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Acknowledaernents

At McGill University, 1 would like to thank my thesis supervisor, Dr. Ratna

Ghosh, for her help. My thanks also to Drs. Nancy Jackson and Boyd White.

and Mr. Steve Jordan for their support and guidance in writing this thesis. My

appreciation to Dr. Geoffrey lsherwood for his help and support at the beginning

of the M.A. programme. Without the advice and encouragement of these people,

I could not have made it.

I would also like to acknowiedge the tremendous help I received from

Professor Samik Bandyopadhyay (Asiafic Society, Calcutta) and Soma Roy

(Women's Christian College. Calcutta) who worked with me meticulously,

rnethodically, and sincerely on the documents I have used, helped me to choose

appropriate rnaterials, listened to and advised me on my ideas for the thesis.

Without them, this work would have been utterly impossible. I must also thank

Ms. Kamalika Mitra who translated a few documents from Bengali to English for

me, and carefully and meticulously transcribed the audio tapes from each of my

work sessions with Prof. Bandyopadhyay.

Abstract

This thesis explores five documents written by Tagore between 1906 and

1940. Tagore was writing at a time when India was stniggling for independence.

Among his numerous concerns, he wanted an lndia which could be

compassionate and humane. He realized that such a lofty goal could only be

achieved through an education system which not only encouraged these

qualities but allowed students to cultivate them by understanding the world

around them. Central to the arguments in this thesis is Tagore's discussion of

the tapobon, the Indian meditative forest. The tapobon is seen as metaphorical

place for contemplation in deciphering the world and developing an

understanding of one's place in it. The documents examined here reflect the

breadth and depth of Tagore's thoughts on education though they are only a

sampling of the extensive work he did in his lifetime.

Résumé

Cette thèse examine cinq documents écrits par Tagore entre 1906 et 1940. A l'époque

que Tagore écrivait, I'lnde luttait pour son indépendence. Pan is ses nombreux

préoccupations, il souhaitait un pays compatissant et humanitaire. Cet objectif, il se

rendait compte, ne pouvait s'atteindre qu'avec un système éducatif encourangeant ces

qualités et aussi permettant aux étudiants de les cultiver à l'aide d'une comprehension

plus profonde du monde. Un élément central de cette thèse est la discussion de l'idée

du fapobon, ou. la forêt de réflexion méditatif indienne. Le tapobon est perçu comme un

lieu métaphorique où on peut contempler le monde et se développer un meilleur

compréhension de son rôle là dedans. Les documents traités ici refletent la profondeur

et la largeur des pensées du Tagore sur l'éducation autant qu'il ne soit qu'un fragment

de son vaste œuvre.

Table Of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction Introduction

Chapter 2 Background of the Research The Range and Complexity of Tagore's Thoughts on Education PS-1 3 Methodology

The Primary Source Pg- 14 Translation PS- 15 A Note on Transliteration Pg- 18 Analysis Pg- 18

Socio-Historical Background: The Late 19th Century Early 20th Century PS- 20

Dernystifying Tagore Pg* 23 Research Questions Pg- 24

Chapter 3 Literature Review 3.1 Tagore and Education PS. 25 3.2 Tagore's Nationalism and Education Pg- 26

3.2.1 The Relationship Between Nationalism, Development and Education PS. 27

What Researchers Have Said About Tagore's Nationalism and Education Pg- 31 Related Literature: Memmi, Çaid and Freire PS- 40 Summary of Related Literature PS- 48

C hapter 4 The Taroabon l niroduction Definition of Tapabon The Argument Conclusion

Chapter 5 Educational Reform and the Role of Culture Introduction PS- 60 Part 1, Language, Instruction, Education, Culture

Pg- 63 PS. 63 Pg- 74

and lrnperialism The Argument Part II, Education and Culture

Anti-Thetical Systems of Education: Tagore's Versus Colonial and postcolonial Ones

Pg* 81 Tagore's Letter to Son, Rathindranath, discusçing

DM. Sen PS. 83 Conclusion Pa85

Chapter 6 Actions Throuah Which Tagore Believed Students Could Achieve His Educational ldeals Introduction to Shantiniketan Ashramer Shikkhaniti

a) Daily Life and Household Chores b) Behaviour c) Development of Perception d) Learning with Disciplines e) Learning Outside the Ashram f) Teachers and Students

Conclusion

Chapter 7 Conclusion Conclusion

Reference List Additional Reading

pg. 102 pg. 107

Introduction

This thesis examines five documents on education written by

Rabindranath Tagore in the context of two inter-related socio-political

perspectives: development of a Self and development of a nation. The reason

for looking at Tagore's work on education from these perspectives is that

education is a means through which an individual can develop a Self, and

leaders of a country can develop a nation. Tagore clearly perceived this. The

individual uses his education to provide the tools to narrate a Self and national

leaders use education as a tool to narrate their perception of a nation. Education

can either dictate what a Self should be, or allow the individual to develop a

perception of the Self for oneself. In the hands of politicians, education can be

the means through which to impart the values of a nation. Therefore, at the level

of both the individual and the nation, education can be a tool aiding

indoctrination or Iiberation.

For Tagore, the development of a Self leads to the development of nation

and his vision of education provides the means through which to create this

domino-like, inter-related development. The key to understanding Tagore's

ideas is to explore his notion of the tapobon. Literally translated, the tapobon is

a forest for meditation. In his argument on the tapobon (chapter four), Tagore

suggests that every individual create a metaphorical space wSthin hirnself for the

purpose of contemplation. This tapobon space is in itself a place for learning

7

and analysis, and no education system should hamper its development. It is a

place for self-discuvery and self-renewal. Within the tapobon space, the

individual must reflect upon one's relationship to al1 things in his environment.

Therefore,a person must develop a sensitivity not only towards other people, but

also plant-life, animals, and inanimate cornponents. Tagore believed that each

individual should develop and utilize this tapobon space, and further, that India's

national education systern should encourage and reinforce this individual

contemplation and sensitivity towards al! things. This particular kind of

development, however, has to occur from within each person. It is nothing which

can be imposed by any outside force. If individuals cultivate compassion

towards others, then they do constructive work for others, for the community,

and therefore, for the nation. Constructive work is that which alleviates

oppression (of any kind, towards any group), poverty, lessens disease and

malnourishment vvithout tuming to excessive materialism. Destructive work, the

opposite of M a t Tagore wanted, consists of those actions wtiich result in

environmental and human degradation.

I have (seemingly) imposed curent terminology on ideas recorded fifty-

five and more years ago. Yet 1 have done nothing more than reiterate Tagore's

ideas in terms which are relevant to us today. He was thinking about issues and

problems which still bewilder us. It is necessary for me to describe Tagore's

thoughts in this way not only to enable us to explore them in English, as opposed

to his native Bengali, but also to interpret his (often) figurative, and metaphorical

8

prose. At times (as the reader will see in chapter six) Tagore writes in concrete

terms, but often he turns to analogy, imagery and metaphor to explain his

position.

The Self and the nation which Tagore wanted each person to be able to

narrate would have to emerge out of the metaphorÏcal tapobon space. The act of

narration is a political tool, though perhaps it is not thought of in this way. In

Women Wnting ln lndia: 6008. C. to the Present, the editors, Susie Tharu and K

Lalita describe the relationship between narration and politics. They discuss a

historicai assertion of capitalism:

After 1975, world capitalism, led by Japan and the United States, made a concerted effort to break the power of national oligopolies, an effort that saw its most violent results in the overthrow of the Allende government in Chile in September 1973. The internationalization of markets, and the transformation of the lndian state essentially into a mediator in that process, required fhaf the nafion be imagined anew. New forms of lndianness had to be invented, new identities forged for both state and citizen (Tharu & Lalita, 1 995, p. 49).

When India's international role changed, new identities had to be imagined not

only for the state, but also the citizen. Tharu and Lalita draw a connection

between the individual, as citizen, and the state, in relation to national and

international econornics and politics. The tapobon argument reflects Tagore's

assertion that a community or nation is an extension of the individual. If each

person develops compassion towards others and accumulates knowiedge about

10

In chapter five I discuss some of his thoughts on education from a

broader socio-political perspective, moving beyond the role of the individual.

Within Tagore's richly literary prose lies a great deal of commentary on

colonialism and postwlonialism. The documents I have presented ana

discussed, Shikkhashangshkar (Educational Refom) and Shikkha O Shangshknti

(Education and Culture), illuminate and clarify his universalist position in socio-

political light. In colonial situation, the indigenous culture (languages, traditions,

customs, religions) is commonly and systematically subordinated so as to

establish the superiority of the colonial culture. Tagore believed that knowiedge

from and knowledge about other countries and cultures was valuable, yet he did

not want India's o m culture to be subordinated or denegraded to accommodate

ideas and beiiefs which emerged from Europe. The relative importance of

imported knowledge, ideas, and beliefs is a highly political issue. Revolutions

have been instigated with ideas originating from outside that country. Some

leaders choose to subordinate any foreign elements of culture which have corne

from the outside in order to elevate the indigenous culture and further nationalist

goals.

There is a controversy about Tagore's position on nationalism. Some

scholars feel that his involvement in the Bramho Samaj reflects an affiliation with

the ideology of nationalism. Brahmo Samaj is a nationalist movernent which

originated in Bengal (West Bengal, today). The Iiterature review on Tagore and

nationalism (chapter two) examines his position in greater detail. He saw

11

nationalism as an evil twin of imperialism, and hoped that lndians would stay

away from nationalism in creating a post-independent India. He wanted lndia to

rid itself of British imperial rule, but that did not mean he wanted to reject

knowiedge from Britain or Europe. He did not perceive British culture as a threat

except when it was used to subordinate Indian culture as something inferior to

that of British culture. In the "Introduction" to Nationaljsm, E.P. Thompson

quotes Tagore's address on the occasion of his eightieth birthday:

... 'it was rnainly through their mighty literature that we fomed our ideas' of the British .... What was remarkable ... was the way we gave our recognition to human greatness even when it revealed itself in the foreigner' (Thompson, 1994, p.6).

In a way different from this 1941 address, his artide, "Educational

Reform," reflects his beliefs on- the universality of learning. Tagore uses the

example of lrish curricula in lreland prior to the invasion of Elizabeth 1. He

describes an education system in which lrish was the medium of instruction. but

a number of other languages were also leamed simultaneously using lrish as

vehicle for accessing those languages. Therefore, in studying four or five

languages together, the Irish language was not subordinated as an undesirable

language. Because of colonial rule in India, English became the language of

political life, economic success, and social status. Tagore had anticipated that

this circurnstance would not change after independence. While the discussion

on the lrish makes it obvious that he valued the leaming of other languages, he

wanted post independent lndia to devise an educational system which

12

unsubordinated regional lndian languages - the mother tongues of India's

people - so as to elevate India's varied and complex indigenous culture.

Tagore did not want lndians to adapt Western nationalism, nor to develop their

own version of it. His speeches in Nafionalism make it clear that he perceived

nationalism, and the love of one's nation to be justifications for subjugation, wars

and other atrocities. After independence, I believe he wanted lndians to be able

to think beyond the concept of nationalism and embrace an altemate set of

beliefs to guide their formation of a new nation. The alternative, presented in

this thesis, is culture.

Chapter 2 BACKGROUND OF THE RESEARCH

The Ranae and Complexity of Taaore's Thoughts on Education

Tagore produced not only a great volume of work on education, but all of it

is complex and varied. The volume, Rabindranather Chintarjagoth: Shikkha

Chinta, Rabindrarachana Shangkalan (meaning, Rabindranath's World of

Thoughts: Thoughts on Education, a Collection of Rabindranath's Works)

contains everything Tagore ever said on education. There are 109 texts

(consisting of articles, editorials, speeches and letters) published in smail print,

culminating in 329 pages. Each idea on education is made complicated by

Tagore's use of literary devices, mainly metaphor and allusion. An attempt to

summarize his thoughts on education is further complicated by the range of

educational topics he discussed throughout his Iife. These include women's

education, colonial education, education and culture and art and aesthetic

education. Amongst this greet volume of complex work, one cm, however, see

consistency in his ideas frorn approximateiy 1906 (when he was forty-seven) to

1 941 (the year in which he died).

