India Millennium

7/30/2019 India Millennium

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ri Aurobindo, Mother,India and the New Millennium,RY Deshpande

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I n d ia a n d t h e N e w M ille n n iu m

R. Y. Deshpa

he W eigh t o f Med iaeva l ism

ndia is a land of plenty. She is rich in every respect. She is Bankim Chandra’s land of hurrying streams and brightrchard gleams, sujal m-suphal m . Here flourished great kingdoms, here flourished arts and sciences and crafts,

rew industry, commerce, trade. From here spread wisdom and knowledge all over the world.

ven today India is rich in every respect. Indians may be poor but India is not poor. The soul of the country is asright as the sun in a clear cloudless sky. But it is unfortunate that we do not live in it. We do not live in the brightplendour of its day. We do not know our own souls. We have lost contact with our inner being. We are sleeping thleep of mediaeval ages. The unfortunate history of the last thousand years is weighing heavily on our mind and hend body, on our spirit. But the backlash of time must be removed. We must return to the foundational principles aalues of our nation. We must see the causes where we failed. We must awake to the call of Vivekananda.

et us see what happened during the last couple of centuries. Emperor Shahjahan spent crores of rupees in sevenears to get his famous peacock throne made. It was studded with some of the costliest precious stones, with rare

iamonds and emeralds. But alas! It is no more there now. The raider Nadir Shah was attracted by it and took it awwith him. Later the East India Company snatched it and shipped it to England. But it was not to reach there. The sharrying it sank in the sea and the attempt to recover it proved futile.

And about Taj Mahal? The labour cost alone by today’s wages comes to about Rs. 2000 crores. 20,000 workers toilor 22 years and 1000 elephants were employed to transport the construction material. No doubt here is a piece of

wonder, enchanting in its lyricism. But then that is how the taxpayers’ money was squandered.

he ancient Indian precepts of governance were different. They affirmed that the taxes collected from the citizensepresent the wages of the king. These were paid to him for the performance of kingly duties, duties towards theeople of the kingdom. He is expected to give them protection. He is expected to maintain law and order. He is

xpected to promote activities of trade and commerce. Indeed he must promote not only arts and sciences andndustries but also culture. He stands for values and must unswervingly uphold these.

ut during the period of recent history, of some thousand years, India slipped into a terrible abyss of darkness.nvasion after relentless invasion sucked away the vitality of the country. The bright days of abundant prosperity urned into the nights of spiritual and cultural destitution. When Europe was making giant strides in various walksfe, India remained covered under the tamas of the age. Foolish battles were fought and won for foolish gains. We

were in deep sleep.

n the 1757 Battle of Plassey the Nawab of Bengal was defeated by Clive. Another dishonour was inflicted on thesyche of the country. Clive claimed from Mir Jafar £ 40 million and huge personal revenue of £ 30,000 a year. In

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was since then systematically plundered and reduced to a lifeless object. The land of rich hurrying streams and brigrchard gleams, sujal m-suphal m , became a forlorn country, as if forsaken by the Goddess of Greatness.

It is a country of inexhaustible riches and one which cannot fail to make its masters the richest corporation in theworld.” This is what Clive wrote back home after arriving in India. Since then has been the systematic “transfer of

overty” to that country of inexhaustible riches. The last ten centuries were the worst in Indian history.

ut what about today? Are we awake? Maybe we are just emerging out of the distasteful sleep of history. But we haot yet shed dullness of the night which is still weighing pretty heavily on our souls. We have not recovered our tru

ational identity. We are still slaves of habit that has no business to persist. In every field of our current activity wewant to be a la mode by following ideas and manners of the industrially advanced societies. We are apish. We areopyists, twice removed from reality; we are a copy of copy.

Our brushes do not paint the noble goddess of the country. Our chords do not play the true music. The song of theoul is not to be heard. In our music the deeper echoes of life are absent. Most of the time our creations are buttillating creations. These can be hardly satisfying. These cannot lift us up to the worlds of truth and beauty and jo

We want secular art but it leaves no room for the spirit’s expression.

orrupt societies can never be creative. Imitative societies can never be taken seriously. None of them can berogressive. In fact sooner than later they will become slaves. They will become slaves to more powerful societies.

amas will prevail. It shall dull the faculties of courage, stateliness, honour, free thought, sublimity of feeling, of wio be and will to improve and advance. The spirit of adventure, the spirit of climbing the mountains or crossing theangerous seas or launching ourselves into the depths of starlit spaces will disappear.

ut they shall prove the heroes who will steal the Promethean fire. We are looking for adventurers marching inelebration of the Truth. It is for them that the Lady of the Lake is holding in her uplifted hand the sword of triump

Whence shall come such ones?

We do not have men “fit for the times”. But there is the expectation that the soul of the country shall awake. It shalrise from the Yajna of the Tapasvins. It shall arise like a radiant goddess. The ancient Rishis lived in forests, but oixth of their tapasya went as a state tax for the welfare of the land. It is that which sustained every excellence of th

ociety. We have to do that kind of national tapasya.

We are reminded of the story of Savitri narrated in the Mahabharata. She was a Tapasvini. She could argue withama. She told him a few precious things of the spirit in powerful mantric words. By these she could prevail over hhe told him that “it is by the Truth the saints lead the sun; it is by askesis the saints uphold the earth; all the threeivisions of time, the past, present and future, find their refuge in the saints. Noble persons in the midst of the sainave never any grief.” Yama as the Upholder of the universal Law recognised the merit in her utterances and releas

he soul of her husband. In that merit alone can we make our country free from the deathful circumstance of life.

Unless such Tapasvins are born there is not much hope. But Tapasvins cannot be made to order. The obligation is os. We have to discern our best faculties and promote them. Not imposition but freest expression should be therinciple. Those who have nobility in them, those who cherish values of life, who aspire for the good of the society,hey should be willing to uphold high ideals. They should be willing to sacrifice their immediate gains. Unmindful ohe harshness of conditions we must dedicate ourselves to the cause. This should be done howsoever complex be thperative factors, whatever be the day-today problems. If we are willing to keep aside our little considerations then

will have served the country. In that service we will have found the worthwhile meaning of our life. In it our arts, outerature, our sciences, philosophies, our commerce, our sports, everything will have found an authentic assertion ur soul.

Once a young French student wrote: “The pyramids have been eroded by the desert wind, the marble broken by arthquakes, and gold stolen by the robbers. But the Veda is recited daily by an unbroken chain of generations.” Nouffeting winds blow the Veda away. It weathers all the storms of time. We must hold on to it.





ut today we have lost contact with the Veda. We are importing ideas from the Western masters. We are adoptingheir models. We are after the “winner’s version” of life. We have been looking outside India for everything—ideas,alues, opportunities, jobs, comforts. We want to have food as prepared in the ‘advanced’ countries. It seems we wio serve others at our own cost. The socio-political system we have embraced is not really our own. We need a

Mountbatten to solve—or is it to create?—a Kashmir problem. We have mortgaged our thinking as if to please alienmasters.

ake the example of the Ottoman Empire. It was breaking down at the end of the First World War. But in India it ween as a blow to the prestige of Islam. Therefore, it became a part of political calculation to oppose the move. Thus

was born the harmful Khilafat movement.

n the context of the freedom struggle Mahatma Gandhi writes about it as follows: “To the Musalmans Swaraj means it must, India’s ability to deal effectively with the Khilafat question.” He further adds: “It is impossible not toympathise with this attitude… I would gladly ask for postponement of the Swaraj activity if we could advance thenterest of the Khilafat.” What was in the Ottoman Empire that we should have sold ourselves for it? When the

Western world was making tremendous strides in different branches of learning, in science, technology, industry,ommerce, here was a decadent regime that had outlived its purpose. Khilafat cannot be more precious than Swaran it India’s freedom had a lower priority. In it India was denied India’s nationhood. This was unfortunate, if notalamitous.

ri Aurobindo saw the necessity of the freedom of India differently. For him India was not an inert piece of matter.aw in her a mighty Shakti. He called that Shakti India. She was for him Bhavani Bharati. He knew her as the Mothnd worshipped her so. How could he rest content if she remained chained? How could he postpone her freedom eor a day? He entered into politics to get into the mind of the people a settled will for freedom. When he saw that threedom of India was an assured fact he moved on to greater issues, issues of existence itself. For that he attemptednd in the process achieved all. He invoked the supreme grace to descend and transform the lot of our mortality. Thrace has come down to bestow on us the boons of her plenty and prosperity. We have to only open ourselves to he

wonderful gifts of happiness. That is the expectation from us.

oday India is free. Her freedom was god-ordained. Exceptional souls had come here to make it a reality. They camnd paid the price for winning it. They came and did national Tapasya. They have done their splendid bit and now w

must attend to our duties. We must perform the duties in the greatness of our national spirit. The living spirit of thountry will undoubtedly lead us to truer glories only if we go by it. Freedom has come but we have forgotten theVeda. We no longer remember the spirit that had inspired us to live and grow in the nobility of the nation. We are a

et slaves to others.

During the colonial days there was a set of people who thought that for them there should always be an England inndia. Now there is a similar group which thinks that there should be for the neo-professionals and neo-elite an

America in India. There should be for them American banks, American industries, American management, Americnstitutions, even American restaurants and American food.

