An Interview with Prof. M. N. Panini,

interviewed by Bhoomika Meiling for JNU News

Bhoomika: When and how did you join JNU?
Prof. Panini: I did my higher studies from Delhi University and prior to joining JNU, I was teaching as a lecturer in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences in IIT, Delhi. I was there from 1968 to 1972. I joined JNU in '72. This was the year when the M.A. programme was initiated with twelve students in the Centre for Study of Social Systems which was established in 1971.

Bhoomika: What are the landmark academic events that you witnessed in JNU?
Prof. Panini: After joining JNU, I started developing in an all-round way. I became sensitive to diverse ways of looking at society and social phenomena in JNU. At that time, JNU was a breath of fresh air because it was a very cosmopolitan campus. Different streams of thought and different perspectives converged here especially in social sciences. It was a very exciting environment. Our students made me think differently. Actually I was supposed to teach here but my experience was that of learning more than teaching. In those days, I saw our students avidly engaged in debates on events in Vietnam, Chile and China just as they would on peasant movements and colonialism in India. It was an energizing experience.
For a teacher of Sociology or for that matter of any other social scientist, JNU offers a wonderful opportunity for growth. As the students are drawn from diverse caste, class and regional backgrounds, and as they are keen to learn about the sources of oppression in society and how to engage with them, they bring to the classroom bits of their own struggles along with the spirit of defiance against established norms and institutions. Of course, after 1983, this passion to change society waned because students became more interested in the UPSC exams.

Bhoomika: How have your areas of specialization undergone change over the last 37 years?
Prof. Panini: I think forces of contemporary globalization offer new challenges, and along with it new opportunities to innovate in the social sciences. For instance, when we talk of Indian society today, it means a totally different thing in the global condition. The Indian society is spread throughout the world, connected through phone and the internet! The notions of community, ethnicity and identity are undergoing great change. Look at the idea of caste- the way it was articulated earlier is not at all similar to the contemporary notion of caste. Now caste is more of a tool for political orchestration. Political and economic interests rather than ideologies per se have become more pronounced now. People who participate in political rallies do so for pragmatic reasons. The internal content of cultural and ethnic identities has changed.
Similarly, networks have become extremely important today. In traditional society, information flowed from top to bottom. But today internet has democratized interactions. We need to assess the structure of e-communities. Though enabling, sometimes they could be dangerous too. I read somewhere that many suicide bombers now-a-days get indoctrinated not through face to face training but through virtual communities on the internet. Who else other than the sociologist can study this? How do you study them? We need new ways to comprehend these new forms of sociality.
Let me tell you, if the twentieth century was the century of Economics, twenty-first century is going to be that of Sociology. The present meltdown is the result of the collapse of trust in the market. Commercial banks have collapsed. So have many big corporations in which people endowed trust. To cope with these changes, we have to restructure institutions and innovate new ones. The sociologist who constantly thinks of and studies institutions will be called upon to offer solutions.
And within sociology, this century is going to be a century of Indian sociology because it can reverse the colonial trends. India is going to be the centre of diverse social, cultural and sociological currents- the centre of multicultural trends. India's experiences of coping with problems like caste and communalism will count. Our work will offer new theories. I think in India we have now developed a substantive body of material to evolve empirically rooted theories unlike speculative theories of the West on social justice and on communalism/secularism.

Bhoomika: How has JNU changed physically and academically in all those years?
Prof. Panini: I don't like the physical changes that have occurred here. JNU continues to be my favourite spot on earth. I have had some of the most intense and delightful memories of walking through the campus amidst golden showers of amaltas flowers in summers and of flaming bougainvillea in spring. But now gradually more mortar and cement have been poured into the JNU ranges. I know we should accept change, but it would have been wiser if we had asked our architects to build tall buildings so that much of nature could have been protected.
Intellectually, JNU is going to maintain its status- the younger teachers are doing well. In my centre, the biggest and the most effective change I have seen over the years is the growing number of women in the teaching staff. They are all very good teachers and scholars- bright and original. The future of JNU is bright. As far as students are concerned- I think if we concentrate a bit on their practical needs, they will deliver in a better way. In our times, people of our generation were more stuck with the standard ideas of academics. Today we need to address the practical problems of students. They want to get jobs. We have to ensure that while they acquire sound grasp of theory, they also learn the research skills that equip them to work in NGOs, media centres and in development research institutions. After all, they do need jobs! We must ask for their suggestions. A balance has to be struck in this case.

