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egknsoh oekZ

NCERT

Mem

oria

l Lec

ture

Ser

ies

Mahadevi VermaThird Memorial Lecture – 2010

BY ARVIND GUPTA

ISBN 978-93-5007-023-9

1894

1907-1987

NCERT

MEMORIAL LECTURE SERIES

Mahadevi Verma Third Memorial Lectureat

RIE, Bhopal

11 February 2010

ARVIND GUPTA

First Edition ISBN 978-93-5007-023-9

January 2010 Pausa 1931

PD 5T IJ

© National Council of Educational Research and Training, 2009

Rs 10.00

Published at the Publication Department by the Secretary, NationalCouncil of Educational Research and Training, Sri Aurobindo Marg, NewDelhi 110 016 and printed at .......

CONTENTS

OUR OBJECTIVES 1

SECTION 1 5On Mahadevi Verma : Mahadevi Verma on Education

SECTION 2 18Mahadevi Verma Memorial Lecture: 2009-10

Theme: Science through Activities

About the Speaker 42

Annexure

I. Memorial Lectures: 2007-08 46

II. Memorial Lectures: 2008-09 48

OUR OBJECTIVES

The National Council of Educational Research Training(NCERT) is an apex organisation, assisting and advisingthe Central and State Governments by undertakingresearch, survey, and development, training and extensionactivities for all stages of school and teacher education.

One of the objectives of the Council is to act as a clearinghouse and disseminator of ideas relating to school andteacher education. We have initiated the Memorial LectureSeries in order to fulfil this role and to commemorate thelife and work of great educational thinkers. Our aim is tostrive to raise the level of public awareness about theseminal contributions made in the field of education byeminent men and women of India. We expect that suchawareness will set off a chain of discourse and discussion.This, we hope, will make education a lively subject ofinquiry while simultaneously encouraging a sustainedpublic engagement with this important domain of nationallife.

The memorial lecture series covers public lecturescommemorating the life and work of nine eminent Indianeducational thinkers and practitioners.

Title and Venue of Memorial Lecture Series

Title

Gijubhai Badheka MemorialLectureRabindranath Tagore MemorialLectureZakir Hussain MemorialLectureMahadevi Verma MemorialLectureB.M. Pugh Memorial Lecture

Savitribai Phule MemorialLectureMarjorie Sykes MemorialLecture

Venue

Madras Institute of DevelopmentStudies, ChennaiRegional Institute of Education,BhubaneswarRegional Institute of Education,MysoreRegional Institute of Education,BhopalNorth East Regional Instituteof Education ShillongSNDT Women's College, MarineLines, MumbaiRegional Institute of Education,Ajmer

2

We invite persons of eminence from academia andpublic life to deliver these lectures in English or any otherIndian language. Our intention is to reach a largeaudiences consisting in particular of teachers, students,parents, writers, artists, NGOs, government servants andmembers of local communities.

The Annexure (Memorial Lectures 2007-2008)provides a summary of the lectures organised in the year2007-08.

In due course the lectures will be made available onCompact Discs (CDs) and in the form of printed bookletsin languages other than English or Hindi in which it isoriginally delivered for wider dissemination. Each bookletconsists of two sections : Section one highlights the purposeof the memorial lectures and provides a brief sketch of thelife and work of the concerned educational thinker andSection two gives the lectures in full along with a briefbackground of the speaker.

Section 1 in this booklet has been contributed byDr. Shankar Sharan, faculty in the Department ofEducational Research and Policy Perspective, at NCERT.In this section the writer highlights how Mahadevi Vermaknown as a great poetess was also a teacher by profession.He presents briefly her educational insights on philosophyof education and a comparative of the Indian and Westernunderstanding of it, role of language, place of creativeliterature in curricula, problems of girls education,circumstances of unemployed youth and the poverty ofmodern Indian intellectuals enamoured with Westernthoughts and phraseology. He draws attention to the factthat the observations made by Mahadevi Verma on all theseissues are relevant to our current educational discourse.

Ms. Kalpana Sharma, is delivering the second MahadeviVerma Memorial Lecture on 5 January 2009 at theRegional Institute of Education, Bhopal. Kalpana Sharma

Sri Aurobindo MemorialLecturesMahatma Gandhi MemorialLecture

SNDT Women�s College, MarineLines MumbaiRegional Institute of Education,Ajmer

3

is an independent journalist, columnist and mediaconsultant based in Mumbai. In over three decades as afull-time journalist she was, until recently, Deputy Editorand Chief of Bureau of The Hindu in Mumbai. Her specialareas of interest are environmental and developmentalissues and she follows and comments on urban issues,especially in the context of Mumbai's development.