No wonder, we lack the spirit of authentic nationalism. No wonder we do not have our own programmes. We do noave our own priorities. No wonder that we do not have our own science, our own literature, our own national life.here can be Indian life only when India recovers its Indianness. That is the imperative. When we Indians shall liveccording to the nation's swabh va and swadharma, then only will there be India’s happy fulfilment.

he S oci a l F oun da t i on s

f we read the history of civilisation we get a mixed feeling. There have been glorious moments. There have also beeisappointments. Yet the best in man was ever driven by a secret urge. There was always an urge in him that spokehe nobility of life. Whether he was aware of it or not, an impulse towards perfection ever pushed him towards loftiims. The sculptures of Phidias, the caves of Ajanata, the Gopurams of the South Indian temples, the paintings of tistine Chapel have given to the soul of man a character of divinity. In him he possesses a sense of immortality. In huest he is secretly guided by some authentic truth. Even today the study of Nature is taking him to occult domains





which were unknown to him so far. Stepping into the vastness of space is undeniably a wondrous achievement of thmodern man. Cycles of evolution in the past went through rough and difficult times, but mankind was always on thmarch.

As early as 1914 Sri Aurobindo saw a promising future for the human race. Not only that; he set himself to work ouhe deeper possibilities that wait for it. He brought those richer possibilities closer to us. They are now realisableertainties. He has established on earth heavenly foundations that Light, Freedom, Immortality, God may dwell he

Man is a fourfold being. In him operates the fourfold force of the soul. He is a worker and a skilled craftsman; he is

ngaged in commerce; he is a warrior and a conqueror; he is also a seeker of knowledge and a savant. Through theccupations according to his nature is his search, the search of life in the affirmative spirit. Thus functions the ordeociety for man’s authentic welfare. In it is assured his true progress.

n that progress man is the link between what must be and what is. He is the footbridge thrown across the abyss, ashe Mother says.

ven in our present excessive materialistic mood we strive to exceed ourselves. A certain degree of solidity is thealuable gain of this endeavour. But we should also be on our guard. The dichotomy of spirit and matter seems to heepened today. If the philosophy of yesteryears desubstantiated everything material, science has despirited humaffort and human dignity. Our literature and art, our religion, our thought, everything is driven by vitalistic

njoyment. We are alienating ourselves from the sense of truth and beauty. We know not affection and aestheticappiness so well cherished by a refined soul.

oday man of commerce is the supreme ruler. The world trade center is the symbol of our prosperity. Man of learnman of art, man of strength, man of works, everyone is meant for the man of industry and business. Everything, ev

ut and bolt of the collective machinery is organised around him. Everyone has to participate in the economicnterprise. The state apparatus, legal system, wage structure, market mechanism, media, pressure groups, the entiystem serves only his purpose. He is the wielder of political power. He is the shaper of even democracy. Ourrofessional commitments have to be functional to meet his demands. In the process we have become efficient slav

We have lost something precious. The integrality of man’s personality is absent. In the harsh commercial buzz nooice of the soul is heard. Affluence has made us empty and superficial.

s there a deeper relationship between economics and culture? If culture does not take note of poverty then it is bouo disappear. But in the absence of culture if we are to get economic crudity, our gain becomes a pathetic loss. Thearlier dichotomy of spirit and matter now gets transferred to the dichotomy of economics and culture.

he spectacle we witness today is the spectacle of what Sri Aurobindo calls “economic barbarism”. We are in serviche vital man, man of ambition and greed and lust. The successful capitalist and organiser of industry is the supermf the commercial age. Today the craving of this superman has grown on a ubiquitous scale. It is even argued that wre reaching the End of History. The days of petty battles are over and man can devote himself to the pursuits of lifhis is the picture given to us by Fukuyama. In it globalised capitalism would usher in unending progress. But we a

ull of hubris and self-assertive arrogance. Another clash of a more subtle kind has entered into the world of nequalities. Conflict of civilisations is becoming acuter. We are unable to resolve the disharmonies that issue out fr. Values that make life warm and endearing are lacking in our money-based relationships. Life has become efficieans enjoyment.

We must therefore ask the question whether India should follow the western model of a competitive economic systWe might acquire a certain discipline and organisational efficiency. We might become a nation like many otherommercially prosperous nations. We might possess social, political, industrial, military system as powerful as of advanced nation. But that would spell disaster if we are to lose our national character, our innate swadharma andwabh va. That would be a tragic irony, says Sri Aurobindo, if this is to happen. We will have failed in the world.

Which also implies that we will have failed in our soul’s expectations of ourselves.

We study the ideas of Kenneth Arrow and James Buchanan and Amartya Sen. But we never ask if these are pertine





o us at all. The aspect of relationship between the individual and the society is rarely seen in the Indian context. Thact that we are also a product of an outstanding culture is not taken into account. Individual choices leading toollective decisions is one side of the coin, the pragmatic or the down-to-earth side. But there is the other side also,hat of an enlightened society promoting the prospects of an individual. Both are complementary to each other. Onannot be severed from the other. But the unfortunate thing is that progress and economics become synonymous inhe entire business of the day.

Money is undoubtedly a force of action and its role in the commerce of the world cannot be dismissed. It is necessaor the fullness of the outer life. But it cannot possess us. It is meant for a truer and more harmonious ordering of v

nd physical existence.

n ancient India vitta included wealth, riches, prosperity, management, finance. It was given a preeminent positionnd formed a part of the national development. It was recognised that economic well-being does not depend only ohe material resources. The entrepreneurial class, the Vaishya had a significant role to play in the organisation of thociety. The emphasis was not on consumption, on acquisition and possession. It was on spending, sharing, givinghus the Mahabharata advocates in unmistakable terms the patronage of commerce and trade. “The power of roduction in the Vaishyas should always be encouraged. They make the realm strong, enhance agriculture, develos trades... A wise king should be favourable to them. There is no greater wealth in the kingdom than its merchants

ut in the ancient Indian wisdom economic development and wealth maximisation were not the aims in their own

ight. Progressive socio-moral fitness and increasing commitment to the Law of the Right were held as its culminatdeal. Dharma, Artha, Kama were not ends in themselves, but were a means to a nobler end. That end was Moksha,beration from the littleness of our mortality. The trader was also accompanied by the sage, the warrior, and the

abourer.

he ancient Rishis recognised origin of the fourfold order of society in the wisdom of the spirit. The Vedic hymnescribes the four limbs of the great Cosmic Being. The Avatar of the Gita asserts that it is he who created this divisf quality. In its active functioning we have the truth of creative organisation itself. In fact everywhere and always wresent this fourfold order. The chaturvarna system is not a Hindu but a spiritual fact. It has been present in allpochs and all societies. There might be unacceptable imbalances. But they are a crudity, a distortion. Elimination rudity and distortion is of course essential. But they cannot discredit the axiomatic truth of things. The fourfold

rganisation of society is a dispensation of the Spirit. This means that all our actions should be established in itsature. That is what the Gita tells us. It speaks of niyatam karm a, ordained duty. The source of our action is in ourwabh va. It is that which constitutes our true personality. Our prosperity, our happiness, our progress are assure. The Veda speaks of corn rich with milk. Let us eat and drink the milk of that richness.

oday we have made artificial divisions of several kind. We have divisions between the haves and have-nots, betwehe capitalist and socialistic doctrines, between the corporate management and federated working classes. In Indiaave imported class struggle from the West. We do not accept any more the principle of regulated action, niyatam

arma. We expect dividends without attending to our duties. This is alien to the Gita’s doctrine of desireless work,ishk m a karma.

ociety must organise itself around the living vision of the Rishi. It cannot be done in a mechanical manner. We muiscover the creative springs of the truths that sustain it. In them is the effective social order and social harmony. Necognition of this basic principle of our life has already caused considerable damage to us. We should inquire as to

where lies Indianness for the Indians.

he Socialist world got crushed under its own inadequacies. The Capitalist mode brought disaster to itself because s arrogance and excessive self-assertiveness. We need not, and better not, go through that experience. In it the sigf our own identity and our own destiny are absent. Our social organisations never looked for opportunitieslsewhere. Rather they generated them in their own folds.

ut we have introduced ideas of socialistic economics, secularism, parliamentary democracy. We take these asnfallible instruments of progress. This has resulted in the sponsorship of a state agenda. In all the walks of life,





ndustry, trade, commerce, transport, education, art, literature, thought, science, sports everything has come underublic ownership. The result is a stiff and unbending bureaucracy with lack of national commitment. It looks ashough in the pursuit of ideas of secularism and democracy whatever was Indian had to go.

n a multi-religious and tradition-bound psychology secularism and democracy become operationally complicatedailure of secularism is often taken as failure of democracy, as much as the other way around also. In it everythingets institutionalised. Freedom of the individual, equality of opportunities, fundamental rights, sharing of the natio

wealth start coming under state enforcement. In our constitution all religions enjoy equal status. This is becauseheocratic democracy is a contradiction in terms. But that seems to be strange in many respects. In it the division

etween religions gets hardened. It becomes difficult to apply the principle of sarvadharm a samabh va . Instead,what we have are legalistic-doctrinaire guarantees. As a result the practise of one’s faith without state interferenceurns out to be impossible. The expression of true national spirit thus remains insecure.

ecularism assumes the state to be independent of faith or creed. This is perhaps understandable. Retrogradeeligious biases have done more harm to society than good. The traumatic experience of history is witness to it. Butot to recognise the intrinsic character of human nature is also a severe limitation. Rationalised psychology of the aannot be a substitute for the ills of fundamentalism. The measure that must be applied is the pursuit of perfectionhe greatness of the human soul and human spirit.

According to St Augustine, God created man and left him free with justice and grace. But man has always sinned

gainst God; he misused the gifts. In contrast to this, the Platonic freedom based itself upon the aspect of pure reasn it free democracy becomes the glory of the state republican. We have in it trans-religious seeds of secularism. Buhe Grecian emphasis is more on the socio-political aspects. It does not see the possibilities that are there beyond thepublican thinking.

ut perhaps to see the country as a personification of power is occultly more significant. We must see the country aoddess, the giver of rich fruits. Identification with her is the only greatness that we should cherish and possess. Inhat identification will come to us everything, all the boons of life and thought and culture, the boons of the spiritself. Thus only we become Indians.

