Musings & Meanderings of a Nobilian

In this forum, Father Hess has aptly summed up the life of the Jesuit missionary. Jesuits have indeed played a tremendous role in imparting education and rendering other selfless services in our country, in shaping so many careers, but I have always felt that their contribution has not been sufficiently recognized in the right quarters. They have not only been given a raw deal but have been unjustly persecuted from time to time by fundamentalists for their own narrow political interests. The least the alumni of Jesuit schools could do is to raise their voice against such unfair treatment meted out to the Jesuit missionaries.

While every Jesuit teacher under whom I was privileged to study was remarkable in his own way, I must admit I was particularly enamoured of the personality of Father Hess. Age seems to have taken its toll on his physical frame and I was distressed to learn that he could now scarcely hold a samosa or a tea cup. But we have had the supreme fortune to have seen him in his prime in the golden sixties and I must say in all honesty I have come across very few persons to match up to his towering personality.  It comes, therefore, as no surprise to me to know that he had at one time fancied his chances of making it as a movie star ! He certainly had all the charisma required of a movie star. The most remarkable thing which I found about his style of functioning was that it was always comme il faut primarily because of his ever willingness to hear the other side’s point of view. Whenever and whatever he dispensed, all sides were happy no one felt worsted. I have seen him handle many delicate situations with a finesse which called for extreme sagacity and a high degree of administrative acumen. To sum up, I must say, “Maalik ne unko apne hathon se ek alag mitti se banaya hai”.

Father Hess has asked about the use or abuse of ethics in the workplace. Well, unfortunately, we live in a world where stealing the most jealously guarded secrets of other nations is euphemistically termed intelligence, and any keen observer of world events would at once aver that truth and ethics are the first casualties in every walk of life and the buzzword everywhere is expedience. As a child, I remember having read this famous verse of Bhartrihari:

I guess it would be easier to find the scarlet of pimpernel, the yeti, or the Loch Ness monster than such a gem of a person. Having said that, I must point out that the person who lives according to his ideals is always at an advantage, though occasional compromises are inevitable in the present grossly vitiated atmosphere.

Father Hess has invited opinions from Nobilians on education – what they found useful and what not so useful and what would be their perspective of an ideal system. He has himself spent a lifetime in education and I wonder what aspect of education could have ever escaped his attention, but as I said before, he has always been gracious to hear the other side’s point of view.  Hence I take this opportunity to spew my two cents.

At the outset, let me make it clear my comments and opinions have reference to no particular school or institution but to global education methods as they exist today. My views might well be scoffed at by a lot of people, invite derision and ridicule, much as I would have pooh-poohed the whole thing if I were told the same sort of things thirty-five years back. A lot of things become clearer after a lifetime of experience.  But I have very firm conviction of my views. While all my education in school and college was definitely edifying in all respects – no questions about that – but if I had to start everything all over again, my roadmap would be decidedly different. It’s always good to ask ourselves all these questions. Let us not forget that the whole world relying on the wisdom of Aristotle was misled for around 2000 years. Even Newton and Einstein misled the world with some glaring errors in scientific theory. So all our thinking should always be open to question. My views are especially addressed to Father Hess, who, besides having been an exemplary educationist, has also spent a lifetime studying theology, and he would be in a better position to appreciate my views which splay from education to spiritualism and perhaps, even to mysticism.

The principle bane of most educational systems has been the undue stress given to the development of qualities of head over those of the heart. Almost everyone seems to be keen on polishing the outside rather than catering to the inside.  But of what use is the outside if there is no inside? History is replete with examples of personalities who were colossal figures in so far as their mastery of all arts and sciences was concerned, and yet were lamentable failures in the battle of life. It is said that Rama had mastery of only 32 branches of knowledge whereas Ravana had of 64. Yet Ravana ended up being a demon and was vanquished fair and square by Rama. Satan (Lucifer), they say, was highly accomplished in many ways, but he lacked all the qualities of heart for which he has been cursed to eternal damnation. Unfortunately, most educational systems are just churning out Ravanas which has landed the world right now in its current lamentable plight.

To drive home my point, I shall recount an oft-repeated story.  A boatman was ferrying a very learned brahmin across a river. In the course of conversation, the brahmin asked the boatman if he knew anything about the Vedas. When the boatman replied in the negative, he was told that a quarter of his life had been spent in vain. Next, the boatman was asked if he knew anything about the six Indian schools of philosophy.   When the boatman meekly said that he had never heard of the six systems of philosophy, he was told that another quarter of his precious life had been squandered. And when the poor boatman confessed his ignorance of the Itihaases (epics) and the Puranas, the brahmin scornfully declared that the boatmen had wasted three-quarters of his life. Just then a violent storm broke out and the boat was about to capsize. The boatman then very aptly queried of the brahmin, “Sir, do you know how to swim? I know how to swim and shall reach the shore safely but If you don’t, you have wasted your whole life”.  The moral of the story is obvious: that knowledge is to be preferred which helps us swim across the waters of life.

