Letter from Mr. Macaulay (person responsible for bringing English education to India) to his father (12 October 1836)
_______________________________________________________________________________
My dear Father,
....In a few months, I hope indeed in a few weeks, we shall send up the penal code to government. We have got rid of the punishment of death except in cases of aggravated treason and wilful murder. We shall also get rid indirectly of everything that can properly be called slavery in India. There will remain civil claims on particular people for particular services, which claims may be enforced by civil action. But no person will be entitled, on the plea of being the master of another, to do anything to that other which it would be an offence to do to a freeman.
Our English schools are flourishing wonderfully. We find it difficult, indeed at some places impossible, to provide instruction for all who want it. At the single town of Hoogley fourteen hundred boys are learning English. The effect of this education on the Hindoos is prodigious. No Hindoo who has received an English education ever continues to be sincerely attached to his religion. Some continue to profess it as a matter of policy. But many profess themselves pure Deists, and some embrace Christianity. The case with Mahometans is very different. The best-educated Mahometan often continues to be a Mahometan still. The reason is plain. The Hindoo religion is so extravagantly absurd that it is impossible to teach a boy astronomy, geography, natural history, without completely destroying the hold which that religion has on his mind. But the Mahometan religion belongs to a better family. It has very much in common with Christianity; and even where it is most absurd, it is reasonable when compared with Hindooism. It is my firm belief that, if our plans of education are followed up, there will not be a single idolater among the respectable classes in Bengal thirty years hence. And this will be effected without any efforts to proselytise, without the smallest interference with religious liberty, merely by the natural operation of knowledge and reglection. I heartily rejoice in this prospect....
_______________________________________________________________________________
In retrospect, English education did serve its purpose of connecting Indian thoughts to the western world and vice versa. However, it seems it did not serve the stated ulterior purpose of Lord(?) Macaulay. I guess, somebody is still turning in his grave
Source - http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00generallinks/macaulay/txt_letters_later.html
Monday, November 17, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
50 Meter Initiative
Every single day we get on with our lives making compromises and adjustments. We put up with unclean neighbourhoods, loitering poor children, corrupt public officials, rash drivers, nuisance beggars etc; trying hard to make our physical and moral senses immune to such picture-imperfect scenes. Over time, we develop a sense of detachment to these peripheral existentialities, focusing even harder on our professional & personal goals. For some, the liberation or 'moksha' comes either from 'moving abroad' or from moving to a well-kept 'gaited community' with minimal possibility of interaction with the system. Majority of us just learn to put up with the system, accepting it as it is. We damn the politicians for all the ills plaguing our society, engage in intellectual discussions (as I am doing now) and become arm-chair experts in how to solve the various problems facing our nation. The no-action-only-thinking paves the way for a nation sinking.
A lot of us want things to change around us, yet are unable to do anything about it. Deep inside us, we have developed a huge fear of the monstrous & gigantic system, ruling India at every level. All of us routinely agree that we would need active group participation to take on the system. A group participation requires leadership, which we have outsourced to the current politicians who are a part of the problems. Unable to break this vicious circle, we resign to our fate and close our doors (and minds).
No, this is not a rant against anyone. Leading a life with honest means in itself is a huge service to our corruption-ridden society. Yet, can you (or I) as an average person not do anything more for the society? Is it possible to do something absolutely alone, without the necessity of joining or forming a group? I believe so and that's what the 50-meter-initiative (FMI) is all about.
The idea is quite simple. Identify the area within a radius of 50 meters of your current place of residence. Take responsibility for at least one of the following issues listed below for that area -
1) Education - Weekend tuitions to poor children
2) Education - Ensuring that all children go to school by convincing them or their parents
3) Education - Weekend tuitions to the illiterate workers
4) Cleanliness - Interfacing with the local municipality office to ensure regular waste collection to keep your area clean.
5) Cleanliness - Talking to neighbours to ensure that they dispose their household waste at the proper place. Discouraging people to throw waste on roads
6) Healthcare - Ensuring access to the public health centers or the government hospitals to the needy
7) Healthcare - Educating the poor and illiterate people about family planning
8) Healthcare - Ensuring proper vaccinations for the new-born
9) RTI activism - Getting and spreading information about various developmental works done (or not done) by your local municipality
10) any more such little things that you can think of ...
Depending on time & energy, some of us may be able to take up more responsibilities, some of us may cover an area greater than 50 m (or less depending on the density). Covered area or number of responsibility does not form the heart of 50-m-initiative (FMI). The crucial thing is that an individual, all alone, must be able to take up a societal responsibility without waiting for a group to emerge. Additionally, if one is fortunate enough to live in a neighbourhood where there are absolutely no problems (an utopian world), one can always identify an appropriate area somewhere else.
To be clear, I am of course not against groups (or teams). Groups can achieve many things that may be difficult for an individual to achieve. But far too many of us just wait and have been waiting for a group to emerge before taking any action. With FMI, the intention is to do away with the waiting period, so that one can start from today (or this weekend).
Lastly, I may be accused of professing without practising currently. However, as mentioned before, FMI is an individual choice. Your choice to make a difference to your neighbourhood depends only on you, not on anybody else.
What do you think!
Don't think, just do!!
A lot of us want things to change around us, yet are unable to do anything about it. Deep inside us, we have developed a huge fear of the monstrous & gigantic system, ruling India at every level. All of us routinely agree that we would need active group participation to take on the system. A group participation requires leadership, which we have outsourced to the current politicians who are a part of the problems. Unable to break this vicious circle, we resign to our fate and close our doors (and minds).
No, this is not a rant against anyone. Leading a life with honest means in itself is a huge service to our corruption-ridden society. Yet, can you (or I) as an average person not do anything more for the society? Is it possible to do something absolutely alone, without the necessity of joining or forming a group? I believe so and that's what the 50-meter-initiative (FMI) is all about.
The idea is quite simple. Identify the area within a radius of 50 meters of your current place of residence. Take responsibility for at least one of the following issues listed below for that area -
1) Education - Weekend tuitions to poor children
2) Education - Ensuring that all children go to school by convincing them or their parents
3) Education - Weekend tuitions to the illiterate workers
4) Cleanliness - Interfacing with the local municipality office to ensure regular waste collection to keep your area clean.
5) Cleanliness - Talking to neighbours to ensure that they dispose their household waste at the proper place. Discouraging people to throw waste on roads
6) Healthcare - Ensuring access to the public health centers or the government hospitals to the needy
7) Healthcare - Educating the poor and illiterate people about family planning
8) Healthcare - Ensuring proper vaccinations for the new-born
9) RTI activism - Getting and spreading information about various developmental works done (or not done) by your local municipality
10) any more such little things that you can think of ...
Depending on time & energy, some of us may be able to take up more responsibilities, some of us may cover an area greater than 50 m (or less depending on the density). Covered area or number of responsibility does not form the heart of 50-m-initiative (FMI). The crucial thing is that an individual, all alone, must be able to take up a societal responsibility without waiting for a group to emerge. Additionally, if one is fortunate enough to live in a neighbourhood where there are absolutely no problems (an utopian world), one can always identify an appropriate area somewhere else.
To be clear, I am of course not against groups (or teams). Groups can achieve many things that may be difficult for an individual to achieve. But far too many of us just wait and have been waiting for a group to emerge before taking any action. With FMI, the intention is to do away with the waiting period, so that one can start from today (or this weekend).
Lastly, I may be accused of professing without practising currently. However, as mentioned before, FMI is an individual choice. Your choice to make a difference to your neighbourhood depends only on you, not on anybody else.
What do you think!
Don't think, just do!!
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