83. HINDIGENISATION: HINDI IMPERIALISM

83.HINDIGENISATION:
INTENSIFYING HINDI IMPERIALISM

Imperialism is a politically charged word. The freedom movement in India and the leftists generally brought the word into common usage.

Political and non-political

What is imperialism? The Oxford dictionary defined it as:

 "a policy of extending a country's power and influence through colonization, use of military force, or other means".

However, it is a much broader concept. While political aspect or form is the most common, and easily felt or seen, there are other aspects. The leftists invariably associate it with capitalism, but we have seen that Soviet Russia, National Socialist Germany and Fascist Italy were no less imperialist, than England or France.The Muslims under Ottoman Empire which lasted from 13th to early 20th century were big imperial powers. But in modern history, it is British imperialism that is remembered. Indians would particularly remember Rudyard Kipling who spoke of civilising the others as "the white man's burden". And we have that businessman and mining magnate Cecil Rhodes who created a country in Africa in his name: Rhodesia (named so in 1895), now split into Zimbabwe and Zambia. He said that he would colonise even the planets!

A cartoon in "Punch". Public domain via wikimedia commons.

 The USA was born in rebellion against imperialism, but in the late 19th and 20th centuries, it too has become nakedly imperialist.It is of course flexing its military muscle, as we saw in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places, but it is the subtle and not so subtle use of "other means" that has become more menacing in the long run for the world at large.

Citizens of New York city uprooting the statue of King George III after the Declaration of Independence. A painting of 1859.
Wikimedia commons.


 What is called "globalization", enforced through international institutions like World Bank, IMF, and WTO is nothing but disguised US imperialism. Its other soft arm is the spread of commercial, consumerist culture as a uniform expression of the modern way of life. This is more insidious if less openly offensive.

www.haikudeck.com


Imperialism and culture

It was Edward Said, the Palestinian- American intellectual who first clearly explained how Imperialism worked in the cultural sphere. Western scholars started interpreting the literature and culture of others (in this case people of the Middle East) on their own terms, with the hidden agenda of showing the colonisers  and their way of life as superior. Their studies gained currency and an aura of respectability  through the academic system which the colonial powers controlled. Through the influence of the growing colonial education, the native people themselves started believing in such interpretations! 

In Orientalism, Said contended that much Western study of Islamic civilization was political intellectualism meant for self-affirmation, rather than for objective intellectual inquiry and academic study. Thus, Oriental studies functioned as a practical method of cultural discrimination and imperialist domination; i.e., the Western Orientalist knows more about the Orient than do the Orientals.

from: Wikipedia

His two books "Orientalism" (1978) and "Culture and Imperialism" (1993) are important sources for understanding this subject. Western scholars have, not unexpectedly, picked holes in his arguments and have even questioned his sources and scholarship. . But we in India can fully understand the general run of his argument and analysis.

Cover of the first edition shown here for purely educational purposes.

Indology- a bastard pretence of science

Indology is the branch of western studies on Indian subjects. It has fully followed the pattern explained and exposed by Said. The study of Sanskrit language and literature truly impressed the early pioneers and their discovery was akin to their discovery of ancient Greek literature. But soon, the colonial powers understood the implications: to accept the grandeur of the philosophical and cultural ideas of the Hindus would undermine their status as the ruling powers! They as rulers had to show Hindus the ruled as inferior in all possible ways. So they set to work to destroy that base. By the one stroke of introducing his education scheme, Macaulay ensured that young Indians would grow up without touch with the springs of their own culture! By linking English education to jobs, they made studies of Indian subjects and languages practically useless! Even Indian history was written and interpreted to suit the foreigner. Knowledge of English and following the customs and manners of foreigners were considered signs of superior culture or modernism! This trend continues with even greater intensity today. 

The study of Indian religion, philosophy and cultural aspects has fallen largely into the hands of foreign academic "scholars" who interpret them without  any practical experience or genuine understanding in reality! They have neither sympathy with the subject nor genuine love. There are some learned  Indians reacting, [ eg.N.S.Rajaram, Vamsi Juluri, Rajiv Malhotra] but I do not know of any serious and sustained attempt by Indians to produce a scholarly tome like that of Edward Said, except  Rajiv Malhotra.Nor is any Indian institution devoted to this mission. Today, it is the foreign academics and their Indian imitators, who are not practising Hindus, who interpret and expound on Indian religious and philosophical themes in English, and generally write about our culture. Unfortunately, what they say becomes the default position.

