“It’s a strange world. We couldn’t follow our dreams, so we wish to have those dreams achieved by our children!” Yes ,meet the person behind this statement, with a vast experience to take credit for, who has been following his heart all these years. As we met the Director of the Manipal Centre for Philosophy & Humanities, with tables and racks spread around with books that were in the likes of Karl Marx and M K Gandhi, we knew that the next hour would be an intellectual ride. Our expectations were not let down and our minds were only ignited with a stronger fire to follow the flame of our heart. Presenting an interview of a thinker, philosopher, physicist, author, writer, social expert – Sundar Sarukkai, PhD. [View Biography]
Beginning Basics
St. Joseph’s Indian High School was a school that opened up the world for me. It allowed us as children, to go to the labs, to perform experiments, to take part in exhibitions. It was an experience which exposed me to the way of thinking of a cross section of people coming from different backgrounds and communities , the rich and the poor. Learning was almost fun! By the time I was in SSLC, I knew
I wanted to study Physics. So I chose to enroll myself in BSc at St Joseph’s College, Bangalore. I was denied admission in the first list since the Principal was sure that I would not join BSc given my marks in the PUC. Studying science in Joseph’s was great. We had excellent teachers and the overall culture was very good. From Joseph’s I set foot to pursue MSc in physics at IIT, Madras and from there I went on to Purdue University in the US to do my PhD in physics.
Turning Philosopher
Philosophy has always been a part of my life. I feel the best time to turn towards philosophy is during your teens. Rebellion finds a natural home in philosophy. This didn’t mean anything to me in terms of spirituality then. It was just a way of thinking and living. Fortunately, I got the opportunity to read a lot of literature when I was young,
thanks to my father’s interest in these fields. My childhood friend, Srinivas Bhashyam, was the model rebel; he dropped out of college to pursue a career in films. But I couldn’t study philosophy in India, in spite of India being a huge source of it. Even now, things have hardly changed since almost all colleges ignore the teaching of philosophy even in their BA courses.
When I went to Purdue, I learnt about an interesting teacher in this field and so I went on to take his class. I was gripped! Furthermore, I took all his classes for the next few years. His name is Michael Weinstein and it was learning philosophy with him that made me realize that I wanted to continue working in this field. Since I was in the physics department, I finished my PhD in physics but my interest
had shifted to philosophy.
Following the Heart
I returned back to India. I decided to take up philosophy as a profession. At that time, a new institute had been started. It was called the National Institute of Advanced Studies and it was in the Indian Institute of Science campus in Bangalore. It was J R D Tata’s initiative and Raja Ramanna was the first director. Ramanna was a well known nuclear physicist but he was also deeply drawn to philosophy. At that time, he was interested in some idea in Buddhist thought and its relation to particle physics. So he was interested in having a philosophy of science group. So by providence I landed there in 1994 and stayed on till the end of 2009. In India, philosophy is more prevalent in the public domain (such as in the religious and spiritual discourses happening everywhere) than in the academic domain. I realized that a lot of students wanted to study philosophy but had no opportunity. In 2010, I moved to Manipal University and started a new Centre to establish my dream project – an exciting interdisciplinary course involving philosophy, literature and the social sciences. Now we offer three streams of MA – in philosophy, literature and sociology, but the students in each stream learn the other disciplines as well. We also have a strong PhD program.
In my experience I have found that many students are studying something that their parents craved for and not what they like. There have been so many students who are studying engineering or some other discipline who come to me saying that their real interest is philosophy, literature or art. But when I tell them to follow their heart and join courses in these fields, they are not able to do so. Parents really dictate what most of our young people do. Why is this happening? Is it that parents are trying to achieve and fulfill their dreams through their children? But now, I also see more and more students who have quit their courses or jobs, in order to study fields they really like. These are brave ones who are willing to explore and learn constantly. But the vast majority are still being led silently.
Harnessing Creativity
We can find creative people across all disciplines. To get your creative juices flowing, you need to stay focused on your task. There are preconditions for creativity: you should be immersed in the problem, you should be obsessed about the task you are doing and more importantly, you should be well read about other disciplines – this broadening of the mind is important since you never know where the solution is going to come from! In such a state, the mind will naturally arrive at the solution. That is the beauty of our mind. But once you have the answer or an insight, you need to start building on that and that demands hard work. You can harness creativity if you are open to new ideas.
Ideas: Ideals: India
We have managed to destroy philosophy in India. Most of the universities don’t teach philosophy these days. Due to our education system, we are still losing our best of minds in many fields. Arts, dance and literature is struggling with almost no support either from the government or the private sector. But students in non-science discipline get good jobs today. There are careers in writing in NGOs and corporate sector; there are opportunities to be involved with social sector. There are growing number of youngsters who have decided to follow their passion in music, art, dance and so on. I believe that we should do what attracts us but that needs sacrifice, commitment and hard work. When you are young and you have to choose, don’t think of career, instead follow your heart. There will be struggle. But do something where you will make a mark.
When you struggle, you are bound to get opportunities. I had to leave physics to start looking for opportunities in philosophy. When I quit, I got chances to make my living in philosophy. Try for any field that you wish to get in. Do not fear, hardships that you face will strengthen you. You need to take chance and see what will happen. All of us can make an impact. But remember, it can happen only in
the field that you love and enjoy!
India is gradually transforming. I see a lot of young activists who are doing their best for the society. Indian youth is taking active role in the larger society around them. Excitement to learn and understand new things is important. Today, I recognize that I know so little and realize that there is much more to learn and think. Learn for the fun of it. You are lucky that today you have no dearth of opportunities to learn, thanks to the internet. In our time, we did not even have libraries. Today the internet has almost any book, any classic that you want. There is no excuse for not reading and exploring in these times. Because of which learning has also changed – the teacher is only a guide and can only point you to what you could read. Real learning is entirely at your disposal. Let the true exploration begin!