METHODOLOGY

The Prirnarv Source

The bulk of the arguments and ideas presented here have arisen from

Tagore's own work and have been taken from Rabindranather Chintarjagoth:

Shikkha Chin ta Ra bindrarachana Shangkalan (Ra bindranath 's World of

Thoughts: Thoughts on Education, a Collection of Rabindranath's Works), edited

by Tagore scholar, Satendranath Ray. It is a compilation of editorials, essays,

speeches, letters and exerts of the aforementioned. Tagore scholar Samik

Bandyopadhyay says that this is the only complete work on Tagore's thoughts on

education. The university which Tagore established, Visva-Bharafi,

posthumously published a volume called, Shikkha, but there are pieces in

Rabindranather Chintarjagoth: Shikkha Chinta, Rabindrarachana Shangkalan

which do not appear in the Visva-Bharati collection. The reason for the

omissions are quite simple. As an educational institution, Visva-Bharati, has

strayed from Tagore's intentions and ideals (a circurnstance Tagore had

anticipated. Tagore's letter to his son on Dhirenmohan Sen demonstrates his

foresight (chapter five)). In his recent article, Where Tagore is just a distant

memory, Sayta Sain writes:

Today as Visva-Bharafi celebrates its Platinum jubilee the picture is different from early days. A university which was meant to be a part of the lndian heritage has tumed into an institution chuming out yuppie lndians ready to enter the job market (Sain, 1995, 7).

This conventionalized Visva-Bharati omitted texts which would mntradict its

deviation from their founder's purposes.

The texts for the project consist of articles, and letters written in the time

span from 1906 to 1940. Prof. Bandyopadhyay and I worked on each of them

meticulously, dissecting thern for rneaning and translating parts literally.

Translation

The texts in Rabindranather ChintaGagoth: Shikkha Chinfa,

Rabindrarachana Shangkalan are al1 in Bengali. Consequently, translation

becomes an essential and fundamental component of the thesis. As appropriate,

in the thesis I either paraphrase or translate literally. Quite often, paraphrasing

is necessary as it is difficult, if not impossible, to find an English equivalent for

certain words. For example, the word shikkha means education, but in a broader

sense than it is used in English. Its meaning encompasses the learning of

values and ethics as much as the accumulation of knowledge.

The differences in grammatical structure between Bengali and English are

so great that a close translation is very diffÏcult. As a result, I have paraphrased

and translated myself, but supplemented and verified my o m work with the

transcribed notes from my work sessions wîth Prof. Bandyopadhyay. At times, I

have also referred to translations done by Soma Roy and Kamalika Mitra. I have

distinguished my own translations from those of Bandyopadhyay, Mitra and Roy

in the text though I cannot emphasize enough how much their work has helped

16

me. As we wurked, Prof. Bandyopadhyay did what we called, 'Yree translations".

He read the Bengali and instaneously provided an English translation. Such

translations are aucial to understanding the fomulations of Tagore's arguments

because Prof. Bandyopadhyay provided me with etymological exphnations of

significant words. As already mentioned, Tagore's arguments are strongly

literary, and understanding his manipulation of denotative and connotative

meanings allows one to penetrate his arguments at a deeper level than one

could without the etymological knowledge. I have had to reiy on Prof.

Bandyopadhyay's Yree translations" considerably because though I know

Bengali fairly well, I have greater proficiency in English. Technically, my mother

tongue is Bengaii, but for al1 intents and purposes, my mother tongue is English.

As translation is an essential componenl of the research, there is another

critical, intellectual issue to consider. Any translation is more than the

transformation of a work from one language into another. By translating from

one language to another, one is translating from one culture to another

(Niranjana, 1993). Embedded in this process of transformation is interpretation.

Tagore himself was aware of the cultural transformation that occurs when a word

is plucked from one language and implanted into another. He translated the

Gitanjali himself for mich he received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 191 3. The

reader will see that the cultural transformation of words was one of his rhetorical

devices. His development of this rhetorical device raises another critical point.

The Bengali language has historically adopted terminoiogy from the language of

17

colonizers. Furthemore, like most Indian languages, Bengali evolved out of the

ancient language of Sanskrit.

I quote Vladimir Nabakov in order to explain my approach in translating

primary source material. I should also like to refer to Nabokov to explain my

approach in analyzing the primary source material. ln discussing his translation

of Pushkin's Eugene Onegin he says that he has 'Yried to fix his readets

attention" on detail. Nabakov explains:

[Ulnless these are thoroughly understood and remembered, al1 'general ideas' (so easily acquired, so profitably resold) must necessarily remain but wom passports allowing their bearers short cuts from one area of ignorance to another.

In light of Nabokov's comment - which 1 believe in absolutely -1 will analyse and

interpret the primary source in detail: that is, with explicit attention to: a) words,

and Tagore's use of particular words, (b) rhetorical devices, and c) the structure

of the argument.

What does it rnean to emphasize detail in this Nabokovian sense?

Tagore's arguments are Iinguistic and intensely literary. He communicates his

ideas not only through what he says explicitly, but even more so with the way he

says it. His work is rich in both allusion and rhetoric. His allusions are

rnythological, literary and historical. Many of his rhetorical devices emerge from

these allusions. To ignore what he is saying with their use would mean missing

18

numerous dimensions to his arguments. Such a loss would create a thesis which

is no more than a M m passport."

Is it necessary to analyse everyone's work this approach? Certainly

not because not everyone !mites prose irnmersed in literary devices. But

Tagore's work, because it is linguistically and literarily rich, should be analysed

and interpreted in this kind of minute detail.

A Note on the Transliteration

I have transliterated words from the Bengali script to the Roman according

to their pronunciation in Bengali. The only two exceptions to this rule are the

words, Visva-Bharafi (pronounced, Bissho-Bharoti) and Siksha-Satra

(pronounced, Shikkha-Shatro). These are the standardized spellings in the

Roman script so I have used them. I have written out al1 other words the way

they would be pronounced in Bengali. Some would argue that the transliteration

should be based on the Sanskrit origins of the words. According to this method,

the word for leaming and education which I have transliterated as shikkha should

be spelt, siksha. But since the primary sources I have used were written in

Bengali, I have opted for the Bengali pronunciation.

Analvsis

My socio-political analysis in the thesis is, of necessity, multi-faceted. It

exists, at least, at two levels, because there are, at least, two contexts. The first

is the context of colonial lndia and British irnperialism. The second is the context

19

of the individual within a hybrid culture and society. Each of these components

are being reshaped, modified, and altered by the first context. If we can say that

these analyses are at the macro and micro levels, then we can add a mes0 level,

also, which looks at the relationship between the two. For the purposes of this

thesis, the mes0 analysis looks closely at Tagore's use of language and literary

devices (like metaphor) in juxtaposing British and lndian cultures. In doing so,

he provides a critique of the clash of these two cultures. Fundamentally, these

cultures are different and in certain documents in particular, Tagore rnakes this

clear to his audience (chapters four and five). Ultimately, the socio-political

analysis demonstrates that education is a socio-political tool and that it can

either be used to facilitate the growth and development of a nation by the nation

itself or the nation can perennially allow outsiders to dictate what direction their

country take. Tagore shows us why and how the former should take place.

Second, the two-sided goal of deconditioning people from subjugation and

developing the holistic person creates the additional micro levels of analysis.

Intellectually, the leap between Tagore's educational thoughts and the

socio-political context frorn within which he wrote is not a great one. Tagore

wanted to see lndia become independent and he anticipated that the socio-

political infrastructure that the British had implanted and transplanted (political

system, educational system) had become deeply entrenched in India. In post-

independent India, education could be a means to reestablishing an india for

Indians. He wanted Indians to re-connect themselves to their roots and discover

Bengal," (Kopf, 1989, p.51) explains the political position of the Samaj:

From the mid-seventies [nineteenth century] ... Sen was already looking at the West from the perspective of someone in a depressed societï at the exploited end of the colonial experience. But as a Brahmo, Keshub never turned to nationalism as an answer to the new Western challenge; on the contrary, he viewed nationalism as the root cause of what ailed the West (1 989, p. 51 ).

Rabindranath Tagore's own views on nationalism echo those of Sen's as

described here. The relationship of the British with a segment of the Bengali

population concemed Tagore deeply.

There was a segment vvithin Bengali society that had political and

economic associations with the Imperia1 powers. In fact, "[bletween 1865 and

1885, some 700 Bengalis had gone abroad to Great Britain largely to compete

for civil service jobs" (Kopf, 1 989, p.53). These were the people who embraced

the illusion of some power frorn the British. Sumanta Bane jee describes the

emergence of the Bengali middle class

... consisting of professionals who were products of an English colonial education system (conforming in many ways to the standard set by Thomas Babington Macaulay in his famous Minute of 1835, '... a class of persons, lndian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in rnorals and in intellect), who evolved a concept of nationalism acceptable wiSthin the set-up of the colonial administration (1 989, p. 1 ).

Yet, those same people whom the Bengali middle class was so anxious to

22

imitate, legislated acts that systematically subordinated and denegraded Indians.

Kopf explains:

Amales Tripathi has prepared a list of ... imperialist acts that the liberals, with al1 their constitutional know-how and agitation, were powerless to prevent. There were acts which deprived lndians of their basic rights such as the Vemawlar Press Act of 1878. There w r e acts of discrimination, such as the final version of the llbert Bill in 1884 against Bengali members of the covenanted service, for the colour of their skin. Then there were the Tariff Acts of 1886 and 1894 as well as the cotton duties that discriminated against lndian mill-made goods (1 989, p.53).

What most concemed Tagore was the possibility that the victims of imperial

discrimination would themselves be perpetrators of it, once lndia gained

independence. They would be completely incapable of transcending their

colonial condition and would create an independent lndia which was nothing

more than a postcolonial country1. 1 use postcolonial in a negative sense to

make the point that embedded wi-thin a postcolonial society is an everlasting

colonial legacy. Tagore wanted lndia to forge a nation of its own by removing

imperialism infrastructures.

' Tagore's letter to his son, Rathindranath, regarding Dhirenmohan Sen is such an example (chapter five).

23

Demvstifvinci Taaore

Tagore's arguments are steeped in ideology. As a result, what Tagore

had to Say seems particularly unpragmatic and consequently, irrelevant. To

minimize the possibility of this reaction, I have presented Tagore's arguments the

way he presented them. Rather than remove his conclusions from the

arguments, I have presented his ideas from within the context in which they were

told. Thus, if he verbalized a concept in a speech or letter, I have traced, at

least, the skeleton of the argument. When placed within the context of the

argument, his thoughts are not only pragmatic, but his arguments are indicative

of unorthodox, yet cogent reasoning. His arguments are not only logical but

satirical.

In Tagore's time, his thoughts on rnany subjects, including the shape that

India's independent movement shouid tzke, met with opposition. Though his

thoughts were seemingly political, his goals were humanitarian. He was not

interested in discourses on power, but instead, on establishing power

relationships which could lead to humane societies. Education, to him, was

instrumental in creating a benevolent society through compassionate people.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS:

The following research questions have guided rny research.

1) What did Rabindranath Tagore Say about the purpose of education in

India and elsewhere?

2) In discussing education, what was he saying about the socio-political

context in which he Iived?

3) What is the socio-political role of education in colonial lndia and what

should be the role in postcolonial India? (He did not live to see lndia

becorne independent).

4) What shape should education take?

4.1 ) What kinds of curriculum should be implemented and

why?

5) What is the relevance of Tagore's thoughts today, in the context of

neocolonial globalization?

Cha~ter 3: LITERATURE REVIEW

3.1. Taaore and Education

When speaking to anyone unfamiliar with the name, Rabindranath

Tagore, it is diffÏcult to know how to provide that initial introduction. Which is the

adequate label: poet, philosopher, teacher, social activist, pioneer in comrnunity

development and education? A glance at the research done on him as social

thinker, humanist, political thinker, writer, poet, drarnatist, educationist reflects

the diversity of his tbought, writing and work I would like to introduce a two-

sided label, thinker and innovator. The purpose of this Iiterature review is to

position Tagore as a socio-political and educational thinker. More research has

been done on Tagore and education in lndia than in North America. For

example, Mo hit C hakrabarti's Philosophy of-Education of Rabindranath Tagore

and Tagore and Education for Social Change. Chakrabarti has painted Tagore's

thoughts on education in far broader strokes than I have in this thesis. He has

drawn on not only articles and letters, as I have, but has also presented songs

and poetry. At the beginning of each of these works he provides the reader with

a series of generalizations (also broad) on Tagore, education, and in the case of

the latter work, on social change. Thereafter, the works focus primarily on

translations of individual pieces interspersed with interpretation. These

interpretations i n f o n the translations more than analyse Tagore's thoughts. My

thesis differs fundamentally in that 1 present a selection of documents from a

socio-political perspective.