Imperialism within India: states and Centre

This is one aspect of  cultural imperialism, international in scope. But there is another which is internal. This relates to one group, dominant politically or otherwise, imposing its way on others. Thus in India after the creation of linguistic states, the dominant language group is imposing its way on the linguistic minorities. This has happened in Tamil Nadu too! All the so called Constitutional guarantees for linguistic minorities  vanish into thin air!

Hindi as the national language? Nonsense!

 At the national level, that  happens with the imposition of Hindi as the national  and official language of India. Is it the national language or the official language? There is confusion. In a judgement in 2010, the Gujarat High Court held :

The court said that the Constituent Assembly while discussing the Language Formula noticed the recommendation of the Sub-Committee on Fundamental Rights, which recommended the formula as per which, “Hindustani, written either in Devanagari or the Persian script at the option of the citizen, shall, as the national language, be the first official language of the Union. English shall be the second official language for such period as the Union may, by law, determine.”

However, in the constitution, Hindi was declared as an official language and not a national language.

The court in its order said Part XVII of the Constitution deals with Official Language. Under Article 343, official language of the Union has been prescribed, which includes Hindi in Devanagari script and English.

Report in The Hindu, 25 January, 2010.

Notice the subtle but vital changes. Hindustani becomes Hindi. Devanagari or Persian script becomes sole Devanagari script! And Hindi becomes the prime language, English is only temporary, and its continuation depends on specific legislation! 

The position is stated precisely in Wikipedia thus:

The Constitution of India designates the official language of the Government of India as Hindi written in the Devanagari script, as well as English.

There is no national language as declared by the Constitution of India.

 Hindi and English are used for official purposes such as parliamentary proceedings, judiciary, communications between the Central Government and a State Government.^[1] States within India have the liberty and powers to specify their own official language(s) through legislation and therefore there are 22 officially recognized languages in India. The number of native Hindi speakers range between 14.5 and 24.5% in total Indian population, however, other dialects of Hindi termed as Hindi languages are spoken by nearly 45% of Indians, mostly accounted from the states falling under the Hindi belt. Other Indian languages are each spoken by around 10% or less of the population.

But  here too the mischief may be seen. To show Hindi as the numerically largest group, the advocates of Hindi are slowly grouping other dialects under Hindi!  This is done by showing other languages like Rajasthani, Awadh, Brajbasha , Maithili, etc under Hindi through successive census exercises. This is thus official deception.

Yet, Hindi is not the language spoken by the majority of Indians!

Lest we forget

The points to remember here are:

• Hindi is not the sole national language of India. There are 22 national languages, as recognised in the Constitution. But even this is an artificial number, deliberately restricted by the Hindi advocates. A  genuine peoples' Constitution must recognise all languages spoken in the country as national languages and cannot arbitrarily restrict the number.
• Hindi is NOT the sole official language of India. English shall continue as long as the non-Hindi people want it. Hindi speakers cannot impose their time lines.
• English is NOT a foreign language. Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland have English as their official language.
• In the matter of language actually spoken, absolute numbers have no force. No democratic Constitution can impose a different  language on people speaking a particular language. If a Constitution does it, it is DEMONIC, not democratic.
• If Hindi is accepted as the sole official language, it will reduce non-Hindi people [ whose native language is not Hindi] to second-class citizenship. No one who learns Hindi as the second or third language can attain mastery or natural felicity or natural fluency like a native speaker. 
• Hindi is NOT the language of the majority in India. The Hindi promoted  by its fanatical advocates  is obtained by  suppressing major North Indian dialects like Brajbasha, Awadh, Maithili, etc under Hindi and thus doing them great injustice. 
• The distinction between a dialect and language is artificial and superficial. Languages could be written in many scripts and the lack of a script is not a deficiency. it could be a deliberate choice to make the language more flexible!Thus Tulu can be written in Kannada, Devanagari or Arabic scripts.Does it mean it is not a language?

After  the BJP has assumed power, it is intensifying efforts to impose Hindi in all possible ways. Not that Congress was less aggressive, but it was more subtle! BJP is crude.

Hindi imperialism must be opposed intelligently!

In the early 60s, when the originally fixed 15 year period for English was to expire, and Hindi fanatics were flexing their muscles, there was big agitation in Tamil Nadu which led to the unseating of the Congress. The Congress has not recovered even after half a century! Though the agenda was eventually hijacked by the regional politicians, there were many others who voiced their opposition to Hindi imposition. Statesmen like Rajaji and linguists like Suniti Kumar Chatterji gave us arguments, more than empty rhetoric. But once the Dravidian party came to enjoy the loaves and fishes of office, it lost  its head, momentum and initiative on the issue. Its actions became phoney and increasingly ridiculous. It lacked sincerity and any intellectual pretence. How long will slogans fool the people?

