A V Satish Chandra | Osmania University (original) (raw)
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Papers by A V Satish Chandra
Society and Culture in South Asia, 2017
To be a reviewer of books, music pieces, paintings and other art forms, I have always considered ... more To be a reviewer of books, music pieces, paintings and other art forms, I have always considered myself to be somehow ignoble in nature. My difficulty to be part of such exercises has been mainly due to the fact that a reasonable piece of art of literature is difficult to build into a coherent and totally comprehensible piece of work to the reader. When it has to reach a book length, it is often a daunting task. It is an unfortunate belief that the creator of any kind of book is at full liberty to do it in a way that pleases him or her and is at most a clever argument that people make to draw writers into the writing process itself. Many a writer have shared with me their struggles with editors about the microcontent of the content that a writer chooses to present and also the fact that the timelines are imposed and this, more often than not, leaves the writers with a sense of unhappiness because rarely do they succeed in getting into print form what they would have liked in a way that would have satisfied them. The writer then has to face yet another problem. The question that comes up is who owns the book? The writer or the reader(s)? This is real and unsettling for the writer simply because of the fact that once a reader gets the book into his/her hands and starts reading, he/she is less likely to empathise with the writer and more likely to interpret the contents of the book drawing upon his/her own experiences and also his/her preferences for certain kinds of scholarship. So to put it starkly, a Marxist is not going to read a book by a liberal thinker without prejudice. In that sense a book already starts with a disadvantage; its readers are not starting with an empty and completely open mind and since language is one of the important variables that decides the arguments as being sustainable Society and Culture in South Asia 3(1) 117-134
Journal of Hydrology, 1992
The ~Systeme Hydrologique Europ~en' (SHE) modelling system has been applied to six subcatchments ... more The ~Systeme Hydrologique Europ~en' (SHE) modelling system has been applied to six subcatchments totalling approximately 15 000 km 2 of the Narmada Basin in Madhya Pradesh, central India. The study was carried out within the framework of an Indo-European cooperative project aimed at a transfer of the SHE technology to the National Institute of Hydrology, India. This paper presents the current status of the SH E, and then focuses on the experiences gained in applying it to basins of a size likely to be of practical interest, with a data availability characteristic of developing countries. Results from the largest of the six basins are presented and discussed along with summary results from all six basins. The procedures adopted and practical recommendations are given with regard to data collection, model preparation and parameter assessment, calibration approach and planning of field investigations. Finally, general conclusions regarding SHE applicability to Indian hydrological conditions are presented.
The paper examines how the meaning of the phrase Civil Society has undergone changes in its defin... more The paper examines how the meaning of the phrase Civil Society has undergone changes in its definition and the reasons behind the changes.
The last few decades of the twentieth Century have been co-terminus with the reemergence and grow... more The last few decades of the twentieth Century have been co-terminus with the reemergence and growth of political theory. It is a well known fact that prior to this political theory has been overshadowed by the so called scientific methods that sought to understand society and politics by using empirical and statistical methods. It took a while before the failure of behaviouralism and other methods of study inspired by it failed, and political theory was rightfully restored its place in the study of politics. However, this should not be construed as an argument that says that political theory had ceased to exist at this time when empiricism reigned supreme. It is just that not many people took notice of it (1). On of the eminent theorists responsible for the rekindling of interest in political theory has been John Rawls. Here it may be courageously asserted that in the twentieth century, there have been very few philosophers and none with the stature of Rawls. His magnum opus 'A Theory of Justice' has done for more for the revival of interest in political theory than any other work. It is only after the recognition that has been given to Rawlsian writings that we see other writers attempting original theoretical and philosophical tracts one of the names that comes up immediately for consideration here is Charles Taylor. It is in the era of Rawls that we also find the emergence of new forms of thinking emerging within theory, namely multiculturalism. From what has been presented so far it may appear that political theory and its revival have something do only with liberalism. It would not be entirely untrue if we were to argue that the revival of political theory happened within the gamut of a liberal framework of thinking. This has happened mainly because of the fact that in Marxism, which is the alternative to liberal thinking, there has been too much orthodoxy and an unwillingness to consider some of its theoretical foundations in the light of the failure of what it promised, and the lack of the desired results. It must be acknowledged that there have been introspective traditions within Marxism as represented by Lukacs and the critical theory tradition, but these have been caught in a vocabulary that has been the preserve of only those who knew the intricacies of Marxist thinking and theorizing. (2) On the other hand we can see that liberalism has shown a tendency to evolve much more as a result of a greater desire for introspection. This has been the most important reason for the survival of liberalism and its sustaining interest in a wide spread audience. However, let this not be construed as a lionizing of liberalism and the traditions that it has spawned. The fact that there have been so many traditions within liberalism, and that there are fundamental disagreements among them suggest very clearly that liberalism is nowhere near perfection.
