Himalayan Times (1962)

Six

Himalayan Times

October 14. 3. S c £

while Tilling to iooept
the fruits of western ooieuoe
end teobnioi, desire that
sueh modernisation should
be counter balanced by
a revival of devotion to
our traditional valuee.
There ii no hope for the
survival of our teeming
millions unless t» indus
trialiae and produce mora
by way of food clothing
and shelter. Man no doubt
doei not live by bread
alone, but he must have
bread, before he oan in-
dulge in tbe more exal-
ted pursuits of art, lite-
rature, and philosophy.
The contention that be-
cause the west has achie-
ved an affluent society,
it is necessarily mere
materialistic is not well
grounded Let us not
forget that even in this
bo called materialistic age
the West can produce
man like Einatien, Ber
trand Russell and Sebe-
weitzer.

Kducatiooists in the
West are just as aware
of the danger of materia-
lism as we are. They are
aware that a society which
ignores spiritual values
implies, a throw-back to
barbarism and is a me-
nace to itself as well as
to others. The need for
the preservation and streng-
thening of values as a
guiding principle for iiff,
is a world need and Iti t
merely an Indian need
The crisis which e /u-

cation faces today is a
world crisis, and if it is
to be met successfully it
must be met through a
world effort. To this
effort each nation must
bring its own contribu-
tion. If India has in its
tradition oertain values
which it had discerned
and cultivated to a more
marked degree than others,
its contribution will be
welcomed the world over.

The difficulty arises
when we attempt to de-
fine in exaot terms what
these values are. It is
stilt mor« difficult to find
ways and means for revi-
ving them and integrating
them into the educational
system.

Ind'a has a long his-
tory. During this history
it has undergone many
changes. When we talk
of Indian spiritual values,
to which period of this
long history do we mean
to refer ? Do we mean
to refer to ancient India
of the vedio age, cr the
Buddhist period of Aaoka,
or to that of Sbaokaro?
Do we mean to include
or exclude the Medieval
p-t'od and the Moghul
H'mpirf, and the rise of
British Power ?

Many of our leaders
are fond of saying that
inspite of the great variety
of mir cultural heritage
thore runs through it all
a mujor current of conti-
nuity. "Unity in diversi-

ty" is I beiievt ihsir
favourite phreac. While I
do not wish to deny such
a unifying factor, I do
thing that we ere incli-
ned to exaggerate it. We
also forget that other
civilisations which have
persisted over a long pe-
riod, exhibit a similar ma-
jor of continuity. Hae
not European civilisation
orginating with tbe Greeks
some two thousand five
hundred years ago, and
passing through Roman,
and Christian influence,
and shaken to its roots
by religious and politioa!
revolutions at various
times, still preserved some
kind of continuity and
unity in diversity ?

I believe that tbe
distinction between East-
ern and Western, Indian
and non-Indian values is
meaningless. There is no
suoh thing as a private
or national sector in tbe
realm of values.

So far as I ass at tie
no public system of edu-
cation prevailed in Indie,
till the time of Macaulay
and John Adams. A great
battle was fsughfc at that
time, as to whether the
public system of educa-
tion should be traditional
or modem. Tho moder-
nists won the day. But
they oompromieod with
tbe traditional lists and
agreed to let the Orien
talists go on with thei?
own preserves. But thare