The Madras demonstrations which ended in riots were held in protest against Mr Nehru's "unwarranted, uncharitable, and insulting remarks about eminent sons of South India for expressing their views on problems of the day." Curiously enough, these eminent sons of the South are two full-blooded Brahmins - Mr Rajagopalachari and Sir C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar. Until yesterday the Kazhagam was opposing them furiously, but on the issue of English versus Hindi Kazhagam and Brahmins are all Southerners together.

From a report in the London The Guardian dated 6 January 1958 !

An impression has been created that Hindi is the national language [which it is not] and that it is the majority language [which it is not- it may be the largest group, but that does not make it a majority]. There has been no effort on the part of the leaders [so called] to contact other non-Hindi leaders and build a common base.

Common misgivings

Many people feel:

- south Indians have to go to North for work and Hindi would be necessary.
 But how does Hindi help when one has to go to Odissa, Bengal or Arunachal Pradesh? Those who go on work somewhere learn what is necessary without compulsion. Hindi is not absolutely essential.
If we happen to go to Gujarat or Maharashtra for long residence, we can learn Gujarati or Marathi. But now, we manage with Hindi.Thus Hindi is already eroding the domain of Gujarati and Marathi. This is easily seen in how Hindi films, produced in Mumbai, have not allowed Marathi or Gujarathi films to flourish.[In fact, the language of so called Hindi films is Hindusthani, not Hindi.]

-it is in the Constitution; the central govt is powerful.
What can we do? 

Central govt may be big but it may be fanatical and foolish. Our strength may not be in numbers today, but a valid idea will gain its day. Constitution was written by men; it can be rewritten.

- a country must have a national language. 

Well, this is one of the most idiotic views, the product of looney heads and crooked minds. Where is the rule that a country must have one language ? Who made it? God or Satan? A small country with a compact population  like England or Japan- may have one language but most countries have more than one. 

However, even the United Kingdom has other languages besides English. Welsh which is an official language in Wales and Scots are distinct languages, as is Irish.There are many others.

A street sign in Ballywalter in Northern Ireland. The language is Ulster Scots besides English.
By Albert Bridge CC BY-SA 2.0 creativecommons via Wikimedia commons.

Switzerland

Switzerland has 4 languages- German, 64%, French 23%, Italian 8% and Romansh 1% All four are national languages, while the first three are official languages. Each of these languages is spoken in distinct regions which are surrounded by countries which speak those languages! 

But Switzerland has a population of just under 84 lakhs [8.4 million]- less than that of any metropolitan city of India! This cannot be a valid basis of comparison.

The linguistic map of Switzerland,2016.
By Tschubby, translation by Lesqual CC BY-SA 3.0  creativecommons via Wikimedia commons.

The USSR

The USSR on the contrary had more than 20 languages. Though it started with saying that everyone should learn his mother tongue and Russian, gradually it resorted to forcing Russian on everyone- called RUSSIFICATION. In 1975, president Brezhnev said:

 "under developed socialism, when the economies in our country have melted together in a coherent economic complex; when there is a new historical concept—the Soviet people—it is an objective growth in the Russian language's role as the language of international communications when one builds Communism, in the education of the new man! Together with one's own mother tongue one will speak fluent Russian, which the Soviet people have voluntarily accepted as a common historical heritage and contributes to a further stabilization of the political, economic and spiritual unity of the Soviet people."

There were 21 language groups other than Russian and they were fully 50% of the population. But the processes of Russification gradually engulfed them. Within 15 years after Brezhnev made the statement, the USSR disintegrated and all the 21 languages regained their full independent status in different countries!

Canada

In Canada, there is the tussle between English 50% and French 30% but there are 20% others speaking other languages-either immigrant or aboriginal languages. The Official Language Act of 1969 does not please every one.

from:www.slideshare.net
Children are lovely, whatever language they speak! Every language spoken by children is lovely,too!

 Canada's Official Languages Commissioner (the federal government official charged with monitoring the two languages) has stated, "[I]n the same way that race is at the core of what it means to be American and at the core of an American experience and class is at the core of British experience, I think that language is at the core of Canadian experience."^[9]

from Wikipedia.