The existence of caste in Indian society is actually a very vexing problem.
This article discusses how drugs such as LSD and Ecstasy have been used both by rebelling rock mu... more This article discusses how drugs such as LSD and Ecstasy have been used both by rebelling rock musicians who wanted a change of politics and political systems and by the establishment such as the CIA to quell that very rebellion.
Journal of Hydrology, 1992
The ~Systeme Hydrologique Europ~en' (SHE) modelling system has been applied to six subcatchments ... more The ~Systeme Hydrologique Europ~en' (SHE) modelling system has been applied to six subcatchments totalling approximately 15 000 km 2 of the Narmada Basin in Madhya Pradesh, central India. The study was carried out within the framework of an Indo-European cooperative project aimed at a transfer of the SHE technology to the National Institute of Hydrology, India. This paper presents the current status of the SH E, and then focuses on the experiences gained in applying it to basins of a size likely to be of practical interest, with a data availability characteristic of developing countries. Results from the largest of the six basins are presented and discussed along with summary results from all six basins. The procedures adopted and practical recommendations are given with regard to data collection, model preparation and parameter assessment, calibration approach and planning of field investigations. Finally, general conclusions regarding SHE applicability to Indian hydrological conditions are presented.
In my personal opinion one of the greatest treatises to be written on education is Emile by the F... more In my personal opinion one of the greatest treatises to be written on education is Emile by the French Philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau. The work was condemned because it stood for revolutionary principles that were inconvenient to the Catholic Church and to European society in general. However over a period of time there has been recognition of this work and any teacher worth his/her salt should have a look at it. In this context of course, the book and its contents have an immediacy which is even more poignant, because in this work of Rousseau that one sees the true meaning of equality and empowerment. I therefore think that it would be in the fitness of things to start with the preface that Rousseau himself wrote to Emile.
This article essentially discusses the necessity for widening the scope of electoral/representati... more This article essentially discusses the necessity for widening the scope of electoral/representative democracy by discussing the process of deliberation and how that can lead to a better system of governance.
Dr. Ambedkar, Buddhism, and social change, Jan 1, 1994
Osmania journal of social sciences: bi-annual …, Jan 1, 2003
Other by A V Satish Chandra
Theoretical (substantive) ideas of justice vs procedural justice dispensed by courts of law. Part... more Theoretical (substantive) ideas of justice vs procedural justice dispensed by courts of law. Part-1 The last few decades of the the twentieth century and the first one and half of the twenty first century have seen various different societies teeming with discourse that has at its centre the idea of justice. Justice, even among the more developed nations is now being talked off as social or collective justice especially after the intervention of Rawlsian and Multicultural notions finding their way into the vocabulary of mainstream liberalism. A caveat here that needs to be inserted.
