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Misc: Note on International Conference of Humane Habitat, January 23-26, 1999

Text by Ashish Ganju
 
When I learnt of the conference and received your kind invitation to present some work in it, I was very happy since the theme is very appropriate.
 
At this time when there is so much talk of the new millennium, we need to examine thoughtfully the agenda which we place before society. It is in this context that the promise of a humane habitat, especially for the great majority which is excluded from the benefits of the progress made in the 20th century, becomes especially relevant and somewhat ironic.
 

Source: MN Ashish Ganju Papers, January, 1999 . Reproduced by the permision of the Author
 
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To my mind the 20th century has produced more violence than perhaps in the whole of the current millennium. This violence has generated to major wars in Europe, the second one of which resulted in horrors like the mass extermination of six million Jewish people in Hitler’s gas chambers, and the world was confronted with the awesome reality of the nuclear bomb first used with devastating effect on the Japanese people at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The 20th century has also seen the proliferation of extraordinary degenerative diseases like cancer and now Aids, the rise of technologies for genetic engineering which threaten to disrupt the natural cycles of reproduction, the deadly nexus between technology and commerce which has damaged (perhaps irreversibly) the natural balances which sustain life on this planet.

In this scenario a most significant factor appears to me to be that the brunt of the despoliation and degradation on the planet is being borne by the poor who inhabit the so-called ‘third world’. The 700 million people who live in the rural parts of India are certainly a significant majority who suffer on this account.

… &helllip; …

Being an ancient society our values are different from those who inhabit the industrially developed world where technology has become a panacea. Our approach to the material world is still largely dominated by the immediate task of survival which makes it necessary to work closely with nature and to be tolerant of the diversity and eccentricity of human behaviour, resulting in actions which promote peace and compassion. We have therefore to evaluate very carefully the benefits of different technologies and to make wise choices in development methodologies which can preserve our ancient value systems and create conditions for humane habitat.

[ Architexturez Editor note: Non-Relevant data ommitted ]


 
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