The European Union

In the European Union too,which is a voluntary association of mature, cultured nations, there is a problem of language!

from:slideplayer.com. 


To say a country must have one language is a sign of utter idiocy. It is against the historical experience of civilized humanity.

INDIA IS NOT JUST A COUNTRY BUT A SUBCONTINENT WITH HUNDREDS OF LANGUAGES. 
TO SAY THAT HINDI ALONE WILL RULE HERE IS THE HEIGHT OF FOOLISHNESS. AND POLITICAL ARROGANCE. Even dictatorships have not been able to sustain and enforce that stand for long.

Real linguistic map of India. It will explode the myth that Hindi is the majority language.

All non-Hindi speaking people must unite against this conspiracy of the Hindiwallas to impose their language on all India. 

Hindigenisation must be resisted and fought back. We will be placing our children under great disability if we fail in this. It will be embracing slavery and subordination.

But care must be taken to ensure that we do not hate any language or language group as such. All deserve our love and respect. It is just linguistic imperialism that we oppose.

Straight thinking on language

No one can or should give up his/her mother tongue- whatever it may be.

Everyone's mother tongue spoken in India is a National language. A Constitution- a man-made political document- cannot challenge or change or arbitrarily restrict that.

No native Indian language is today capable of dealing with the explosion of knowledge in all the subjects. 

English has been with us for over 200 years. It is the language we have for serious learning in modern subjects. 

MOTHER TONGUE+ENGLISH  WILL SUFFICE FOR INDIANS FOR ALL PRACTICAL PURPOSES. [ Beyond that anyone can learn any/ any number of languages one likes.]

MOTHER TONGUE+ENGLISH  MAKE ALL INDIANS ABSOLUTELY EQUAL.

80.STEPPING INTO THE SAME RIVER !

80. STEPPING INTO THE SAME RIVER !

HERACLITUS, the Greek philosopher said:

from: weneedfun.com

The water keeps flowing, and we do not enter the same water again when we step into the river the second time. Likewise, we too are not the same persons, as subtle changes have taken place in our minds- as we are bombarded by stimuli from the external world all the time. It is only the space enclosed by the banks that is unchanging, bearing the name of the river, just as the man enclosed by skin and bone remains the same, externally!

Painting of Heraclitus by Johannes Moreelse, 1630.
Public domain via wikimedia commons.
The philosopher is wringing his hands in helplessness at the state of the world!


Change and Permanence

This saying shows the nature of the world as ever changing. Heraclitus posited change as the essence of the universe. This is a basic tenet of Hindu belief. The words Samsaram, Lokam all convey this very meaning. Acharya Shakara compared our life as inconstant like that of a drop of water on lotus leaf: nalini dala gata jalam ati taralam tatvat jeevitam!

www.pexels.com

 The quest of the Upanishads is for the unchanging essence, behind the changes in the world-appearance. Hindus have never bothered to change the world- but change the person who perceives the world! As the saying goes:

Drishtim jnanamayim kritva
Pasyet brahmamayam jagat.

If we have the sight of Wisdom, we would perceive the world as the form of the Supreme.

This has been the traditional Hindu/ Indian approach. Even Lord Buddha did not set to change the world, but to reform the individual. His Dharma focuses on the individual.

Our sight is not of wisdom and we do perceive the world but as world! And we are troubled by the changes in the world. We are required to make adjustments to get on with the world, as it keeps changing.

Slow change and studied response

Historically,the pace of change had been slow or rather imperceptible. So our adjustment process was also painless. It is only after the so called age of Renaissance, Enlightenment, Reformation, Scientific discoveries, Industrial Revolution etc that changes occurred at a furious pace. This coincided with the rise of the Western powers and spread all over the world under colonial conquest and rule.The two world wars and the subsequent technological explosion in all fields  added to the phenomenon of change in unimaginable ways. The Western view came to prevail as the default position all over the world.

The old societies guided by their religious and spiritual leaders had standardised their pattern of  personal conduct and social behaviour in terms of some religious tenets.This enabled people to respond to the world rather calmly. What they could not understand or alter, they simply took as the act of God . The Ten Commandments of the Judeo-Christian tradition is such an example, which itself replaced the more ancient views of different societies all over the world.  But all such societies have disintegrated and the old behaviour patterns have been dismantled by the rage and range of the changes. 

