N S S Sharma

Bharateeya. Views are personal. Likes & Retweets are not endorsements.

[N S S Sharma @nsssharma]

@SaamaanyaJ @pbmehta Scientific Distemper!

[N S S Sharma @nsssharma]

@tavleen_singh Because an aeroplane is not a bird that can land on any tree-branch! It needs resources at airport such as parking slot, Boarding/Deboarding Gate, Baggage handling belt, etc. Those resources are finite with complex operations planning behind the scene.

[N S S Sharma @nsssharma]

Isn't it a pity that our Babus are illiterate in Sanskrit & many of our rich languages? They can think only in English & are enamored by narratives spun by foreigners. They are obviously condemned to a perpetually incomplete "Discovery of India".

[K. C. Singh @ambkcsingh]

Today’s @nytimes has an excellent piece on how the @cockroachisback has ruptured the personality-based majoritarian politics of BJP.

[N S S Sharma @nsssharma]

@MumukshuSavitri @vidhiagarwal She & her ilk are mostly illiterate in Sanskrit, so they can't read primary sources. They read only 3rd rate translations & are ideologically programmed through citation citadel to conform to this false narrative.

[N S S Sharma @nsssharma]

@GabbbarSingh To put it tongue in cheek, Bollywood was Urduwood.

[N S S Sharma @nsssharma]

@Hiranyareta उल्लू भी अपने नैसर्गिक मूल वातावरण से निर्मूल नहीं होगा! In Telugu we call it "ఉప్పు" (उप्पु/Uppu) but the classical or refined word is "లవణం" (लवणम् / Lavanam).

[N S S Sharma @nsssharma]

@tavleen_singh Make fun of anyone anytime, but there is something called decency & dignity. All this is "culture" & "civilization".

[N S S Sharma @nsssharma]

@bhupendrachaube Don't normalize gutter language. BTW almost all those cusswords are in the Lashkari Zabaan which is glorified as a high-cultural benchmark. Name of language which is the actual cultural benchmark is itself about संस्कार & संस्कृति - "संस्कृत"/ "సంస్కృతం".

[N S S Sharma @nsssharma]

@tavleen_singh That's fine. But this lady is celebrating profanity & cusswords, essentially gutter language. Do you endorse that? Incidentally, almost all those cusswords are in the Lashkari Zabaan which is presented as some high-cultural benchmark!

[Nitin Pai @acorn]

Completely agree with the view that “entrance exams” have done more damage to education & society than their utility in allocating seats.

India must rethink their role. People can’t imagine an alternative, but there can be many if we put our minds to it.

[Rupak @RupakChatto]

I agree. India's intellectual elite has become both morally and intellectually bankrupt. Too often, it substitutes ideological conformity for critical inquiry, partisan loyalty for intellectual honesty, and performative activism for rigorous scholarship. Rather than defending the autonomy and impartiality of the state, influential sections of this elite have often encouraged the politicization of public institutions, treating the bureaucracy, universities, regulatory bodies, and other state institutions as instruments for advancing ideological or partisan agendas rather than as neutral institutions serving the public interest.
In doing so, they have contributed to the erosion of state autonomy and institutional credibility. The result is an intellectual culture that too often privileges ideological commitment over empirical analysis, leaving India with fewer independent voices capable of offering rigorous, evidence-based solutions to its economic, educational, and governance challenges.

[Rupak @RupakChatto]

Mehta is right that India's education system faces a profound crisis, but his explanation is remarkably selective. The current government deserves criticism for administrative failures, examination leaks, and an inability to restore confidence in public examinations. Yet these failures did not emerge in 2014. They are the cumulative product of decades of political neglect under governments led by leaders with impeccable academic credentials, including prime ministers holding PhDs. Academic excellence at the top did not translate into competent governance or educational reform

Equally troubling is the article's romanticisation of street protests as the primary vehicle of democratic accountability. Peaceful protest is a democratic right, but elevating extra-institutional pressure above constitutional processes risks legitimising mobocracy. Universities cannot function if vice-chancellors, faculty, or administrators are governed by intimidation rather than law. The repeated targeting of vice-chancellors at institutions such as the killing of Gopal Sen at Jadavpur University, where administrators have faced physical assaults, intimidation, and virtual confinement by student groups, illustrates the dangers of allowing coercive protest to replace institutional governance. Democracy requires accountability, but it also requires the rule of law.

The essay also ignores the corrosive effects of decades of ideological capture within sections of Indian higher education. Long before the BJP came to power, many universities suffered from excessive politicisation, declining academic standards, patronage in appointments, tolerance of campus violence, and an intellectual culture that often privileged political conformity over academic excellence. The erosion of educational quality cannot be attributed solely to the RSS or the current government; it reflects a much longer institutional decline in which Left-dominated campus politics also played a significant role.

Finally, the deeper problem is not simply ideology but state capacity. India has consistently failed to build the professional, autonomous institutions required to administer a world-class education system. Exam leaks, weak regulation, politicised universities, and poor learning outcomes are symptoms of a state that is too thin and too weak to govern effectively. Replacing one minister or one ideology with another will not solve this problem. India needs stronger institutions, professional administration, merit-based recruitment, independent examination authorities, and universities insulated from political capture—whether by the Left, the Right, or any other partisan interest. Only then can higher education become both accountable and genuinely excellent.

[N S S Sharma @nsssharma]

@tavleen_singh Fixing one entrance exam is rather easy. Is anybody looking at fixing the overall education system? Why is it that a university next-door is not of a certain threshold standard & quality, across various programs & disciplines (subjects)?

[Vaidika S.Venugopalan🇮🇳 @Gopalee67]

I was the photographer during this tour of Acharyal. This picture too was taken by me. Had an ameture camera lent by my friend. Konica film roles I had with me then. Beautiful moments I had caprured with that camera.Getting nostalgic with this picture.Many are not yet seen light

[N S S Sharma @nsssharma]

पचौरीजी को कदाचित यह ज्ञात नहीं है कि "धर्म" मात्र किसी पत्र पर लिखा शब्द नहीं है, अपितु जगत का जीवंत आधार है।

[Pankaj Pachauri @PankajPachauri]

Dear @GitanjaliAngmo
What you call “Sanatan Dharma” was put to rest by the Constitution of India which promised “Equality”.

No “Sanatan” document has ever provided that assurance.

Its dead.
Let it lie there.

[Pakistan Untold @pakistan_untold]

"Taliban are the product of our genius Pak generals' 40 years long experiment. Now don't call them 'Indian proxies' and give away the hard-earned credit."

[N S S Sharma @nsssharma]

@tavleen_singh An old adage is in order - "Small minds discuss people, medium minds discuss events, great minds discuss ideas". Minister & events are not the main issue. What ails the education system is the main issue. 2/2

[N S S Sharma @nsssharma]

@tavleen_singh I used to read your journalistic pieces with keen interest. I do so even now. But the more I follow your views in the present context, the more I am convinced about why "Education" has remained a problematic domain post independence. 1/n

[N S S Sharma @nsssharma]

@Fintech03 Take away their mobile phones & chances are that they wouldn't be able to tell time & even directions. Samrat Yantra, Jaya Prakash Yantra, Azimuth, Spherical Trigonometry, etc. is too far fetched.

[N S S Sharma @nsssharma]

@Fintech03 A scientific observatory being permanently designated as a site for political protests is the true legacy of Nehruvian scientific distemper.