NEW DELHI: In an attempt to legitimise and mainstream “ancient Indian wisdom”, the Centre seeks to “amalgamate” this with contemporary science and yet showcase it separately as an “asset of traditional knowledge advantage” at a two-day conference to be held in Dehradun next month.
To this endeavour, the government has roped in not only the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) but also the departments of Science and Technology, Earth Sciences, Scientific and Industrial Research and Biotechnology to champion what it calls panchmahabhoot or the “five basic elements of nature — earth, water, fire, air and space”.
The government’s move was evident, according to Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh, when the Cabinet decided about a month ago to establish a separate cell within the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (c) that would deal with “traditional knowledge library”.
Claiming that there is a “complex interdependence” between Indian thought, classical knowledge and ancient wisdom” and “contemporary science”, Principal Scientific Advisor Dr Ajay Kumar Sood said at a curtain raiser to the November 5-6 programme that “everyone (in India) is trying to understand the science of panchmahabhoot”.
ISRO Chairman Dr S Somnath has also thrown in his lot with the government’s mission aimed at “developing sustainable life based on panchmahabhoot offers pragmatic solutions to pressing and profound challenges of energy security and environmental degradation”.
While Somnath announced that 35 leading speakers will speak on five themes – earth and atmosphere, environment and climate change, space technology, sustainability adaptations and impact of modern technologies, the brochure for today’s curtain-raiser said that the “Bharatiya thought believes in harmonising human life with nature. In order to protect the environment, it is imperative that this approach is highlighted and presented to the world at a global level”.
Holding the “modern western approach of conquering and exploiting nature to meet the comfort and greed of human beings at the expense of the ecosystem” responsible for the “evolving threat” to “sustainability and survival”, the brochure claims that “our ancient Indian wisdom recognised the importance of maintaining the crucial balance between the five elements of nature” which was “achieved through various means which were both scientific and ahead of their time”.
Insisting that the Dehradun conference will be “an opportunity to tell the world where India stands today in space”, Singh said that “traditional knowledge systems have relevance for modern scientific knowledge”. This was reflected, for instance, in two seminars on “classical concepts of Akash Tatva” and “strategic aspects of disturbances in Akash Tatva, like weather modification, space warfare and climate migration”.
Singh said that India’s ascent to the world comity of Nations will happen via Space Technology. He said that PM Narendra Modi provided a special impetus in the last over 8 years to all the scientific pursuits including Space Technology and added that the extension of applications of Space Technology to different sectors and areas brought ‘ease of living for the common man. Singh informed that 35 eminent speakers will share their thoughts on various dimensions of Akash Tattva during the Dehradun Conclave.