Furious Changes and FUTURE SHOCK

Alvin Toffler identified this as "FUTURE SHOCK" . In his 1970 book  of that name, he simply defined it as "too much change in too short a period of time". Individuals and societies are unable to adjust to it psychologically. They are simply overwhelmed. The resulting condition is like an illness.

By Vern Evans (Flickr: Alvin Toffler 02) CC BY-SA 2.0 creativecommons via Wikimedia commons.

Front cover of the 1972 edition, shown here for purely educational purposes.

This is one of the basic books of the last century, and is now even more relevant. There are simply no words to describe the nature , magnitude and pace of changes now occurring and their impact upon the future. Who can say what will be the consequences of DNA manipulation or GM crops fifty years hence? Who knew when Penicillin was invented in the 40s that it would be rendered ineffective within 50 years? How many could foresee that the Green Revolution would be counterproductive and disastrous within 50 years?

We do not know the sources of changes, do not comprehend their nature, cannot assess their impact and cannot respond adequately. Hence are we baffled.

The problem is not that we are not able to manage the changes taking place. The problem is that we are not able to manage ourselves in relation to the changes. Nothing we do seems appropriate or  adequate. Change has overpowered and outwitted us. It always does.

Technological changes and social stability
Scientists today do not care how their insights or discoveries are used in the name of technology. They are totally divorced from any moral concerns for the consequences of their discoveries. Nor are the technological innovators bothered. No one seems to be in control.At the same time, the religions have also succumbed to the lure of modern technology, and their leaders have lost credibility and direction. The common man is ditched by both science and religion.

It is clear we cannot resist or arrest change. Yet we do not know how to adapt to it!. When Swami Vivekananda interacted with the educated youth of Madras in the 1890s, he was impressed by the way they imbibed modern knowledge and scientific temper, without giving up their religious faith and practices and he hoped that it would become the national pattern. Replying to the Madras addresses from America, Swamiji wrote:

The people of Northern India are especially grateful to you of the South, as the great source to which most of the impulses that are working in India today can be traced. The great Bhâshyakâras, epoch-making Âchâryas, Shankara, Râmânuja, and Madhva were born in Southern India. Great Shankara to whom every Advâitavâdin in the world owes allegiance; great Ramanuja whose heavenly touch converted the downtrodden pariahs into Âlwârs; great Madhva whose leadership was recognised even by the followers of the only Northern Prophet whose power has been felt all over the length and breadth of India — Shri Krishna Chaitanya. 

The South had been the repository of Vedic learning, and you will understand me when I state that, in spite of the reiterated assertions of aggressive ignorance, it is the Shruti still that is the backbone of all the different divisions of the Hindu religion.

 Swami Vivekananda in Madras, 1897


But in the next 50 years things changed drastically. Modern secular education prevailed and people- especially the growing number of youngsters- have given up most religious practices.And this is more marked in the South than in the rest of the country! In the same reply, Swamiji referred  to the state of Hindu youngsters:

the modern young Hindu struggles in vain to understand the religion of his forefathers, and gives up the quest altogether, and becomes a hopeless wreck of an agnostic, or else, unable to vegetate on account of the promptings of his innate religious nature, drinks carelessly of some of those different decoctions of Western materialism with an Eastern flavour, and thus fulfils the prophecy of the Shruti:परियन्ति मूढा अन्धेनैव नीयमाना यथान्धाः।— "Fools go staggering to and fro, like blind men led by the blind." 

  Can prophets go wrong? I do not know!

Confused by change, confounded by solutions

Not only are we confronted by the overwhelming nature of the changes, we are even more confused by the scholars analysing them and offering solutions! And in no field is there a consensus. So called science has destroyed all the old certainties which guided people for millennia. And science itself is unable to provide any lasting guidance! Today, science is so minutely fragmented in the name of specialisation, there is really no one who answers to the description of "Scientist"! And none can speak with absolute certainty or authority!

The greatest discovery of 20th century science only led to the creation of the most destructive weapon known to man- the Atom Bomb! Unfortunately, even Einstein was associated with it. Every so called scientific discovery can be related to some human misery. 

Real Scientific Revolution

In my view, it is only Rachel Carson , the marine biologist, who immensely benefited mankind by pointing out the problem of pollution. Her 1962 book "SILENT SPRING" is the most significant book of 20th century. She is the mother of the environmental movement. This is the only anti-establishment view which has prevailed against organised resistance and gained mainstream status.

If we are to be saved, it seems we have to step into the same old river again: the river of Philosophy, natural Wisdom!

