continuation from : https://monkeywarrior.com/detail/11468/
Hare Krsna Maharaj,
Please accept our kneel down. (does horse pay obeisances?).
following the divine sound through you. we typed an article.
we got the basic thought. in place, have written some stuff.
all we could imagine that Your grace will use super editor qualities to extract some thing good out of it.
awaiting for comments
Education and Spiritual realization through the current Indian Education System- Thoughts from a Traveler within the system.
Education has etymological roots in Latin word “educare”, that which brings out. Einstein said “education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school”. Indian education was anchored in Vedas, primarily oral reception and students used to stay with guru. As time has passed , many invasions and annexation took place, which changed the education system. Currently it is based on rote learning ability with lot of information but not much transformation. Though there has been some changes in National Education Policy (2020), the manifestation of which will take time. Even in the current system there are varieties of models each have its pros and cons.
My journey in this system began in 1990s when I was in grade 1. I obtained PhD degree in 2018 and now I teach in an university. From student to teacher has been good journey, but could have been better. I was just above average in terms of grades. Exam meant writing what we have memorized majorly. For me it was more a place of socialization. For parents it was a place, where there kids go away from home and give parents some free time.
By 9th grade I have studied english, hindi and sanskrit. Sanskrit was fun enriching, but the essence of verses taught were missing. It was mother of all languages but majority did not want to know her. I hardly asked the why question, more often it was the “what” question we were focussing on. What is the syallabus ? What is pattern of exams ? Etc etc. Teacher was primarily required to mark the syllabus, evaluate answer sheet and maintain general discipline in school.
There was a system to know the world, we had subjects based on books, divided in chapters, questions, periodic test and rank card.
Life had routine, morning go to school, attend morning school prayers, and then different subjects, back home, play and rest. The pedagogy made me a self-study student, sort of self reliant. Books were self explanatory if know to read. You get full marks if you can replicate the book. It did not matter whether we agree, believe in what is says.
In grade 10 we studied Darwin theory of evolution. In the morning we were praying to god in daily prayers, still we studied atheistic theory of Darwin. The books did not touch our heart, they just touched the brain, that to one side.
In grade 11 first time option was given. The choice between arts, commerce and science. I opted for science because I was interested in knowing the laws working in nature. Now we were studying works of different Physicist: Maxwell, Bohr, Einstein, Faraday, Planck. Most of them were from Europe which was little surprise. Nevertheless their discoveries made the world we are in. There was not much mention about their life style and hardships which motivated the discoveries. Math, Chemical Labs, Physical laws, all was fun. But still none of the books addressed the questions: When I am a son? When I am student ? Or why Universe exists.
Well, I was told higher studies can answer these questions. Hence I studied well and got myself a descent college. Now in college we were taught by Professor and Lecturers. We explored libraries of college. Thinking why does one need library ? All we have to study are some books of selected subjects.
Our life routine now changed, we stayed in college hostel far away from parents. Our interaction with people grew, we heard names of new places. I had parked my un-answered questions in memory for further investigation. Now it had clicked for us that all schools, colleges exist to give us a good job or good profession. Better the salary of the job from campus, better of its repute.
HUH! Study is for job, no way study is for knowledge? I repented a little , because my aim was not job always. Primarily I wanted to know. It seemed I was lying to myself. We left our job and again went to study, this time it was PhD. My PhD was also from world renowned Institute and finally joined as Assistant Professor in world renowned university.
Things have become more objective and quantitative, more result driven. There was no mention of duty, it was replaced with job responsibilities, for which one is paid. Every thing was transactional with clear expectations and rewards. Everybody , every system is ranked.
It was sad but true that University now days compete among themselves to have higher rankings. They issue certificates but not wisdom. I don't want to complain about flaws in the education system, but its the system where most of us devote their youth. So its impact is very prominent on us. For me I am still part of education system but now on the other side.
This system inculcated the value of obedience in me. People of my age group in schools respected teachers. But as went to higher education, we some how had to replace teachers by books and internet to gain knowledge. Teacher/professor was majorly required to award grades. As we passed through system we started exploring our own interest, tastes, strengths etc.
At current juncture we have the free will to be part of the rat race or not. All we know is that the journey is not yet finished, there are many more evolutionary levels to be crossed.
Here is where I started feeling a need of guide. I was not confident on myself to take decision. All learning came by hit and trial, changing paths , exploring them. Most of my question still unanswered.
All we knew was that at lower grades we teach facts based on the dominant paradigm in research. As we go higher we start seeing other paradigms, and gradually we realize we don't know anything and try to be happy in that, one day we will reach the destination.
horse
HpS - AGTSP..... So very nice. We would like to hear from your good wife also!! Pariksit! I will send the link to this article to Radhika Ramana Das also. Maybe this one would be better for the Second Issue of Viplavah in 2021, but I think it is great for this one also.
I remember when I started Graduate School I talked to my Mentor and expressed that the system didn't seem to really offer personal growth. He said, "Yes, you are right. This is a career track. It is for making money. You won't be able to design your own independent research until you are at least 40-years old. If you have any manly qualities you'll cut the apron strings and take some risks and find out what are all these things about psychology and mysticism that we are seeing coming our way from Asia.".