ANCIENT POLITICS – NEW APPROACH

Sometimes when we think about our nation there are some surprises we come across. As a nation we are among the oldest of civilizations. Over 5000 years old the Indian culture is still alive and vibrating. Unlike, other cultures like the Romans and Greeks, where the success story can only be found in the museums. This success of India of over thousands of years is now being researched by many non-Indian scholars across the globe. The Paris-based OECD said India was the, largest economy on Earth for 1500 of the last 2000 years, including the, 2nd largest only 200 years ago. The credit of the origin of PI and the law of gravity being discovered by western scientist are being challenged. Al Basham in his book “The wonder that was India ” brings an interesting read about our History. He points out various factors of human civilization where India was successful including economy, social life, family culture, arts, science and every other field we can think of. Today India stands at a very critical point in history when it will come back again as a super power and a developed economy. Our present generation will not only talk about a glorious future but actually be a part of that future. We will live in a developed India . However, when we think of the field of political science and governance we have a different challenge. Post independence from 1947 onwards we have studied and adapted various existing governance and political systems of the world and tried to bring out our own constitution. Hats off to our visionary leaders for bringing into existence one of the most successful democracies of the world. But problems still remain. Is our democracy the perfect democracy? Can we say it is error free? No, it requires more refinement and needs to be upgraded to the next level. But how is the challenge. Instead of looking outside our nation for some “perfect country model” let us go back to study our own history and culture. Let us not forget that a nation’s experience of 5000 plus years is not a small thing to be taken casually. It is filled with wisdom, learning and advice to the forthcoming generations. As we put many exchange programs with other countries for study of systems of governance let us also spend time to do research in ancient Indian systems. Kautilya’s Arthashastra is one such Indian book. It is considered to be among the oldest book available to the world on the science of politics and governance. It contains over 6000 sutras on the management of a nation. Ideas in this book are time tested and very simple to understand. But the challenge is not just doing research on the book but being able to adapt it to the present conditions. Instead of dry theory let us make action plans. Let’s implement the ideas that have succeeded in the past with a new approach. Some tips: 1. The government should tie up with Indology research scholars, universities and conduct projects based on our Indian historical success. 2. Sanskrit scholars are a good resource who will help us decode the meanings of various scriptures. 3. Involve young professionals from management background to apply the ancient Indian management in present situations 4. Make sure everyone is accountable and results should be the focus. 5. Once a project has been conducted successfully make sure you share it with others and replicate it in other places. This is how we will revive our political system based on our ancient knowledge with a new approach. — Radhakrishnan ‘Chanakya’ Pillai