78. CAN WE BE TAUGHT?

78. CAN WE BE TAUGHT?

www.connectthethoughts.net


EDUCATION- schooling, is big business in India. It is also good politics. Compulsory schooling, right to education are all political weapons. But the politicians always shoot, keeping the weapons on others' shoulders. 

Education: free and controlled

Education is acquisition of knowledge or information. It may include acquisition of skills required for a profession or career. It may involve cultivation of attitudes and values. It surely involves acquisition of ideas, opinions, beliefs and prejudices. In countries where real freedom is enjoyed, the community decides what to learn, and what to exclude. For instance,in the US, several communities do not agree with Darwin's theory of evolution and it is not taught to pupils before a certain age. In countries like India, where we are free on paper, but education is fully controlled by the govt, the govt decides what shall be taught. Since the govts are run by political parties, it is they who ultimately decide matters. They may form committees of 'experts' to gain respectability, but such committees only include those who are committed to their views.

2004-11-30 04:00:00 PDT Dover, Pa. -- The way they used to teach the origin of the species to high school students in this sleepy town of 1,800 people in southern Pennsylvania, said local school board member Angie Yingling disapprovingly, was that "we come from chimpanzees and apes."

Not anymore.

The school board has ordered that biology teachers at Dover Area High School make students "aware of gaps/problems" in the theory of evolution. Their ninth-grade curriculum now must include the theory of "intelligent design," which posits that life is so complex and elaborate that some greater wisdom has to be behind it.

from: www.sfgate.com
Can this happen in India?

The chief method of formal education is structured instruction, called or rather miscalled, teaching, following a rigidly laid down syllabus and prescribed text books. This is followed up by testing, culminating in the award of a certificate. Unless one goes through the school system, and submits to the  formality of so called teaching, as evidenced by a piece of paper at the end, one is not considered 'educated'. But the question is, can we be taught?

Teaching V learning

If we review our own experience, we find that what we know is not necessarily because we were 'taught' but because we learned. What we know now surely exceeds all that we were supposedly  taught .Those of us who are interested in advancing in knowledge keep learning on our own long after we left school or college. In the process, we realise how much of what we were taught as conventional wisdom is no more than the convenient consensus of the controllers of power. The vast majority study something because they have to pass an exam, and once they take up employment, they start learning the tricks of the trade, while what they studied at school or college fades away from mind and memory. But life is such that we  keep learning through our lives- except the real idiots. May be we learn the wrong or not so desirable things, but we do keep learning, even if it is through some commercial advertisement.The smart ones learn from their mistakes,too!

What we learn through formal schooling is only the foundation. We can stop with it or build on. 

Where we build on, it is often due to the influence of a teacher or mentor or some example, or some inner urge. The real teaching is not instruction in a subject, but the lighting of the spark hidden in each person. It may be academic learning or some other skill. Someone may provide us a meal and remove our hunger now, but it will return. If someone can teach us to cook, and also where and how to find the materials, this is a life long help.

Academic institutions indoctrinate

In the Indian school system, they used to lay emphasis  on learning the basics- reading, writing, grammar, pronunciation,simple arithmetic.. Job skills were learned on the job.In the last 40 years or so, I have seen drastic changes in the scheme. With the shift in focus to sciences, languages, humanities and social sciences are neglected. Language is entirely neglected .The use of English as medium of instruction from lower classes has relegated our rich languages to the rear, stifled self expression and original thinking, while even in English the expression is limited to stock phrases and tutored  ideas. What can poor students do if they won't get marks unless they reproduce what is in the book? To go beyond the book is to court academic disaster. This is especially the case at the high school level,which is perhaps the most formative period in the life of a student.

At least up to the high school level, we can say some basic , useful things are taught, though mixed with much useless stuff. But at the university, the courses are entirely coloured by the hidden agenda pursued by the faculty dons. In most universities today, the leftists ( misleadingly called 'liberals' in the US) have taken over the faculties. It is they who force their agenda on the students, both at course work and research themes and projects. They shout the loudest about freedom, but are the first to stifle and snuff it out once they come to power. It is the leftist view and interpretation of humanities , social sciences and even the hard sciences that hold the 'default' position. Most students cannot break through this wall. Later, such graduates and scholars come to occupy positions in the professions, media and  newspaper and make their view appear the standard. Since they control so much of the academies and the flow of information, the contrary or alternate views hardly get public space. And they get labelled in the leftist jargon. This we see even in India today. In this regard, see the following books:

1. Do As I Say (Not as I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy by Peter Schweizer. Doubleday, New York, 2005. 