Religion is not a state subject; nor is education, nor can be arts and literature and sports and advancement of

nowledge. Sponsorship of Art and Culture by a government office is a laughable matter. Never will a dynamic socillow these things to happen. A government’s concern should be governance. It is the society that has to build cultuoundations. It has to put forward progressive social aims. It has to generate awareness to fulfill its own longings. I

must do things in the nobility of its expressive spirit. The foolish notion of human resources development by the stas a dehumanising degradation. It is altogether non-Indian. Academic excellence, arts, skills, vocative training,lanning, professionalism, these are surely the concerns of the society. They cannot be the concerns of baboos andureaucrats and careerists, least those of politicians. We should not hand over our freedom to the snatchers of reedom, to the slaves.

ri Aurobindo is specific about our role in shaping the destiny of the world. We have to first discover our soul. Weave to know the truth of our being. We have to establish ourselves in the greatness of values that sustained us evenur difficult days. Not that we should not assimilate what is noble and progressive in other societies. We speak of

ocial rights and social obligations in the manner of Westerners. But we have forgotten ourselves. In Bande Mata ra

ated 16 March 1908 Sri Aurobindo wrote about these issues. He is forthright to say that the ideas of rights and dure not our ideas, but are European ideas. In the Indian conception we think differently. To us dharma is theoundation of every activity. In it there is no division between the worldly and the spiritual aspects of life. In it righnd duties lose their artificial antagonism. Dharma is the basis of democracy. Indeed we have to be ready to follow harma.

Dharma here of course does not mean the credal prescriptions, rites and rituals, laws of social conduct, obeying theicta of decadent Brahminical authority. But what is true and eternal, what is san tana, what has the foundation inhe higher principles, it is that we have to comply with in our entire endeavour. Being driven by the inner urge is tove in dharma. That is what India has to do. She must awake to her nature; she must live in the dynamism of her





lowing spirit. That is nationalism. That is to be an Indian. Let us be so. Let us be Indians.

n d i a n S p i r i t a n d P r o g r e s s

When we speak of dharma we also understand the nature of the battle that has to be waged in the thick of life. TheMahabharata war was fought on the ground of dharma. It was dharmakshetra where large warring armies had

athered. Deafening conchs were blown and the holiday of fight was about to begin.

Here was a perfect episode which presented itself in the context of right living. Even in the most adverse situation

igher values had to be upheld. No price was thought to be too small to pay. The Teacher of the Gita exhorts us toollow our own dharma in every respect. He was not giving here a meditative spiritual injunction. He was not talkinf satyadharma of the Isha Upanishad. He was preparing the hero of the trophy to take up arms against a sea of

nsanity. He was focusing on the secular aspect of the worldly issues. In it Arjuna had to stand up and deliver theoods. He was told to follow what was innate to him, built into his individuality. In that alone was his assured victon that dharmayuddha rested the order of society.

he thrust of the entire argument is that we have to rise to our best capabilities. We may not be aware of our soul aur spirit. But there is always something in us which is admirable. The magnificent and noble and worthy in ourersonality has to emerge and assert itself. In it is our true manhood, our valour, our meritorious celebration.

We often say that the Indian spirit has a certain universality. But this spirit in its dharma-aspect is also specific. Eandividual has his own dharma, swadharma, to follow. He must discover it and live in it. To go by the dharma of thers, para dha rm a, forebodes evil. Of course dharma is not to be understood in its modern sense. Dharma is not

what we call religion. It is the truth of one’s own central being. It is dynamic. It is progressive. Its psychology is theperative basis of the spirit itself. The real freedom of the individual is reposed in the dharma alone. Its associationlways with the higher fundamentals. The western notion of dharma is restrictive. It lacks in its functioning the innuality that must govern the action of an individual. It is not a creed, it is not a dogma; it is not doctrinaire theologyhe prevalent religion is not the avatar of dharma. When the action of an individual is based on dharma, then by thery virtue it also at once becomes universal. To live in dharma is therefore to live in perfect freedom. To live in it ive in the nobility of life. Dharma fulfills.

Not that in India there were no sectarian wars and conflicts. There are present even today discriminatory social claustoms. But these have nothing to do with dharma. Each individual has to discover his own law and act in itstateliness. Dharma is founded in reality which takes the individual on the path of progress. It is a reality that opert all the three levels, individual-cosmic-transcendental. We have our own individual dharma. Each nation has itsharacteristic dharma. There is the earth dharma. There is also the dharma of the gods.

t is in that respect that India has done long and difficult spiritual tapasya. Even during her darkest period the inneame remained alert and alive. Now the hour of God has come and in it the spiritual soul must get rekindled. Dhar

must be the guide.

Mahabharata says in despair: “I raise my hands and call out to men but no one listens to me. Why should we not ac

ccord with dharma for the realisation of all that we desire?” Why we don’t listen to dharma? If dharma is anfficacious means to make progress, then why none pays heed to it? That is indeed the question we have to answerharma is a power to shape our lives in the values of the spirit, we have to also be receptive to receive the gifts of thower. It seems that we have to pass through another cycle of social evolution.

f we trace the history of human society we notice the four stages that marked the collective growth. We have gonehrough the symbolic age of the mystic-spiritual sense of higher life. Then came the mode of conventionalised livin

with sets of rules of conduct. Soon began the period of reason and of the exploration of material nature. We are stilnder its sway with its gains and its problems. But if real progress is to be made this too should pass away. Theharma of different epochs must advance into the dharma of the timeless truth. Soon k la dharma must becomel t t dharma . There must begin now the dharma of the intuitive-perceptive greatness of man ready to step into th

astness of the spirit. That is the san tana dharm a.





ut we cannot think of the empyrean if we live in the darkness of the abyss. In spite of the tremendous strides mady civilisation we have the blood of time drenching our souls. During 1933-45 the Nazis under Hitler exterminated

million Jews, 1.5 million gypsies and millions of other undesirables. Pol Pot in 1975 abolished private property,markets, banks, currency, newspapers, schools, hospitals and religion and summarily executed 1.7 million people o

ambodia. In the 1970s hundreds of thousands were killed in Uganda. Up to the beginning of the twentieth century0 million people were slayed in wars and 133 million in genocide. During the last hundred years some 37 million i

wars and 170 million in genocide lost their lives.

his record is no different than the record of, say, Chengis Khan. When his son-in-law was shot dead by an unknowrrow there was a massacre of 1.75 million people. He and his successors down to Timur Lane slaughtered 30 millihinese, Indians, Persians, Arabs, Russians, Europeans. Loot, murder, rape, terrorism, only meant that some grey-earded vital force was let lose in sanguinary destruction.

How is dharma going to stand against it? By summoning our best into action. The dharma of the individual, theharma of each nation, the dharma of the world, each has to invoke that which sustains it. Painful is the path and ff danger. Long is the course and heavy the price. But there can neither be a shortcut. We have to invoke our best act in sincerity by abiding in the dharma.

ake the American example. Its greatness flows directly from a deep source, “a spirit of respect for the individual, a

pirit of tolerance for differences of faith or politics, a respect for freedom of thought as the necessary foundation foll creativity and a spirit of unity that encompasses all kinds of differences. Only a society which worships freedomould constantly renew itself and its sources of power and wealth.” This is what New York Tim es wrote editorially o

October 2001 in connection with the rebuilding of America after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Ths the American dharma and it shall always prove rewarding if followed in all earnestness.

At times America may look like a “shining city atop a hill.” It means that there can also be another kind of dharmGorbachev speaks of “Revolution from Above.” According to it revolutionary changes will be initiated andmplemented by the State authority. Perestroika is held to be such a revolution. Revolution means construction a

well as destruction. Both are effected by the State. But howsoever an inverted pyramid it may look, perhaps thetate as an instrument of social changes conveys to us a sense of another dharma.

ut our affliction is of a different kind. Matthew Arnold complained about it long ago. It is the disease of pistemological disintegration of the intellectuals. The Western civilisation through Reason entered into the Age

Anguish, without any apparent remedy to cure it. Can the relentless wheel be halted? Can mankind be redeemed

itirin A. Sorokin sees our way of life in a state of epochal transition. There is ruin all around. There is the thick tmosphere of gloom spread over us. But if mankind can avoid the catastrophe of world wars, there can be the hopeeing the dawn of a new magnificent order. We are waiting to greet the coming generation of that dawn.

ut the problem is not simple. To the proposition of Alexis Carrel’s “Man the Unknown”, Teilhard de Chardin addsMan to be”. This is certainly a great improvement. But that does not yet offer solution to the affliction we suffer fro

We suffer from the Heideggerian angst . Modern Man is in a state of alienation. He has lost faith; he has lost belief iimself; he has even lent himself to the Marxian sun under which there can exist no God.

rom the age of rational thinking we have to move on to the age of intuition. Perhaps here the Indian soul can be theader of the march.

