Kolkata Tagore hub praised for starting without 'much money'

A central government official Wednesday lauded the efforts of the Tagore Centre for Natural Sciences and Philosophy (TCNSP) to go forward with its establishment "without much money".

Inaugurated at the Bose Institute here, TCNSP is a collaborative venture between the Centre for Natural Sciences and Philosophy, Kolkata, and the Bose Institute to integrate science, philosophy and culture. It is dedicated to spread Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore's interpretations of philosophy of science.

"TCNSP has been accomplished and has been realized in a philosophical sense without much money... I am happy that we have started the centre without the money being fully realized. It has been established on the spirit of goodness that comes with it," Science and Technology Secretary T. Ramasami said at the inaugural ceremony at the Bose Institute here.

The project is being funded largely by private sources and charitable trusts abroad as the central government has not sanctioned any capital for it.

"No funds from the central government have been received yet, though the Planning Commission has agreed on principle (to give some funds)," Sibaji Raha, director of Bose Institute, told IANS.

As part of the endeavour, four schools will be set up. The School of Natural Sciences, School of Philosophy and Science, School of Science and Culture and School of International Collaboration and Cooperation will have specific courses and curriculum.

These will see include conferences, seminars, lectures by international experts and will also examine the association between Tagore and scientist J.C. Bose.

One of the primary objectives of TCNSP will be translating Tagore's 'Visva Parichay' (containing the bard's reflections on his understanding of science), Sinha added. A long-term target is to introduce the book in the school curriculum.

The organisation will operate out of two rooms from Bose Institute initially and will have international collaborators like Oxford University, Cambridge University and King's College, London. Einstein Bhavan of Visva Bharati University will also "collaborate intimately".