People are looking towards India to play a great role in peace, tranquility and cohesion. Every learner must internalise the strength of Indian culture and its inherent universality
At the mid-point of the 20th century, “growth, progress and development” emerged as the key drivers of policy formulations in most developing countries. Developed countries were too keen to offer “ideas, strategies and experts” in such initiatives, mostly for reasons that were no secret to anyone. All of this resulted in the Western psyche being sustained in the former colonies, clandestinely suppressing the emergence of ideas, imagination and endeavour that was rooted to the soil and tradition of knowledge quest in each of these nations. The only encouraging sign is the realisation of this quiet intrusion. So there is an emergence of initiatives that are “rooted to culture and committed to progress.” The most illustrative example is the formulation of the National Policy of Education (NEP), 2020.
In 1937, India had already prepared a well thought out plan on foundational learning or Buniyadi Talim. Proposed by Mahatma Gandhi, it was meant to replace the transplanted alien system. It preferred continuity. Its focus on drawing the best out of body, mind and spirit clearly links it to Indian culture and heritage and simultaneously takes note of international requirements and aspirations to ensure that young Indians are not deficient in any context. It is evident in the NEP that next generations have to play a far greater role not only within India but also on the global stage. People are looking towards India to play a great role in humanity’s march towards a world of peace, tranquility and cohesion. Towards this end, every learner must comprehend and internalise the strength of Indian culture and its inherent nature of universality.
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals or SDG-17 are the global expression of common concerns being faced by humanity. To be achieved by 2030, these include education as SDG-4, which aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” One of the most challenging and an ambitious goal is the Target 4.7: “By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development.” To achieve this target, and every other contained in SDG-17, India, too, needs an education that acculturates. Even a cursory perusal of the NEP, 2020, would indicate that it comprehensively embraces all of these aspects and has persistent emphasis on acculturating its learners. It begins a with a comprehensive statement of the eternal goal of education and learning: “Education is fundamental for achieving full potential, developing an equitable and just society, and promoting national development.” This policy very clearly acknowledges the emerging role of India on the global stage and, at the same time, recognises the need to transform the existing systems of teaching and learning to ensure that it consistently, and in a dynamic manner, derives its nourishment and enrichment from the very soil of this land. Culture is a dynamic entity and only such cultures, which did not discard the assimilations necessitated by the changing times, have survived. It was very suitably stated by MK Gandhi in Harijan of May 9, 1936: “The Indian culture of our times is in the making. Many of us are striving to produce a blend of all the cultures, which seems today in clash with one another. No culture can live, if it attempts to be exclusive.” Accordingly, he had all the respect for European and Western culture, which was suitable in that context but was fully convinced that copying it would be ruinous to India. It would be interesting how Gandhi could foresee the future and write in 1931 that: “I make bold to say that Europeans themselves will have to remodel their outlook if they are not to perish under the weight of the comforts to which they are becoming slaves.”
Unfortunately, the glamour and glitz of materialistic pursuits gradually took precedence over spiritual quest and have landed the entire humanity in a badly wounded man-nature relationship. India’s destiny lies in its traditional ways of respect for nature, life and its acceptance of every conceivable diversity created by nature, Ekam Sat Viprah Bahudha Vadantih – Truth is one. In such a philosophical comprehension, there could be no place for disrespect to any culture, religion or faith. It was realised by luminaries who could take an unbiased and objective view on India, its culture and the tradition of knowledge quest. Great historian Arnold Toynbee is often quoted for having said that a chapter which had a Western beginning will have to have an Indian ending. This, he found, was necessary to prevent the self-destruction of the human race. Could there be a greater tribute to India and its heritage? Does it not astonish us that now scientists are calculating how long the planet Earth would survive? India has to write the chapter that would bring back the culture of acceptance of and respect for diversity, a tradition it has practised over thousands of years. When Mahatma Gandhi wrote that nature has sufficient resources to meet the need of everyone but not the greed of any one, he was echoing he eternal value of aparigrah or non-accumulation. Now the responsibility of India is to realise its global obligation to revive its own culture, live it and let the world learn from it.
Developments in science and technology have reduced physical distances and provided instantaneous global connectivity up to the last man in the line. So demographic variations became inevitable. Poverty, hunger, violence and terrorism have accentuated human migration. When people move in large numbers, they carry with them their religion, language, culture, traditions and practices. It has deep implications for mutual acceptance of diversity in every aspect of human life. These could lead to widespread differences and even to sporadic violent clashes. What happened recently – as well as in the past – in France is only one of such instances that indicate the gravity of the concern.
Things are particularly tough for nations which had the experience of one culture, one language and one religion. Over the last three decades, it is globally recognised that one of the most prominent challenges before humanity is “learning to live together.” The uninitiated are often amazed to witness the continuity of the Indian tradition of acceptance of diversity – particularly of faiths and religions – and tradition of mutual respect that existed all along, unless it was deliberately distorted and disturbed by external elements. Is it possible to ignore how Emperor Asoka transformed after the Kalinga War and consequent massacre and his acceptance of Buddhism? But it did not impact his reverence for other religions. His rock edicts clearly indicate the importance he attached to the “advancement of the essential doctrine of all sects.” His twelfth rock edict contains an eternal message that is universally applicable even today: “This progress of the essential doctrine takes many forms, but its basis is the control of one’s speech so as not to extol one’s own sect or disparage another’s on unsuitable occasions, or at least to do so mildly on certain occasions. On each occasion one should honour another man’s sect, for by doing so, one increases the influence of one’s own sect and benefits that of the other man’s, while by doing otherwise, one diminishes the influence of one’s own sect and harms the other man’s.” It’s very clear – if any clarity is needed – that Indians had learnt much ahead of others “to live together.”
At this juncture, human existence is at stake. There are several well-delineated factors – consequences of human follies – responsible for our sufferings. It must be acknowledged and accepted that misinterpreted religion is the easiest refuge of the rogue elements to create dissension. As the inheritors of the legacy of luminaries like Asoka, is it not obligatory on the part of India and Indians to practise this legacy?
The answer is simple. Each generation has to acquire, internalise and find its own “self-fulfillment” by “living up to its fundamental values afresh.” In his illustrious essay, Significance and Vitality of Culture, K.M. Munshi refers to this recapturing of the values of culture by each generation by a “subtle process of reinterpretation, reintegration and adaptation.” In his words, “When the culture is living, the promising young man and woman of the generation receive the impact of its fundamental values. The sensitive and the vigorous among them become each a human laboratory, which purifies the fundamental values relating them afresh to the central idea; stimulates them to meet the needs of the times; reintegrates the subsidiary values with fresh vigour of the new interpretation and shapes the traditions and institutions not only without impairing he strength of the collective will, but by giving it a new edge.” This articulates the challenges before the individual, family, society, education and institutions. They – and hence India – must rise to the occasion.
(The author works in education and social cohesion)
