Spirituality converged

New Delhi, Mar 28 (UNI) Nobel laureate Sir Harry Kroto and Yoga Guru Swami Ramdev came on a common platform here last evening and the organisers of the event projected the two as the ''best in science and the best in spirituality''.

When the two ''bests'' in their domain joined a galaxy of industry leaders and hordes of media, there was a curiosity of sorts as to who among them will have the last laugh. Who among them will come out ''winner''? This was the question when the Assocham Global Knowledge Millennium Summit session on Science and Spirituality- Building the Bridges began here last evening.

But none emerged as the winner and none went down as loser at the packed convention hall in a luxury hotel which witnessed some of the ''best thoughts'' on science and some of the ''compelling'' Yoga discourse in a three-hour session.

It was not sure whether the audience saw a clear winner, but the organisers did seem successful in ''bridging the gap'' in science and sprituality.

The two leaders in their own right had more in common than the areas of divergence,if at all there were differences among them.

''Humanism is the greatest invention of mankind'',said Sir Kroto.

The Swami could not agree with him more.

'' There is a drug mafia hellbent upon selling drugs which are not needed. Barring life-saving drugs, the mafia controls the rest of the pharmaceutical market'', said Swami Ramdev.

The Nobel laureate kept mum on this observation of the Swami not because he was holding any brief for the drug manufacturers; because he did not think it fit to react point by point to the Yoga Guru. In fact, in his first intereaction with the journalists after he arrived here, Sir Kroto did made a remark '' A large of number of drugs being manufactured are not required; it is some kind of a racket''.

If some one thought the scientists to be people without any spirituality in them; they were proved wrong by Sir Kroto who had won the Nobel Prize along with two others in finding the third form of carbon molecule, C60, also called the buckyball. ( The other two forms of carbon are diamond and graphite). '' Atheist (Sir Kroto considers him to be one) are as spiritual as others but some people have hijacked the spirituality'', the renowned scientist said.

He is as concerned about keeping the Mother Earth planet clean and free from pollution as Swami Ramdev. ''Fossil fuels are taking us to the edge of a crisis arising out of global warming'', Sir Kroto said adding that he was worried about the future of his children and grand children.

The only area which remained unbridged however, was the language.

While the Swami chose to stick to his rustic style and Hindi lanugage, Sir Kroto had to depend on the translation. However, the language was no barrier for the Nobel prize winner when the Swami gave some Yoga lessons.

UNI PC RP HT1705