The theme of her lecture is Can the media teach usanything? In the wake of the terror attacks in Mumbai, on26 November, 2008 she focuses on the importance of themedia at times of such a crisis. She urges us to question:'Should not the media as a whole, and the electronic mediain particular, pause and consider the direction in which itis going?' She elaborates and further questions, "does itnot have a responsibility towards its viewers, how is itshaping perceptions, is it more concerned about accuracyor about popularity, and how can it ensure that at timesof crisis it acts as a conveyor of information and not panic?"She also highlights the need for the media to consider theimpact of the depiction of violent events on young minds.There is a strong need for the media to realise itsresponsibilities and in her words, "the best way some suchissues can be addressed is by internal guidelines developedby the media with the help of civil society representatives �including parents and teachers, as has happened in manyother countries. We certainly do not need censorship orgovernment control. But we do need to develop the tools ofsensitivity and sobriety along with the awareness of thepower we have to influence young minds."

We hope these lecture series will be of use to ouraudiences as well as the public in and outside the countryin general.

I acknowledge the contribution of Ms Konsam Diana,Junior Project Fellow for helping me with the finalisationof this manuscript.

Anupam AhujaConvenor

4

SECTION 1

ON MAHADEVI VERMA

MAHADEVI VERMA ON EDUCATION

SHANKAR SHARAN1

Today's graduate has to think ... those who have all theworldly facilities want our life values. Why should thosewho already have such values consider themselves poor?

(Mahadevi Verma)Mahadevi believed that a person is always a student in therealm of thought and of feelings. If not, then somewherehe must have closed the door of his heart and mind. Shewas renowned as a poetess, but in fact, she devoted a lotof time during her life to education and teaching. She hadestablished the Prayag Mahila Vidyapeeth, which sheserved for as long as she could. Few people know that herdevotion to education was a conscious choice as shebelieved that educational institutions built the nation andsome of her great contemporaries have noted that.Sachchidanand Vatsyayan 'Agyeya' drew attention to thefact that according to Mahadevi, her poetry was thereflection of her moments of leisure and 'she would devotethe rest of her life to the field of education, where it wasrequired.'2

There are many definitions of 'Vidya' (knowledge/education) in Indian literature. What Mahadevi liked themost was 'Sa Vidya Ya Vimuktye' � which means 'educationis that which liberates'. She noted that in the past, Indianscholars had a very special regard for education and thatis why it was always kept under state control.

Analysing education Mahadevi described two aspectsof it: internal texture and external structure. Theperceptible subject and its communication comprise the

1. Dr Shankar Sharan is a Lecturer in the Department of Educational Research and

Policy Perspective at NCERT, New Delhi.

2. Agyeya, "Adhunik Kavi: Mahadevi Varma" in Trishanku (Surya Prakashan Mandir;

1973), p. 117

5

internal texture, while the Guru (the teacher), the disciple,curriculum and surroundings have a place in the externalstructure. All these six elements make up "the lotus ofeducation" with all the six petals tied together carefully bylanguage, the lack of which may cause these petals toscatter or fall off.

She considered education to be "the heart of society",which like purified blood, pumps new talent intoadministration, science, arts and literature, and intosociety, by and large. If new blood infused into the systemby education is healthy, the system would, as aconsequence, remain healthy and active. But "if germs ofdisease enter the system, all spheres would be fatallyaffected." How painfully true this statement is, can be seentoday, in our country.

According to Mahadevi, ancient Indian thinkersplanned education carefully since they believed that itplayed a role in regulating un-chiselled animal instinctsin human beings, and shaped human potential. Therefore,neglecting education could take human society back tobarbarism. Unfortunately, many countries in the worldseem to aptly reflect this fact, today.

Only in this backdrop can it be understood as to whyMahadevi Verma was against drawing divisive lines betweentradition and modernity in education. She had pointedout that we have misled ourselves by devaluing the greatachievements of our past as the precondition of our futureprogress. "Only by incorporating the lines of tradition,which carry the history of human progress in the conditionof the new era, can we add up new links in the century�slong golden chain of development, and not by breaking offwith them."3 Only plants, having been rooted in their ownsoil, can tolerate hot or cold gusts of wind coming fromany side. "If they leave the base of their soil, neither the lifegiving breeze of Malaya nor the divine water of rain cankeep them alive." The same thing was emphasised byRabindranath Thakur when he said that emancipationfrom the bondage of the soil is no freedom for the tree.