26

Recently, Kathleen M. O'Connel1 has cornpleted her Ph.D. thesis at the

University of Toronto. It takes a historical approach and is titled, Tagore as

Educator: Setting, Strafegy and Method ( 1 995). In this detailed and extensive

look at Tagore's educational vision, O'Connell examines the evolution of

education in Sriniketan and Shantiniketan. Unlike this thesis, O'ConneIIJs work

documents Tagore's life as an educator and educational visionary.

3.2. Taaore's Nationalism and Education.

Though this literature review consists rnainly of sewndary sources written

in English I will also, at times, refer briefly to stories my father tells about the

work Tagore did in Shantiniketan. My grandfather was employed by Tagore as

head of the Rural Reconstruction Plan, as well as a teacher of his school,

Siksha-Satra. Both my grandparents told their children (my father included)

stories about working for Tagore and living in the Shantiniketan-Sriniketan of that

time cities in rural West Bengal, lndia where Tagore initiated a number of

his community development and educational experiments. 1 also make

occasional references to some of the primary sources (in Bengali and English).

To elaborate on some points, I refer to a few primary source documents

written by Tagore in English. In order to position Tagore as both a socio-political

and educational thinker 1 will juxtapose his ideas on nationalism with those on

education.

3.2.1 . The reiationshi~ between nationalism. developrnent and education

Through a triangular exploration of three related topics - education,

nationalisrn, development - we wïll be able to establish Tagore's position on

nationalism. Tagore believed that it was the pursuit of nationalism and

nationalistic goals for the sake of national improvement that ied people to

subjugate entire races, exploit the environment and declare wars on other

countries. I believe that Tagore dreaded al1 the cruelties perpetrated in the narne

of nationalism and this is the fundamental reason why he deplored it. A lengthy

exert from his 191 6 speech, "Nationalism in Japan" describes what he perceived

nationalisrn to be. He delivered this lecture in Japan and revised it for his tour in

the United States (1 91 6-1 7). Typical of his style, Tagore relies heavily on

metaphor to explain his position (Thompson, 1994). Tagore says:

The political civilisation which has sprung upon from the soi1 of Europe and is ovemnning the whole world, like some prolific weed, is based upon exclusiveness .... Before this political civilisation came to its power and opened its hungry jaws wÏde enough to gulp down great continents of the earth , we had wars, pillages, changes of monarchy and consequent miseries, but never such a sight of fearful and hopeless voracity, such wholesale feeding of nation upon nation, such huge machines for turning great portions of the earth into mince-meat, .... This political civilisation is scientific, not human. It is powerful because it concentrates al1 its forces upon one purpose, like a millionaire acquiring inoney at the cost of his soul. It betrays its trust, it weaves its meshes of lies without sharne, it enshrines gigantic idols of greed in its temples, taking great pride in the costly ceremonials of its worship, calling this patriotism .... You cannot go on violating these lawç in the name of your nation, yet enjoy their advantage as individuals. This public sapping of ethical ideals slowly reacts upon each member of socjety, gradually

breeding weakness where it is not seen, and causing that cynical distrust of al1 things sacred in human nature, .... You must keep in mind that this political civilisation, this creed of national patriotism, has not been given a long trial (Tagore, 1994, p. 24-5).

This excerpt does not reflect Tagore's views on Europe in their entirety because

there were numerous dimensions of European culture which he admired. It does,

however, demonstrate what he perceived the results of nationalistic goals to be.

Tagore feared that the leaders of independent lndia would tum to the Western

style of nationalism he describes to create a new nation. This is not to Say,

however, that he approved of indian nationalists.

In his article, "The Bengali Prophet of Mass Genocide: Rabindranath

Tagore and the Menace of Twentieth Century Nationalism," David Kopf defines

Tagore's nationalism (though he is clearly sceptical about whether Tagore could

have been considered a nationalist at all). He wites:

Tagore's nationalism, if it can be called that, was never a matter of petitioning Parliament for small favours, nor of driving out the British by hate and violence. It was not that he was unaware of political injustice or economic exploitation or that he lacked courage in standing up to the British. How many distinguished Indians, nationalist or othewise, surrendered their knighthoods as did Tagore following the Jalianwalla Bagh massacre in 191 9. !-& own nationalist solution for lndia was educational .... And yet it could be inaccurate to Say that Tagore himself embraced nationalisrn (1 989, p.55).

In order to understand education as Tagore's "nationalist solution" (Kopf,

29

1989, p.551, we must examine education in light of development Tagore did not

use the term, development, but his definition of constructive work is what we,

today, would cal1 development (Thompson, 1994). 1 believe Tagore would not

have made a distinction between curnmunity development and national

development and would have argued that the latter is merely an extension of the

former. The clearest commentary I have corne across is in a letter from Prasanta

Mahalanobis to E.J. Thompson. In his "Introductionn to Tagore's work,

Nationalism, E.P. Thompson, E.J. Thompson's son, seeks to clarify Tagore's

position on nationalism. He refers to letters written by Prasanta Mahalanobis to

his father, E. J. Thompson. The senior Thompson had been working on a short

book about Tagore and was being helped by Mahalanobis. Few people can

daim to have known Rabindranath Tagore as well as Prasanta Mahalanobis.

Thompson writes:

... Mahalanobis had an unrivalled knowledge of Tagore's life and work, and a better command of his early literary canon than the poet himself could recall (Thompson, 1994, p. 3).

Mahalanobis and his vvïfe, Rani Mahalanobis, had a close relationship with

Tagore. They "accompanied him through the major portion of his European tour

(May-November, 1936)" (Chakravarty, 1961, p.16) and Tagore maintained a

correspondence with Rani Mahalanobis as a way to stay in touch with both of

them (Chakravarty, 1 961 )2. He writes:

[Tagore] believes in serving one's country in construc tive work- Hence his emphasis on village work, mass education, sanitation and social reform. He believes in lndia - in future possibilities as well as in her great past - but does not believe in nationalism .... He does not believe in political freedorn as an end in itself .... He believes Congress [Party] work to be usekil only in as much as it tends to bring the different peoples of lndia into closer contact - that is, in the socialising3 effects of politics .... We must awaken our own deep-seated springs of action for good (Thompson, 1994, p. 1 3)

Mahalanobis' comments both define the meaning of constructive work, and clarify

Tagore's position on nationalism. Clearly, Tagore saw nationalism as a political

tool with limited usefulness. The goals Mahalanobis outlines could not be

achieved by nationalism. Today, we cal1 these goals, development. Tagore

wanted to use education to help people work towards constructive goals which

would ultimately improve the health and welfare of India. This is the reason

Mahalanobis highlights village work and sanitation. Education should also help

to develop the compassion and sense of solidarity necessary to achieve mass

education and social reform.

Prasanta C. Mahalanobis was a statistician who was instrumental in establishing the lndian lnstitute of Statistics. He was respected and revered by people al1 over the world including Jawaharlal Nehru. Today, anyone in the field of statistics will be farniliar wïth P.C. Mahalanobis.

Since I am quoting frorn the letter written in English by Mahalanobis, I retain the English spelling.

VVhat researchers have said about Taaore's nationalisrn and education

One difficulty with any discussion on Tagore and nationalism is

understanding why Tagore deplored it. He did not believe in nationalism, but he

did want to see lndia becorne independent. These two views c m co-exist

without contradiction. Today, we May think of nationalism as patriotic feeling.

efforts, or policies towards self-determination4. But Tagore and his

conternporaries viewed nationalism as something larger. In the colonial wntext,

nationalist policies and patriotic feelings rnanifested themselves in imperialism

which led to the subjugation of entire races, exploitation, and hatred. A post-

independent lndian ruling class could easily perpetrate these same evils in the

name of nationalisrn in an effort to replace the colonizer.

Many people believe that Tagore was a nationalist in the early 1 9 0 0 ~ ~

particularly in reaction to the partition of Bengal in 1905. After 1905, Tagore is

seen to have gradually ernerged into a period of "ambivalence" (Thompson.

1994, p.13) on the subject, as his 191 6 novel, The Home and The World seems

to reflect. But €.P. Thompson's work removes this ambivalence. In his

wrrespondence Thompson's father, Mahalanobis urges the senior

Thompson to rewrite the passages on Tagore and nationalism. Maha lanobis

writes:

AS in the Oxford Dictionary.

He pagore] never supported nationalisrn , not in any form or guise. Even at the height of the Swadeshi movement he was protesting against soma particular aspects of the movement (December 1921 ) (Thompson, 1 994, p. 12).

AS a close friend of Tagore, Mahalanobis states clearly and without ambivalence

that Tagore did not believe in nationalism. €.P. Thornpson locates Tagore in the

context of Gandhi's nationalism. He writes:

Despite pieas from Gandhi, Tagore refused his consent to negative or destructive actions - the boycott, the burning of foreign cloth, and the obsession with spinning (the charka) (Thompson, 1 994, p- 14).

The actions which Thompson mentions quintessentially describe Gandhi's

nationalism and they are the very actions Tagore regarded as "negative" and

"destructive". But it is not rnerely Gandhi's nationalism that Tagore deplores. In

his Nationalism lectures he establishes a dichotomy between mechanical nations

organized for political and economic purposes and societies which are a "more

personal texture than political or economic structures" (Thompson, 1994).

Numerous scholars have pointed out that one of Tagore's main criticisms

of the West was seif-glorifying edict of nationalism (Kopf, 1989, Mukhe jee, 1982,

Bhattacharya, 1987). At times in his life, especially towards the end of his life, he

vehemently opposed nationalism. Samik Bandyopadhyay suggests that, by the

1940s. Vie nationalist movement of Gandhi (and others) was reaching the point

of bargaining with the English, and Tagore could not tolerate this. In fact,

Gandhi's nationalism angered Tagore (Kopf, 1989). David Kopf explains:

It was not self-detemination but nationalism which separated the Gurudev [Tagore] from the Mahatma. Tagore deplored the very process of nationalism with its arrogant self-glorification, self- righteousness and contempt for al1 things foreign (1 989, p.63).

The process of Gandhi's nationalist movement disturbed Tagore greatly. Yet it

was more than the process that disturbed him, as Thompson's remarks indicate

(p.34). Tagore did not believe in independence as "an end in itself (Thompson,

1994, p. 13). He wanted Indians to do constructive, good work, but the focus on

political freedom and the means through which to achieve freedom w r e

Gandhi's objectives, not Tagore's constructive work. Tagore's goals were

humane, not political. Nationalism is a political ideology.

In his university, Visva-Bharati, (meaning 'World university") Tagore

wanted to create an international centre of Ieaming wbere knowiedge from al1

over the world could be shared (Bhattacharya, 1987). At another level, it was a

meeting place for intellectuaIs from the East and West. He did not wndemn the

British (or any other country of the West) for their scientific and artistic

achievements. In fact, he travelled the world to leam, to lecture and meet with

great thinkers from ail over the globe (Dutta & Robinson, 1995). But he resented

and feared their imperialistic presence in India.

Tagore saw a relationship between education and developrnent (however

one defines it as community development or national development).

Furtherrnore, Tagore's educational schemes did not in anyway enwurage

leaming by rote, or indoctrination. His address in Moscow sets up the

relationship between education, development and reflects a purpose of

education that Tagore perceived. Though he was critical of the Russian system

of education, he found many similarities in their educational ideals and his. The

Russian example rnust have demonstrated to him the possibility that state

education could achieve his educational goals. KR. Sarkar explains:

[Tagore] admired the Russians for their achievements in wiping out ignorance and raising their living standards in a period G: hardly two decades. He admitted that ignorance is one of the main causes of poverty of his countrymen and was convinced that proper education would draw out of this quagmire. He also knew that the state of Russian peasants during Czarist regime was as bad as that of their counterparts in lndia and hence he was strongly impressed vvith what he saw there, especially in the field of education (1 990, p.39).

Sarkar's discussion of Tagore and the achievements of the post-revolution

education system raises a number of important points about Tagore's

educational ideals and the role of the state. He says that Tagore was impressed

that the Russians were able to wipe out ignorance and raise their living

standards. Tagore made a connection between standards of living and levels of

education and ignorance. It also becomes evident that Tagore differed from

Gandhi in another fundamental way: he did not believe that people should have

to live in poverty. Sarkar rnakes sorne of Tagore's educational goals clear. It is

also obvious that nationalistic goals do not even play a part. Sarkar quotes

Tagore's address in Moscow

I have been able to realise that your ideal of education is very much similar to mine, that the people are living a complete life through which their mind is prepared to receive education in its full richness and not merely hoard up isolated facts of scientific instruction and information (1 990, p.39).

