Dear Friends,
Many knowledgeable people-scientist ans science communicators in India
still have a very vague idea about the genre/mainstream sf.
The other day an academician of repute from science journalism faculty
of a prestigious University in Utter Pradesh was adamant to relegate sf
to a minuscule status under Popular Science.
I did not like the idea of attempting to debase a full fledge and grown
up literary genre like sf and categorizing it under Pop sci only.May be
it is technically correct but it does not look proper.
What I think sf has now emancipated to the extent that it could not be
taken only as a sub genre of any discipline like Popular science or for
that matter any creative form of writing in science or literature.
SF should be given its deserved status in Indian Universities in the
curricula related to science outreach programmes.
A genre like this should not be taken with a casual approach and must be
treated with dignity and due respect.
I trust that good sense shall prevail in those who are dealing with
University syllabus on science communication in many parts of India.
What do you think ?