Bhoomika: While we are talking about students, could you let us know who are your favourite students?
Prof. Panini: I have realized one thing over the years that performance of a student in exams and seminars is not the only parameter of her/his ability. I have seen some late bloomers doing very well in life, even as I have been disappointed by some brilliant students whose creative juice has run dry. Also I am not taken in by articulate students who flash their knowledge of latest theories. I prefer those who choose to use their empirical material to string out new theories to those who arrange their data to conform to fashionable theories or styles of thinking. All those who adopt this approach are good according to me.

Bhoomika: Tell something about the Global Studies Programme.
Prof. Panini: It just so happened, that GSP was launched during my chairpersonship in 2002. So I can proudly say that I am 'guilty' of inaugurating GSP in JNU. The GSP is an egalitarian network, not a neocolonial one. Its mission is to study global processes from diverse regional perspectives; to look for regional responses to global problems.
I'm proud of the fact that in JNU we have given a different non-commercial orientation to international teaching collaboration. With GSP, I made sure that whatever money we make goes straight to the university and to our centre. I think that has set a pattern in the university.
The GSP has now initiated a PhD programme as well. I hope our students would get to benefit from this programme as well. It is a great experience participating in the GSP because it involves students not only from Europe but also from other parts of the world- Latin America, Egypt, Pakistan, China, Mexico, Korea, Bangladesh, etc. The programme has become a role model for the the entire academic world.

Bhoomika: Are there any such memories of JNU that you would like to share with all of us?
Prof. Panini: Well, there are some memories that left an indelible impression on me. One is that of the 1977 election when Janata Party came to power. Chandrashekhar, the former Prime Minister he was then not a PM yet, and other leaders came to the campus and spoke to the JNU community. This I think was the nearest I came to witnessing a revolution. After that, of course the '83 students' strike was important. It showed that sometimes student radicalism can go haywire. The anti-Sikh riots marked the lowest point for me. It was a very depressing experience. You know that JNU is the highest area in Delhi. We could see plumes of smoke shooting up in the city from here. We could see and even hear commotion taking place in the neighbourhood even though JNU was a very safe and tolerant zone. The riots were early symptoms of communalism being etched in people's minds. Later, while traveling in a train in '92 I saw people celebrating when they heard of the demolition of the Babri Masjid. I felt totally out of sync in that jubilation...

Bhoomika: Is there anything that you would like to dedicate to JNU?
Prof. Panini: I hope to do research on institutions and institution building. I would like to dedicate that work to JNU because while JNU induces the passion to change it is necessary now to understand how that change can be channelised.

Bhoomika: What are your retirement plans?
Prof. Panini: Well, when I married it took some time to realize what marriage meant for me. Only when my children came into this world I realized how marriage had irrevocably altered my life. I suppose the same holds for my retirement. I'm still not used to thinking of myself as a retired person. My daily schedule is as hectic as ever. But now I will get more opportunities to pursue my fantasies and fulfill my ambitions. I want to work on documentaries and films. Cocooned in JNU, I have been detached from the tribulations of life out there. Now I want to explore the world outside.

Bhoomika: What are your hobbies?
Prof. Panini: Till some time ago, I was addicted to Sudoku. It had become an obsession. But now that I have worked out how to crack the puzzles, I am no longer so involved. Yet it continues to be my favourite activity in leisure hours.

Bhoomika: What message would you like to give to the JNU community?
Prof. Panini: I don't consider myself so important that I should leave behind a message for others.