CREATIVITY QUOTIENT

Apple founder Steve Woznaik recently commented that Indians, though studious, lack in creativity. A generalization at best, this comment invited a debate on the creativity quotient of the Indian people. But there is need for a serious introspection. What prompted Woznaik to give this blanket condemnation of the Indian brain has many sides and it may be related to the attitude of a white man. But that apart, there is a need to prove him wrong, as there is a kernel of truth in the assertion. Our problem may be attributed to an inferiority complex due to a cultural conditioning arising out of our long subjugation. In fact, we have still not come out of the mindset that we were slaves and subservient to the superior west. It is this mindset that has to be de-conditioned first.  Of course, it will require a lot of efforts, mental and supra-mental, to disprove this generalization but that is a compulsion, not an option. Moreover, what we need to understand is that why the same Indians make waves in the Silicon Valley, NASA and even the top universities of the world. With due apologies to Shakespeare the fault dear friends is not in our genes but in our history that we are underlings. Original thinking is discouraged in our country and dissent is treason. Unless dissent is encouraged, creating new knowledge will not be easy. We need to understand that change is the greatest antidote to status quo and to welcome change we need to think differently. Our fancy for anything foreign needs to change and we must learn to apply our thought process critically. There is a faulty assumption that anything western is superior. Whether it is a product, or an idea or a process and it is this assumption that has raised our gullibility. The answer to Mr. Woznaik can best come from the Indian universities which must be encouraged to generate thoughts and ideas. It is rather strange that the subcontinent that boasted of the world’s leading centers of learning in Nalanda and Takhshashila is now struggling to find a place in the top universities. While many may contest the proclaimed excellence of our ancient centers of higher learning, they have to understand that the historical accounts of those universities were all given by non Indians. Certainly, when those ratings try to show us the place with regards to higher education, we should also try to see through the game because ratings are business too. And India is still seen as a huge market. That is, though, one side of the story. But we need to think clearly. Just one example- that our centers of higher learning do not merit a place in top global universities is an assertion. But those graduating from these very centers are dons of the universities which ornament the top bracket. Is not it a paradox? We need to see the unseen and hear the unheard, to read between the lines. These are not mere exaggerations. It is a fact that all is not as bad as it made out to be. We too have a legacy we can be reasonably proud of. It is time to assess our strengths and weaknesses and move ahead in the right direction with the right people in the right places. It is this that is important. Our craving for brand West is rather obsessive. We must get rid of this brand-o-mania.