3. Mahadevi Verma, "Siksha ka Uddeshya" in Mere Priya Sambhashan (New Delhi:National Publishing House, 1986), p. 3

6

That is why Mahadevi had warned our modernistintellectuals:

Due to the disconnect with the previous achievementsof a society, "many cultures have vanished, and thisfact can be verified from history." She was not obliviousto the fact that in the process of transmitting the pastinto present, sometimes unnecessary elements havealso come to be preserved along with the valuable ones.In India's case, one more unfortunate fact is that thecountry had to suffer long periods of foreign subjugation,during which, the preservation of culture was morenecessary than choosing valuable elements over thosethat were worthless. Therefore, it may have happenedsometimes that 'a precious element was lost and auseless element was preserved'. However, that is not amatter of serious concern because, according toMahadevi, in every period only those values last whichprove their worth under all circumstances.

Mahadevi had felt from her long educational experiencethat communicating knowledge was more difficult thanacquiring it. Therefore, the sphere of education was atwofold, mysterious laboratory, where one had to provideample opportunity for the independent development of astudent�s inner world and of his personality and also helphim connect harmoniously with the outer world. This iswhy Indian thinkers always felt that it was necessary tomake the objectives of education clearer by classifyingVidya into Para and Apara , that is, for the benefit of othersand valuable in itself. Para is a medium of selfenlightenment while Apara is the means of its developmentunder social circumstances.4

On education, Mahadevi's thoughts are quite similarto world famous educationist Leo Tolstoy. Both believedthat education could be called �preparation for life� only inits limited sense, and that, in its broader sense, it wouldbe the ultimate goal of life. Tolstoy had emphasised thatthere was no such thing as 'the final goal of education�.Rather, it was the law of perpetual evolution that helpedand directed real education. Therefore, by its very nature,the education of a man never ends or finishes forever.4. Mahadevi Verma, "Matribhumi Devobhava" in Mere Priya Sambhashan, above, p.13

7

We must understand that if these classical referencesto education are overlooked or ignored, a seriousdisruption takes place in a given society. If education, forinstance, is taken as beneficial only for worldlydevelopment, not only does it become one-sided, its realmeaning is also lost. Such an education becomes aresultless activity with a meaningless preparation for life.It results in producing various diseases or malaises, whichcome to ail society. Therefore, considering one's educationas only a means of personal progress and prosperity isnot only harmful for the country and for society, itultimately makes one 'a feeble person, who is devoid ofself-perception'.

For Mahadevi Verma these were not idealist talks; thesewere practical facts about education. If proper care wasnot taken, concrete problems could arise, irrespective ofwhether the reasons for these problems could be identified."From the beginning till the end, children are usuallyneither given moral education nor is any attention paid tobuilding their character," she observed. This is why we shallfind few young men "whose life contains the values ofprinciples, courage, indomitable bravery and sense ofrespect and reverence for women."

According to Mahadevi, a person is "undeveloped"during childhood and "the question of the goal of hiseducation is left unattended". In his adolescence, he is inhis formative years. So the final goal - his education - isnot considered. But when a youth arrives at the entranceof active life and faces his duties on his own with anunhealthy body and a frustrated mind, a critical situationarises for both him and for society. In a sense, this crisishas become severe in our country today.

It saddened Mahadevi to see that India had to sufferprolonged periods of defeat at the hands of foreigners:

And in this cussed voyage, it lost a valuable portion oflife, and that was the philosophy of education. Itremains undisputed that a victor is never satisfied with

8

having merely the governing rights over the country hehas defeated. He wants cultural victory as well overthe conquered, for which the simplest and surest mediumis a domination on education. Therefore, the objectivesof education in a country ruled by foreigners can�t bethe same as in a self-governed country.5

It is an irony that in independent India, its effectiveintelligentsia was not ready to understand this fact, letalone take requisite measures to counter it! But the factremains that Mahadevi's views on education were fully inaccordance with those of nationalist visionaries such asRabindranath Thakur, Swami Vivekananda, ShriAurobindo and Mahatma Gandhi. Her view clearly assertedthat, "a self governed nation has to build able heirs for itsvaluable treasury of culture, society and nation, while therulers of an enslaved country need only the helpers amongthe ruled people so as to just maintain the status quo. It'snot surprising, therefore, if in both cases, the objectives ofeducation were quite different, functionally as well withresults."