It has been a very, very long time since I have posted here, but this was one of the things that ... more It has been a very, very long time since I have posted here, but this was one of the things that I should post since our politics have been loudly shouting about development but it seems as if the real agenda is the eating of beef and the lynching of those who eat it, ghar vapsi (home coming) of Hindus who converted to other religions, building of world class capitals, playing on regional and parochial sentiments. This time around the voice of dissent seems to have come under threat and people seem to be becoming less and less tolerant to ideas other than theirs. Therefore, I felt it is time to write about the airy fairy nonsense that most academics indulge in and how people doggedly cling to models of explanation that have been proven to be inadequate, antiquated and sometimes downright wrong. In the past some of these models served well in some historical contexts in certain geographies but in the context of India even if they did serve a purpose at some point in time, they no longer due. The explanation for this is simple. Social reality is not static and neither are politics which operate within those social realities which are changing. Social realities change politics, which in turn change society depending upon the way in which they (the politics) are played out. My attempt is therefore to highlight the failures and fortunately there are no completely successful models that I can bring to fore. One of the well known facts about Indian academics is that it has always tried to use models that were used for the explanation of social, economic and political processes by other countries which were by default countries in the Northern Hemisphere. Not only have models have been copied but even the proponents of the models have been lionized and almost deified. At the time of India's struggle for independence the models of Western socialism and specifically Marxist communism were in vogue. After all, the Bolshevik Revolution in the USSR had demonstrated to the world that Capitalism could be bypassed and a society based in equality was in the process of being created. In India, the notion of socialism, albeit Fabian Socialism was quite close to the first PM of this country, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. The Congress party had even set aside the Gandhian model due to various criticisms from personalities such as B R Ambedkar who called Indian Villages " Cesspools of decadence and casteist thinking " and being educated in the Columbia University, he also threw his weight behind the Western model of development as the blue print for the future of India. The dominant communist model of thinking at that time believed that the days of Capitalism and the State that came into being in order to support the exploitation of the workers by the capitalists were numbered. Lenin believed that it was the duty of those countries which had successfully accomplished the Communist Revolution to take the word of the revolution forward and support all movements against capitalist tormentors in their fight for freedom. The history of the middle of the 20 th Century is replete with different parts of the world fighting for freedom from Colonialism which was described by Lenin as the Highest and Final phase of Capitalism. India too received notional support for the freedom movement from the USSR of then.
Drafts by A V Satish Chandra
This is a paper that argues that the social inclusion agenda in India is unidimensional while soc... more This is a paper that argues that the social inclusion agenda in India is unidimensional while social reality is multi-diminensional.
Society and Culture in South Asia, 2017
To be a reviewer of books, music pieces, paintings and other art forms, I have always considered ... more To be a reviewer of books, music pieces, paintings and other art forms, I have always considered myself to be somehow ignoble in nature. My difficulty to be part of such exercises has been mainly due to the fact that a reasonable piece of art of literature is difficult to build into a coherent and totally comprehensible piece of work to the reader. When it has to reach a book length, it is often a daunting task. It is an unfortunate belief that the creator of any kind of book is at full liberty to do it in a way that pleases him or her and is at most a clever argument that people make to draw writers into the writing process itself. Many a writer have shared with me their struggles with editors about the microcontent of the content that a writer chooses to present and also the fact that the timelines are imposed and this, more often than not, leaves the writers with a sense of unhappiness because rarely do they succeed in getting into print form what they would have liked in a way that would have satisfied them. The writer then has to face yet another problem. The question that comes up is who owns the book? The writer or the reader(s)? This is real and unsettling for the writer simply because of the fact that once a reader gets the book into his/her hands and starts reading, he/she is less likely to empathise with the writer and more likely to interpret the contents of the book drawing upon his/her own experiences and also his/her preferences for certain kinds of scholarship. So to put it starkly, a Marxist is not going to read a book by a liberal thinker without prejudice. In that sense a book already starts with a disadvantage; its readers are not starting with an empty and completely open mind and since language is one of the important variables that decides the arguments as being sustainable Society and Culture in South Asia 3(1) 117-134
Journal of Hydrology, 1992
The ~Systeme Hydrologique Europ~en' (SHE) modelling system has been applied to six subcatchments ... more The ~Systeme Hydrologique Europ~en' (SHE) modelling system has been applied to six subcatchments totalling approximately 15 000 km 2 of the Narmada Basin in Madhya Pradesh, central India. The study was carried out within the framework of an Indo-European cooperative project aimed at a transfer of the SHE technology to the National Institute of Hydrology, India. This paper presents the current status of the SH E, and then focuses on the experiences gained in applying it to basins of a size likely to be of practical interest, with a data availability characteristic of developing countries. Results from the largest of the six basins are presented and discussed along with summary results from all six basins. The procedures adopted and practical recommendations are given with regard to data collection, model preparation and parameter assessment, calibration approach and planning of field investigations. Finally, general conclusions regarding SHE applicability to Indian hydrological conditions are presented.
