Srinagar, May 24 -- How have I been a beneficiary of the western universities I attended? Reductively and roughly, the education in these unis has helped me cultivate and develop critical thinking skills, expansive mental vistas and horizons, ability to hold different and different ideas in my mind, appreciate these, yet hold my own, tolerance of opposing points of views and ability to see the world in a different(salubrious)light. This, most would agree, in both normative and ideal terms should constitute the end(s) of education. The rest- skill(s), analytical ability, and so on- are merely corollaries- albeit important ones. But maybe the overall credit accrues mostly to me and some outstanding scholars and teachers I met and interacted...