A Vedic Rishi asked for horses and cows and sons. He wished to live for a hundred autumns. At the same time he lin shining company of the gods of heaven. He won splendours of immortality upon earth. In the Upanishadic ageatyakama yearned for the knowledge of the Eternal. But he had to qualify himself to receive it. He was told to rearour hundred cows till they became one thousand. Then only could he be fit to receive brahmajn na. Thus wasrepared the soul through work in life to enjoy the heavenly fruit of immortality.





ndia must hearken to the call of her national dharma. She was alive, says Sri Aurobindo, to the greatness of materaws and force. She also saw the invisible that surrounds the visible. She knows that man has power to exceed himshe saw the myriad gods beyond man, God beyond the gods, and beyond God his own ineffable eternity. Then withalm audacity of her intuition she declared that man could become the spirit, become a god, become one with God,ecome the ineffable Brahman. Man’s manhood lies in becoming godly.

his means that we must get back to the native power of the spirit. We must discover it and live in it. This is the gregenda for us to work. If spiritual unfolding is the hidden truth, then man as he is cannot be the last term of his

volution. His mind is capable of opening to what exceeds it. Therefore there is a possibility that man should arriveupermanhood. This is what Sri Aurobindo asserts.

hus we stand on the verge of the last definitive transformation. When it is achieved, the passage of the soul throughe ignorance shall get terminated. Supramental Truth and Light and Force shall descend. This shall open out the wor the appearance of the gnostic life upon the earth. The epiphanic possibilities of the spirit shall become a part of volutionary growth and manifestation.

When the Avatar comes, he comes fundamentally with the intention of carrying forward the evolutionary march, thn the terrestrial process may enter higher and higher grades of life and consciousness. That manifestation also mais arrival meaningful.

n his arrival begins a new millennium. It means the coming of Nava Yuga. It means the arrival of the everlasting dself. In it

Nature shall live to manifest secret God,

The Spirit shall take up the human play,

This earthly life become the life divine.

ut when Sri Aurobindo prophesied the life divine upon earth he also worked to make it a reality here. By his inten

ogic sadhana, by making an unparalleled sacrifice in the Will of the Supreme, he “attempted all and achieved all” fs.

Now it is our task to prepare ourselves and receive the splendid gifts he has brought to us. Discovering the inner seving in the nobility of the spirit, aspiring to make our life an integral means are aspects which we will have to purs

n this fulfilment. In that pursuit shall be the beginning of mankind’s gnostic-spiritual dharma. That shall be theDharma of the Future. Let us welcome that Future.


http://www.auromusic.org/



Nirodbaran's Twelve Years with Sri Aurobindo,RY Deshpande

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Nirodbaran's Twelve Years

R. Y. Deshp an

When in 1972 Nirodbaran read out to the Mother most of Sri Aurobindo's letters written tohim, she said: “Sri Aurobindo has answered all the problems in your letters. It ismarvellous… There are extraordinary things in there. He seems to be joking all the time…but it is extraordinary… He has given you everything.” All this went on between February 1933 and November 1938, the halcyon days full of heavenly exquisiteness. Indeed, what isthere at all which is not in this guru-shishya exchange, a wonder of the sun talking to itssunshine? As regards the subject matter there was the wide field to range over: “Superminliterature, art, religion, spirituality, Avatarhood, love, women, marriage, medical matters,sex-gland, any topical question, such as goat-sacrifice at Kalighat, political atrocities,

sectarian fanaticism, hunger strike, India's freedom” including overhead poetry,—that wasthe kind of a rich pabulum served at this distinctive feast. 1200 pages of correspondence,plus an equally voluminous as-yet unpublished stack of manuscripts dealing with hundredof poems of an aspirant poet-disciple, is something unparalleled in spiritual history. In facin the process of correcting and commenting on his creations, the Master himself becamehis collaborator. Through all this the Yogi was an Alchemist also, “engaged in making thecub a tiger.” Was that an experiment to transform the common clay into supramental goldto bring about a radical change in the material that was here in the form of a pliant andchosen pupil?

But it can never be a straightforward task, particularly when the thousand evils of naturehave to be dealt with. Quite often was the shishya haunted by a “plucky devil” even as hemoved on the sunlit path. And then he had the “wooden headed” logic that failed tounderstand the manner of working of the incarnate Divine; or else he continued to be for along time “the Man of Sorrows”. Yet in spite of the presence of Grand'mère Depression orthat old Mother Gloom-Gloom, there had always been the assurance of the important thinthat flows from the presence of the guru, his protective benevolence. He is told “to go on ti

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the psychic truth behind everything becomes manifest.” When there is the soul and there ithe unfailing Grace, there can also be the chance of “supramental ropening”—and, sureenough, Nirodbaran grabbed that chance fully. He got the soul's reward in the form of a

Life that is deep and wonder-vast

which has the “inevitable quality” expressing “things with an absolute truth.”

During those exquisite halcyon days Nirodbaran once raised a question about the relativemerits of several Fine Arts such as music, poetry, painting, sculpture and in the ranking pumusic at the top of his list. His reason was because of its universality and direct appeal toour sense of perception. He wanted to have Sri Aurobindo's “expert and thoroughly satisfying opinion” on the matter. But Sri Aurobindo was sufficiently well on his guard anddid not commit the mistake of Paris in offering the crown of glory to one of the Muses,thereby inviting the wrath of others. The situation could have been something gravely dangerous in its far reaching consequences, leading even to the destruction of a whole

civilisation; this could have damned the arbiter forever. Yet he saw some worth in thecriterion of “direct appeal” and wondered whether modern painting and poetry wereproceeding in that direction to vie with music. While drawing the conclusion “maybe ormaybe not” he gave us a very luminous answer and, in the process, drew a diaphanousportrait of Nirodbaran himself: “It is perhaps true that music goes direct to the intuitionand feeling with the least necessity for the use of the thinking mind with its strongly limiticonception as a self-imposed middleman, while painting and sculpture do need it andpoetry still more. At that rate music would come first, architecture next, then sculpture anpainting, poetry last. I am aware that Houseman posits nonsense as the essence of pure

poetry and considers its appeal to be quite direct—not to the soul but to somewhere aboutthe stomach. But then there is hardly any pure poetry in this world and the little there is isstill mélangé with at least a homeopathic dose of intellectual meaning. But again if I admitthis thesis of excellence by directness, I shall be getting myself into dangerous waters. Formodern painting has become either cubist or abstract and it claims to have got rid of mentrepresentation and established in art the very method of music; it paints not the object, buthe truth behind the object—by the use of pure line and colour and geometrical form whichis the very basis of all forms or else by figures that are not representations but significanceFor instance a modern painter wishing to make a portrait of you will now paint at the top a

clock surrounded by three triangles, below them a chaos of rhomboids and at the bottomtwo table castors to represent your feet and he will put underneath this powerful design,Portrait of Nirod'. Perhaps your soul will leap up in answer to its direct appeal andrecognise at once the truth behind the object, behind your vanished physical self,—you wilgreet your psychic being or your Atman or at least your inner physical or vital being.Perhaps also you won't. Poetry also seems to be striving towards the same end by the samemeans—getting away from mind into the depths of life or, as the profane might put it,arriving at truth and beauty through ugliness and unintelligibility. From that you willperhaps deduce that the attempt of painting and poetry to do what music alone can do





easily and directly without these acrobatics is futile because it is contrary to their nature—which proves your thesis that music is the highest art because most direct in its appeal tothe soul and the feelings. Maybe—or maybe not.”

But it seems that this correspondence-period was a great apprenticeship-period preparingthe chosen disciple for another kind of work. Nirodbaran was a doctor who had qualifiedhimself from Edinburgh in 1924 to practise medicine. But soon after his return to India he

was destined to arrive at the feet of the Master in Pondicherry . When he joined the Ashramhe was first given a job in the Building Service Department and then was in-charge of theTimber Godown; eventually he landed in the Dispensary.

But then there was also the curious phenomenon of the doctor writing poetry instead of medical prescriptions. About his strange “case-history” Amal Kiran writes as follows:“Nirodbaran became quite often a sheer medium through whom a strange species of poetrpoured without his being able to make head or tail of it. Of course, what he served as achannel for proved to have a comet's tail, a brilliance from beyond the earth, and a veritab

godhead seemed to glow from behind or above the mere mind… The poet's unawareness othe wonder he was transmitting was, however, only one facet of the strange development hwas going through.” Nirodbaran had started writing surrealistic poetry whose inspirationcame from some inner yogic consciousness. But at times there was also the overheadgreatness in his poetic utterance, catching its “authentic note with enough frequency tomake it an appreciable element.” But often the Master had to “doctor the doctor” to bringperfection to the tyro's initial attempts. Soon, however, started coming poetry in abundancand with flawless expression.

Nirodbaran's dual preparation as a doctor and a poet seems to have dovetailed into the moimportant role he was to play during his twelve years with Sri Aurobindo. In 1938, after thaccident on 24 November, he made the first entry into the sanctum sanctorum as a doctorHe had on an earlier occasion complained about his twenty thousand rupees towardsmedical tuition fees having gone down the drain, the simple reason being that hisprofessional knowledge did not find much application here in the Ashram. But then leastwould have he imagined that the sum would fetch for him the prospects of serving thedivine patient. Add to this fortune the double fortune to have become a poet and later,because of that qualification, the Master's personal secretary for literary works. At the time

he received this enviable gift of attending on Sri Aurobindo, Nirodbaran was just 35. Durinthe next twelve years there were to take place world-transforming events changing the vercourse of civilisation and shaping in a decisive way the evolutionary destiny. The Yogi'saction was in full play and Nirodbaran was a human witness on the spot to record it andinform us about it. We can never be sufficiently thankful to him for this act of his.

We have in Nirodbaran what he, with an observer's keen eye, glimpsed and perceived. It isnot a report in the nature of something written centuries later. In the Gospel, for instance,is impossible to tell how much history is preserved. “The accounts, and John's in particula





are theology rather than history,” says a commentator. “The writers wished to show theclash predicted by Jesus between the powers of darkness and the powers of light, betweenTruth and men, like Pilate, who would never grasp it. They revelled in the story of theRoman governor who could not decide between right and wrong, truth and falsehood:because Pilate, in this case, was all men.” Nirodbaran doesn't suffer from a possibledisregard of an unbeliever. On the contrary, just to illustrate the point, the events of theWorld War II such as we have in his accounts throw an altogether different light on the

history of the time. Luckily for us, as well as for the scholars to come, here is a gold mine oauthentic material, even to see the occult sense behind what was happening on the surfaceThere are more things than we can dream of and multi-winding is the path.

