Dr. V.K. Maheshwari, Former Principal
K.L.D.A.V(P.G) College, Roorkee, India
O you shaggy-headed banyan tree standing on the bank of the pond,
Have you forgotten the little child?
Like the birds that have nested in your branches and left you?
Do you not remember how he sat at the window?
And wondered at the tangle of your roots that plunged underground?
The women would come to fill their jars in the pond,
And your huge black shadow would wriggle
On the water like sleep struggling to wake up.
Sunlight danced on the ripple like
Restless tiny shuttles weaving golden tapestry.
Two ducks swam by the woody margin above their shadows,
And the child would sit still and think.
He longed to be the wind and blow through your rustling branches,
To be your shadow and lengthen with the day on the water,
To be a bird and perch on your topmost twig,
And to float like those ducks among the weeds and shadows.
The Banyan Tree (from Crescent Moon)
“From the solemn gloom of the temple children run out to sit in the dust, God watches them and forget the priest” – R.N.Tagore
Rabindra Nath Tagore was an icon of Indian culture. He was a poet, philosopher, musician, writer, and educationist. Rabindra Nath Tagore became the first Asian to become Nobel laureate when he won Nobel Prize for his collection of poems, Gitanjali, in 1913. He was popularly called as Gurudev and his songs were popularly known as Rabindra Sangeet. Two songs from his Rabindra Sangit canon are now the national anthems of India and Bangladesh: the Jana Gana Mana and the Amar Shonar Bangla.
Rabindra Nath in general, envisioned an education that was deeply rooted in one’s immediate surroundings He felt that a curriculum should revolve organically around nature with classes held in the open air under the trees to provide for a spontaneous appreciation of the fluidity of the plant and animal kingdoms, and seasonal changes. Children sat on hand-woven mats beneath the trees, which they were allowed to climb and run beneath between classes. Nature walks and excursions were a part of the curriculum and students were encouraged to follow the life cycles of insects, birds and plants. Class schedules were made flexible to allow for shifts in the weather or special attention to natural phenomena, and seasonal festivals were created for the children by Tagore.
Although there were times spent swimming in the Ganges River and hiking, Tagore’s childhood days were mostly confined to the family estate under the watchful eye of, sometimes abusive, servants. He rarely saw his father and his mother died when he was thirteen. After failing to flourish in the conventional school system, Rabindra Nath obtained his early education with tutors at home
His experiences at his childhood provided him with a lifelong conviction concerning the importance of freedom in education. He realized in a profound manner the necessity for an intimate relationship with one’s cultural and natural environment. In participating in the cosmopolitan activities of the family, he came to reject narrowness in general, and in particular, any form of narrowness that separated human being from human being. He saw education as a vehicle for appreciating the richest aspects of other cultures, while maintaining one’s own cultural specificity and uniqueness.
Acquisition of experience through freedom and joy being the essence of Tagore’s conception of an ideal education, naturally he was entirely opposed to any form of rigid and harsh discipline. He firmly believe that, the unrealistic curriculum and formalistic teaching methods rendered the prevailing system of education lifeless, the heartless and even brutal, and repulsive. Harsh discipline, Tagore pointed out, betrays a lack of insight on the part of the teacher into the delicate the intricate mechanism of the human mind. It is especially true in dealing with adolescence, which, being a transition period in the life of man, is marked by acute sensitiveness and self-consciousness. The atmosphere of rigid order and strict obedience enforces “a cruel slavery” and is “demoralizing” for children. “It exacts perfect obedience at the cost of individual responsibly and initiative of mind.” It kills “that sprit of liberty” “the spirit of adventure” which are essential for new experiences and fresh achievements. The suppression of the child’s natural impulses for physical activity and emotional experience leads to “all kinds of aberration and real wickedness”. Tagore stoutly proclaimed his utter distrust in external imposition of order and good behaviour and stated that the discipline of the army or the prison had no place in an educational institution. Rough discipline, Tagore contented, is not only demoralizing for children; it degrades the teacher also. The mute subjection of his pupils adds to his autocratic propensities. Moreover, their passive, silent contempt, which he himself provokes, hurts him secretly; and “none can discharge his duties in an atmosphere of contempt.” Tagore had very strong words to use for teachers who are addicted to repressive methods of dealing with children. They should better be jail-wardens or drill-sergeants, he said, rather than take the charge of bringing up students. He criticized “the inherent love of power” and “the lust for tyranny” of these “born tyrants” and stated emphatically that their misguided conduct “cause the greatest mischief possible in the human world.”