2.Fools, Frauds and Firebrands: Thinkers of the New Left by Roger Scruton. Bloomsbury, 2015.

In view of this, any one interested in the truth or a balanced view of things will have to look beyond the academies and media.

Stinking economics 

I was introduced to computers and Internet at 70. The first thing I did was to check up the subjects I left at college. Even though I have been in touch all along through books, the range and depth of material available on the subjects  on the Net is mind boggling. But one has to exercise judgement in accepting it.  

Through this I made a basic discovery. Every subject has advanced- except economics! Economists still swear by the shallow doctrines and empty slogans of defunct economists of a by gone age. Or invent pure fictional theories that do not touch our real problems. Our finance ministers and the bureaucrats who dutifully (mis)guide them cannot think beyond 18th century ideas on taxation. They cannot control inflation, except issue threats on traders and imaginary hoarding- which is a result of inflation and scarcity, not its cause. [All the while, thousands of tons of food grains are let to rot in govt godowns for which no one is held accountable. And all the while, govt's own PDS is the main culprit.- yet no minister hangs for it.]  No wonder, humanity continues to suffer from the age old problems: hunger, poverty, unemployment, while the ministers and bureaucrats flourish and prosper- whatever the form of govt.!

[ May be one caveat is in order. There is lot of excellent and original material even in economics, which questions its very basic assumptions and shows them to be not only absurd, but dangerous. But such insights are still not let into the mainstream. ]

Book learning V. manual work: bread labour

Gandhiji used to point out that our youngsters who went to school and learned English were unwilling to do manual work. They always preferred  clerical or other jobs which involved ordering others about, in however small a measure. Come admission time, even the watchman at the school gate asserts his authority. No one can enter or exit any govt dept without tipping the peons and clerks. Of course, no work can be got done without greasing palms. Now, most school children do not perform any  domestic chores at all. Gandhiji's  prescription against this tendency was "Bread labour"- following Tolstoy.

May not men earn their bread by intellectual labour? No. The needs of the body must be supplied by the body.

 Mere mental, that is intellectual labour is for the soul and is its own satisfaction. It should never demand payment. In the ideal state, doctors, lawyers and the like will work solely for the benefit of society, not for self. Obedience to the law of bread labour will bring about a silent revolution in the structure of society. Man's triumph will consist in substituting the struggle for existence by the struggle for mutual service. The law of the brute will be replaced by the law of man.

School: resort of the leisure class? Or privilege seekers?

But this is not surprising. As Peter Drucker points out, the very name 'school' is derived from a Greek word which means 'leisure'. The Greeks detested all manual work, including the arts and crafts; they were essential, but were reserved for the slaves. For themselves, it was the school- where it was all academic learning, devoid of any practical work. It was meant to train them as citizens.

painting of a scene in Plato's Academy. In the centre are Plato (left) and Aristotle.

This was the model which spread in the West. In the beginning only the well-to do classes went to 'school' and their numbers were limited. But in the 20th century, schooling has become the fashion and the passion. People are coming out of the academic stream in ever greater numbers, all seeking work which won't soil their hands! Work such as manufacturing is assigned to the Third World- where they not only soil their hands,but pollute their air, land and water!

This is the model which the British introduced in India. But still, till about the 60s, we did all our manual household work and also attended school and college. Since then, with the spread of English medium education, our educated youngsters seek non-manual work, in an urban environment. Computers and IT have facilitated that.

 But can this trend provide jobs for all? Any knowledge industry can absorb only the top, which will be few, and the vast majority will have to slog in less significant and often personally meaningless occupations. It is reported that in India over 50% of the graduates are unemployable. Bureaucracy with its security and retirement benefits- and power with absence of accountability is still  a big attraction. It  is the ideal paradise on earth for unproductive idlers.But its compensation structure unrelated to productivity is a burden on  tax payers. How long will the system bear it?

A modern school in Europe. At the rate computer is used, our children will forget even writing and simple arithmetic. They may even forget their names and remember only the password!
frm: educationstarcorp.com

Continuous, life-long learning

The IT sector clearly demonstrates the point that people cannot be taught, beyond a point. Many newer topics and developments in the field are not taught in the colleges: the faculty is clearly unable to deal with them. [This I know personally.] Everyone has to learn many things on the job, and keep learning. This is one sector where length of service does not count, unless it is accompanied by continuous learning.

Even in the traditional bureaucracy, one's academic learning has only a limited value. How much economics does the finance secretary know? And how much of it does he  apply? How much CAN he apply? And what does that economics teach him, any way? 