According to Mahadevi, only in a free country was suchan evolution of a future citizen useful, where qualities suchas self-esteem, a sense of national identity, and the will tostruggle against injustice were developed. Under foreigndomination, on the contrary, the development of a newgeneration of governed subjects was "more threatening thanweapons" for the ruling class. Since so far, we haven'tchanged the inferior education system provided by thecolonial rulers, our field of education is disturbed,uncertain and disruptive. Free society and subjugatededucation are not coherent with each other and there is noway for us to move on without solving this contradiction.

Mahadevi also took note of the world scenario in so faras education was concerned. Analysing the extensiverebellion amongst students here and there, she underlinedthat in countries where the body of a citizen was free buthis soul was enchained , and where soul was free but thebody was in rigorous subjugation, education was at the

5. Mahadevi Verma, "Siksha ka Uddeshya" in Mere Priya Sambhashan, above, p. 6

9

centre of wild activity. From this she inferred thatsomething new was taking birth in the inner depths ofhuman consciousness, and that the pain was making thenew generation restless. This restlessness was not only theresult of a lack of material comfort. If that had been thecase, dissent among students of materially prosperouscountries like the United States of America wouldn�t havebeen there.

In Mahadevi's view, the world has become unified dueto the development of science. However, political conflictsare multiplying divisions among the people. This is acontradictory situation, which can be brought to order onlyby inducing a sense of higher objective of life. On the otherhand, in India, internal and external conditions of thestudents are so disrupted that to infuse creativity in themis a tough task. The generation born in independent Indiahas altogether different hopes and ambitions. But the lastgeneration, despite being independent now, has yet notgot freedom from mental subjugation, nor did it so far evenfeel it necessary to get it.6 This disorder has become amajor obstacle in the full-fledged development of ourstudent-class. Our students and educational scenario arein such a condition that although everything is there:education, training and various modes of communication," what would be trained we don�t know yet. There are nobooks on this, as such things are not in the purview ofbooks. It is in our scriptures, in our philosophy, in ourdharma.7 That is, it is in those things which we havepresumed necessary to forget completely.

Finding no means of livelihood after completingeducation, or being instigation by political parties forvarious reasons are also causes of dissent amongststudents. However, it should be understood that alterationof life�s values and beliefs is also disturbing them. Withoutcomprehending the goal of their education, they pass

6. This particular thought is recurring in Mahadevi's writings and speeches. Evidentlyshe gave it much importance. She mentioned it also in her significant speech"Sahitya, Samskriti aur Shasan" delivered sometime in the Legislative Council ofUttar Pradesh.

7. Mahadevi Verma, 'Matribhumi Devobhava' in Mere Priya Sambhashan, above, p. 14

10

through schools, colleges and universities, and never knowwhere they would land. 'Be it primary or higher, oureducation system has not paid attention to the overalldevelopment of a human being'.

Those who are fortunate find jobs, while others feel thatspending the golden years of their youth in colleges anduniversities is a meaningless waste of their time. But nothought is being given to this. It is the same for a self-governed society. Priceless years of its youth are beingdestroyed and it is watching silently, unable to think ofrequisite corrective measures. We have been witnessing thatin the hope of decent jobs, millions of youth are engagedin a hopeless rat-race. Thus, having no livelihood solutions,even after completing education, and themselves beingblamed by society for this condition, causes confusionamong students. Some politicians exploit this state ofstudents for their own selfish ends.

According to Mahadevi, if a student could geteducation that suits his talent and interest, he would notfeel the need to involve himself in undue political activity.'This question will arise not in student life. It will come tothe fore only when he attains a certain amount of maturity,and when he is called upon to perform his social duty.Only then will it benefit society'. If a student who has aninterest in science, art or literature finds the desired pathfor his creative talent to evolve and bloom, he wouldperhaps know that entering active politics at the wrongtime would amount to a misuse of his time. Mahadevi hadalso advised those active in politics against using thestudent class as weapon, and asked them to change theirways in the greater interest of society. 'Sects of religion donot scare me but sects of politics do scare me', she said.

