’s and dont’s list mentioned in Gita or any text which can be followed to the core but the ‘theory of correct action ‘ sums it up all that whatever your conscience justifies as a decision in a particular situation and makes you believe will prove to be a right decision, is the ‘correct action’,” he said.
The other lessons from the Gita, that Singh elaborated included the ‘guru-shishya relationship’, ‘repeated assurances of divine’, ‘gospel of total surrender’ and ‘universal applicability of the teachings’.
“The teachings of the Gita are not limited to or are relevant for a particular audience or country but have universal applicability because human theories are the same across the globe,” he explained.
Singh, also advised the students to not mistake the real meaning of spirituality as spending hours in temples just praying for miracles to happen but to inculcate the practical lessons in day-to-day life.
“Education is a complete process that should nurture quest for eternal knowledge to help transform young minds into ‘karma yogis’,” he said. (PTI)
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