An Area of Darkness - Sir V.S. Naipaul

thamrong

It's about the last day of the British Raj.
The Jewel in the Crown (1984) is also shown as British television serial about the final days of the British Raj in India during World War II, based upon the Raj Quartet novels by Paul Scott. Granada Television produced it for the ITV network. Main actor Art Malik. BTW his brother Hijaz Malik was a friend on mine staying in Bay Area, San Francisco.

hamizao

Yes, they are still havingproblems reaching the masses as rights dished out are very much bordered by the age old system. Those days only the Brahmins could read.  But sometimes I do wonder whether the masses themselves have been sadated by the years of living that way. Thus the poor remain poor. Then coupled with administrative shortcomings, it would  be very difficult.

mbhcsf

Originally posted by thamrong at 22-5-2008 11:44 AM
Let us romencing about India...

Hyderabad originally a state perching on the Deccan plateau and has a  long history of Muslim rulers. Plenty of sunshine and clear sky akin to sunny Californ ...

This  probably  ur reply to my postings  concerning HYDERABAD ???

yes in MAS wings of GOLD  it was mentioned that  this city is a very nice and historic too

hamizao

However, India has its own flaws and shortcomings. India has the third-largest pool of technical labour in the world, but a third of its one billilon people cannot read or write. An Indian scientist can design supercomputer, but it would not work because the junior technician cannot maintain it properly.The country produces some of the best technical brains in the world but neglects to teach the plumber how lto fix a toilet so it stays fixed. The education system is very much a  Brahmin-orientated. Education is about reading and writing, plus abstracations,with higher thought.

Indeed a paradox, I might say. According to my source India's education system is 2nd largest in the world after China's. However, on average a boy spends less than 3 years and girl less than 2 years in school. Quality of education varies according to region, public (govt supported) and private school. The main culprit seems to be inefficient public service, teacher absenteeism (teacher playing truant???) and low teaching activity (teacher sleeping on the job????). Who ARE these teachers?

Some mind boggling facts though: India has 15 main languages, Hindi being the national language and hundreds other languages & dialects. 42% of adults are illiterate.

I understand that traditionally/historically Indian education is  an elitist thing, tailored for Brahmin boys to read and write by Brahmin teachers. The British came but only reinforced the pre-existing elitist tendencies by tying the entrance into govt. services to academic qualification hence ensuring mobility upwards to those having means and resources.

Although in the last century other castes have become aware of the advantage of education - a visa to political power- majority of those who make it to middle/high school are still of high level castes and of mid/upper class of urban areas. Only about 10% of applicants get enrolled in higher education. But then this means like almost 3 mil new college graduates a year, hence the need to seek employment elsewhere.

Interestingly, English is held important and it has helped India to become an economic power. Number of Indians conversant in English had risen from a mere 5% in 1980s to 1/3  it's population in 1997. Now there are about 350 mil more than the number in Britain + US put together!

Still there is a lesson to be learned here...................:re:

[ Last edited by  hamizao at 29-5-2008 05:43 AM ]

mbhcsf

i think the authoir ought to give hsi ancestoral motherland the credit for being one of the fastest growing hub in IT