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“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.”
Above lines by Tagore has become epitome of the existence of the mission towards which have to relentlessly strive for. Let us remember these words to understand the it`s relation with the diversity. “Plurality of thinking is the bedrock of the Indian experiment of democracy and the successful implications for the diverse communities for their co-existence in India in last sixty years." Dr. Abid Hussain was speaking at the Nehru Memorial Lecture at JNU on 30th November 2010. He greatly engaged audience with the founding ideas of the perseverance in the quest of knowledge and tolerance in the search of harmony when we discuss Knowledge and Diversity in the Indian context. “It is the mind which propels us in the 21st century but it is the mindset which keeps us in the 15th century." He was asserting the crucial uncompromising position of the mindset of the coming generation when we deal with the emerging challenges and problems.
Three virtues remain pivotal for the sustained maintenance of experiment forged by Indian democracy:
A) Ability to recognize, assimilate, forge common bonds with the diverse opinions.
B) Ability to question the elderly schools of thoughts in a humble, mature and dignified way.
C) Ability to usher with the new interpretation of the classic common sense available in the history for the contemporary scenario.
Dr. Hussain greatly emphasized the significance of the place of the university like JNU for engaging in the ideas worthwhile for the conservation of the diversity and the creation, dissemination of new knowledge. He identified the role of students, researchers and scholars as being indispensable for the nation as a whole because they are away from the worldly obligations and responsibilities, which in a sense; limit the capacity to innovate the perspectives for the betterment of the situation in front of us. So, he appealed to the students to debate, question and initiate on their own for the dreams they deem useful for the coming times. After all, Empires of the future are empires of the Mind. Dr. Hussain regretted that, in these days of globalization and proliferation of knowledge networks, it is the educated mind which is falling prey to the wrong beliefs and lies compared to the innocent and ignorant brains of the uneducated persons. So, it is the educated mind of the students which is going to rescue the sliding attention of the leaders who claim themselves to be at the helm of affairs.
While Dr. Hussain greatly focused on the role of university in a subtle way, a recent contemplation by Dr. Betteille (Béteille, André. Universities at the Crossroads. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. Print.) greatly deals with this aspect of role of university in realizing the goal of Inclusion and the Knowledge creation.
While upholding the location of university he says, “The modern university provides a setting for a new kind of interchange not only between men and women but also among persons belonging to different castes and communities. The barriers of language, religion and caste can be overcome relatively easily in such settings, although here identity politics can also reinforce the boundaries between communities instead of softening them. No large and complex society can reconstitute itself without experiencing conflict and disorder, and if the universities appear embattled, it is partly because they are in the forefront of this reconstitution.”
On the other hand, Dr. Andre greatly exposes the contradictions in the experiment of inclusion when it comes to Knowledge Creation. He says, “Pressures to accommodate new classes and communities have lead to rapid and sometimes reckless expansion of the institutions of the learning. While a modern university must strive actively and continuously to be socially inclusive, it must be academically discriminating in the treatment of its members. We cannot wish out of existence the real and pervasive tensions between the demands of social inclusiveness and those of academic excellence. The democratization of the Indian university has always lead to the unanticipated consequences for the pursuit of study and research. New undergraduate colleges, new postgraduate departments, and new universities have been opened without the consideration of the resources available for their proper functioning. Academic standards have been relaxed, sometimes abruptly and even arbitrarily, in the name of equality and justice through decisions taken outside the universities by persons with little experience or knowledge of science and scholarship.”
This year, India is celebrating the 150th year of birth of legendary poet Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941). He was a transforming thinker and poet, educationist and cultural icon of not only Modern Bengal but also whole Indian subcontinent. He was poet of devotion, love, integration and nature; and has rare honor of scripting national anthems of two countries of India and Bangladesh. Dr. Narendra Jadhav, Member of Planning Commission, Govt. of India recently authored a book about the diversity of the poems Tagore`s genius gifted to this world. He said, “The lines of Where the knowledge is free…song of Tagore should have been selected as National Anthem.” When we discuss the knowledge and diversity, the lines in the current national anthem Jana, Gana, Mana… by Rabindranath are true mirror of what he envisages about knowledge when he asserts that “Where the world has not been broken up into fragments, By narrow domestic walls.”
As we move along, (There is arrogant fashion in this contemporary world to quip “ The world has moved on!”), we forget the legacies, diversities, heritage and rich plurality of thoughts we inherit. Rabindranath again in his cautionary voice alerts us:
“Time is endless in thy hands, my lord.
There is none to count thy minutes.
Days and nights pass and ages bloom and fade like flowers. Thou knowest how to wait.
Thy centuries follow each other perfecting a small wild flower.
We have no time to lose, and having no time, we must scramble for our chances. We are too poor to be late.
And thus it is that time goes try, while I give it to every querulous man who claims it, and thine altar is empty of all offerings to the last.
At the end of the day I hasten in fear lest thy gate be shut; but if I find that yet there is time.”
There is none to count thy minutes.
Days and nights pass and ages bloom and fade like flowers. Thou knowest how to wait.
Thy centuries follow each other perfecting a small wild flower.
We have no time to lose, and having no time, we must scramble for our chances. We are too poor to be late.
And thus it is that time goes try, while I give it to every querulous man who claims it, and thine altar is empty of all offerings to the last.
At the end of the day I hasten in fear lest thy gate be shut; but if I find that yet there is time.”
(Gitanjali, 82.)
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