As Lord Keynes , the greatest economist of the last century pointed out: 

The theory of economics does not furnish  a body of settled conclusions immediately applicable to policy. It is a method rather than a doctrine, an apparatus of the mind , a technique of thinking which helps its possessor to draw correct conclusions. 

 Where the ministers and their minions lack a mind, what can that apparatus do?

For the lawyer or a physician, every new case is a fresh learning opportunity. But he  usually tries to fit the case to a known formula- which means people in general are not eager to learn. So the calls for refresher courses for the medical profession. 

Information: stuffing V. absorption

The modern idea of education is stuffing the mind with information. The subjects are many, the syllabus is heavy. The semester system makes pupils learn too many things, too fast. And they forget equally fast, past the examination. The result is information overload, not at all digested. This also leaves little time for reflection. 

There is much madness and stupidity in this arrangement of syllabus and subjects. Reading, writing, arithmetic- these are skills universally needed, and mastered up to some level. Beyond this, science (physics, chemistry, biology) and higher mathematics ( algebra,geometry, calculus, trigonometry etc) are neither universally necessary nor universally appealing. But our system is such that these subjects are given undue importance over the essentials. And one who cannot do well in these is adjudged to be backward or dull. 

intelligence expresses in different ways

Anyone who has lived with siblings, cousins etc and parents with several children know by experience that different children are differently endowed and there are really not many dull children.  A true teacher should recognise what the child is good at and encourage that- not harp on what she cannot do, or do well.  Why should a boy be forced to mug up some chemical formula, when he likes to read a poem or story, or paint and draw? It is the distorted scale of the adults' sense of values that is forced on the children. The adults are being idiotic, but the poor children are blamed!

If one is not interested in so called higher maths,is one dull? What nonsense! Have all the mathematicians made the world a better place?
from: theguardian.com 6 November,2009.

There are great teachers who can identify what a student is good at. But for every  one such teacher, we have scores who only blame the children. A friend took his two boys to a teacher of classical music. After some routines, the teacher loudly announced that one of the boys had no voice at all! What great voice do you expect in a boy of 8 or 10? Do you not know that voice breaks around 14 or so? Did the boy want to learn music or become a performing artist? And take some of our great artists- like Madurai Mani Iyer, Madurai Somu. Even today, the voice of some of our top artists does not sound the same on different days, or even with different mics! What  great voice did they have? But did they not become great performers? And even if the boy could not sing, he could learn an instrument later- as many people have done? And even if he did not have a voice, it could have been conveyed in a less offending manner? The boy, till then interested in music, lost all interest. Fortunately, after 5 years, in another place they found a teacher who taught him violin and he learned it well!

Learning from horses? Why not?
Remember Hayagriva?

Monty Roberts, "the man who listens to horses"- who revolutionised the method of training horses, substituting love and understanding for brute force, reveals a moving incident.

In the last year at high  school, the teacher asked the boys to write an essay on their life's ambition- what they wanted to achieve. Monty who had loved and lived with horses from age 2, wrote about his dream to become a big horse trainer, with a huge facility! The teacher considered the ambition unrealistic and awarded an F to the paper, and asked him to resubmit the essay, scaling down his ambition to realistic level. Fortunately, the boy's distress was found out by his mother. She read the paper, and asked him to resubmit it as it was. And Monty added as a note what his mother had said:

  A teacher does not have the right to put a cap on the aspiration of his students, no matter how unreal those aspirations might seem.

As it happened, Monty became a famous and successful trainer, developing his unique method of training based on understanding the language of horses (non-verbal communication) ! He did develop his own big training facility, and shot to world fame after Queen Elizabeth learned about his work and called him to demonstrate his method which the entire Royal family witnessed! 

Front cover of the 1997 edition by Random House.
shown here for purely educational purposes.

Forty years after the school incident, the old teacher himself learned about Monty and visited his horse farm, with a bus load of his Church social group and openly confessed how wrong he had been! He said Monty had been his teacher! But we can see that it is his mother who was the real teacher! How can we say in which form the teacher will come, and what we will learn, and where! A great teacher is one who inspires others to greatness. 

As Mark Twain said: 

Keep away from people who belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you too can somehow be great.

Such are the real teachers. But it depends entirely on our capacity to learn, and live up to it! Did not Dattatreya claim in the Bhagavata that he had 24 teachers- 21 other than humans? And none of them taught  through words!