Nirodbaran kept faithful records of the conversations Sri Aurobindo used to have with hisattendants every evening. In the preface to Talks w ith Sri Aurobindo the author writes:“The eve of the November Darshan, 1938. The Ashram humming with the arrival of thevisitors. On every face signs of joy, in every look calm expectation and happiness… A suddnoise! 2.00 a.m. Then an urgent call to Sri Aurobindo's room… Purani answered it. Dr.

Manilal, who fortunately had arrived for the Darshan, was called. Presently, some of uscame... Yes, a fracture and of a serious type…” The large crowd of anxious devotees that hagathered for the Darshan, however, had to go back disappointed, “accepting Fate's decreewith a calm submission.” As Sri Aurobindo lay on the bed, there subsequently “followedregular conversations with those disciples who were given the privilege of serving him fromthen onwards for twelve years.” The close, free and warm informal atmosphere that grew around him during the evening sessions, reminds us of the Upanishadic scene. Practically everything under the sun was discussed, he himself being that sun, the source of light thatcasts no shadow. “There was not a subject that was not touched upon, not a mystery that h

did not illumine, not a phenomenon that passed unnoticed, humorous or serious,superficial or profound, mundane or mystic. Reminiscences, stories, talks on art andculture, on world-problems and spiritual life poured down in abundant streams from anotherwise silent and reticent vastitude of knowledge and love and bliss. It was anunforgettable reward he accorded to us for our humble service.” These talks “show SriAurobindo's encyclopaedic knowledge and bear out the truth of his remark that if he wroteall that he knew, it would be ten times more than what he had already written.” Purani andNirodbaran recorded the lively meetings independently and we should be grateful to both them for this precious gift of theirs. We have in it the Master's profound spiritual insights

on current events as well as on a variety of social and cultural subjects. Nirodbaran quotesSri Aurobindo, that “the Divine gives himself to those who give themselves.” Indeed, this iswhat our poet-doctor did and this is what he received in God's plenty!

No wonder therefore that his Tw elve Years w ith Sri Aurobindo should occupy a uniqueposition in the vast body of the Aurobindonian literature. It is an intimate biographicalaccount pertaining to the last triumphant period of the Avatar's earthly sojourn. Very rareldoes a book get the recognition of a classic in the author's own lifetime. There are instancewhen the early reception accorded to creative works had to be revised with the passing of





time as, not too long ago, it happened in the case of Tagore's Nobel-winning Gitanjali . W.B. Yeats, who was greatly impressed by it and who was instrumental in promoting it,himself changed his views later. But Nirodbaran's Tw elve Years has acquired thatexceptional privilege, and fairly deservedly too, of something which will endure the test of generations. Not that there is something extraordinary in it and that people will go to it withe fervour of reading, say, Valmiki or Kalidas or Dante or the dialogues of Plato. It may perhaps come more in the class of works like the immortal Bhagavata Purana and will be

cherished by those who have opened out to the greatness of the one whom they adore intheir heart. Essentially belonging to the genre of Guru-bhakti, and “devotional outpouringas the Foreword tells us, it is yet a little masterpiece in its own right which also has thedistinction of being translated into a dozen of Indian and foreign languages. When theauthor read out the book to the Mother, she remarked: “It is extremely interesting and verinstructive.”

Written in a simple and straightforward pleasing style, a narrative based on the writer'sdirect personal contact and association with the Master, the book is a precious treasury of

the daily happenings in the House of the Unknown. The one who always appeared very faraway, inaccessible, withdrawn, aloof like a snow-clad mountain somewhere in themysterious south, never-smiling, unconcerned in regard to the matters of the world,—thatthe kind of picture people had conjured up about him. But now he seems to draw closer tous as we begin to go through the account given in these 300 and odd pages. The personal othe impersonal starts emerging vividly, with several intimate details of the daily routines.How “the most sublimely enigmatic person of the Modern Age, one whom thousands havefelt a veritable God-Man” ate, and slept, and walked in his room, or how he wrote from hisfamous but inscrutable “silent mind”, or else how his divinity took a human shape in

contacts with his attendants or how he corresponded with a few disciples almost until theend,—these have always been the fond curiosities of devotees and it is these which havebeen amply fulfilled in Nirodbaran's document. Here is a typical description of the part of day's routine in the life of the incarnate Supreme.

“At first Sri Aurobindo was served three meals daily but breakfast was soon stopped as itwas too early for his appetite. However, even his first meal gradually came to be delayed tilate in the afternoon. Sri Aurobindo reserved a big part of his day for what he called hispersonal work of concentration. After his morning ablutions, he would go through the

newspapers, and then the Mother would come for a while to discuss things of importance. was often three or four o'clock in the afternoon by the time Sri Aurobindo was ready for hifirst meal. The Mother would then come, lay out the dishes on a wheeled table which hadbeen made for him, and push it close to the bed. Sri Aurobindo relished good food and waspartial to sweets, specially rasagolla , sandesh or pantua , but he had no attachment to anparticular dish… This was his principal meal of the day. At night he had a light supper, itstiming being flexible, as it depended on the Mother's endless round of activities.” Did hesleep at night? But the dharma of the physical had to be respected. If he took food, it isunderstandable that he slept also. But his sleep was not tamasic or dull inconscient like





ours; it was yogic. His feet would remain uncovered perhaps, because, beings from thesubtle worlds would come to offer their pranam s to him.

We continue to read the book again and again to live in that gracious and benign presenceLet us take a couple of examples to enjoy its charm, its lovability and flavour. Let us alsoprofit from it, that we may be wise and do the things of life in the understanding of thevalues of the spirit.

The first thing that we perhaps notice in the evening conversations with the disciples is theextent to which Sri Aurobindo, though confined to his cave of tapasya, was alert to thehappenings in the world. Not only did he follow the significant developments during theSecond World War, but also applied his yogic force in definitively reorienting their courseHis public announcement recommending the acceptance of Cripps's Mission in 1942 vis-àvis the independence of India bears ample testimony of his active interest. It is a pity that was rejected by the country's wise men of those days. Apropos of that the Mother said:“Now calamity will befall India .” Sri Aurobindo, however, never ceased to be up-to-date

regarding the world affairs. Apropos of these two events Nirodbaran writes: “We sharedwith Sri Aurobindo his hopes and fears, his anticipations, prognostications and propheciesHe allowed us some glimpses into his action and gave a calm assurance of the victory for thDivine cause.”

During the early phase of the War Hitler, was marching triumphantly with his panzerdivisions destroying Paris . “Having won the Battle of France decisively,” reportsNirodbaran, “Hitler now turned his attention to winning the Battle of Britain. He fixed 15August 1940 as the day on which he would complete his conquest of Western Europe and

broadcast from Buckingham Palace . When Sri Aurobindo heard of this he remarked ‘that the sign that he is the enemy of our work…' But 15 August turned out to be a turning pointfor Britain . On that day 180 German planes were shot down in British skies… A monthlater, on the same date, 15 September 1940 , Sri Aurobindo said smiling: ‘ England hasdestroyed 175 German planes, a very big number. Now invasion will be difficult. Hitler losthis chance after the fall of France . He has really missed the bus!' ” Another force was set uagainst him. In the Mother's War Sri Aurobindo took full charge of the situation. BehindHitler's success Sri Aurobindo saw the working of a powerful Asura in the task of “enslavement of mankind to the tyranny of evil.” This would have been a setback for the

course of spiritual evolution for which Sri Aurobindo was working.

Not only did he apply his yogic force when such catastrophic events were taking place; heand the Mother also made a monetary contribution to the War fund. In their letter to theGovernor of Madras dated 19 September 1940 they declared: “We feel that not only is this battle waged in just self-defence and in defence of the nations threatened with the world-domination of Germany and the Nazi system of life, but that it is a defence of civilisationand its highest attained social, cultural and spiritual values and of the whole future of humanity. To this cause our support and sympathy will be unswerving whatever may





happen; we look forward to the victory of Britain and, as the eventual result, an era of peacand union among the nations and a better and more secure world-order.” Who in this landof ours had the idea of the disaster that was waiting for mankind in the victory of the Naziway of life, of Hitler's running over nations and countries? None. It seems that we had lostour heads and our souls. If at all there was the charismatic appeal to the gullible to side withe devil in his doings. The one who had proclaimed himself as the Lord of the Nations, thAsuric power of Falsehood, had found in Hitler his perfect instrument in the gruesome tas

of annihilation of the world. Here was Mahatma Gandhi with the ethico-religious mindrecommending submission to the Falsehood that was at the basis of this dark creation. ThTimes letter in July 1940 addressed to the Britishers runs as follows: “I want you to fightNazism without arms, or, if I am to retain the military terminology, with non-violent armswould like you to lay down the arms you have as being useless for saving you or humanity.You will invite Herr Hitler and Signor Mussolini to take what they want of the countries yocall your possessions. Let them take possession of your beautiful island, with your many beautiful buildings. You will give all these but neither your souls nor your minds. If thesegentlemen choose to occupy your homes, you will vacate them. If they do not give you free

passage out, you will allow yourselves man, woman and child, to be slaughtered, but youwill refuse to owe allegiance to them.” Putting such an ultra-Christian doctrine on thehighest pedestal of ethical excellence, making it an eminent principle of administration inthe daily mode of life of the individual as well as of a whole society is not only to dwarf them; in fact, in its cruellest sense it is to turn all towards anti-humanity. And what is theefficacy of such a doctrine in its functioning? It sucks away the life-blood of a nation; itstrangles the spirit of freedom and happy enterprise; it kills with a dark knife the very soulof man. A great humane and respectable virtue meant for another kind of pursuit isconverted into a deadly weapon of destruction to push everything into the abyss of spiritua

oblivion, into the sunless worlds that are enveloped in blind gloom, andhenatamasavratah , as the Isha Upanishad would declare. Was the Mahatma promoting theRule of the Asura? It seems so, if not consciously and deliberately but unwittingly. Did notthe same thing happen at the time of Cripps's Mission in 1942? Woe be to the nation whoturns its blind eye to the Rishi dedicated to the Divine cause.