The paper examines how the meaning of the phrase Civil Society has undergone changes in its defin... more The paper examines how the meaning of the phrase Civil Society has undergone changes in its definition and the reasons behind the changes.
The last few decades of the twentieth Century have been co-terminus with the reemergence and grow... more The last few decades of the twentieth Century have been co-terminus with the reemergence and growth of political theory. It is a well known fact that prior to this political theory has been overshadowed by the so called scientific methods that sought to understand society and politics by using empirical and statistical methods. It took a while before the failure of behaviouralism and other methods of study inspired by it failed, and political theory was rightfully restored its place in the study of politics. However, this should not be construed as an argument that says that political theory had ceased to exist at this time when empiricism reigned supreme. It is just that not many people took notice of it (1). On of the eminent theorists responsible for the rekindling of interest in political theory has been John Rawls. Here it may be courageously asserted that in the twentieth century, there have been very few philosophers and none with the stature of Rawls. His magnum opus 'A Theory of Justice' has done for more for the revival of interest in political theory than any other work. It is only after the recognition that has been given to Rawlsian writings that we see other writers attempting original theoretical and philosophical tracts one of the names that comes up immediately for consideration here is Charles Taylor. It is in the era of Rawls that we also find the emergence of new forms of thinking emerging within theory, namely multiculturalism. From what has been presented so far it may appear that political theory and its revival have something do only with liberalism. It would not be entirely untrue if we were to argue that the revival of political theory happened within the gamut of a liberal framework of thinking. This has happened mainly because of the fact that in Marxism, which is the alternative to liberal thinking, there has been too much orthodoxy and an unwillingness to consider some of its theoretical foundations in the light of the failure of what it promised, and the lack of the desired results. It must be acknowledged that there have been introspective traditions within Marxism as represented by Lukacs and the critical theory tradition, but these have been caught in a vocabulary that has been the preserve of only those who knew the intricacies of Marxist thinking and theorizing. (2) On the other hand we can see that liberalism has shown a tendency to evolve much more as a result of a greater desire for introspection. This has been the most important reason for the survival of liberalism and its sustaining interest in a wide spread audience. However, let this not be construed as a lionizing of liberalism and the traditions that it has spawned. The fact that there have been so many traditions within liberalism, and that there are fundamental disagreements among them suggest very clearly that liberalism is nowhere near perfection.
The existence of caste in Indian society is actually a very vexing problem.
This article discusses how drugs such as LSD and Ecstasy have been used both by rebelling rock mu... more This article discusses how drugs such as LSD and Ecstasy have been used both by rebelling rock musicians who wanted a change of politics and political systems and by the establishment such as the CIA to quell that very rebellion.
Journal of Hydrology, 1992
The ~Systeme Hydrologique Europ~en' (SHE) modelling system has been applied to six subcatchments ... more The ~Systeme Hydrologique Europ~en' (SHE) modelling system has been applied to six subcatchments totalling approximately 15 000 km 2 of the Narmada Basin in Madhya Pradesh, central India. The study was carried out within the framework of an Indo-European cooperative project aimed at a transfer of the SHE technology to the National Institute of Hydrology, India. This paper presents the current status of the SH E, and then focuses on the experiences gained in applying it to basins of a size likely to be of practical interest, with a data availability characteristic of developing countries. Results from the largest of the six basins are presented and discussed along with summary results from all six basins. The procedures adopted and practical recommendations are given with regard to data collection, model preparation and parameter assessment, calibration approach and planning of field investigations. Finally, general conclusions regarding SHE applicability to Indian hydrological conditions are presented.