The crux of the above story is the necessity of skimming off the non-essentials and sticking to the essentials. Much of the thinking of Thomas à Kempis in his masterly Imitation of Christ is along these lines as can be seen from passages such as “Restrain an inordinate desire for knowledge, in which is found much anxiety and deception”. “It is supreme folly to neglect things that are useful and vital, and deliberately turn to curious and harmful things”. “For what concern to us are things such as genera and species ?”  He also speaks of the necessity of giving up “the love of created things”.  Incidentally, a good starting point for inner development would be to make Imitation of Christ compulsory reading. The book has been immensely popular among spiritual aspirants all over the world, has been translated into a multitude of languages, and represents the quintessence of all spiritual wisdom. The book is not only a beacon-light for all Christians, but should be welcome to any spiritual aspirant seeking union with God , whatever his faith, creed, or color, for its principles are universal.

Is all secular learning then to be despised? Far from it. Nothing wrong with secular education per se, only one has to get one’s priorities right. An ideal education would of course be a well balanced blend of the temporal and the spiritual, but what has to be remembered all the time is that life is short and first things come first.  “Seek ye first the kingdom of God. All other things would be added unto you”. If we honestly look back on our lives most of us would find that we were always seeking things other than the Kingdom of God.  Let us take the story of Adam's fall in the Bible. What was the forbidden fruit ? What was the Garden of Eden ? Biblical scholars might have other interpretations, but to my mind, the forbidden fruit symbolizes all the delusory attractions of the world which leads us away from God. The Garden of Eden is the true spiritual nature of man. We have strayed away from the Garden of Eden, our own spiritual nature, tempted by the attractions of the illusory sensory world, and our efforts should be to get back to the Garden of Eden.  

It is not that educationists world over do not recognize the importance of development of inner qualities but most of the time only lip-service has been paid toward this important subject. What I mean is that the principles of inner development have never been formulated and delineated in sufficient detail to be pursued with the same earnestness as, say, some of the so-called exact sciences like mathematics, physics and chemistry.  And I do believe that inner development can be pursued like any other exact science. The efforts have been always desultory at best with equally desultory results. Again, the practical implementation has always been hindered by a number of factors. Firstly, the topic of inner development does not find favour with the majority of the masses.  Unfortunately, educational institutions have also to cater to mass appeal and thus end up as being dispensers of bread and circuses for hoi polloi. Right from the times of Confucius, people have decried the time and effort spent on inner development. Man’s struggle for existence has always been the overruling and overriding factor over all higher pursuits. So inner development has always been, so to say, stifled, or at best pursued in a lukewarm, lackadaisical fashion. According to Confucius, while we are in this world let us take care of the affairs of this world. The hereafter can wait till we actually come to it. That seems to the current refrain also. It is said that too much preoccupation with inner development hampers our prospects in this present material life. If it be so, let it be said in the same breath that too much of preoccupation with the material life adversely affects our prospects in life here as well as hereafter. The second obstacle is that inner development is always very slow and gradual and not so noticeable and measurable. The task of inner development calls for more application than any art or science can ever require for here the tools and materials are all in the unseen realms and grappling with the unseen is always dauntingly difficult. But the smallest efforts are not in vain. Thirdly, the teacher as well the taught must both be extraordinary for the right chemistry to take place. If one of them is lacking, the chemistry just doesn’t happen. And, unfortunately, both are very rare commodities.

The question which I have raised is actually as old as the hills and I know that stoking this fire will have raised more questions than answered them. I do not profess to have all the answers to this tangle. Many stalwarts have lamented the deficiencies of educational systems in the past, and while they were themselves undoubtedly past masters in their conquest of inner realms, they have not left behind a legacy of a well charted course to be followed to produce an assembly-line of heroes in the inner field. Ultimately everyone is left to his own devices to chart out his way in the trackless desert of life. The matter is really too intricate to admit of summary disposal in a few words. Anyway, I hope to have given some food for thought.

PS: Please tender my kindest regards to all my teachers. I must make special mention of Mr. Benjamin Xess (How’s his Bimal ?), Mr. Hadi, Mr. P.C. Pandey, Mr. C.J. Joseph (How’s his Bobby ?), Fr. Hunt, Fr. Peacock, Mrs. Gopal, Mr. Barman and Mr. Manik Midde. I don’t know where they all are right now and I would like to convey my humble Pranams, Namaste, Salaam, Aadaab through this forum. My greetings also to Mr Bernard Pandey who is now Vice Principal! My memories of him date back to the days when he used to stand as a goalie for the DNS hockey team like a Rock of Gibraltar!

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