The Latin expression Ars longa, Vita brevis, itself a Latin translation of a statement of wisdom originally from Greek, rendered in English as Art is long, Life is short, also attributed to the Greek physician Hippocrates (460-370 BC) has its relevance for all times, particularly so in the present context of the land’s economic scenario in which its mass of not only the educated youth but also the labour force struggling to make both ends to meet as it were have to be enabled with skills far more productive than current level, but more talked about in public domain than acted upon. While the country’s institutes of technology are not lagging behind in training the youth with capabilities close to global standards, the same cannot be said about most of the Universities across the country. The need of upgrading the teaching skills of their faculty is being highlighted by speakers from the academic world itself from various platforms. The seeds of that daunting task have to be sown at the school stage with a sense of urgency.
Considering the rich legacy of knowledge and output of the country’s many generations of long past in different fields reflecting their skills that leaves anybody feeling amazed, it may be a rewarding exercise to discover the intricacies of their system of building skills that endured for several centuries.