Tagore believes that “compulsion is not indeed the final appeal to man, but joy is. Any joy is everywhere; it is in the earth’s green covering of grass; in the blue serenity of the sky; in the reckless exuberance of spring; in the severe abstinence of grey winter; in the living flesh that animates our bodily frame; in the perfect poise of the human figure, noble and upright; in living; in the exercise of all our powers; in the acquisition of knowledge; in fighting evils; in dying for gains we never can share. Joy is there everywhere; it is superfluous, unnecessary; nay, it very often contradicts the most peremptory behests of necessity. It exists to show that the bonds of law can only be explained by love; they are like body and soul. Joy is the realization of the truth of oneness, the oneness of our soul with the world and of the world-soul with the supreme lover.”
Tagore’s faith in the principles of freedom and joy as the fundamental principles of life naturally inspired him to apply them as much to the problem of discipline as to other educational problems. The negation of freedom was, to his mind, the negation of life and growth. It obstructs the child’s natural urge for self-expression through body and mind, which is of vital significance for his physical and mental development.
Freedom of thought and expression, according to Tagore, is necessary for the children not only for their intellectual development and training of character, but also for a free and happy relationship with their teachers and other inmates of the institution, which cannot be achieved in an atmosphere of artificial restraint and unnatural reserve.
The degree of freedom that Tagore personally allowed in these respects, either in or outside the class or in the general life at the institution, is at times incredible. Instances are on record as to how he freely tolerated-nay, encouraged-even impertinent utterance in his classes which should very much annoy an average teacher. He even went to the extent of allowing his students openly and publicly to criticize the cherished fundamental ideals of the institution and proudly congratulating then as well as himself on their demonstration of courage and condors… “This Shantiniketan will fail” he declared on one such occasion, “if it fetters your minds or makes you fear….Today is the day of my victory, because my students have said today freely and bravely that I am hopelessly in the wrong. I do not admit that I am wrong, but I want you to have the courage to say so, if that is your conviction. May Shantiniketan always give you that freedom and courage.”
Tagore’s fervent, almost passionate, advocacy of the principle of freedom should not lead to the assumption that he was disposed to encourage unbridled license or attached little importance to disciplinary virtues. On the contrary, his writings are interspersed with numerous utterances upholding various ideals associated with a disciplined and well-integrated personality. According to him” The human soul is on its journey from the law to love, from discipline to liberation, from the moral plane to the spiritual. Buddha preached the discipline of self-restraint and moral life; it is a complete acceptance of law. But this bondage of law cannot be an end by itself; by mastering it thoroughly we acquire the means of getting beyond it. It is going back to Brahma, to the infinite love, which is manifesting itself through the finite forms of law.”.
On the seashore of endless worlds children meet.
The infinite sky is motionless overhead
And the restless water is boisterous.
On the seashore of endless worlds
The children meet with shouts and dances.
They build their houses with sand
And they play with empty shells.
With withered leaves they weave their boats
And smilingly float them on the vast deep.
Children have their play on the seashore of worlds.
They know not how to swim; they know not how to cast nets.
Pearl fishers dive for pearls, merchants sail in their ships,
While children gather pebbles and scatter them again.
They seek not for hidden treasures; they know not how to cast nets.
The sea surges up with laughter
And pale gleams the smile of the sea beach.
Death-dealing waves sing meaningless ballads to the children,
Even like a mother while rocking her baby’s cradle.
The sea plays with children,
And pale gleams the smile of the sea beach.
On the seashore of endless worlds children meet.
Tempest roams in the pathless sky,
Ships get wrecked in the trackless water,
Death is abroad and children play.
On the seashore of endless worlds is the
Great meeting of children.
Seashore – Rabindra Nath Tagore