Vishwaguru
Of late, "Vishwaguru" is a term that one hears and reads more and more frequently in speeches and in writings of the high, the mighty and the wise in India today. The term denotes at once an aspiration and an assertion. The aspiration refers to India becoming a leading intellectual and moral beacon for the world to follow. And underlying the assertion lie two beliefs. One is the claim that India in the distant past was a Vishwaguru , a fountainhead of knowledge and wisdom far ahead of the rest of the world. The second belief is that India is poised to become Vishwaguru again and that she is ready to reclaim that status in the not-too-distant future. For some, we already are there. In support of India’s past pre-eminent status are cited various claims of scientific achievements in subjects ranging from mathematical and astronomical sciences and some assertion about existence of airplanes, plastic surgery, genetics, nuclear weapons, television and internet to name...