However, in Mahadevi's view, the most difficult problemregarding education is related to its inner nature and itsmedium. It is self evident that only the mother-tongue canbe the appropriate medium of education for any child. Butfrom the psychological point of view, the question oflanguage is also concerned with culture and a sense of

11

national identity, especially for a country like India whichhas been subjugated as a nation despite having a greatculture. Even in utility, the English language proves to bean obstruction, as most students fail in it and even thosewho do not fail, neither comprehend any subject throughit nor become capable of expressing themselves fully. Thissituation persists even today, and we should be apprisedof it. Some people may benefit from the predominance ofthe English medium in our education system but theimportance accorded to English builds an inferioritycomplex and intellectual dumbness in our otherwise ableyouth. This fact is never taken into account. Mahadevireminds us that the vision of our great thinkers and seershas helped us so far to counter the vagaries of subjugation,and has kept the path from being lost in darkness."Language has been the flame of lamp for that light. Pavakanah Saraswati."8

Being a sensitive teacher, Mahadevi felt that due to thedeep relationship of language with human sensitivities,with perceptions and feelings, the desired development ofa student becomes impossible due to the burden of Englishlanguage. "Nothing can be more miserable for a thinkingperson than his inability to express himself and when thisstate of mind gets reflected in activity, it can only producedestructive tendency." This conclusion based onexperience was not only an analysis but a warning too,ignoring which, we have not done the right thing. Mahadevialso tried to persuade those intellectuals and educationistsof our country who believe that certain colonial legaciescannot be done away with. The educational frameworkgiven by the foreign rulers "has no strength to bestowhumanism", she explained. Not only has a foreign languagehas been the medium of our education for a long time, ithas also become for some of us, a proof of being eruditeand highly cultured. Therefore, it is no wonder that manyof us shudder at the thought of living without it. Alwaysrecalling death as the ultimate fate of human beings, notreatment would seem necessary to an ailing person. So,

8. Mahadevi Verma, "Bhasha ka Prashna" in Mere Priya Sambhashan, above, p. 22

12

to fulfil our national life the inner world of our nationmust be made free. This work is hard and demands specialefforts, as the chain binding the soul is stronger than thechains tying the body.9

Due to her broad-based vision, Mahadevi tried to makeour intelligentsia understand that the problems faced bycountries with ancient cultures used to be altogetherdifferent. Those having young civilizations did not havemuch to lose or change. And even if they changed, therewas hardly anything to fear. But countries with ancientcultures risk great loss in any reckless change. In amisplaced enthusiasm for modernisation or radicaltransformation , if we lose our valuable heritage, it wouldbe a great loss not only for the particular country but forall humanity. Thus, if a colonial legacy has become a fetterin the natural development of millions of Indians thensaying that it cannot be helped is plain defeatism. In thevery inspiring words of Mahadevi, "A river that springs fromthe heart of the Himalayas, whether a small current or abig one, does never ask for the way from the rocks. Has itever asked to make banks of gold, silver or marble for it? Itnever said so. Crossing the mountains it moves onovertaking everything with a gusty speed and it is herprinciple to make her own banks." Similarly, ourthoughtful people must build the path on which ournation could overcome the mental subjugation ofcenturies, not just the elite but every person in the country.And, this work cannot be accomplished by imitating othersmedium and models.

Therefore, the objective of our education must be tomake the natural relationship with our culture lively. Onlymaterial prosperity and economic development cannot bethe objective of education. If economic development couldnot be coordinated with the evolvement of the self, it wouldbecome an ugly phenomenon. "If someone asks you togive Ganga-Yamuna in exchange to get you to Mars, youwould never agree. There is a reason: we are made of thisland, we have a soulful relationship with it. You can

9. Mahadevi Verma, "Hamara Desh aur Rashtrabhasha" in Mere Priya Sambhashan,above, p.26

13

harmonise its message with science, but cannot leave itfor science."10 It would be fatal to make merely personaleconomic advancement the sole goal of anyone's education.That would lead to a blind alley. This can be appreciatedby looking carefully at the situation of the so-calleddeveloped countries. That kind of selfish goal creates'mental unemployment', which is as miserable asunemployment itself. Not only has higher education,'transformed itself into absolute dissatisfaction with life',it has sometimes become merely 'a means to get thenecessary amenities for a comfortable life.'

