Science as the Foreign Jamaai

Science and scientists are now like the foreign jamaai in the traditional Indian household: treated well and showcased to outsiders, but never really integrated into the larger family. Immediately after Independence, Nehru provided a great thrust to science, with rationalism or the 'scientific temper', a key pillar of the new India which he sought to create. He accorded scientists special respect, and many of them had direct and unhindered access to him. Subsequent prime ministers - particularly Indira Gandhi - continued this tradition till the 1990s.

Read Full Story>>