This excerpt reflects the relationship between development and education which

Tagore perceived. Tagore wanted people to live a "cornplete" life. Any

complete life must include adequate food, shelter and good health. Poverty

cannot provide this wmpleteness. It is only after acquiring the basic necessities

that people can be expected to receive education. Furthemore, Tagore's

commentary reflects the type of education in which he believed. Education

should not sirnply be a means to acquire various types of information.

This last quotation from Tagore's Moscow address, not only deals with the

relationship between education and development, but also addresses the

relationship between education and the individual. What role should education

play in a person's life? Any discussion that answers this question takes us back

to Tagore's position on nationalism. Tagore believed in community development

as Mahalanobis's letter (p.34) clearly reflects. He thought of sanitation,

agriculture, mass education and social reform as constructive work of every

36

individual. Some may argue that each of these are acts reflecting nationalism,

but Tagore did not perceive them as such. In his letters to his close friend and

travelling companion, CF. Andrews, Tagore sometimes addressed the issue of

nationalism. In a 1921 letter written from Stockholm, he speaks on the subject

more explicitly than perhaps in Nafionalism. He writes: 'The nations love their

own countries; and that national love has only given rise to hatred and suspicion

of another" (Tagore, 1961, p.38). Kopf quotes a letter from Tagore to Andrews

that places the individual in the context of Tagore's views on nationalism:

the complete man must never be sacrificed to the patriotic man, or even to the merely moral man. To me humanity is rich and large and many-sided (1 989, p. 63).

In the Moscow address, Tagore talks about the "complete life", and here, the

"complete man". Though we may find the absence of a definition for "completen

rather frustrating, this last sentence does well to serve as a definition for both

these expressions. If humanity is "rich and large and many-sided" the "complete

Me" as well as the "complete man" must be also so. While Tagore "summoned

his fellow-countrymen to set about reforming and renewing their own society"

(Thompson, 1994, p. 14) he did not ask thern to be patriots. He wanted Indians

to:

overcome the barriers erected by caste and religion - by their own efforts and not be begging alms from the foreign rulers. Power should not be matched by the organisation of anti-power, but

should be ignored (Thompson, 1994, p.14).

To Tagore, nationalism manifested itself in this "organization of anti-power" as

refiected in Gandhi's obsession with the charka. Tagore did not want lndians to

follow the Gandhian formula for life because he could not believe in the value of

an anti-power movernent. Any work should have a purpose which contributes to

the development of the individual and society as a whole. Education facilitates

both these goals. With another quotation from a letter to Andrews (1 921 )

Thompson notes that, to Tagore, "students were committed hot to fuller

education but to noneducation"' (Thompson, 1994, p.14).

This realization must have caused Tagore great anguish. A discussion on

Tagore's educational goals vvill ciarify why I believe this is so. Having

established the position of education in the conceptual triangle of education,

nationalism and development, I will now shift the discussion on Tagore's

educational goals and their role in civilizing people and society. We are not

leaving the discussions on nationalism and development behind. In fact, these

concepts must necessarily remain in the background to further clarify the

relationships we have been discussing.

Among his other goals, we have already seen that Tagore believed that

education should lead to the development of the complete man for the complete

life. Tagore did not believe that people should live unnourished lives in any

sense, Iiterally or spiritually. Communities should work towards the goals

38

Mahalanobis outlines in his letter to Thompson: sanitation, agrïcultural

production, social reform (p.34). Education has a two-fold role in a person's life.

At the one level, it should teach some of the basic principles of healthy living.

The goal of creating a healthy physical environment was part of what we, today,

cal1 a development scheme. For example, Shantiniketan was the first place in

lndia to have pasteurized milk. My grandmother used to Say that she remembers

bottles of milk delivered to their door every morning. Tagore believed in using

technology to improve the quality life. One could argue that Tagore had

materialistic goals. But he did not believe in excessive materialism. The

unchecked ambition to acquire material goods leads to wars and imperialism.

Kedar Nath Mukherjee explains the role of self interest as Tagore saw it:

According to him, the pursuit of self-interest need not be taken as wholly selfish. lt can even be in hamony with the interest of al1 .... But according to Tagore, it is not self-interest but the power of self- sacrifice together with the moral faculty of sympathy and cooperation which are the spirit of humanity (1 982, p.272)

Tagore acknowledged the human pursuit of self-interest, but did not believe it

should be allowed solely to rule one's actions. He believed that the pursuit of

self-interest should be balanced wïth the pursuit of the wmmon good. The

means to achieve this complicated balance is education. This brings us to the

second purpose of education: selfeducation5.

In a recent article, noted painter KG. Subramanium (1 995) outlines the

three fundamental purposes of self-education according to Tagore.

Subramaniurn draws a cumparison between Rousseau and Tagore in outlining

the three relationships upon which education should be based: I) between man

and his own nature; (ii) behveen man and other human beings; (iii) between man

and his environment (Subramanium, 1995). Tagore wanted individuals to learn

about themselves, about others and the environment. (The intellectual process

Tagore perceived to accomplish these goals is explored in chapter four). The

juxtaposition of these relationships helps us to understand the role of education

within the contexts of development and nationalism. The mind which has an

enhanced understanding of oneself, others and one's environment is a mind

which can hope to achieve the balance between self-interest and the cornmon

good. The controt over excessive greed will come naturally to those who have

had the kind of education Tagore prescribed. The compassion and humanity

which Tagore sought would come from people who were educated in a system

designed with the above mentioned principles.

1 am imposing the prefix, "self' here in order to distinguish clearly between two purposes of education. I believe that it is important to make the distinction between education that is instructive and education which is selfexplorative and self- developing. The reader wï l l see through the course of this work that although Tagore wanted education to draw out compassion in individuals, he did not believe in indoctrinating compassionate bhaviour. Compassion and understanding arise out of the relationships KG. Subramanium outlines (Subramanium, 1995).

40

Related Literature: Memmi. Said and Freire

Well-fitted parallels exist between Tagore's ideas and those of Albert

Memmi, Edward Said and Paulo Freire. Memmi's two solutions for the colonized

echo Tagore's ideas on education: culture and nationalism. In the hands of the

colonizer, culture was a tool used to secure their superior position. The

essential colonial relationship Memmi dramatizes is further explored by Said.

Freire's banking concept of education describes education as the oppressive tool

Tagore viewed colonial education to be.

In his work, The Colonizer and the Colonized (1 991), Albert Mernmi

dramatizes the fundarnental relationship in the colonial drama. He deliberates

on the resolution of this power play and cornes to the conclusion that there are

only "two historically possible solutions" (Memmi, 1991 , p. 120). Memmi

explains:

The first atternpt of the colonized is to change his condition by changing his skin. There is a tempting model very close at hand - the colonizer (Memmi, 1991, p.120).

In the colonial world, the phenornenon of the colonized taking up the place of the

colonizer, begins in the colony: that is, before independence changes the identity

to former colony. In India, there was a group of people who took up the

opportunities for British employment in the I.C.S., lndian Civil Services, and

education that the British offered them. By the tirne of independence (in 1947),

42

world, because his rnother tongue was never able to develop the vocabulary

necessary to function in this public world.

Today, in the age of rapid technol~gical change, with knowiedge rather

than raw materials as an international comrnodity, it is only possible to introduce

new vocabulary into noncolonizer languages if those languages are languages

of instruction in educational (and research and development) institutions. The

Japanese conduct business, and educate their people in Japanese. Therefore,

they leam to build their lives - and - articulate the world around them in their

mother tongue. They do not need to sacrifice a fundamental source of identity in

any culture, language.

The colonized is left with the hopelessness that Memrni describes

because his sources of identity, language, food, dress, music, visual art, dance,

Iiterature - ail those things that compose a culture - has degenerated into

something inferior. This process of degeneration necessarily elevates the

culture of the colonizer as the superior one. Consequently, Memrni believes that

the

colonial situation, by its own interna1 inevitability, brings on revolt. For the colonial condition cannot be adjusted to; like an iron collar, it can only be broken (1 991, p. 128).

This breaking of the iron collar need not be a physical uprising. An intellectual

revolt, however, is an alternative, as well as a critical point in helping us

understand Tagore. Memmi continues:

... the colonized's liberation must be carried out through a recovery of self and of autonomous dignity. Attempts at imitating the colonizer required self-denial; the colonizer's rejection is the indispensable prelude to selfdiscovery. That accusing and annihilating image must be shaken off; oppression must be attacked boldly since it is impossible to go around i t After having been rejected for so long by the colonizer, the day has corne when it is the colonized who must refuse the colonizer (1991, p.128).

What the colonized need is to reconstruct their identity. They cannot continue to

live with the identity of oppreosed people. It is important to realize that identity

arises out of conditioning as a conscious constructing of the self. Therefore, a

self imposed deconditioning is necessary to shed the colonial baggage that

creates the inferiority of the indigenous person. It is important to keep these

ideas of self-discovery, and self renewal in mind when reading the section on

Tagore's perception of the tapobon (chapter four). I have presented his

arguments in a colonial context because, of course, he was writing from a

colonial context. There will be no doubt that he was indeed deliberately writing

from within the colonial world, rather denying that it exists.

Sa id's Orientalism and Culfure and Imperialism

Said's Onentalism and Culture and imperialsm allow us to expand

upon the colonizer-colonized dynamic of Memmi's work. Onentalism establishes

As one critic has suggested, nations themselves a narrations. The power to narrate, or to block other narratives from fonning and ernerging, is very important to culture and irnperialisrn, and constitutes one of the main connections between them. Most important, the grand narratives of emancipation and enlightenment mobilized people in the colonial worid to rise up and throw off imperial subjection; in the process, many Europeans and Americans were also stirred by these stories and their protagonists, and they too fought for new narratives of equality and human community" (1 994, p. xiii).

As in other colonized nations, the narrations of colonial lndia mobilized people,

but there were many narrations which worked at cross purposes. Though ail

narrators wanted to lead lndia to independence, their visions of an independent

lndia differed. There were those who wanted to overthrow the imperial power to

take over their position. Memmi explains that these are the people frorn within

the colonized group M o wish to assume the colonizer's position after pushing

them out of power. It is only logical then, that having usurped a position of

power, they should use culture the way their predecessors did in order to

maintain their acquired power. Therefore, under such rulers, the indigenous

culture - in all of its aspects - has to continue to be denigrated such that the

ruling powers can maintain the they and us dynamic. Those in this group would

not be those who fought for "equality and hurnan cornmunity" but instead would

perpetuate inequality and ignore the necessity of human community. There were

other narrators, however, who wanted to break with the colonizer's ways -

Memmi's second choice - and repossess their culture as a source of strength.

Tagore clearly belonged to this latter group. The use of culture in this way

46

allows the beholder of the culture not only to reestablish a subordinated position

within the postcolonial world, but allows hirnlher to ignore the power of the

colonizer. Tagore's belief that power should not be reacted to by anti-power

(Thompson, 1994) raises another theoretical dimension to this culture and

national ism question. Said explains ihai:

Culture ... is a source of identity, and a rather combative one at that, as we see in recent "returns" to culture and tradition .... In the formerly colonized world, these "retums" have produced varieties of religious and nationalist fundarnentalism (1 994, p. xiii)

The danger in linking power and culture in the name of returning to one's

traditions is that it results, almost inevitably, in a kind of fundamentalism.

Tagore's notion that power should be ignored eliminates the possibility of

fundamentalism. Like Said, Tagore saw culture as a source of identity, but he

also perceived it as something more: a source of strength (chapter five, part II).

Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed raises some crucial issues about the

use of education as a political tool. It is both a political tool and a rneans through

which to maintain power. Freire identifies the banking concept of education as

an instrument of oppression. He explains:

48

Surnmary of Related Literature

Memmi's work dramatizes the fundamental colonial relationship of colonizer and

colonized. Both of Said's two works referred to above explain Tagore's ideas in

the colonial context in which they were written and expands upon the colonial

relationship Memmi describes. Freire describes education as a tool of

oppression and provides an alternative systern wtiich advocates action and

refiection.

Chapter 4: THE TAPOBON

Introduction

I introduce the concept of the tapobon here because it is pivotal in

understanding Tagore's position on other educational rnatters. I will trace the

argument Tagore presents in order to introduce his concept of the tapobon. In

1909, a journal called, Prabashi, published Tagore's article, Tapobon.