India 's willing participation in the War effort was necessary and the British Prime Ministeof the time, Winston Churchill, had made a proposal through Sir Stafford Cripps to theIndian leaders with the possibility of Dominion Status to the country after the War. Sri

Aurobindo saw in it India becoming free and remaining united and extended his explicitand precise support to it. In a telegram dated 31 March 1942 he writes to Cripps: “I haveheard your broadcast. As one who was a nationalist leader and worker for India 'sindependence, though now my activity is no longer in the political but in the spiritual fieldwish to express my appreciation of all you have done to bring about this offer. I welcome itas an opportunity given to India to determine for herself, and organise in all liberty of choice, her freedom and unity, and take an effective place among the world's free nations. hope that it will be accepted, and right use made of it, putting aside all discords anddivisions. I hope too that friendly relations between Britain and India replacing the past





struggles will be a step towards a greater world union in which, as a free nation, herspiritual force will contribute to build for mankind a better and happier life. In this light, Ioffer my public adhesion, in case it can be of any help in your work.” Sir Stafford Crippsreplied: “I am most touched and gratified by your kind message allowing me to inform Indthat you who occupy a unique position in the imagination of Indian youth, are convincedthat the declaration of His Majesty's Government substantially confers that freedom forwhich Indian Nationalism has so long struggled.”

The proposals made by Cripps had essentially the following points: The Dominion status tIndia after the War envisaged a common allegiance to the Crown but in no respectsubordinate to it; India would be free to frame its own constitution; the task of organisingthe military, moral and material resources would be the responsibility of the Government India in cooperation with the peoples of India. In the event of non-acceptance of theproposals “the responsibility for the failure,” warns Cripps in no uncertain terms, “must rewith them.” Sri Aurobindo knew the British psychology of doing things in stages andexplained it so to his disciples, that the proposals effectively amounted to freedom which

also assured unity. Not only that. He sent Doraiswamy Iyer, his disciple and the famousMadras lawyer, as an envoy to Delhi with a brief pleading the leaders to accept theproposals. Mahatma Gandhi proclaimed that the Cripps-proposals were a post-datedcheque drawn on a bank that was crashing. He also retorted that as Sri Aurobindo hadretired from politics he had no business to interfere in these matters. In the rejection of thproposals in spite of Sri Aurobindo's advocacy, the Mother saw a greater calamity befallingIndia , reports Nirodbaran. We know the bloodbath that followed in the wake of India 'spartitioned freedom. We are still reaping its consequences.

Pertinent to this aspect is the brief but significant reference to the special interviews grantduring later years by Sri Aurobindo to some of the prominent political figures of the time,dignitaries like K. M. Munshi, Sir C. R. Reddy, Surendra Mohan Ghose, etc. We must alsomention here that Surendra Mohan was very keen that Sri Aurobindo should consent tohave an interview with Mahatma Gandhi which he did but, unfortunately, it did notmaterialise. “Fate stepped in and foiled what could have been a momentous meeting,” saysNirodbaran. Perhaps it was not meant to be. Our author also tells us that he is giving thesedetails on purpose, in order to “dispel our ignorant notions that Yogis live in a rarefiedatmosphere of the Spirit and are indifferent to what passes on this plane of Matter; we

forget that Spirit and Matter are two ends of existence.” There were also a number of important letters Sri Aurobindo had dictated during this period.

Apropos of India 's partition and the forces that worked behind it we have the account by KM. Munshi based on what Sri Aurobindo had told him in the course of the interview in 195But to get the perspective fully let us first read a part of his message to the nation on 15August 1947 . Sri Aurobindo had foreseen free and united India in the acceptance of Cripps's proposals. It didn't happen and consequently partition became inevitable. “...theold communal division into Hindu and Muslim seems to have hardened into the figure of a





permanent political division of the country. It is to be hoped that the Congress and thenation will not accept the settled fact as forever settled or as anything more than atemporary expedient. For if it lasts, India may be seriously weakened, even crippled: civilstrife may remain always possible, possible even a new invasion and foreign conquest.”India 's integrity and spiritual destiny always remained Sri Aurobindo's concern. In thecourse of the interview, Munshi was taken aback when Sri Aurobindo surprised him withthe unexpected question: “When do you expect India to be united?” He himself then said:

India will be united. I see it clearly. Pakistan has been created by falsehood, fraud and forcIt must be brought under India 's military ambit.” He went out of his way and spoke of themilitary ambit.

Today we dismiss those words as time-barred, forgetting that he had put his yogic force inthem in the context of what he saw as falsehood and fraud. By forgetting them, we areentrenching ourselves more and more into falsehood and fraud. We are strengtheningfalsehood and fraud more and more. Has the power which Sri Aurobindo put in his wordsdisappeared? Or is it that we are putting more and more obstacles in its working?

In this context we have to only remember the Nehru-Liaquat Pact and the Pakistangovernment's refusal to sign a joint declaration stating that in no event should there berecourse to war. This was on the political level; we don't know things that were present inthe occult world. Therefore when Sri Aurobindo spoke of the military ambit then it meansthat there was a distinct possibility at that time, but it didn't materialize,—b ecause thelamps were not kept trimmmed in the Hour of God, because we were not ready to receivethe gifts of the three Mothers, because we had no conviction in the words of the Avatar.

But we should not take Sri Aurobindo as “Read-Only Text” frozen for all time without thecontents of dynamism in time. We should lend ourselves to its dynamism, to its mantricefficacy. In a letter about that time Sri Aurobindo wrote to a disciple that India 's marchingto East Bengal and war in Kashmir would have resulted in the end of Pakistan . “The objecwe had in view would have been within the sight of achievement.” It is at times said that inthe present conditions it makes more sense to work to achieve a culture of spiritual unity iIndia rather than the unification of India and Pakistan . But to speak of spirituality wherethere is falsehood is to be ignorant of things.

Let us recall one of the early conversations of Sri Aurobindo with his disciples as recordedby A. B. Purani in the Evening Talks, 1923. It brings out one specific aspect of the Hindu-Muslim unity. About the Muslims, Sri Aurobindo says that their fanatic faith in theirreligion is harmful to everybody, even for themselves. It is necessary that they inculcateliberal ideas, of right and liberty. The mildness of the Hindus has always given way in theface of the Muslim aggressive approach. The best solution would be to allow the Hindus toorganize themselves and the Hindu-Muslim unity would take care of itself; it wouldautomatically solve the problem. Here is the clue available to us. Though spoken in 1923, ifundamental truth, of liberal ideas for the Muslims and the Hindus organizing themselves





remains valid even today.

In contrast to that Mahatma Gandhi had different views. Take the example of the OttomanEmpire . It was breaking down at the end of the First World War. But in India it was seen aa blow to the prestige of Islam. Therefore, it became a part of political calculation to opposthe move. Thus was born the harmful Khilafat movement. In the context of the freedomstruggle Mahatma Gandhi writes about it as follows: “To the Musalmans Swaraj means, as

must, India 's ability to deal effectively with the Khilafat question.” He further adds: “It isimpossible not to sympathise with this attitude… I would gladly ask for postponement of thSwaraj activity if we could advance the interest of the Khilafat.” What was in the OttomanEmpire that we should have sold ourselves for it? When the Western world was makingtremendous strides in different branches of learning, in science, technology, industry,commerce, here was a decadent regime that had outlived its purpose. Khilafat could not bemore precious than Swaraj. In it India 's freedom had a lower priority. In it India wasdenied India 's nationhood. This was unfortunate, if not calamitous.

There is a constant refrain in the Quran: “All that is in the heavens and all that is in theearth glorifieth Allah, and he is the Mighty, the Wise.” Mahakali-Maheshwari aspects areimmediately recognized in this, but the absence of the other two powers brings imbalance social organization. Which means that in the unregenerate state of society the Mahakalipower gets appropriated by the Asuric forces.

Sri Aurobindo saw the necessity of the freedom of India differently. For him India was notan inert piece of matter. He saw in her a mighty Shakti. He called that Shakti India. She wafor him Bhavani Bharati. He knew her as the Mother and worshipped her so. How could h

rest content if she remained chained? How could he postpone her freedom even for a day?He entered into politics to get into the mind of the people a settled will for freedom. Whenhe saw that the freedom of India was an assured fact he moved on to greater issues, issuesexistence itself. For that he attempted all and in the process achieved all. He invoked thesupreme grace to descend and transform the lot of our mortality. The grace has come dowto bestow on us the boons of her plenty and prosperity. We have to only open ourselves toher wonderful gifts of happiness. That is the expectation from us.

And what about the Karma we have generated during the years when we had amongst us

the physical presence of the Avatar himself? We ignored him in two ways. These Karmasnow become more difficult to remove and shall be more and more so if we perpetuate ourstupid, inert, ugly, crude actions.

Let us remember Hamlet in the proper Aurobindonian context:

Angels and ministers of grace defend us!





