The editorial 'Requeim for a missing generation' makes compelling and thought-provoking reading. Our thoughts on the issues brought up by the article by Bagla 'Missing generation leaves a hole in the fabric of research are equally pained, but have a slightly different flayour. The offending article collates quotations attributed to several senior colleagues, and draws a provocative conclusion that seems incorrect at best. While a crisis of sorts does seem in the offing, having to do with declining total scientific output from India in comparison with increasing output from say China and several other countries outside the West, to blame a particular generation in the age group 45-55 seems facetious. This group contains several scientists from different fields, whose work is well-known internationally. A serious debate about cross generational excellence will be possible only when meaningful analyses of objective indicators such as the citation index etc., are available. We do hope that such data will be compiled and discussed openly, with luck even inside India, which has no shortage of fora.
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