Mahadevi believed that Indian students have thestrength to face the challenges of the present times, andcontribute significantly. 'If they recognise their innerstrengths, then all doors would open automatically.' Butfor this to happen, one should have self-control over one'slife. If our life is not disciplined or if we do not lead abalanced life, we can't get inner strength. Giving theexample of electricity, Mahadevi explained that electricityis everywhere: in the sky, in the earth and in every atom;but you can't light a single lamp from it. Light would notget activated until it is collected first in a powerhouse whichis a centre, and then and only then can the whole city beilluminated. "A similar process takes place in one's heart.If you concentrate or focus and hold your full strength,physical power, inner power, faith, belief and the power ofyour soul, and consider the strength you have, all darkclouds could go away. All the obstacles coming your waywill be removed." She believed that if today's studentrecognises his latent strength, the disintegration of societycould be contained and that social life would be free fromall disparity. But if he fails to understand his duty, theentire nation could become weak and lost.11

Mahadevi had a profound thought on the role of creativeliterature in education. Usually, we make literature a smallpart of the study of a language and not an essential part ofeducation in general. Mahadevi was of the view that forevery student, literature must have a very important place

10. Mahadevi Verma, "Matribhumi Devobhava" in Mere Priya Sambhashan, above, p.1511. Ibid, p. 17

14

in his/her education. She considered it to be 'a chemicalcapable of removing the discrepancies of life.' Putting it inthe perspective of history, she reminded us that thecommand of armed force creates a relationship of aconqueror and the conquered between two countries, whilethe influence of literature always bring harmony betweentwo countries. Therefore, "We have to give such importanceto literature and culture in education that a student mayget the message of unity, fraternity or brotherhood ofhuman beings and ultimately would become a morecomplete person."

Those who are familiar with the writings of MahadeviVerma, knows the value of her thoughts on the status ofwomen and their education. The great Hindi poet(Maharani) Nirala wrote this about Mahadevi: "Until now,through her, thousands of girl students have beenbenefited and become dignified." And in the field ofeducation, "Mahadevi is greater than Sarojini Naidu. Nodoubt, her ideal in Hindi is greater than many great men."12

Mahadevi had studied the contribution of great womenscholars of ancient India and emphasised on learning fromthem. She did research on the great tradition of womeneducation and the high status of women in social life asexisted in our country. According to Mahadevi, in Indiantradition "there has been co-education with commonmethods for teaching. On completion of study, womengraduates were involved in teaching also." It continued till7-8th centuries. But then during the period of successiveforeign rules many things changed in our country.

To bring about the required transformation in the lifeof women was one of her main concerns. According to her,Indian women are presently 'queens of the empire ofignorance.' On the other hand, the modern educationcurrently being imparted to them takes away some goodqualities from many young women. "We can't say easilyabout a girl student that she is an inquisitive student,because she comes out of her home like an unrestrainedbutterfly, far from the reality and sensitivity of life, and

12. Surya Kant Tripathi 'Nirala', "Mahadevi ke Janma-Divas Par" in Chayan: NibandhSangraha, (New Delhi: Rajkamal Prakashan, 1981) pp. 116, 117

15

does not mind becoming the centre of attraction of others."13

Therefore, we may find 'qualities like simplicity andhumility, in illiterate women' but almost all the so-calledliterate women hardly have more than the ability torecognise letters and read some novels in exchange of givingup all their qualities'. The main reason for this sorry state,according to Mahadevi, is imparting education by thewrong kind of teachers. "If our children learn and geteducation under the guidance of such persons who donot have character and principles, who carry inherentweakness out of their own poor education and character,all these weaknesses would also affect the students."Mahadevi felt sad that we do not care to have even thosequalities in our teachers, which we want to see in thosepeople who perform ordinary jobs:

Those teachers responsible for building the future ofgirls, the mothers of coming generations; our lacklusterattitude towards them is an unforgivable fault. Toprovide the means for country-specific, society-specificand culture-specific mental development is trueeducation by which a person feels harmony in his lifeand makes it useful for others too. This important taskis not such that can be performed by a person ignorantof a distinct culture and one who is frivolous and weakin character.14

Mahadevi was firm in her view that copying westernsocieties was harmful for the upliftment of women here.Further, mechanical equality with men ultimately makeswomen more incapable and dependent. And, thoseeducated men, who are 'weak, helpless and useless degreeholders', should never be the ideals of women. Abandoningtheir natural qualities and unsuccessfully imitating mencan lead educated women nowhere.15 Whatever seems onthe surface, in fact, such women lose social and personalvalues. So, if we follow "such suicidal approaches of the

13. Mahadevi Verma, "Hamari Samasyayein: 2" in Shrinkhala ki Kadiya, (New Delhi:Radhakrishna, 1995), p. 117

14. Mahadevi Verma, "Hamari Samasyayein: 1" in Shrinkhala ki Kadiya, above, pp.106-07

15. To understand in detail Mahadevi�s thought on the situation, sorrows and theway to solve the problems before Indian women her book Shrinkhala ki Kadiyais most valuable. All the essays collected in this book centre on this issue.