…we fools of nature

So horridly to shake our disposition

With thoughts beyond the reaches of our souls?

… what should we do?

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,

Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

It will be therefore nonsensical to talk of spiritual Pakistan when we know what SriAurobindo and the Mother said about it. This becomes more and more clear as we read wiattention Nirodbaran's Tw elve Years w ith Sri Aurobindo .

In this context it is worth making known Sri Aurobindo's personal interest in the fortnightMother India that was primarily started to reflect his views on political matters. Those daythe fortnightly was coming out from Bombay and its disciple-editor K. D. Sethna (AmalKiran) used to send his articles to Sri Aurobindo. Only after he had approved of these werethey published. These editorials have now been compiled and brought out in a book-form,India and the W orld Scene . Sri Aurobindo privately called this periodical “My Paper”.While Amal Kiran's articles were found impeccable, “on a few occasions small butsignificant changes were telegraphically made.”

Nirodbaran's chapter on Savitri is invaluable in several respects. We begin to get an idea ahow in the long arduous way the poet's magnum opus proceeded for several years, almostup to the end of his physical presence upon the earth. It was without a doubt the “God'sLabour” which perhaps we would not have been able to discern in the absence of Twelve

Years . Nirodbaran had the “unique good fortune to see Sri Aurobindo working on the epicon its entire revised version” and therefore the details bear the authenticity of a first-handdescription. He begins the presentation as follows: “It is my task in this chapter to give afactual account of the long process that had led to Savitri in its final form. As the grand ep

has captured many hearts all over the world by its supernal beauty I thought that they would be much interested in the history of its growth, development and final emergence—the birth of the Golden Child.” We should indeed be very appreciative of the manner inwhich the narrator presents the composition of the epic as it progressed during the 1940s.His “factual account”, howsoever sketchy or non-professional it might appear to us, is of importance in more than a few particulars. To say that Sri Aurobindo would have leastbothered to write anything of the sort regarding his Savitri 's arrival on the physical planemight not be altogether wrong. Yet there would have remained about it our natural curiosiunfulfilled. The picture drawn by Nirodbaran has now to some extent satisfied this





understandable desire of ours. But what is more significant about this picture is its warmthand intimacy, its psychic feeling that takes us closer to its creator. Not that from the mass manuscripts some idea of it could not have been formed, but that would have been areconstruction of the former scene, loaded with all mental or scholarly notions about it. It in that respect that Nirodbaran's stands apart from all descriptions of the composition of Savitri .

Sri Aurobindo had taken the theme of Savitri for his poetic presentation perhaps as early ain his Baroda days. It follows closely the description of the Pativrata Mahatm ya as we havin the Mahabharata. At that time the poem was simply called Savithri . This narrative easifalls in the category of other two poems Urvasi and Love and Dea th written during thatperiod. However, there seems to be some uncertainty about it. But we are certain that thefirst available draft was written during 1916-18 belonging to the Arya period. The secondversion is called Sav ithri, A Tale and a Vision . The Arya -period version had practically remained unattended for more than fifteen years when he took it up again in the early 193and we do not know when exactly Savitri, A Legend and a Sy m bol was found as the presen

title for the epic. It will be interesting to know how the Tale became a Legend and the Visioa Symbol . Sri Aurobindo dictated the last set of passages of Savitri just three weeks beforehis passing away in 1950. Of course, the 1940s was the period when he concentrated on itthe most. In its golden spiritual fire, Yogagni, took the birth of the radiant daughter, kanya

tejasvini , that Savitri is. Sri Aurobindo had called it as his “main work”, undoubtedly morin its occult-spiritual rather than literary sense. It is in this context that we should dismissignorant or arrogant or prejudiced statements that Savitri even if it were to be consideredas “an impressive attempt” is “an impressive failure”, as does Kathleen Raine. Let us,however, recall the Mother's exposé about it. She says that Sri Aurobindo has “crammed th

whole universe in a single book. It is a marvellous, magnificent work and of anincomparable perfection… It is a revelation, a meditation and a seeking of the Infinite andthe Eternal. Each verse of Savitri is like a mantra which surpasses man's entire knowledgeEverything is there: mysticism, occultism, philosophy, history of evolution, history of mangods of the creation and Nature… Savitri is the spiritual path, the Tapasya, Sadhana… It haan extraordinary power, it is the Truth in all its plenitude that he has brought down here oearth.” Its poetry is in the power of the inspired and inevitable word which can beunderstood only in the depths of a luminous silence.

During the last phase of the Savitri -composition several earlier drafts were taken up andextensively revised, even as new sections or cantos were added mostly by dictation as thework progressed. While we can perfectly understand the nature of this procedure, it shoulalso be borne in mind that it has, at a number of places, led to serious problems of editing.These get compounded when we also take note of the fact that the revisions were made eveat the last proofreading stages. It is rather unfortunate that these press-proofs are not nowavailable for critically checking the text. This has led to conflicting view-points at timeshurting the sentiments of devotees or else judiciously remaining faithful to the texts whilegoing through them in the course of editing. In the circumstances, the best one can perhap





do is to go by the first complete version that appeared in two volumes in 1950-51. Part Oneof the epic was published in September 1950, before Sri Aurobindo's passing away inDecember of that year, and Part II and Part III as the second volume within months of thaday, in May 1951. To take care of the early slips that might have occurred in this editionextensive research notes can be provided in a supplementary archival document; thesemight profitably include several readings as we have in different drafts. Presentation of dashould be the main concern in this respect. It is to be well appreciated that carrying out

such an exhaustive job can never be an easy archival task; but, then, possibly that is the onkind of an undertaking which would do some justice to the poem as well as to the poet. Foran alert or perceptive reader of tomorrow this archival data will prove to be a help of immense value. When followed, it will also have the merit of avoiding the charge of introducing in the edited text one's own likings and dislikings, one's natural subjectivenotions regarding matters poetic or spiritual. By presenting such “factual” details of research on the Savitri -drafts a new chapter of study can open out to enter into its spirit inanother way. It is believed that this procedure will be in tune with the spirit in which theSavitri -chapter appears in Nirodbaran's Tw elve Years . I am sure that Nirodbaran will be

happy about it.

Why did Sri Aurobindo leave us? Did he accomplish the yogic work he had come to do? Wthere an occult necessity for him to arrive at the decision to leave the body? Was hecompelled to do that? Our author towards the end of the book has touchingly presented thaspect. While going through his account—God Departs—one is immediately reminded of thlast days of Socrates. But who can really gauge the significance and meaning, the fullconnotation of the great sacrifice he had made for a decisive evolutionary advance of theterrestrial existence? “We stand in the Presence of Him who has sacrificed his physical life

in order to help more fully his work of transformation.” This is how, by quoting the Motheutterance of 18 January 1951 , Nirodbaran reassures us about Sri Aurobindo always beingwith us. Indeed, as the Mother herself has said, in the act of leaving the body, he “attempteall and achieved all.” But there are layers below puzzling layers and from an occult point ofview the following passage conceals more than what it is trying to reveal: “According toBhrigu Astrology, Sri Aurobindo after his 78 th year would develop a loathing towards hisbody and then would leave it; otherwise death was in his control... It was also mentionedthat the Mother or himself could perform a certain yajna , sacrificial ceremony, repeatingcertain mantras followed by other elaborate instructions. On hearing this Surendra Mohan

immediately came here and informed the Mother about it. When Sri Aurobindo heard of ithe consoled him saying ‘Don't worry.' The Mother asked him to send a copy of thoseinstructions but due to some misunderstanding they arrived too late to be of any possibleuse.” It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery which is always an enigma.

“The Supramental is a Truth and its advent in the very nature of things inevitable.” This isyogic assertion of the Divine, implemented in a decisive way on the 5th December.

What we unmistakably see in Tw elve Years is a deep reverential feeling for the Avatar of th





Supermind who came here to accomplish this difficult miracle of transformation and forwhich he himself performed the Purusha-Yajna hymned gloriously in the Rig Veda.

But the other term of this Yajna is the Holocaust of Prakriti. How can the miracle beaccomplished without the participation of the divine Shakti herself in it? He wills; sheexecutes. Nirodbaran brings to mind several personal reminiscences of the Mother but themost important is, what we may call the concern of the Mother for Sri Aurobindo,—as it is

as much the other way round too. She had arranged everything for him up to the last detaiand saw that nothing was left to chance. In turn, although Sri Aurobindo had stoppedwriting prose towards the end, concentrating as he was essentially on Savitri , the poem ofhis supreme vision, a supreme revelation as the Mother had pronounced, he wrote at herrequest a series of articles for the newly started Bu llet in of the Centre of Education.Establishment of the Intermediate Race, governed by the Mind of Light as a precursortowards the arrival of the Superman proper, is the yogic Siddhi that has become for theearth's soul a part of the evolutionary gain.