In my personal opinion one of the greatest treatises to be written on education is Emile by the F... more In my personal opinion one of the greatest treatises to be written on education is Emile by the French Philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau. The work was condemned because it stood for revolutionary principles that were inconvenient to the Catholic Church and to European society in general. However over a period of time there has been recognition of this work and any teacher worth his/her salt should have a look at it. In this context of course, the book and its contents have an immediacy which is even more poignant, because in this work of Rousseau that one sees the true meaning of equality and empowerment. I therefore think that it would be in the fitness of things to start with the preface that Rousseau himself wrote to Emile.
This article essentially discusses the necessity for widening the scope of electoral/representati... more This article essentially discusses the necessity for widening the scope of electoral/representative democracy by discussing the process of deliberation and how that can lead to a better system of governance.
Dr. Ambedkar, Buddhism, and social change, Jan 1, 1994
Osmania journal of social sciences: bi-annual …, Jan 1, 2003
Theoretical (substantive) ideas of justice vs procedural justice dispensed by courts of law. Part... more Theoretical (substantive) ideas of justice vs procedural justice dispensed by courts of law. Part-1 The last few decades of the the twentieth century and the first one and half of the twenty first century have seen various different societies teeming with discourse that has at its centre the idea of justice. Justice, even among the more developed nations is now being talked off as social or collective justice especially after the intervention of Rawlsian and Multicultural notions finding their way into the vocabulary of mainstream liberalism. A caveat here that needs to be inserted.
It has been a very, very long time since I have posted here, but this was one of the things that ... more It has been a very, very long time since I have posted here, but this was one of the things that I should post since our politics have been loudly shouting about development but it seems as if the real agenda is the eating of beef and the lynching of those who eat it, ghar vapsi (home coming) of Hindus who converted to other religions, building of world class capitals, playing on regional and parochial sentiments. This time around the voice of dissent seems to have come under threat and people seem to be becoming less and less tolerant to ideas other than theirs. Therefore, I felt it is time to write about the airy fairy nonsense that most academics indulge in and how people doggedly cling to models of explanation that have been proven to be inadequate, antiquated and sometimes downright wrong. In the past some of these models served well in some historical contexts in certain geographies but in the context of India even if they did serve a purpose at some point in time, they no longer due. The explanation for this is simple. Social reality is not static and neither are politics which operate within those social realities which are changing. Social realities change politics, which in turn change society depending upon the way in which they (the politics) are played out. My attempt is therefore to highlight the failures and fortunately there are no completely successful models that I can bring to fore. One of the well known facts about Indian academics is that it has always tried to use models that were used for the explanation of social, economic and political processes by other countries which were by default countries in the Northern Hemisphere. Not only have models have been copied but even the proponents of the models have been lionized and almost deified. At the time of India's struggle for independence the models of Western socialism and specifically Marxist communism were in vogue. After all, the Bolshevik Revolution in the USSR had demonstrated to the world that Capitalism could be bypassed and a society based in equality was in the process of being created. In India, the notion of socialism, albeit Fabian Socialism was quite close to the first PM of this country, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. The Congress party had even set aside the Gandhian model due to various criticisms from personalities such as B R Ambedkar who called Indian Villages " Cesspools of decadence and casteist thinking " and being educated in the Columbia University, he also threw his weight behind the Western model of development as the blue print for the future of India. The dominant communist model of thinking at that time believed that the days of Capitalism and the State that came into being in order to support the exploitation of the workers by the capitalists were numbered. Lenin believed that it was the duty of those countries which had successfully accomplished the Communist Revolution to take the word of the revolution forward and support all movements against capitalist tormentors in their fight for freedom. The history of the middle of the 20 th Century is replete with different parts of the world fighting for freedom from Colonialism which was described by Lenin as the Highest and Final phase of Capitalism. India too received notional support for the freedom movement from the USSR of then.
This is a paper that argues that the social inclusion agenda in India is unidimensional while soc... more This is a paper that argues that the social inclusion agenda in India is unidimensional while social reality is multi-diminensional.