I am a master and teacher of a subject of my own creation,which may be called ' Rashtriya Nirmaan Shaastra ', or the 'Science of the Construction of a Nation'. You will not find this subject in the curricula of any University.
In this subject, I have super specialized about India, and my burning passion is to see India emerge as a modern, prosperous, highly industrialized, nation, with its people enjoying a high standard of life.
I am now 68 years old. It took me over half a century as a student before I could graduate in this subject, half a century of intense study in libraries and in my home, cool and fiery discussions with my contemporaries, and listening to some of the great masters, who remained anonymous, and most of whom are now dead.
This half a century was a period of intense pain and mental turbulence, when conventional ideas and prejudices in my mind were all thrown into turmoil. That I have emerged alive after going through this furnace is perhaps itself a miracle.
To be a master and good teacher of a subject one has to first be a good student, and to be a good student one has to have modesty and humility. Nowadays I often see people who arrogantly behave like teachers, but who were never willing to be students, people holding strong opinions, but opinions which are often unscientific, half baked, and formed without going through the intense, rigorous study which should precede formation of such opinions.
In my half a century as a student I kept learning, learning, learning. Since the subject ' Rashtriya Nirmaan Shaastra ' is not to be found in any formal curriculum, I could pick up knowledge about it only in bits and pieces, reading books at home and in libraries, hearing people in the Allahabad University, the Allahabad High Court Bar Association,the Coffee House, and in other places, mostly in Allahabad ( because most of my life was spent there ). My eyes and ears were always open to acquire such knowledge, which usually came in driblets, and never in an organized manner.
Also,this subject, by its very nature, required knowledge of several other specialized subjects, like history, economics, political science, philosophy, law, the natural sciences, literature, etc. Nobody can be a master in all these subjects, because each of them is nowadays so specialized that often one cannot in his lifetime even become a master in the whole subject, but in only one particular branch of it.
But while I could not possibly be a master in all these subjects, I had to have a rudimentary idea of most of them in order to graduate in Rashtriya Nirmaan Shaastra. So I studied these subjects as thoroughly as I could.
My command over English, which was principally due to being educated in an English medium school, gave me access to world knowledge, especially Western knowledge, due to which I am quite comfortable discussing European and American history, Western philosophy, literature, political and economic thought, etc.
At the same time, my Indian 'sanskars' made me study Indian history, philosophy,literature etc.
So I am equally comfortable in Indian and Western culture and history, which again was a necessary prerequisite for graduation in my own specialized subject.
It is only in recent years that I became a teacher, after being a student for over half a century. I started teaching initially through some judgments which I delivered in the Supreme Court ( e.g. Hinsa Virodhak Sangh vs. Mirzapur Moti Koresh Jamaat, Kailas vs. State of Maharashtra, etc which can be seen online ), and continued to do so after my retirement from the Supreme Court through my blog justicekatju.blogspot.in and facebook posts.
On my blog,there are 82 posts in 2012, 79 in 2013, and a massive 320 ( till now, this being the 321st ) in 2014.
It may be noted that between October 2013 when there were 10 blogs, and May 2014 when there were 8, there is no blog. Even before October 2013, there is no blog in August and September, 2013. Before that there are 3 blogs in May 2013, 1 in June, and 7 in July. This was a period when I was very dejected because of the vicious, virulent and often abusive, attacks launched on me by some people, and so I had decided never to speak out again on any public issue. Between October 2013 and May 2014 I had retreated into a shell.
However, I came out of it thereafter, and am now teaching in full swing This is very much needed by the people of India in the rapidly changing political and social scenario