Throughout his years he referred to the notion of tapobon developed here.

Definition of Tapobon

The definition of Tapobon is best understood in two parts. Bon (the latter

half) means forest. Tapo means meditation. Students Iive in this forest with their

Guru, teacher. The concept of tapobon is a part of India's cultural fabric. People

often associate the word with sages and saints who have devoted their lives to

contemplation. Yet we need to draw out implications of what is literally described

as a forest for meditation.

I believe that the tapobon is central to an understanding of Tagore's

thoughts on education. Figuratively, the tapobon is an individualized space

within each person. Because we are born into the world as individuals, and are

socialized through the course of our lives into a community, we are al1 actually

born the capacity to seek out this place within us. In a mode of self

discovery and self actualization, it is a matter of using the space with which we

were born to discern the space into which we were born (the world). Tagore's

50

text places the notion of tapobon histofically within the Indian context as well as

the political reality of 1909 colonial India. His argument juxtaposes the tapobon

which exists culturally for Indians with the city which exists politically for the

British.

The Argument

Tagore initiates the argument with a discussion of the city. ''The modern

civilization that you live in is made of brick and wood, that is the city6" (Tagore,

1982, p.1 Il ). He says that urbanization seems to be the naturai airection of

civilization and the city is its great product. It is crowded with people, hustling

and bustling and pushing each other about. He uses numerous terms repeatedly

throughout the argument M i ch mean pushing, (dhakkha, thayla-theyl] crowds

(pinddo) and crowded (ghesha-gheshi). There is a dynamic of conflicts and

clashes out of which the mind grows (Tagore, 1 982, p. 1 1 1 ). I would add that the

central focus of a city is people. The city which was close at hand is Calcutta,

and it was the capital of colonial India. The British built this city and if one

wanders through both London and Calcutta one easily recognizes the similarities

and duplications in architecture. In many ways, Calcutta is a colonial legacy. Its

heritage is as much English as it is Bengali.

The next part of Tagore's argument

This is not a word-for-word translation, but I that.

arises from this reality. He says that

have provided one which is close to

51

historically the source of lndian civilization was not the city, but the forest (1 982,

p.112). At this point he begins a word play. The word for forest is bon and the

word for origin is prasrobon. He builds his argument by making the linguistic

connection which exists in Bengali. Though he began by gloriving the ciiy, he

tums his audience to the forest (both Iiterally and linguistically). Without saying

so directly, he makes it clear that the generic city to which he refers is not an

Indian creation, but a British one. Tagore continues to build the argument along

these lines by saying that in the forest people were not pushing and shoving

around, nor had not become an indefinable mass. Then he introduces another

concept. He says that people had the opportunity to have a "vacation," abokash.

The introduction of a vacation in the forest seems forced. But by doing so, he

adds a dimension to the notion of space.

First, he makes distinctions between the city and the forest. The city and

forest constitute different types of space. The place and relative position of

individuals differs in each of these locations. In the city people Iive in a system

which defines their positions. The clashes Tagore speaks of occur because

people are likely to re-position themselves within the system. This is the

dynamic of the city and as Tagore points out, the mind grows out of it. I would

add that the mind grows within this system. To me the city is a maze-like

creation restrictions and pre-defined paths which are often difficult to

identify. In contrast, the forest is a place free of such restrictions. Tagore

deliberately ignores the dimension of the natural environment which is a part of

53

to the argument. Tagore takes another tum by introducing the concept of

consciousness. He says nothing about consciousness when discussing the city.

He talks about city living in concrete tens. But in his argument the forest

remains abstract. One has to bear in mind that his audience is farniliar with the

concept of forest, of bon, and of tapobon as he is using it. A rhetorical devices

of this kind is impossible to translate into English because these words, bon,

tapobon have cultural connotations. He is playing with the cultural fabric into

which his audience is bom. Therefore, it is easy for him to maintain an abstract

notion of forest in the rninds of audience. He simply continues to build on this

abstraction with the use of abokash, vacation, not as a literal one, but instead

one for the mind. Then he says, that life in the forest brightened the

consciousness of ancient lndian civilization of the tirne. Now Tagore tells his

readers that not only is the abstract space of the forest a place for contemplation,

but using the forest in this way could heighten and brighten an individual's

consciousness.

Tagore ends this part of the argument by saying that this phenornenon

has not occurred elsewhere in the world. Prof. Bandyopadhyay suggests that

this not the case. In the 1 9 2 0 ~ ~ Anandakumaraswami introduced India to the

cultures of lndonesia and Sri Lanka. However, in 1909, Tagore could not have

possibiy anticipated these diseoveries.

The next phase of Tagore's argument concretizes his abstract thoughts.

In spite of his assertion that he is not recomrnending the lives of saints, his

54

reader may be inclined to believe that this is, in fact, m a t he is saying. He takes

up the point by saying that when people are driven to the forest by circurnstance

they become wild (buno). They either become ferocious as the tiger or as stupid

as the deer. He is emphatically not advocating that people simply abandon their

lives for one which is cornpletely different. Instead, he wams that when people

are unprepared for such a change they either become ferocious or stupid. He

adds that people in ancient lndia became neither, because they were not driven

into the forest, but instead, grew out of it. They drew a strength from it and built

a civilization which lndia still can hold on to. At this stage, Tagore speaks of this

ancient civilization from a historical wntext by using the word for ancient,

pracheen. Thus far he had only used the Bengali term for India,

Bharatbarshho, but now he adds the adjective, pracheen. With the introduction

of the term, ancient, his readers now have to think of the forest as the raot of

ancient lndian civilization from which they have descended. Tagore shifts from

the city, British in origin, to the forest. He then moves from the abstract forest of

the mind to the historical, or mythological forests of ancient India. With these

shifts, he puts his readers in touch vvith their roots. His audience's origins are

not in the cities in which they iive but instead are in the forests from which lndian

civilization is supposed to have emerged.

In continuing his argument, he does not leave his audience in ancient

India. He shifts back to the use of Bharotbarshho without the temporal adjective.

pracheen. Furthemore, he introduces the (ostensible) genesis of lndian

55

literature. He says that when an lndian rnetropolis, u'aini (1 982, p.113) came

into existence, ''when the poet, Kalidas, was in this country, the age of the

tapobon had passedN7 (1 982, p. 1 13). Then he places this introduction of the

lndian poet within the context of outsiders who were in India. "At this time, the

Chinese, the Huns, the Shakers, the Persians, the Greeks and the Romans had

surrounded and crowded around us" (1 982, p. 1 13-1 4). He adds that, at the

same time, the king, Janaka, was faming. The story in the Indian epic,

Ramayana, is that while Janaka was ploughing one day, a little girl came out of

the soil. She was the daughter of the earth. Her name waç Sita and it was her

father, Janaka, who gave birth to her. The Sanskrit word for birth is janak (and

the Bengali is janma). Tagore echoes his earlier word play of bon and prasobon

with this play on Janaka and janak. Because the story cornes from the

Ramayana, the figures of Sita and Janaka are part of India's cultural fabric. After

mentioning King Janaka, Tagore recalls Kalidas again by adding that though the

time of the tapobon had passed historically, Kalidas still wrote about the tapobon.

Tagore draws on indian history and mythology and comments, "even when the

tapobon is not within our sight, our hearts still surround it" (1 982, p. 11 4).

Tagore pulls his audience into a collective consciousness by using these

cultural artifacts,

The place of cultural artifacts draws our attention to a section much later

Once again, I have provided a translation close to the original.

in the argument when Tagore introduces John Milton's Paradise Lost. He 4

quotes, in English, two lines frorn the beginning of the poem Mich takes place

in the Garden of Eden:

Beast, bird, insect, or wom, durst enter none Such was their awe of Man ... (1 982, p. 120)

At this point, Tagore draws a comparison between two mythical forests. Why

does Tagore not quote Genesis which is the source of Paradise Losf'? in quoting

the latter, Tagore calls on a literary allusion which is English though Christian in

origin. Had he quoted from Genesis, he would not be able to draw a direct

comparison between lndia and England. The allusion to the English specificaliy

reinforces Tagore's colonial context. This is yet another rhetorical device, or part

of one Tagore has already introduced. His audience was already being

educated in English and the study of English literature was a part of this

education. By drawing on this allusion he reminds his readzrs that this forest,

this Garden of Eden, does not belong to Indians. Indians have not evolved out of

the culture of which Paradise Losf is a part.

The quotation also helps us make a crucial distinction between the

ancient Indian, tapobon, and the forest of the Garden of Eden. Tagore says that

ail the creatures were in awe of "Man". He says that the first couple never seem

to establish a relationship with the animals. He is struck that Adam and Eve are

57

masters of other creatures and in no way sewe them. In the tapobon, students

live in the forest with their teachers to learn the ways of nature from the forest.

The idea is that students should leam about the environment by living in it a

knowledgable mind to guide them (the teacher, Guru). In the tapobon people

should leam to establish relationships with the other living inhabitants. Tagore

makes a distinction between the forest in which people subjugate other creatures

for their purposes and the forest where people live in hamony with other

creatures. He is telling his lndian audience that they have ernerged out of the

culture of the tapobon.

Throughout his argument, Tagore has woven in cultural artifacts Iike the

stories of Kalidas and demonstrated the power of metaphor. Tagore's suggested

use of tapobon is rnetaphorical also. Through the imagery of this forest he wants

us to create a space in our minds which acknowledges a world which has

creatures in it other than ourselves. Yet because it is a space which resides in

each individual, one c m use that space to explore oneself. Self-exploration

means coming to ternis wïth many things, including ernotions. At another point in

his argument, he uses the English words, "sacrifice and "resignation" (1 982,

p.117) to describe a process every individual must endure. He says that dukkha,

sorrow, can be a source of strength in a person's Iife. The experience of misery

helps one understand the misery of others. Therefore, using the fapobon to

explore and understand al1 kinds of emotions helps the individual to develop the

compassion that Tagore believes is fundamental to the development of a

humane society. In chapter six I list the variety of tasks which Tagore

recommended to his school in 1935 (six years before his death). These iists

(Tagore's) reflect what Tagore meant by sacrifice and resignation. He did not

believe in living in abject poverty, nor did he believe that the world should consist

of masters and servants. To him, there was no shame in work, only value.

60

Chapter 5: EDUCATIONAL REFORM AND THE ROLE OF CULTURE

Introduction

In this chapter, the connections between imperialism, culture and

education are examined. The literature review establishes Tagore's hatred

towards nationalism, Western or Indian, and his fear that India would succumb to

its own version of it. This chapter is essentially written in two parts. In the first

part, I discuss an article called Shikkhashangskar, "Educational Refon,"

(Tagore, 1982) written by Tagore in 1906. In it, Tagore examines lrish education

from Europe's Dark Ages to the invasion of Elizabeth 1. Tagore dernonstrates the

role Irish education played in the preservation of the lrish language and culture.

With the invasion, the lrish schooling system was completely destroyed and

replaced with an Imperia1 one. Tagore makes the argument that education is

both a vehicle for the indigenous governing power as well as the imperial power.

But the fundamental distinction lies in the purpoaes of education. In using the

lrish example, Tagore describes the perils of substituting the mother tongue as

the primary means of instruction. He argues that during the most crucial years,

the growth of an adolescent's imagination is stunted because she spends her

time trying to penetrate a foreign language. The second part focuses on an

article written in 1935 Shikkha O Shangshkriti, 'Education and Cultureln (Tagore,

1982). Here, Tagore presents the alternative use for education as sornething

other than a means to further the interests of the governing power. Education

6?

should be a means to give people culture. For him, a person without culture is a

cripple. Culture is the alternative to nationalism that Tagore wanted to give his

people.

The juxtaposition of these articles demonstrates the central role of culture

in Tagore's educational thought. On the one hand, he says we cannot adopt

another's culture and abandon our own. However, this does not mean th& we

should not leam about and leam from other cultures. On the other hand, every

individual needs culture to develop one's consciousness. Tagore seems to be

saying, "develop culture and cling to it. Then you will intemally orient yourself

away from excessive rnaterialisrn and towards deveioping your own hurnanity".

Tagore was not interested in legislating humane behaviour. Instead, he wanted

education to give people the means through which to develop compassion

towards the world, its people and al1 its creatures. Analysed together, the

arguments presented in these two articles, bring us to the present day. Poised

on the edge of the twentieth century, Tagore tells us a great deal which would

benefit educational goals today.

