We need Indian Macaulay to transform Indian Education System
Dr. Vijay Bedekar, a noted Orientalist and Chairman of Vidya Prasarak Mandal speaks about Joshi - Bedekar College achieving the milestone of 50th year, his reading choices, journalism in India and much more.
VPM’s Joshi - Bedekar College has achieved the milestone of 50th year. How do you feel about this accomplishment?
I am extremely happy and nostalgic. Fifty years for an institution
is not a huge time period as many institutions have already completed more than 200 years; we have a long way to go. But I do feel proud that our students are doing well in their respective fields. In fact, Thane’s present District Collector Shri Rajesh Narvekar is a student of Dr. Bedekar Vidya Mandir and our Science College.
The bust of late Dr. V. N. Bedekar attracts the attention of everyone who visits the campus. Please tell us about the vision and process of making the same.
Creating such a beautiful bust was not a simple task. The initial struggle was to find an artist. Shri Sathe, a reputed sculptor, brought an end to that struggle. When I asked him to create a bust of my father, at first he was nervous as he thought he won’t be able to do justice to his personality since he has never met him. I showed him my father’s videos and the results are in front of you now. The architect, Shri Vasant Pansare played a pivotal role in the creation of bust. Dr. V N. Bedekar climbed all the steps of his life and became a caring and successful medical professional. He nurtured the institution to become a versatile and quality institution. To symbolize this journey, Pansare envisioned the bust to be at the main façade of this campus.
Please illuminate us about the V. N. Bedekar Memorial lecture series.
It started over a year ago; the whole idea is to invite creative minds to educate staff and students and to share their thoughts on various facets of life. Education is not restricted to books. We have done our part by providing students an opportunity to listen to people’s experiences. Students would be benefited by attending these guest-lectures.
In your recent editorial of Disha ‘Punha Macauley’, you have discussed about ‘colonization of Mind’. Kindly brief your views on the same.
Entire western world was colonized by Roman people for centuries. Nations like Britain find their roots in Roman-Greek civilization. The middle age or ‘dark age’ is considered as the period between 5th to 15th century. It began with the Fall of The Roman Empire and ended in to the Renaissance, famoulsy known as the Age of Discovery. Renaissance gave birth to enlightenment which in turn gave birth to knowledge society. The industrial revolution in England gave birth to colonization. Colonization of Indian mind started In 1835, when Lord Macaulay, a British strategist, shaped indian education system in his famous book Minutes on Indian Education . He wanted to create 'a class of people which will be Indian in blood and colour but English in taste, opinion, moral and intellect'. He wanted to teach English language, culture and sciene to be taught in India, thereby, transforming Indian Society into a colonised mindset. The same idea was exploited in ‘Punha Macauley’. I would say, “ We need Indian Macaulay” who will decolonise the Indian mind.
What are your views on ‘Indian Education System’?
When we talk about Indian education system, there are two different time periods. Pre-colonial and the Post-colonial which education system we follow now. In the pre-colonial times, traditional system was used. The indigenous Indian education system has been beautifully narrated by Dharmapal in his book The Beautiful Tree (1983). British came to India because it was a rich and prosperous country. India’s contribution to the world trade was more than 25% of global GDP when British came to India. Indians have always been excellent in every field; be it agriculture, textile or education. It is not possible to succeed in so many fields without expertise. We misjudge the Indian education system as ‘Paathshaala’ even today. We should shun the argument that culture has something to do with alphabets. Illiterate and uncultured are two different things. Even a unlettered man can be cultured.
What has shaped your extensive reading pattern? Which authors as well as magazines interest you the most?
I read a lot. I don’t restrict myself to a specific subject, though I prefer History of Science and books on Indian culture; so I cannot pinpoint on what I like and what I don’t. Also, I don’t always follow what I read, but I think that is the only way we can keep ourselves open to the world. One should never stop reading as it directs us to our further path in life.
We have read that VPM is trying to expand its horizons in Ontario and Canada for advanced engineering diploma. Can you elaborate more about it?
Today it is all about interaction and not isolation. You cannot grow if you restrict to the four walls of your educational institution. We have MoU signed with the institutions so that students from VPM’s Polytechnic can study there. We have more plans for expansion in future years. Apart from that, We have also signed MoU with Kyoto Sangyo University, Japan and every alternate year, Japanese students from that University come to Thane for 15 days in Cultural Exchange Programme. We organise educational tours to Oxford, Cambridge, London, China, Brazil, Singapore and UAE. This is a unique feature of VPM.
Can you tell us about the Oriental Institute of Thane and pool of reading resources available there?
In 1982, I attended a medical conference in Tokyo, Japan. While interacting with some Japanese doctors, I realized that they knew more about Indian Ayurveda than me; it was a great eye opener. I was a practising doctor and it was not possible for me to always travel distant places to gather knowledge so I created a reading space that was available in my home town Thane. I would like to thank Dr. Moras, former Head of History Department of Mumbai University for offering us nearly 5000 books as our first collection. Every year about half a dozen western scholars visit the library in search of manuscripts. We have 40,000 rare books and 3000 Sanskrit Manuscripts and some precious antiquities.
There are many add on courses provided by the institution in which students are actively participating. How did you come across such an excellent idea?
Unlike western societies, industries and educational institutions in India are not linked. There is a difference between the syllabus we learn and the practical application of it; thus achieving a degree is not enough to strive in the industry. To fulfil this gap of knowledge, we have introduced add-on courses like travel and tourism, journalism, etc. With active interest in these courses, students can become efficient enough to start their own start-ups.
What do you think about media and journalism in India?
Honestly, it needs a lot of soul-searching . The present industry cannot form single news without glamorizing or exaggerating it; then be it in India or any other western country. Positive things are happening at micro as well as macro levels, but the media today doesn’t highlight it as much. Job of a journalist is to search for news, to report them and to also depoliticize them. For delivering any report, proper synthesis of the subject should be done. In New York Times, it is compulsory for a person to be specialized in science to become a science journalist. In India, this is not the case, resulting in circulation of misleading information.
Earlier in an interview, you said that ऋTA means art of balancing. Could you please detail us about it?
It is an extremely important philosophical concept in the Indian thought process. Nobody can live individually or in isolation. It in fact means the balance between you and your environment. ऋTA is something like ‘homeostasis’ as we say in English. It is the principle of natural order which regulates and coordinates the operation of the universe and everything within it. In the hymns of the Vedas, ऋTA is described as that which is ultimately responsible for the proper functioning of the natural, moral and sacrificial orders.
( The Above interview has been publish in the Rta 2019. Rta is a annual newspaper published by Department of Mass Media, VPM's Joshi-Bedekar College, Thane.)
