Introduction

Evaluating any new philosophy promising a betterment of man and society is always fraught with risks. All surviving philosophies have internally consistent sets of propositions and their admirers can answer all questions in their own framework to their own satisfaction, whether the questioners are satisfied with the answers or not is a different issue. That is how they survive. Same thing applies to Jeevan Vidya (JV). In this situation let me make an easy beginning by focusing on what the participants of Jeevan Vidya workshops feel. I had occasions to attend Shivirs of JV, particularly when they were organized at IIT Kanpur. I tried to get reactions of those who participated in these Shivirs (workshops). Normally they comprised of faculty members and students of engineering and management institutions who were attending the course either because they were sponsored by the college, or they were depressed for some reason and one of their well-wishers advised them to do this. (I also had opportunity to interact with others, mainly engineering college teachers from Punjab, who had attended a Jeevan Vidya workshop somewhere.) I found mixed reactions of the participants.

On the one extreme there was a reaction that it is good to hear someone talking about values in classroom but it is practically impossible to follow them in real life. They mentioned the adverse conditions in which they were working and in which to follow value is to lose the job itself. They argued that in a corrupt system which is governed by profit motive, and by collusion of politicians and managers, they can play no role in disseminating values. Politicians legitimize opening of new colleges. There is lot of competition among colleges to get students. A large number of seats remain vacant. The owner-managers want early returns. They pressurize teachers to help students pass courses (even if it means helping them to copy in exams). Students are uninterested in the studies and say this openly to teachers. They do not value the courses of study.