The juxtaposition of these articles also allows us to examine the concept

of subjugation in various farms. There is the obvious subjugation of the

colonized by the colonizer in the case of both the Irish and the Indians.

Education in this colonial context is a vehicle for this subjugation. The less

obvious subjugation is that created by the pursuit of material wealth. The second

article, Shikkha O Shangshknfi, 'Education and Culturen demonstrates that not

63

Part 1: Lanauaae. Instruction. Education. Culture and Impefialism

Europe is no stranger to invasions of various kinds and imperialism is one

such type. In a discussion on the Irish, Tagore not only draws out the penls of

education as a tool of imperialisrn, but demonstrates the power of an indigenous

system of education in preserving the indigenous culture. The following piece,

Shikkashangshkar, "Educational Reform," outlines Tagore's argument on the

preservation of culture through education. I have interspersed my analysis and

commentary as in chapter four on the tapobon.

The Araurnent

In the dark ages of European history, lreland was the only country in

which a tradition of learning survived (Tagore, 1982, p.90). Tagore describes the

traditional Irish school where students lived at school. It provided housing, food,

books and education free of cost. Students lived in the same place as their

masters and fellow students. I would add that from an early age in their lives the

students lived in a leaming environment.

The curriculum included Latin, Greek, and Hebrew though the medium of

instruction was Irish. All of the science disciplines cuvent in those days,

including mathematical astronomy and applied astronomy, were taught in Irish.

As a result, technical and scientific terminology developed in the Irish language.

Tagore raises an important distinction between the development of knowiedge

within a culture and the adaptation of knowledge from another culture. For

example, today, in which languages do we have terminology to describe the

64

information age of cornputer technology?

The Norse and Anglo-saxon invaders (Danes and the Angles) bumt down

Irish schools and al! the documents that they had accumulated wïthin them. The

teachers and students were killed or scattered al1 over the country. However, in

those areas wtiere the invaders did not go, this system of study remained. Local

niiers assumed the patronage formerly held by the monarchy. For the next

seven centuries, the lrish system of education was able to continue. It was not

until Elizabeth 1 invaded in the sixteenth century that the lrish lost control over

their education. Tagore says that their self (swa) control over education,

swabayo biddya (1 982, p.90), was destroyed. From a socio-political perspective,

the concept of self control is an important one. Self control means indigenous,

interna1 control which allows people to develop a system for themselves, by

themselves. Any imperial modifications or substitutions of the indigenous

educational systern takes away not only autonomy over education but alters the

purposes of education.

Tagore says that under Elizabeth 1, the Irish system of education had to

be reshaped. They had to abandon instruction in lrish under punitive measures.

Tagore explains that the lrish now had to be re-cast within a Saxon mould and

the national schooling system was adapted for this purpose. He says that this

clashing of two cultures inevitably results in mass confusion. Samuel Johnson

described the ideas of the English metaphysical poets as "yoked by violence

together" (Johnson. 1982, p.1054). I would add that the imposition of one culture

65

on another - through the medium of education - also yokes one culture together

~ Ï t h another by violence.

Tagore continues with an analysis of English motive. He says that if the

English were interested in providing education for the Irish then the medium of

instruction would have remained Irish. Students would have wntinued to leam

in their own language, become familiar with the language, and experience the

language. Once they had a sufficient amount of time to learn and develop

through their mother tongue, they could use the knowiedge of the mother tongue

to approach a foreign language and therefore, a foreign culture. It is important to

point out that Tagore uses the word for foreign, bideshi. He distinguishes

between the colonizer's and colonized's language, by calling the former, the

foreign language. Tagore was writing this piece in 1906 India, some forty-one

years before lndia became independent. Because the language of school

instruction was English in so many places. he could see that even after

independence, it would be diffmlt for lndians to switch back to their mother

tongues. After generations acquire knowiedge through the ianguage of the

colonizer, it becomes the language of the colonized. Therefore, the language of

accumulating and developing knowiedge ceases to be the mother tongue. Since

the language of instruction was no longer Irish, the development of scientific

language, for example, would now be stunted. As knowiedge is a fundamental

component of culture, Tagore makes this connection between the language of

instruction and the preservation and evolution of culture.

66

What is more dire to Tagore is the imposition of a foreign tongue that

results in mental stifling, and mental rigidity. He believes that young boys

entered their schools with curiosity and intelligence and left them A t h disabled

minds and a conternpt for knowiedge. The reason is that this kind of educational

system, shikkhapranali, does not 'brk the mind, but instead tums boys into

parrots" (1 982, p.91). Tagore provides a succinct critique of Freire's banking

system of education whereby knowiedge is stuffed into students hampering the

individual's development of the mind. The metaphor of the parrot makes

Tagore's critique of colonial education very clear. Education under the imperial

power exists for the purpose of creating these "parrots," (totapakh~] (Tagore.

1982, p. 91). Education exists not only for the accumulation of knowiedge but

also for the instillation of values. An educational system that produces parrots

will also produce people in whom it is easy to instill values useful for the

colonizet.

Then Tagore draws cornparisons between the Irish situation and the

Indian. He wams that one cannot compare one situation with the other and

expect to match one situation to the other, point by point. Nonetheless, if one

considers India's educational circumstance, at a "deep level, our situation is

similar to theirs" (Tagore, 1982, p.91). Having established the cornparison, he

develops it. He says that in our system of education, we do not work the rnind.

The language in which we learn takes us a long time to acquire. Until we are

able to penetrate this language, we do no more than use a hammer to open a

67

lock. During this process. we leam the language in theory only. Therefore,

Tagore tells us that a colonial system of education hampers the developrnent of

the mind. At a very fundamental level of culture, Tagore connects language, and

leaming wïth imperialism.

Language is a means through which we express what we see, M a t we

feel, what we believe, what we are thinking- A foreign language is not as

accessible as the mother tongue, and while we are busy acquiring this other

language, (or the language of the "other") we do not leam as much as we could.

Tagore is condemning the use of the foreign language as the medium of

instruction. He has no quarrel with the leaming of additional languages as he

mentions al1 the languages students leamed in the Irish school system. A

Memmian analysis places the issue of language instruction in a colonial context.

Memmi's second solution to the colonized is to revolt and abandon the colonial

life altogether. The point which Tagore makes here is more subtle and the

nuances of his argument need to be drawn out.

The argument can be interpreted as saying something like this. The

colonizer brings his culture - values. attitudes, language. custorns - to the

colonized and transplants his worldview into the colony through various

infrastructures, one of which is the educational system. In altering the

indigenous system of education, the colonizer not only uses education to

facilitate the colonial machinery, but also uses it to wittingly harnper the

development of the individual. The colonized's language and culture are

68

systematically degraded, and the colonized by virtue of being the possessors of

the culture, become inferior people. In using the Irish example Tagore is able to

show his audience the value of retaining the mother tongue as a rneans of

instruction. He does also say that the Irish leamt other languages and asserts

that their knowledge of one language, that is, their mother tongue, provided the

vehicle through which to leam other languages. Furthemore, he says that there

was no lack of technical and scientific teminology because Irish was the medium

of instruction. He holds up the lrish example as what education can mean to the

evolution of both indian languages and lndian cultures. Therefore, the

disintegration of the indigenous lndian culture and regional lndian languages

was a frightening prospect to him.

In building his argument, Tagore places the young person within the

education system and draws out the consequences of a colonial educational

system. He says that at the age of thirteen or fourteen "our minds are prepared

to receive the light of knowledge and the flow of ideasU8. But he says that when

the grammar of a foreign tongue is imposed, when the student is bombarded vvith

the hailstorms of memorizations, how can she get nourishment, pulishtolabho?

(1 982, p.91). Tagore uses the word for nourishment. The implication is that

knowledge and ideas are nourishment, as fundamental to the mind as food is to

Translated by Samik Bandyopadhyay.

69

the body. He says that we struggle, rnaramar? (literally meaning physical

fighting) until at least age twenty, only to acquire a few rights, adhikarfO, to the

English language. The expression, "right" is a politically charged tem. With this

one word, Tagore invokes the political relationship of the lndian with the British.

Simultaneously, he draws out the political relationship of the lndian to the

foreign, English language. It is only M e n one can express, prakash, M a t one

is leaming m i l e he is leaming it that one's understanding ripens, dharma paka

hoy. He adds that penetrating another's, parer, language (literally parer means,

not the kinsman, nor the close relative, but the "other") is "hard", shakto, and

expressing oneself is difficult. In this one sentence, Tagore ernphasizes the

notion of the foreign language by calling it the "other's" language. He afso

discusses two ways in wbich we use the mind. We acquire language, and use it

to express what we see and think.

Tagore then takes the argument further by introducing another function of

the mind. He says that until we leam to create, rachana, our mastery over the

language cannot be cumplete. We can memorize the "key" (Tagore uses this

English word) to use it in our "leaming" and 'Witiing" tasks. What Tagore adds to

the point, literally translates to this: "[the] work has to be continued." He insists

that one can memorize a set of rules, a "key," and carry on the tasks of leaming

- - - - - -

He conjures up a literal, physical image of a fist fight.

'O Rights is the direct translation of adhikar.

the article with the use of the word, maramari. He says that we struggle to

acquire a few rights to the English language, but the word he actually uses

literally translates to a physical fight.

If we look at this argument in the context of the entire argument we are

able to see m a t Tagore is saying about colonial education in India. First of ail,

we must notice that he begins by discussing lreland before and after imperial

control by Elizabeth 1. He is careful to mention al1 the languages students

learned under the original Irish educational system. Tagore iilustrates the

fundamental level at which colonial education hampers the growth of the mind

and the growth of the individual's creativity. In describing the f analogy between

nourishment, the body, knowledge and ideas, and the mind he explains the

fundamental role education can play in an individual's development. Education

can nourish the mind w'th knowledge and ideas at the stage in a person's life

when he can intemalize it and make it a part of his blood and flesh. But instead,

the imposition of a foreign tongue, as prirnary language of instruction, forces an

adolescent to acquire another's language in lieu of developing the mind and

imagination. This is what Tagore tells us about the key differences between

colonial and indigenous education. It is not just that students are made to leam

through another's language in preference to their own, but that colonial

education enslaves the colonized by stunting the development of their rninds.

We recall Freire who says that the banking system of education stiffles creativity

and stimulates credulity. In this sense, both the banking system and colonial

72

education are tools which facilitate subjugation.

Later in the article, Tagore defines two distinct systems of education. He

says that one system (pranali) (1 982, p. 92) produces the kind of person who

can think (chinta) for herself, search (shdhan) for hirnself and work for herself.

There is another system which produces (toyn) the person who follows orders to

serve others (parer hukum maniya), who ~ l l not object to the opinions of others,

and remain a supplier (iagandar) of other people's work. Tagore juxtaposes the

educational system of one's own, nije, as opposed to the other, parer. Sarnik

Bandyopadhyay notes that though the word, jagandar, is a part of common

Bengali parlance, it is actually an Arabic word. Clearly, Tagore's use of it draws

in the colonial rule of the Moguls that had preceded that of the British. To

ernphasize the self, Tagore uses three words - in succession - wïth the prefix,

swa, (which means self): swababa, meaning nature, swajati, meaning one's own

nation, and swatantra meaning self-rule". The fotm in which each word is used

allows them to sit side-by-side in the sentence. The word, swababa, adds a

critical dimension to the argument Tagore has built up. Though 1 think it will

become more clear in part il, the introduction of the concept of nature is

important to discuss. Tagore is saying that it is in the very nature of India to want

self-rule. In his description of the two educational systems, the first produces

people who could bewme a part of the process of self-rule. If education

Tantra means rule or code.

74

few natives to facilitate colonial power. Tagore says that this is "an easy process

for the government for where else does the misery (durgat~] of lndia lie?" (1 982,

p.92). He adds that if the goal of education is create human beings, then the time

of swatantra has corne into the hands of Indians. The process of creating human

beings from childhood can begin. If %e do not do this ourselves", he says,( jodi

nije na kan) "we will certainly (nischoy) die in food (anne manbo), in health

(shaabastheya maribo), in intelligence (budhife manbo), and in character (charife

maribo) (1 982, p.92). 1 have translated this sentence quite literally though the

"certainly" cornes at the end, and actually should read, certainly this will happen

(hoiya nischay). The reason is that in the Bengali version the emphasis lies in

the repetition of the word die, or will die, rnaribo. Tagore conjures up al1 the

imager' of nourishment, the mind and body again by juxtaposing the notion of

death with the words, food, health, interligeme and character. An education

system arising from self rule results in the essential education that creates

human beings in need of nourishrnent for both the body and the mind.

