Public Intellectual

Public Intellectual is increasingly becoming a vanishing tribe in this country. There are two kind of intellectuals in my view. One who is quite content to be in his comfort zone and who likes to operate among like minded people and is very academic in nature. In other words, he is preaching to the converted. The other kind of intellectual is the public warrior. Someone who is not afraid to be out of his comfort zone and is willing to not only take on his adversary but also to engage with general public in order to educate them about the larger picture. But the growing intolerance in this country about being able to express oneself freely and without any fear of reprisal is pushing many spirited individuals into the shadow of self doubt and silence. This will be a terrible loss to our heritage of learning and tradition of fierce debate.