As most of us know, Ramanujan's name had been struck off the rolls of Madras University after he failed to clear his English language examination. But by then he had already produced some profound work in mathematics and it was evident to many senior contemporaries that he was no ordinary student. Yet, Madras University had no hesitation in stripping him of his scholarship and disqualifying him as a student. Soon after that shameful episode, G.H. Hardy that outstanding mathematician and humanist at Cambridge University-received a letter from Ramanujan. In no time he got Cambridge University to offer Ramanujan a handsome salary and a formal position. In addition, they awarded him their version of a proper doctoral degree, on the basis of the work he had produced in India. Remember, Ramanujan then had failed to clear the equivalent of the Grade 12 exam at Madras University. Did Cambridge care much about such formal niceties? Not when they understood that having Ramanujan in their midst would greatly enhance research at their institution.
Let us contrast that with the situation that prevails now, all these hundred and more years since Ramanujan's time in India. Had Ramanujan come to me at the University of Delhi when I served as its vice-chancellor (2010-15), I would not have been able to enrol him as a student at Delhi University nor would I have been allowed to award him a PhD degree. Of course, I would have hailed him as a mathematician with divine gifts, but the regulations-not of my choosing or making-imposed upon the university and others by weighty institutions that have charted the course of higher education in independent India would have prevented me from doing what Cambridge University could do for Ramanujan more than a hundred years earlier. To my mind, this more than aptly sums up what ails India's universities.
Bu hikaye India Today dergisinin August 05, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye India Today dergisinin August 05, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
A Life IN MUSIC
To celebrate five decades of a storied musical career, Padma Shri Hariharan is headlining a special concert in Delhi on November 30
MURDERS MOST FOUL
SAMYUKTA BHOWMICK'S DEBUT NOVEL, A FATAL DISTRACTION, IS A WHODUNIT THAT GOES BEYOND MERELY PAYING TRIBUTE TO THE MASTERS OF THE GENRE
Jungle Book
Avtar Singh creates a compelling tableau of characters brought together and torn asunder by migration, epidemic and circumstance
BON VOYAGE
The award-winning stage adaptation of Yann Martel's Life of Pi is coming to Mumbai this December
Earning His ACTING CHOPS
HIS LATEST STINT IN THE BUCKINGHAM MURDERS, WHICH JUST RELEASED ON NETFLIX, CEMENTS THE MULTI-HYPHENATE RANVEER BRAR'S REPUTATION AS A FINE ACTOR
Strike a Pose
SOONI TARAPOREVALA'S SERIES DEBUT WAACK GIRLS ON PRIME VIDEO SHINES A LIGHT ON THE STREET DANCE STYLE OF WAACKING
FATAL ATTRACTION
In I Want to Talk, Shoojit Sircar continues his exploration of death with the portrait of a tenacious man who beats it time and again
LOVE LETTER TO THE MOUNTAINS
'Journeying Across the Himalayas' is a new multidisciplinary festival in Delhi with a focus on the Himalayan region and its communities
The Art of CURATION
Sunil Kant Munjal, founder patron of the Serendipity Arts Foundation, on how one of our biggest multi-disciplinary festivals came about and what to look forward to in this edition
THE ROCKY ROAD AHEAD
A US court's allegations of bribery in solar power contracts and US markets watchdog SEC's charges of concealing wrongdoings have jolted Gautam Adani's business empire. Even as he mounts a strong defence against the indictment, the group faces a crisis of investor confidence that may impact its growth plans