Part II: "Education and Culture"

Perhaps the most useful way to approach the article Shikkhashangshkar,

in Part 1, is to ask the question: if we could distill education, what products would

we find? I should review my approach in analyzing the article to explain why this

question is so useful. I have tried to extract the recurrent imagery and

demonstrate how Tagore uses it to reinforce his ideas. He emphasizes the

fundamental connection between knowiedge-ideas and the rnind with the

juxtaposition of the food and body imagery. In placing his imagery in the context

of his argument he differentiates between colonial education and Irish education

and places the numerous purposes of education into a political context. He

enabtes his reader to see wtiat education can bel M a t he thinks it should be and

what irnperialism makes it out to be.

In his letter to Dhirendrornohan Sen, Tagore writes about the connection

between education and culture. What if the essential product of education was

culture? The letter is dated 15th July, 1935, written twenty-nine years after the

article, "Educational Reform". Sen was one of those in the coionized group who

was grooming hirnself to take a position in the administrative services of

independent India. Later in this section, I discuss a letter that Tagore had written

to his son, Rathindranath, in which he paints Sen as the Brown Sahib (the lndian

who wants to be a British Sahib). In independent India, Sen became West

Bengal's first education rninister.

In the letter Tagore writes to Sen, Shikkha O Shangshknfi (Tagore, 1982,

p. 277-279) , Tducation and Culture," Tagore discusses one of the most

important functions of education: a means through which to develop culture. He

not only discusses culture in relation to education, but more significantly,

describes the role of culture in a person's life. In this letter, it becomes clear how

much Tagore values culture and what he thinks it means to every human being.

His thoughts on the tapobon refiect the critical importance of the development of

the individual- Here, also, he discusses culture at the level of the individual

though it is not obvious at the beginning of the argument.

Tagore begins the letter by saying that he had decided to write about

educational policy (shikkhabidhi] (1982, p.277) when he came upon an article in

an American jour na^'^. It pleased him because it echoed his views14 (Tagore,

1995, p.1) As in the article, "Educational Reform," Tagore draws a cornparison

between lndia and another country. He embarks on a discourse about American

values which seems quite remarkable. He says that there was an orientation

towards acquiring material wealth and as a result, the social being could not

completely develop because the property-oriented, materialistic being

suppressed it. Then he makes the revelation that the latter has collapsed and he

asks, what remains of the property-oriented being? K. Mitra translates the next

part of the argument as follows:

If decay sets in the outer sphere and the inner core too portrays hollowness, where then is the remedy? Today man is sad to proclaim himself a beggar; he cannot utter '1 have wealth within me?' Today it has no value; because the base on which he had

13~either the of the article nor the journal appear in this edition of the text.

l4 Though I am translating the text rnyself, I also refer to an unpublished translation done by Kamalika Mitra. Unless Mitra's translation is indicated, I have translated that part.

built the self has been destroyed (Tagore, 1995, p.1).

Clearly, Tagore starts to focus on the inner self, the individual inside. As in the

tapobon argument, the root of his concern, or his solutions, (however one

chooses to see it) lies at the level of the individual consciousness.

Then Tagore contlrxes the argument by drawing in ancient lndia. He

says that at a time when India's culture was "complete and full" (ponpurnno)

(Tagore, 1982, p. 277), she did not fear the "denouncement of wealth"

(dhana~aaghabake'~) nor was she ashamed of it. The reason, he says, is that

the "primary orientation" ("pradhan lakkho"16) was towards the core1' (antorer

dike) (Tagore, 1995, p.1). One can estimate the connotations of the w r d , antor,

as meaning not only the core, but the inner being and the inward self. We have

already seen that Tagore's thoughts on education take us back to what is inside

a person. Even in the images of flesh, blood, ideas and the mind (part 1), he

takes his readers to what is inside a person.

After introducing the concept of the core, Tagore teils us that education

should be oriented towards this core. He imrnediately inte jects the opposing

'' "Dhana," the first part of this word, literally translates to treasure. "Laaghabake" literally translates to loss of pride, or blasphemy.

l6 This is K. Mitra's translation of pradhan lakkho in the unpublished translation.

17~lso K. Mitra1s translation.

78

argument by saying, "however" (aboshho) this cannot be the only objective

(shimanayo because property-oriented, materiahriented education (boysshik

shikkha) must have a place, too. Humankind is a combination (miliye) both of

that which is practical (bayboharik) and that Wich is spiritual (paromarthik).

Nonetheless, Tagore declares that a man without culture is a like "a lame man

riding a bicycle" (khora manussh cholechhilo bicycle chore). The man "did not

think he had anything to wrry about" (bhabe ni kono chintar karon aacche) &en

the bicycle breaks down on himn (Tagore, 1982, p.277). This is the point Men,

says Tagore, that the man realizes that the bicycle has less "value" (mullyo) than

the "price of his feet" (payer damm beshq. He adds that man who boasts (barayî

kare) of his possessions (upakaran) does not realize how poor (gonb) he really is

(1 982, p.277). The leap from the analogy of the man on the bicycle to this

commentary on the materialistic individual is pivota1 to Tagore's argument. Here,

he connects the essential relationship between education and culture. We must

look inward. Though he acknowledges the place of property-oriented education,

he tells us that the man who boasts of his possessioi~s is poor but does not

realize how poor he is. The reason is that his education remains incomplete. A

boastful man's education clearly has not led hirn to culture, or else he would be

incapable of boasting. Like the lame man on the bicycle, he does not realize

what he does not have until he loses his possessions. When a person loses his

wealth (and the cornforts which accompany it) with M a t can she comfort

himself? And further, with where will he gain the strength to continue to work

79

and live? Tagore's answer would be culture.

As in his article on the tapobon, Tagore defines culture in a way unique to

him. However, unlike the tapobon argument, rather than re-define culture, he

demonstrates and suggests what culture means to him. He says that when lndia

had her own culture, full and complete, she did not wony about denouncing

wealth, nor was she ashamed of it. The obvious roie of culture then, is that it

offers Humankind something that possessions and material objects cannot. If

one were to try to articulate it, one might cal1 it insight and strength (together)

because whatever it is, in its undiluted fom, it gives Humankind the strength to

shun his possessions Aihout fear of losing them.

At another level, we must acknowledge that his statement on ancient lndia

is also politically charged. Tagore specifically says that when lndia had a culture

of her "own" (nijer) she was not afraid to denounce wealth. This recalls the

example of the Irish. In losing control of their educational system they lost the

prirnary means through which to maintain and enrich their own culture. It is

important to recall that Tagore outlined specifically the different languages Irish

students leamed, al1 the A i l e maintaining their mother tongue as the primary

language of instruction. In light of this argument, we can further develop

Tagore's concept of culture. The notion of ownership is crucial. If a person

emerges from within a culture, he can assume (some) ownership of it. The

vehicle for this ownership is language. Therefore, Tagore is telling us that M e n

a culture is our own, it provides strength for us. If, however, our culture has been

81

of her own she was not afraid to shun possessions. As already discussed,

culture gives people sornething more to lean on beyond material possessions.

Its existence also allows people to respect themselves enough not to have to rely

on publicity and opportunism.

Anti-thetical Svstems of Education: Taaore's versus Colonial and

Postcoloniai Ones

I have deliberately waited to introduce Tagore's discussion of the colonial

context of education until now. I have reorganized the presentation of ideas in

the letter (to Sen) for the purpose of separating Tagore's goals for education in

Shantiniketan with those of the governing powers of both colonial India and post

independent India. In this section I focus on Tagore's comrnentary on India's

existing colonial system of education as well as fears about postcolonial

education. Towards the end of Tagore's letter to Sen, he comments on the

institutions in Shantiniketan.

Tagore says early in his letter that it is the orientation towards the inner

core that he bore in mind when establishing his educational endeavours in

S hantini ketan oakhon Shantiniketane pratham bidalaye stapan kon takhon ai

lokhotai amar mone probolo chilo). Yet he was aware that creating education for

the sake of creating hurnan qualities ran contrary to the colonial administration's

purposes for education. He says that the purpose of (his educational) institution

is not to get degrees in econornics, but instead to strengthen one's character

(chanifoke bolishtho), to understand the circurnstances of others (shakal

abhosfha jannye nijeke nipunbhabe prosfhut kara), build one's selfanfidence

and to depend on it ( n i ' s h antoshahir opor nirbhar kore) in order to take

responsibility to work with and work for others (karmonushthaner dayto

shadhona kara) (Tagore, 1982, p.278). In his letter to E.J. Thompson, Prasanta

Mahalanobis outlines Tagore's development goals (chapter two). Education in

his institution should prepare students for these kinds of work. With the mention

of the economics degree, he introduces the antithetical system of colonial

education.

Tagore ends the letter with a reflection on the success of his

Shantiniketan educational experiment. He says that one day on the way to

Shantiniketan he came upon a cow-drawn cart whose wheels were stuck in the

mud:

Our studentsI8 freed the wheels .... Because we had no Iabourers in the ashram at the time, the students carried their bags on their backs .... They considered it their duty to look after the strangers who were became our guests .... On that day they made the ashram's path and closed up the hole .... Culture had infiltrated their education.. . . (Tagore, 1 982, p.279).

Tagore's example indicates that the students he had encountered had received

the education which he sought to establish. Their actions reflected both

Students of Tagore's ashram.

84

words, Bengali and English, have been wllapsed into one using only the roots of

each word. Its use signals the extent to which Bengalis and the English have

becorne synonymous in this letter. We should recall Tagore's criticism of

Bengalis in administrative positions in his article of 1906, Shikkhashangshkar,

"Educational Reform". ln 1935, Tagore anticipates the vulnerability of his school

in Shantiniketan to people such as Sen who belong to that group within the

colonized world who seek to assume the colonizer's position once they have

gone. He continues his argument saying that this English-Bengali snobbishness

heralds a kind of heaven (je shargolok kamona dore) which might prove io be

addictive (amader modhye she nesha jodiprobesh kare). He comments:

The college systern is infiltrating Shantiniketan, but do we need to take on the responsibility of making sahibs out of our young men? Do we in Shantiniketan need to pave a road for education which leads, ultimately, to England? (1 982, p.272).

He ends by saying that if Shantiniketan eventually ends up Iike this, even after

his death, he will sever his connection with it. Tagore died in 1941, but obviously

knew in which direction people iike Sen would take India. He may also have

anticipated that Sen would have an important administrative role in independent

India.

85

Conclusion

These two pieces, Shikkhashangskar and Shikkha O Shangshknti, place

the role of culture into two realrns, that of the individual and society. Both these

are politically dominated and culture can be used to further political goals, or as

a means to transcend the poiitics. In his article, "Educational Reform," Tagore

explains that a nation's indigenous culture should never be subordinated through

the education system; yet his position in no way dismisses the study of other

languages and cultures. In his letter to Sen, "Education and Culture," he extends

this argument by describing the character of ancient India. He says that when

India's culture was complete and her own, she was not afraid to shun material

possessions. Culture, in this way, is a source of strength. It is necessary for

people to have the strength to build thernselves, their community and their

society for themselves. They need strength in addition to skills and knowiedge to

realize they can forge their own paths, and not follow the formulas left behind by

colonialism.

Introduction to Shantinikefan Ashrarner Shikkhanitl'

In the first section of his address, Tagore says that the socialization

process should begin in the school, in the ashram,. To him, this meant leaming

al1 the tasks necessary to get through daily life. At the level of seif-development,

he recommends the development and enhancement of the senses to improve

thinking and perception. The ultimate goal of education in the ashram is that

students should become truthful in every aspect of humanity, the mind, the heart

and behaviour.

A) Dailv Life and Household Chores

At the beginning of the address, Tagore says that students must learn to

keep a clean home, and practice good environmental and personal hygiene. He

perceives these to be concerns fundamental to every individual. He suggests

that every student should have a space within the hostel which slhe must keep

clean. Each hostel, as a unit, will have a designated piece of land and the

students will be responsible for looking after it meticulously and methodically

(panpafyashdhaner) (Tagore, 1982, p.273). The responsibility of maintaining

and decorating a piece of land draws in the importance of aesthetics and art. In

his article, The Role of the Arts in Shantiniketan, KG. Subramanium says that the

artist influences society at al1 levels. Out of this influence grows a new

awareness of life (Subramanium, 1995). Tagore also says that they must take

care of the plants on the land, keep their rooms (ghar), clothes (beshbhussha),

88

beds (shasshhya), bodies (deho) and seats (aashan) clean (Tagore, 1982,

p.273). He emphasizes that siudents must realize that not to do sol is shameful.

