Unfortunately shows the level of commitment these people have in their work and to think that these are the ones that do the excavation in the first place... pathetic..
> Unfortunately shows the level of commitment these people have in their > work
I have moved with quite a few ASI staff in south and all seem to be reasonable, sincere & responsive. I think there are other issues in writing / printing out the reports. One (for sure) is the lack of expert man power required for such tasks.
I go with Gokul. Thought I didnt get as much chance as Gokul, through this group, I too have got chance to meet a couple of people from ASI and they are really committed. I hope the varalaaru team and rest like Shankaran, Swetha, Venkatesh et al will agree with me.
When our group memebr Mr.Sriraman explained his experience of taking the photographs of the murals in Big Temple, we were all mesmerized. He called it a penance. People like him, Mr.Rajavelu keep travelling and are away from the families for days or months together and their work is really commendable.
Operation wise, ASI is at par..without them we would have lost many of the masterpieces without maintenance. Bringing out the findings, yes surely we lag, but as Gokul said there are many issue behind which we are not aware of. But its mostly Politics than logistics, as far as I am concerned.
Dr. T. Sathyamurthy from ASI spearheads our efforts in temple cleaning - not because they are temples, but because of the desire to protect historical monuments. There are other people, like Mr. Rajavelu I know from ASI who are involved with us in temple cleaners... people who go out of thier way on sunday to spend time for the betterment of these historical artifacts... There are people who come with us and provide expert advice for estimation and solving restoration problems. they are many more who have helped us indirectly and on single trips in such efforts. They leave their familes on holidays and come along with us for the love of history and nothing else.
There are people from the state archeology dept who have helped us with knowledge on epigraphy among other things.
And to think of it, ps and temple-cleaners are just two groups. There are many more, whom am sure are getting the support of such people.
It is not beleivable that these noble souls would do any less in thier jobs. There might be other reasons why these reports arent done... maybe theres not enough manpower. Maybe the person with specialization is not with ASI anymore. Maybe theres something else.
I forgot to mention, that all these people seem to have a deep sense of pride about thier jobs and role they play. They are proud to be part of ASI... something that I generally dont see in other government departments.
Hi 1.we cant generalise 2. the interest in our past is preserved by wonderful people like sriraman, rajavelu whom I have had an opportunity to move with.
3. participating in the beach meetings with sriraman opened up a new world for me and steered my interest to a broader sphere.
Folks: Can the people from Team PS in Bangalore please meet sometime? It would be nice to sit around with a cup of kapi and talk PS :) When is the next Chennai beach meeting?
Unfortunately shows the level of commitment these people have in their work and to think that these are the ones that do the excavation in the first place... pathetic..
When you do something of the kind of work at ASI, its not just the present, but you need to be answerable to the future and do justice to the past. I agree that they have the pride and are really committed to the job at hand.
But tell me how many of us have come across software programmers who are so committed to their coding and just do not bother to document it and as a result, the next person who gets in charge is in deep trouble. So what if you do have a technical writer in your team, do you mean to say that you cannot come up with a decent level of notes or comments that someone at a later stage can write a decent report. So much for a software program which incidentally with a little time can be done again all over.
Then think about the magnitude of this issue. I am sorry to say this, but am not generalizing. That was an immediate response on reading that article. But it still holds good to those who have not finished their reports. I know I am being harsh here. We may have N number of reasons to not complete what we started. But it depends on what we start. Each has its own implications and its own magnitude in the consequences reaped as a result of being incomplete.
As it is, so much of our history is lost due to lack of documentation. We have so many skeptics in the world arena about our storieswhich could have histories had we had documentation to support themwhich are considered myths and legends for lack of documentation. And excavations like this, if they are not documented as and when they happen, just think of the implications and the data that is getting lost on an already lost civilization. Some seniors who were involved in the expeditions during the 60's or 70's may not be alive today and even if alive, hope they are senile enough to get this done. I doubt that strongly. So, what is the amount of information that we have? So tell me how much was this senior officer really committed in getting the information that he had obtained to pass on to the next generation. Wasn't that the objective of that particular excavation, or am I wrong here.
When we handover our work at our work place be it resigning or retiring, lets be honest to ourselves and ask, how many of us have really handed over, a desk that is well documented and clear for the next person to take charge. And that is also part of our work, in fact a major part of our work. Unfortunately not many think so or do so. In certain areas as a result of this, the damage done is minimal, in certain areas colossalin this area it is colossal.
I genuinely understand that they are committed to their work and are proud to be associated with ASI but are they doing what is required of them is what I am asking. If they are not then how can you say they are committed? Commitment to a job is seeing it get completed and how can it get completed without the completion of a report of what you have done for your future generation to know what was there. Don't they have a right to know for the amount of money and resources that you spent to do that and mind you, you made a living out of that.
I do not mean to hurt anyone here. If I have been harsh, am sorry. Hope you see my point.