True, Ancient India was a repository of scientific
knowledge. True, there were talks of aeroplanes, submarines, surgeries and what
not. Any civilisation will have imagination at its core value and point. The milieu
under which such imaginations develop reflect the state of civilisation but
civilisations also allow rationality to flourish as well. Any civilisation will
decay if rationality takes a back seat and this is what happened in Ancient
India and this is what is happening now as well. We have either mythified our
achievements by over calculations, hyperboles or even extended some well
achieved innovations to absurbidity.
Rationality will never allow science to be extended in such
a direction as it is based on reasoning, objectivity, logic, not glorification.
Glorification is indicative of prevailing arrogancy in the society and arrogant
societies never learn.
There had been umpteenth example of such mythifications and
glorification of some events and even imaginations which were only meant to be
symbols.
The West has undermined ancient Indian's achievements so
that the Indians do not take pride in their heritage and perception towards
their past heritage does not help them bond as a nation and thus feel interior
enough to keep on accepting Western intellectual superiority. But future has to
follow a different path.
If we have to grow in the future it will not be because of
our glorified past, but because of our rationality, objectivity, our ability to
amalgamate information’s, synthesise knowledge - both global and local and have
the freedom to think, innovate, define that innovation which coupled with a
base of equality of opportunity can act as a platform for an innovative and
scientific thinking.