Nirodbaran has succeeded remarkably well in bringing out several of these aspects in hisbook. We are particularly struck by the personal details of the Yogi of the Infinite, theInfinite himself. This has also demolished the old id é e fixe that “Sri Aurobindo was ananchorite who did not know how to smile or laugh.” The note we hear in the wholecomposition is of mellifluence and joy, even in the parts which sing of sad tidings. “We heahis voice, get his touch, protection, active intervention. The Mother has told me,” lets usknow Nirodbaran, “more than once that she always saw Sri Aurobindo busy with me.” Yeshe is always here if only we know how to approach him. That is the kind of certitude weacquire when we remain in Tw elve Years w ith Sri Aurobindo . Nirodbaran has made

available to us the Infinite in a sweet and charming manner. Indeed, we can best summarithis in the words of the Mother herself: “Thanks to Nirod, we have a revelation of analtogether unknown side of what Sri Aurobindo was.”





ri Aurobindo, Mother,chid education,Jharna Ghose,Search for True light,immortality and delight

| | | | |

Ch i ld Edu ca t ion

Jharna G

n the olden days it was believed that a child is nothing but an adult in a miniature form.

ut with the advent of different branches of science it was proved that like his body a child develops in stages to hull manhood in all aspects. As says Jean Epstein,”…regarding the development of a child it would be easier to spe

f development without giving specific quality, for it is admitted that a child as a whole undergoes a slow maturitherefore it is not proper to treat a child the same way as an adult.”

he scientific findings naturally forced the educationists to think about child-education in different lines. Theeason why for the last fifty years different individuals in different countries have made concentrated effort toevelop fruitful systems of education for the very young so that the child may grow as he should: in stages towardis adulthood. Of all the systems that have been tried out in the last century, quite a few have come down to ourme and still practiced ones are those that were developed by Montessory, Celestin Freinet, Rudolf Steiner, Decr

o mention only a few. Though each one of them satisfies a certain amount of requirements in educating a child yne feels that something more needs to be added to these in order to make them an integral system of education fhe very young. Because the very first steps in the world of education either makes or breaks an individual’s

cademic carrier.

ome thirty or forty years back at least in India a child’s very first contact with anything regarding education begat home with the family members. The parents and grand parents took the responsibility to introduce a child to hlphabets and numbers. (R.K. Narayan in one of his novels spoke of a boy who had his initial lessons with his gra

mother.) Learning then was not something regimental, rigid, disciplinary obligation for a child. He recited hislphabets and numbers while playing or even while eating. It was a part of his daily life that was free of all rules aiscipline. And by the time he knew his letters, he also knew a few simple rhymes, sentences and even simple tex

Along with the numbers he came in contact with some general knowledge too like four stands for the four Vedas,or seasons, seven for ocean etc. Thus in a very non-academic way a child learnt quite a few things and by the time entered school he had prepared himself with the rudiments of a language, numbers and thus there was create

im a curiosity to find out what this place was, where he was sent to learn something more.

ut due to different reasons this type of education discontinued and we have handed over the child’s education frhe very first step to an institution which means an individual’s academic life beginning at the age of two and a har three in a disciplined manner.

his exposure of a very young child to the outside world has mixed reactions. Let us consider the most importantspect first. At the very tender age of two and a half or three a child feels most secure at home among the family

members. We do not have to go far to find out the truth. We see constantly children hugging the knee of the father the mother while talking to strangers or answering to their questions. His world is his parents, not so much thather as much the mother.

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ut when he comes to school, in the beginning he feels very insecure. He is lost in the midst of unknown faces. Famay belong to those who are of his age yet they are not his people and this sense of insecurity makes the child

ervous, fretful and even sometimes vicious. The atmosphere is not friendly. He does not have the arms to run inwhen he is hurt. The outcome is, he does not like to take part in all that happens in the classroom. Now and thenmay feel a little curious, but the moment he remembers the absence of his parents he withdraws into himself. It m

ot be that he is unwilling to play or make some figures with some wooden blocks or whatever the class is engagento, but what he wants to do must be done in his own corner, at home, having the presence of the known persono naturally he wants to get back home: to his own world.

his return to the family fold predominates his subconscious wants, and above that if a child is timid and shy hemay shun the nearness of other children as his defence against all assaults, be it physical or mental. Yet in the mid

f other children he can’t spend his hours as on a solitary island, thus he has to face different situations. And if byny chance due to certain happening a fear psychosis has developed then the child may refuse to go to school. Ann this way the first seed of dislike for school is sown. Nobody can be blamed for it but the fact is that it is happeni

with very many tiny tots. When there is dislike for a place, there creeps in unwillingness to work which is very atural.

Another point that needs to be taken account is the teacher student relationship on this level. As we have alreadymentioned that the mother’s nearness is a of utmost necessity at this tender age; because of this need the teacherNursery level and at Kinder Garten have often to play the part of a surrogate mother to most of her students. And

ere comes the difficulty. As it is natural that there is a good number of students in each class and all of them arehe same age therefore their need is also more or less identical. So even if a teacher is willing to do her best, with hildren, it is next to impossible due to shear number. Just to keep them under control sometimes becomes quiteob. Thus a certain amount of discipline and disciplinary action become unavoidable. Sometimes a teacher has toven be harsh and strict so that she may be able to teach something. Discipline is a necessity no doubt and evenarsh treatment if it becomes unavoidable but then what do we see as consequence?

hildren being of different temperament react to these disciplines in different manners. Some who are bold enoumay not react the same way as the timid ones. So some may remain quite free and bold, others may shy away for aertain amount of time and again others may withdraw completely into themselves. Because of these diverseeactions among the children, they ultimately divide up into very distinctive groups. As Dominique Mezan in her

work with Kinder Garten children found out “….among the very young, children divide primarily into three mainroups: that is, the bold ones, timid ones and the indifferent ones.” And then she says, “ …in a large group when toquacious ones are not allowed to speak, they are bored; when the timid ones are left to themselves, they becomndifferent and those who refuse to communicate with the others are left to themselves, just go to sleep.” Sheoncludes saying that it is essential to subdivide a class into small groups as many times as possible during the dao that every child gets personal attention from the teacher or teachers and feel wanted and loved; thus a curiositnd willingness showing up more often to learn.

he question is, what do we want to teach at this level? Is our education to be information orientated or interest anowledge oriented? If there is interest then knowledge can be acquired even single handedly. It is said that thereat reformist of Bengal, Kesav Chandra Sen discontinued his university studies as he was much more intereste

aving knowledge than information. It is said that he studied all by himself and contemplated for hours on end awe can’t question the depth of his knowledge. But in general, education for us means to learn (this word “learn” h

very vague meaning for most of us) and pass and ultimately go through school and college with good marks so tgood job can be in our hand. Thus study for us means to learn to read, to write to do sums etc,etc.

verything is planned and a child is to follow meekly all that is put in front of him. But to begin at the beginning weed a vehicle of expression. That naturally is the language.

o we begin with a language and language being the most important of our disciplines, gets the utmost attentionnd yet it is found that a large number of student remain weak to very weak in this subject. The reason can beiverse: it may be timidity, unwillingness to learn or even a lesser degree of intelligence. As we have already





mentioned that the youngs tend to divide themselves into subgroups; the natural outcome is that in a big class a fearn, a few understand somewhat and quite a few don’t learn anything. But if they are separated and given persottention then something surely can be taught. Otherwise those who begin as weak students at the level of Kinder

Garten find the going quite difficult and as time passes, gradually lessons become quite incomprehensible and inevette Jenger”s words,” Failures follow failures.” It is but a natural outcome for if I don’t have a proper and soliase of the medium through which I am to learn the other disciplines then how can I understand anything?

We come across identical problems regarding the numbers. Somehow Mathematics are the disciplines which havemained the biggest obstacles in many a students’ academic life. But then are we to understand that the very

ubjects are difficult for ordinary intelligence?

he Japanese educationist Toru Kuman thinks not. His involvement with education is rather unique. He found thne of his sons was poor in Maths and was getting very low grades. So in order to help his son he began to preparome worksheets. Later those worksheets developed into a cohesive programme which is followed by millions notnly in Japan but also in the United States and some Western countries and are getting exceptional results.

ust for the sake of curiosity let us see what his method is.

We offer a set of carefully sequenced or graduated worksheets containing math problems. The student must attarequired level of competence in completing each of them within a prescribed time span, or within what we call

tandard completion time. This is must in our method. Not the matter of whether the students score 1oo%. Only when the students have attained that crucial proficiency are they given the go ahead to move on to the next, slighmore difficult worksheet.”

How do they complete their work?

The student first learns to add one- and always one to two long rows of figures. The next step is to add two andlways two to another two rows of figures. And so it goes. Only when the students have amply mastered thessignment of the first worksheet can he graduate from that stage and advance to the next.”

ducationists all around the world feel that education at the very beginning must be very solid and yet it should b

mparted in varied ways and means. Children should get involved frequently in the subject that they are learninghrough demonstrations and participations.

et us see what kind of work is expected from a teacher. In France Luce Berenger wanted to teach her students ofKinder Garten the concept of volume. For young children the notion of volume is full, not full and empty. In ordeeach different measures in volume the teacher brought in the class a number of glasses of different capacities andlled them up with a drink. She asked her students to take one glass each and drink a specific number of mouthfu

Having done as was asked the children found that some of them had empty glasses, some had half filled and otheven more. Thus they came to see that volume differs with the size. Similarly another teacher wanted to teach theotion of vapour. So she boiled some colour water and after a while the children saw that the original mark was

much above the existing level of water. The water has gone to the atmosphere in the form vapour to change later

nto dew, frost, cloud etc.

N.P.

xposer to advertisement in journals and TV is a powerful means to teach the young ones. Listening to the teachend at the same time having visual contacts make deep impression. In the west they have access to cameras, casselayers and even computers. These certainly are beyond our means. But we can certainly make concentrated effoo have small groups as classes for Nursery, Kinder Garten and elementary sections so that some personal attentian be given to the need of each child. And this should not be difficult as there are educated young people in ourountry by millions. But the important factor is that the policy makers in the education field of the country shouldeel the need for such orientation. We are crying hoarse saying that the standard of education is deteriorating yea





y year. But then with a weak foundation a strong edifice can’t be built.

et us begin at the very beginning and this will certainly make a great difference in the future result in the field oducation. If we presume that “the child is a jewel needing the greatest care” as says J.A. Comenius, then we haveake some concrete steps to give those cares and sooner the better.


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