Did you check Anu Dak on Bhramandhwani? New lingo of RSS ideologues who will shape govt policy on research

What if someone tells you that he was busy surfing ‘Jaal Sthal’ then got on to ‘Bhramandhwani’, all the while keeping a close eye on ‘Anu Dak’? And then he had to rush for a ‘Kaushalya’ and for ‘Madhyan Gyan Bhoj’? You’ll either immediately take him to a shrink or wonder if your friend is referring to an ‘outer space’ edition of Google Maps that may have slipped your notice.[caption id=“attachment_2608560” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Introducing new lingos. Screenshot of BSM website
[/caption] Welcome to Bharatiya Sikshan Mandal (BSM), an RSS affiliate which has coined these weird-sounding words. To its members and followers, ‘Jaal Sthal’ is the name for world wide web (www), ‘Anu Dak’ is email, mobile phone is Bhramandhwani, Madhyan Gyan Bhoj is lunch during a business meeting. The list is endless. BSM claims these terms are taken from Sanskrit. The organisation believes that the kind of research currently under way in hundreds of educational institutions, universities and other foundations is adding to the volume but socially irrelevant. It is, therefore, organising a three-day ‘Research for Resurgence International Convention’ from 11-13 February in Nagpur, hometown of the ideological fountainhead of Sangh Parivar. There will be extensive brainstorming for 12 hours a day, starting from 8 am in the morning. BSM may not be an easily recognizable name but such is its clout that that three senior Union ministers Smriti Irani, Prakash Javadekar and Nitin Gadkari will fly in for the convention. The HRD minister will make the inaugural address on the opening day. Environment and Forest Minister Javadekar will deliver the keynote address the next day and on the third and concluding day, Highway and Shipping Minister Gadkari will be there for the valedictory address. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, too, will attend the event. Sitting in the audience and making their presentations in due course will be 55 vice-chancellors of various Indian universities. BSM’s all India organising secretary Mukul Kanitkar said so far 55 VCs have confirmed their participation. Several other educationists from within the country and abroad will also be present. How the ministers and VCs shape the government policy on research based on the deliberations of the meet will be a matter of great interest. “When chaos reaches its ultimate pinnacle an urge to go back to basics is what comes as an obvious step. Eternal Bharatiya darshan has the potential to imbibe a rethinking of the basics. This is where the resurgence is aimed at. Going back to basics… It will make the research socially relevant, eco-friendly as well as technically and economically sustainable,” reads the stated objective. According to Kanitkar, “ministers and some other participants have been asked to elaborate on their policies to promote research that are socially relevant and productive.” The BSM website or their ‘Jaal Sthal’ created for the purpose, says: “Real education should be based on first-hand knowledge gained out of the most primary source — experience. “No amount of theorizing, rationalizing and memorizing can substitute the experiential realization of reality. Hence research needs to be promoted at an early stage in the process of education. “All the genuine intellectuals of the world are alarmed at the situation and there is an underlying concern for a sustainable and holistic resolution of conflict in all the avenues of human activity viz economics, technology, science, religion, international relations etc.,” it says.