Brief Profile of Dr. R. Suresh Kumar.
Dr. R. Suresh Kumar holds B.E (Mechanical), M.B.A P.G.D.C.A, C.Eng(I),M.I.E,M.I.Mech E(London), Ph.D(Solar) degrees. He is Ph.D guide for Solar Engineering subject in JJT University(Rajasthan) and Visiting faculty for M.Tech programs in BITS Pilani. He also taught at NIT Surathkal.
Dr. Kumar has served at senior level positions in companies such as SPM India Ltd, Kurlon Ltd ,Rashmi Solar and Kirloskar Brothers Ltd . Dr. Kumar was conferred “Bharat Bhushan” award in the year 2015 by Bharathiya Samskrithika Academy, Bangalore for his service in Solar Power Projects field. He also received “Distinguished Alumnus Award” from Manipal University and “Best Citizen of India”Award from International Publishing House,New Delhi for his invention of Particle Board from Areca Husk an agro waste. For this invention his name has been entered into “Outstanding Personalities in India” Directory published by Management Studies Promotion Institute, New Delhi and “Outstanding Personalities in World” Directory published by American Biographical Institute,North Carolina,U.S.A.
He is Solar Power Projects Consultant for Government of Tamilnadu .He is Certified Chartered Engineer and Third Party Evaluator for Solar Power Projects in India recognized by Ministry Of New and Renewable Energy,Govt of India. He has participated as Solar Power Projects panel Expert in several TV Channels like TV-9,News-9 and Public TV.
His Text Book “Fundamentals of Solar Energy” has been Published and released on 25/09/2019 in 110 countries and 39,000 locations across globe and in Amazon,Fipkart & www.bookscamel.com by Publisher Educreation Publishing ,New Delhi
Guru-Shishya Tradition in Indian Model of Education.
Guru-Shishya Parampara is an age old tradition in India which has existed for centuries and has transformed over the years. India holds high respect for the teacher of such knowledge..The teaching and learning method which our Indian Education system followed till today is an oral tradition based on Guru-Shishya Parampara.
All systems of Vedanta like Dvaita,Advaita and Vishshtadvaita honour Guru Parampara.The tradition is to venerate the acharya who imparts the Brahma Vidya and from him the line of preceptors is traced upwards to the supreme Brahman.The lord is revered as Adi Guru because he gave Vedas to Brahma also enlightened him about them.
Each religion is propagating their own set of rules and value system and is focusing more on increasing the numbers of their follower base instead of ensuring that they become factory of developing highly empowered and enlightened souls in compliance with Vedas .This has resulted in to the propagation of of an unnecessary competition between various religions.,sects,faiths and spiritual missions thereby defeating the whole purpose of attaining the spiritual wisdom. As a matter of fact any true religion should teach collaboration with other instead of competition which is not the case.
In ancient times, India was considered as a main destination for higher education. From the writings of famous Chinese travellers like Fa-Hien and Hiuen-Tsang it can be found that the ancient higher education systems in India were initiated at Takshashila (5th to 6th Century BC), Kanchipura and Nalanda (5th to 6th Century AD), Odantaouri, Sri Dhanya Kataka, Kashmira and Vikramashila (800 AD).
Takshashila was the first ancient Indian University (5th to 6th Century BC). It is known for its rapport with Chanakya (author of famous economics book, ‘Arthashastra’) and Charak, the reputedAyurvedic healers (studied here). In Takshashila, they taught Vedic studies, various art type skills along with law, medicine and military for students.
Nalanda University was the first global University (founded in 427 AD in Bihar, which existed until 1197). Prof.Sanjay Dhanda (Ugra, 2010) indicated that “Nalanda University is considered as a model university and the pattern is much needed for present era” (Altekar, 1957). And, subjects taught in Nalanda were Buddhist studies, medicine, fine arts, mathematics, politics, art of war and astronomy.At that time, it had dormitories and houses to accommodate 10,000+ students/scholars and 3,000 Gurus/professors, which attracted students from various countries like Japan, China, Korea, Indonesia, Tibet, Turkey and Persia, etc. The Chinese traveller Hsuan Tsang studied and later taught five years for students in 7th Century AD. Nalanda had 9-storey building for library and it had 9 million manuscripts in the beginning of 12th century. It had a student to faculty ratio of 3 to 5:1, 100% residential facility for students and faculty, international mix of students and faculty (Prem Vrat, 2017).
The main subjects taught in these Universities were law, art, architecture, philosophy, literature, Arthshastra (economics), Hinduism, Buddhism, painting, astronomy, logic and medicine. Each of these Universities were specialised in various fields i.e., Takshashila University for medicine, Ujjain University for astronomy, Nalanda for all branches of education (Ponmelil, 2015; Kalam Chouhan, 2016).
In general, ancient educational system was developed to satisfy the individual and societal needs with specific ideals and mission. The Gurus (=teachers) in ancient times followed a unique method of education to synchronize harmony between materialism, spiritualism and human life, towards greater perfection.
Ancient Indian education was initially formulated by Vedas (the oldest literature in the world), which consist of traditional Indian culture, civilization, philosophy and life of people.. Vedas have their own distinctive features and it symbolize the objective of human life from birth to death. There are four Vedas, viz.,(a) Rigveda (foundation of Hindu civilisation), (b) Yajurveda (compilation of hymns for occasions of sacrifice), (c) Samaveda (compilation of all hymns recited for all occasions) and Atharvaveda (contains various descriptions about arts and sciences).
In today’s far more transactional educational system with its short term targets and restricted rather than expansive curriculum ,the Guru-Shishya Parampara often finds itself out of sync.
Dr.R.Suresh Kumar
Professor
Don Bosco School of Management, Bangalore