In terms of the immediate environment, Tagore says that students must keep

their furniture in place and keep it clean. They should maintain lists of their

books, clothes and their other possessions.

Tagore also wants students to develop respect for their own possessions

as well as those of others. He says if anyone's things are spoiled, they should

report it to the authorities of the school, because students need to learn to look

after the things they borrowfrorn others. They should also know that handling

another's belongings wîthout permission is indecent and impolite (abhadrota)

(1 982, p.273).

BI Behaviour

For Tagore, the rules governing behaviour extended far beyond

respecting other people's possessions. I do, however, want to make it clear that

Iike the numerous tasks outlined in the preceding and section, the duties Tagore

recommends here are rneant to help the student develop understanding. They

are not meant to dictate behaviour, but instead, to create the opportunity to

understand others through action and subsequently, reflection.

Tagore describes how students should behave with their peers as well as

89

their elders. Every moming students should greet each other and pranadO their

house teacher. They ought to elect a captain and then leam to abide by this

leader's decisions and instructions. Any violation refiects brdly on the student

and they should understand this. Samik Bandyopadhyay points out that no one

is imposing anything on them because they elect their own judge. Tagore

continues his instructions in saying that Menever an elder enters the roorn,

students should stand up and greet him. It is important to cunsider the

implications of what he is saying. Though the gestures towards elders seem

particularly conventional, the purpose behind them may not be. I do not believe

that Tagore is suggesting a kind of blind deference to elders (which still exiçts in

Bengali culture). Instead, the gestures towards them should be seen in relation

to those for fellow students. The practice of greeting people brings a kind of

graciousness to the atmosphere of the ashram. It is a place which is much more

than a school because the students live in it. Graciousness is an aesthetic

aspect of behaviour. Tagore also outlines behaviour for unusual or special

occasions. He insists that guests, visitors and any outsiders shouid always be

asked what they need and students should oblige them. Servants in the ashram

should never be mistreated. Any student who does, w.ll never be forgiven,

abomanna konomatei kkhama kara hoibe na. Tagore's language here is most

emphatic and clear. Kononmatei means "in no way". Therefore, another

Pranam is a physical gesture (bending d o m and touching each foot with the right hand) made to elders to ask, symbolically, for their blessings.

90

possible translation of the sentence could be that any student who mistreats a

servant will in no way be forgiven (kkhama)(1982, p. 273). Here Tagore

introduces practices which should decondition students from oppressive

behaviour towards a traditionally oppressed group. He says that there will be

one day when the students serve food to the servants. Servants should be

invited to every festive occasion. There wi-Il be times when students from one

hostei invite students from another for activities and entertainment- On these

occasions, the host students will make ail the arrangements to look after their

guests.

The development of a code of behaviour was also important to Tagore

and the various duties and responsibilities he ouilines are meant to help them

develop their own code. This code should corne from within each individual

student as a result of performing the numerous tasks Tagore outlines. No

authority will impose a code, nor overstep h/er boundaries. In every hostei,

students wïli choose a leader and it wi-Il be the leader's special responsibility to

ensure that the students follow the rules and regulations.

C) Development of Perceotion

In order to understand this section as fully as possible, one should recall

Tagore's tapobon. He wanted people to create a space within themselves to

explore and understand themselves as well as the world around them. An

92

suggests that students should learn to: sow (knsho), weave (ta fer kaj], work wi-th

metai or iron (kamarer), work w-th oil (filir kaj), as well as pottery (kumarer)(l982.

p.274). Students should have to study ail the occupations of villagers. In

addition, they must know about al1 the different cerernonies and rituals which

take place in the different seasons. They have to leam to make moral (nautik)

and economic (arthik) distinctions between different types of villages, Muslim,

Hindu, Santal (Santal is the name of a tribe) and those inhabited by various

Hindu castes. Tagore adds that investigation (anusnadhan) and documentation

(likhan aaoshyak) of religious practices (dharmanushfhan), beliefs in spirits and

ghosts (bhutprefer bishash), medicine (chikitsha), birth and death (janmomntfu)

and rnarriage (bibaho) should be compulsory (1 982, p.274). These

documentations can be preserved in museums. These two practices of

investigation and documentation are important to hirn because through them,

students can understand the totality of tribal lives. At times, they should travel to

endure the hardships of travelling to remote places and experience living in

distant villages. These visits would also allow student to observe the suffering

that marginalized people have to endure.

Tagore is remarkably exact and meticulous in his instructions. First,

students refine their perception through daily tasks that exercise the senses. As

they develop the senses, they must begin the practices of observation and

recording. He lays the emphasis on developing the senses at the most basic

level because the senses are the tools with which one observes. Finally, he

93

believes that students should completely experience the life of villagers, their

occupations, ways of living, means of travelling, as well as leam their

ceremonies and rituals,

In addition to learning and developing numerous skills, students spend

their formative years in a system which deconditions them from the practice of

subjugation. If a school, or his school, were to follow Tagore's instructions

exactly, a student would spend their formative years first, preparing for village

and tribal experiences and second, experiencing them. The preparation process

would result in refined capabilities of perceptions, and ethnographic and

anthropological skills of observation and documentation. Most importantly, the

rneticulous process of observation would familiarize students so intimately

oppressed peoples that it would be virtually impossible for these students to

becorne the perpetrators of oppression.

Dl Learnina Within Disciplines

In the previous section I imposed two academic terms on Tagore's

instructions, anthropological and ethnographic. Later in the address, Tagore

discusses the place of various disciplines in his ashram. He says that they have

neither the best facilities nor resources to teach chernistry, physics and other

scientific disciplines. However, they can teach botany (umbidbiddya), agriculture

94

(krishibiddhya), and rneteorology2' (aabahabiddyar). He says aisi 1-1 &dors

can teach anatorny and physiology (shanrbiddya) and the use of medical

instruments (janfrobiddya) (1 982, p.274). In the area of chemistry, he says ttiat a

chemist can visit from Calcutta, once a week, and teach the students h m tù

make soap, ink and paper. Tagore did not want a lack of resources to prevent a

range of study. These ideas reflect the resourcefulness he wantec to pass on to

his students.

El Leamina Outside the Ashram

In keeping wikh Tagore's recommendations for work in villages, he also

has a proposition for a volunteer programme. He says that it is necessary for

students to form volunteer groups (broteebalikar dawl) and work in the villages to

prevent malaria. They have to start working in their immediate environment

(pratibesh) and begin to start ruling themselves (aatamashashankkhamo)

because this is the foundation of swaraj, independence. Students learn that

this is also the basis for the construction of swaraj. They need to study the

sociological (samaj) and economic (aathirk) conditions (abostha) to understand

the barriers to improvement (unnotir je shakal badha achhe). Experiments which

other countries have undertaken in social welfare, lokhifakar, have to be

*' Tagore uses the English word in parenthesis.

95

examined. One has to exercise caution in fhis endeavour because students

must not develop disrespect towards the customs (aachar baybohar) or the

people (lokjatra) of other countries (Tagore, 1982, p.274) .

FI Teachers and Students

Tagore insists that teachers should attend every ceremony, festival and

social occasion at the ashram. He says that if teachers la& curiosity

(oitshutkayr), then "it be virtually impossible for them to protect the natural

curiosity (rakkha kâra) of their students" (1 982, p.275). Though Tagore suggests

earlier in the speech that students should take responsibility for their own

leaming, he wants teachers to support and motivate them.

As he ends the article, he comments on the administrative structure of the

ashram. Tagore closes with two statements. First, he says, "ln simple tens, I

have written everything 1 have to Say on my educational policies (shikkhanit~] for

the ashram" (Shadharon bhabe aashramer shikkhaniti shamande amarlaha

baMokbo taha opore likhilam) (1982, p.276). Secondly, he adds a short

paragraph saying that among the teachers, one should be appointed to ensure

that there are no hindrances to the educational process, that the rules of the

ashram are being followed, and the festivals and ceremonies continue. They will

Conclusion

The above discussion demonstrates the kind of curriculum Tagore

believed is necessary to produce respectful, cornpassionate individuals.

In this address we see how Tagore combines action and reflection in his vision

of the ideal goals of education. Tagore says that students must 1 ) cultivate

every sense fully (to develop thinking and perception), 2) make a habit of

observing, rewrding and reflecting nature and culture in infinite detail, 3)

exercise responsibility and sensitivity towards al1 people, and 4) learn to perform

al1 different types of tasks for survival and good hsslth. The process of action

and reflection (outlined here) should also lead a person away from excessive

materialism and consequently, uncurbed greed. The relationship behhleen

action, reflection and its results reflects Tagore's remarkable ability to think both

abstractly and pragrnatically. The goals of his ideas are lofty, but the systems

through wtiich to achieve these goals are practical and possible.

Chapter Conclusion

The best place to begin a study of Rabindranath Tagore's thoughts

on education is to focus on the core of every individual. His focus began from

this point. He believed that education should lead to the development of a

compassionate, humane society and that this development begins vvïth every

individual. The creation of an inner space called the tapobon gives each person

the opportunity to reflect. The conception and utilization of this space allows

each individual, living anywhere, to reflect on his own values, to contemplate the

events surrounding her and determine what his own role should be in the world.

The ability to use the tapobon is perhaps the most important ski11 any individual

can learn. It is the place where one can question social expectations and

political demands, examine one's ovm seIfishness, and determine M a t is tnie

and truly important. Tagore could see that if lndians were to build a humane,

cornpassionate post-independent India, then every individual would have to use

this tapobon space to shed colonial values and ideals and re-position

themselves from a subordinated position. Memmi would Say that in Tagore's

tapobon, the colonized can liberate themselves through "a recovery of self" and

99

the establishment "autonomous dignity" (1 991, p.128).

If lndians could have made a cultural break from their imperial nilers, then

they would have been able to avoid the postcolonial syndrome. A country which

is postcolonial seems to live and re-live the colonial experience long after the

colonizer has left. Legal, political and educational infrastructures coupled ~ Ï t h a

preference for the colonizer's culture do not allow the former colony to transcend

its postcolonial status. Tagore's argument on the tapobon reflects the extent to

which he believed that Indians should tum to their own culture in forging their

future. Furthermore, the image of the city he portrays is not far removed from

city life anywhere. The use of the tapobon is as relevant and necessary for us

today as it was in colonial lndia.

Tagore's suggestion that lndians should ernbrace their own culture

surpasses the return to fundamentalism to Wich some nations and peoples have

turned. His insistence that power should not be reacted to, but rather, ignored

pushes us to look at the role of culture. His message is clear: embrace culture

as a way to get in touch with the inner core. From this place inside build-up

knowledge, character and self respect. Culture orients a person towards this

core. The tapobon is a place to reflect on what lies in the core. Tagore's story

about the boys who helped the strangers reflects the best of what he believed

education should achieve. These were the boys who could do constructive work

for the country. The combination of the tapobon, culture and an orientation

towards the core pushes individuals towards constructive development work and

1 O0

away from the greed and materialism that lead people to exploit and oppress

others. Tagore's discussion of culture dernonstrates the application of Memmi's

second choice. Memmi calls for a break and not a compromise. Any anti-power

response to irnperial power would be a break. The reason is that when the

imperial power was goveming, it dictated not only the political and economic

orientation of the nation, but through educatior: (and other institutions) the social

orientation as well. Tagore wanted people to build a healthy society: one that

teaches its young not to oppress, not to exploit, but instead, to work for

themselves and for others. These goals require culture as a source of strength

and guidance to help instil and maintain the compassion that the boys in

Shantiniketan demonçtrated to the strangers (chapter five). If culture plays such

a role, fundamentalism and tribalisrn have no place to spawn because culture is

not being used as a weapon against colonialism or neocolonialism. Instead, it is

being used to create a new kind of society.

It is important to rea!ize that Tagore did not preach the good of society

over the individual. In fact. in his letter on education and culture to Sen (chapter

five) he says that students also need to be exposed to property-oriented

education, because people have a materialistic side to their being. His great

concem was that the desire for possessions should not grow and lead to

exploitation, both of people, animals and the natural environment. Oppression,

tyranny and subjugation go hand-in-hand with exploitation. Tagore saw

education as a preventive measure against these ugiy human traits. He was of

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1 O8

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