One of India’s leading researchers at the prestigious Indian Institute of Sciences, Bengaluru, has raised a very pertinent issue: “India doesn’t lack money. Indians don’t lack money. What we lack is the vision to invest in the future.”

Just look at the numbers:

• IPL 2023 revenue: 11,770 crore
  
  
• BCCI surplus: 5,120 crore
  
  
• 3-year IPL profits: 15,000 crore
  
  
• Potential tax (40%): Enough to build 10 new IITs
  
  
• Franchise profits: 800–1,200 crore/year ! Tax potential: 6,000 crore/year for research
  
  

But here’s the irony:

• BCCI pays no income tax (charitable status)
  
  
• Research labs pay GST on equipment
  
  
• Bollywood, religious trusts, sports leagues = tax breaks
  
  

• In other words: “Entertainment is subsidized, research is taxed.”
  
  

Now the real question:

• Why does a cricket board enjoy tax exemption while research institutions struggle for funding?
  
  
• Why are we taxing microscopes but not cricket match tickets?
  
  
• If India truly dreams of becoming a tech powerhouse, is this where our money should go?
  
  

We cheer for sixes, but who’s cheering for science? Sports and entertainment both are essential, but these funds could as well be utilized for creating avenues for raising minimum incomes for the poor.

Upon reading the views expressed here, I felt happy that there are a few voices who understand the enormous power of a cricket franchise in India and at the same time are arguing for a more equitable distribution of the wealth generated.

Essentially what this eminent professor is asking for is more technology. This is the foundational principle of the leaders of society today. More science, more engineering, more technology, more mathematics, more AI, more ChatGPT, etc. will bring in more happiness and more satisfaction in our human lives, if not today, then at least tomorrow.

Do you agree? I have my doubts.

It was almost five decades ago that Shrila Prabhupada explained to a group of researchers at the Boston campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that in the human form of life there is a chance of understanding what is the problem of life. The main problem of human life is the lack of understanding of our true nature. The ancient Vedas proclaim that we are not our bodies, but we are spirit soul. Aham brahmasmi: “I am a spirit soul, completely apart from this material body.”

As a soul I have three exalted qualities: I do not die, I am always cognizant or conscious, and I am always happy or blissful. These three qualities are degraded when I occupy a temporary bod, which is subjected to death, which is full of ignorance, and which ever prone to become miserable.

Material scientists also agree that our human bodies are akin to machines. Therefore, the logical question should be: “When my machine stops working, is there any technology to get it going again?”

Do we have any IIT or scientific establishment in India which has a department researching this issue?