Shimla and a new India

The road to the new India starts in Shimla.

I am a mountain person. There is something calming about the cool mountain air, the greenery, the changing weather, the slower pace, in short, everything. I spent my recent holiday at Shimla, Himachal Pradesh.

But the visit to the Viceregal Lodge disturbed me.

Dismantling of free India started here.

The Viceregal Lodge, the summer residence of the Viceroy of India since 1888, was the place where many a plan was hatched by the British to loot India.

It is where the basic framework for the 1947 partition of India was finalised. The Partition is one of the most horrible blunders of Indian history resulted in the death of millions.

Shimla is also home to another stupidity of Indian politicians - The Shimla Accord. It was negotiated in Governor’s residence, the Rajbhavan. India won the war against Pakistan in 1975 liberating the now ungrateful Bangladesh. Despite that, on negotiating table, India surrendered 90,000 Pakistani POWs and vast tracts of land gained in West Pakistan.

The rebuilding of a new India should start here too.

I think it should start at the Viceregal Lodge itself. The building itself is quite inspiring. It is an artistic and engineering marvel with extensive woodwork and an innovative fire management system to protect it. It was built with a water harvesting system back in the 1880s.

It became Rashtrapati Niwas (President’s Residence) after independence. However, our second President of India, S. Radhakrishnan, converted it into the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies (IIAS). He wanted the place to house the smartest minds of India, equip them with the best resources and create the vision of a new India and the knowledge to achieve it.

Per its memorandum of Association, the institute should “undertake, organise, guide and promote advanced research in selected subjects in the Humanities, Indian Culture, Comparative Religion, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences” and others.

The post-doctoral research scholars get office space (some get a separate office room and staff) in the heritage building, access to one of the best research libraries in the world and access to historical archives. The research fellows are provided rent-free accommodation in the cottages. They are given academic freedom and financial security to come out with knowledge. However, the research work coming out of this institute hasn’t won accolades.

We need to reinvent the IIAS

The academic side of this institute needs a total revamp.

I want to know the kind of research methodology being used for the research, how the research expands knowledge and who will make it actionable. I want to know how fellowships are awarded and what are desired outcomes from the research. What happens to the good research? What happens to these experts? Why are they not advising the government?

An institute of such importance cannot be allowed to be an “also ran”. We need to make it into a hive mind of India’s cutting-edge thinkers. This institute can become the intellectual breeding ground for ideas that can reinvent India and help us leapfrog into global leadership.

The intellectual journey to make India great is going to be long. And the start can be in Shimla, in IIAS.