History of Time ( Chapter 1- Crisis Of the Modern Civilisation)

It was October 31 night. Iwas returning from kannur to Alwaye by Tea garden express. In my compartment there were two young Britishers. Mr. David Day, a computer engineer and his friend a publisher of school books. They have come to Indian as tourists and had gone to various places in North India and were coming to Kerala. We entered into a long conversation about the condition in Britian, West Europe and India. These youngmen belong to a new generation. They donot know even the name of Robbert Clive, the founder of British Raj in India. They were also different from the bureaucrats and the MemSahebs of Forsters ` Passage Of India' who believed in the Britishmen`s mission to civilize India and the rest of world. It seems tome that the old imperialist umblical chord is broken. Tese youngsters disillusioned with the conditions in the West and shocked and appalled at the poverty and misery in India. They look for a new world  of peace, amity and progress. Youth all over the world in America, West European countries Israel, Arab countries, India, Pakisthan, and China are dissatisfied with the present. They do not want to bear the legacy and sin of an imperialist and colonial past. They are restless. Will some thing new be born out of their reatlessness and desire for aworld of peace, amity and progress? 

introduction- crisis of modern civilisation by Kishen Patnaik

Every one is saying now a days that all is not well with the modern civilisation. That is neither here nor there. The question is has it failed? where has it failed? and why? Late mr. P.V.Kuryan in this book has a reply to the foregoing questions. He has made a masterly survey of the five to six centuries of modern civilisation of modern European history, and analysed its most salient events, often going to their roots.
What he finds is that the moden civilisation is no doubt a grand show. Its accomplishments are near miraculous. Its achieement, however, is nil. Judging from the ponit of view of the interests of mankind as a whole, it has not been able to solve a single problem that besets humanity. The peoblems of hunger, lack of housing, lack of peace ans security for the ordinary man, and specially those of women are nowhere near solution . Some of these problems, like hunger, have a matter of fact becoem worse, and the number of people affacted is ever increasing. can anybody fefute the authors statement that compared to earlier civilisations more people are underfed in the present day world.
The auther's critique of leaders and nations is sometimes very harsh. He has not spared KarlMarx for comm
miting mistakes which , to my mind can be explained by the age of matters. Marx's thinking was Eurocentric.He could not see the exploitative nature of the technology that had driven Europe in the to the pinnacles of glory. He colud not see anything positive in the societies and cultures of the non.European world that would contribute towards the progress and fulfilment of humanities quest. Marxists who are now aware of these flaws in their doctrine should not be dettered by the aggressive tone of P.V.Kurya's evaluation of Marx, Stalin. . They must start their dialogue in the light of the criticisms contained in this book. aren't they reconsidering a few things in the light of Ayodhya?    

the crisis of modern civilisation by p.v. kuryan preface

promising begininings often end in grotesque disappointments. This has been my fate and the fate of  millions of my countrymen and the  idealists all over the world. . 20th century began  reverbating with the revolutionary slogans of the students and youth in the streets of Beijing under the inspiration of Dr.Suyatsan. Its adolescwnce was marked with the workers of petrogard without organisations and leadership for citing the all powerfulRussian Tsar ro abdicate in february 1917 followed by october Revolution undr Lenin and Trotsky. In the twenties saw awakening of the mute and hungru millions of India challenging mighty British empire  under the leadership of that half naked Fakir MahatmaGandhi. In the end of the thirties the socialists, communists, the idealists and the democrats of Europe fought the spanish civil war against Fascism. But the centurary ahich witnessed these four great Revolutions is coming to an unrevolutionary and tragic end. Nuclear unicentral world dominated by American dollar and nuclear bomd has ultimately emerged. Areas of darkness are speading. Why these four great Revolutions did fail? The intellectuals has not applied his mind to this great questions. it has taken for granted. if this book creats in their minds a ripple of doubt and makes him question the tenets of this civilisation. Iwill  feel more rewarded.
P.V. Kuryan.