16

western world, it would be as ridiculous as cutting one'sfeet to copy a disabled person."16 Basically, westernapproaches are hedonistic. Hence, relationships betweenmen and women generally may not rise above suchlimitations even though the social courtesies of westernsocieties may appear praiseworthy. Therefore, accordingto Mahadevi, if our women follow the western model offreedom, it will lead to other forms of distortions andabuses, not towards harmony, which is the life of a society.

Finally, Mahadevi had also assessed the Indianintellectual scenario in connection with the presenteducation system. She noted that the present educationsystem, "is not a bridge to bring us nearer but has becomea big gulf to divide us, which our selfishness is wideningday by day."17 This is an education after receiving we tryto become persons whom a common man hesitates toapproach. It is natural, then, that this type of educationtransforms our intellectuals into a hi-fi group who neitherconnect with the Indian people nor do the people feelcomfortable mixing with them. Rather, some intellectualsare such, 'in whom education has turned into poison likethe drops of Swati (nakshatra) changes in the mouth of asnake.'

This is why the intellectuals, who consider themselvesso very important, are actually extremely incapable ofcontributing to the interest of the country. Most of themlive and grow up with an intellectual inferiority complex,"whose even totally a lame dream, and who believe thatjust by attaching some foreign feathers, they have turnedinto messengers of heaven. Even their ugliest ideals,because they are in a western moulding, are identified asnothing more than being just pretty. Even their shoddiestviews, with some foreign patches here and there, are takento reign in the world of thought."18 Women intellectualstoo, are the same. "As a pot of cold water lying near hot

16. Mahadevi Verma, "Navin Dashak mein Mahilaon ka Sthan" in Mere PriyaSambhashan, above, p.62

17. Mahadevi Verma, "Hamari Samasyayein: I" in Shrinkhala ki Kadiya, above, p. 10318. Mahadevi Verma, "Chintan ke Kuchh Kshan" in Deepshikha (Allahabad: Bharti

Bhandar, Samvat 2022 Vikrami), p. 41

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water loses its cool unknowingly, similarly, educatedwomen have silently adopted the weaknesses of men andcome to visualise this condition as the reflective ofsuccess."19 That is why most women intellectuals also givemore importance to meaningless mental exercises than thesimple and truthful feelings of the people. They even takeindividual confusions as some valuable formulations,publicise it and make selfish enterprises their petty'knowledge business'.

Mahadevi observed sadly that in such intellectuals, theoutlines of culture are found broken and that the imagesof life are incomplete. For this reason, she tried to inspireus to be attached to our cultural roots, although with anindependent mind, and find our way in a new era.Mahadevi�s great contribution to education, culture andliterature is comparable to any thinker of modern India.This doesn't pertain only to the subject of womeneducation, to which Mahadevi devoted a lot of effort duringher whole life to everything she had taken up to write andspeak about. Her views send us valuable messages eventill this very day:

Why I ask this night of separation,how much passed or remained?Moments echo and the particles sing,whenever they this way unwillingly come,writing self-sacrificing for themremained I an indelible message!

19. Ibid, p. 104

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SECTION 2

MAHADEVI VERMA

MEMORIAL LECTURE

SCIENCE THROUGH ACTIVITIES

ARVIND GUPTA

AbstractThe search for teaching science meaningfully to ruralchildren has been a very challenging task for educators.Many attempts have been made in the past and there areseveral lessons to be learnt from them. Some like theHoshangabad Science Teaching Programme (HSTP)worked in over a 1000 village schools for over two decades.The HSTP unleashed the creativity of thousands of childrenand teachers, but was ultimately shut down by the Stategovernment. Every innovation leaves behind seeds forfuture innovation.

Is the chalk-talk method best suited to teach science?Is the ability to regurgitate a few definitions an indicator ofcomprehension? Isn�t expensive glassware andsophisticated plastic equipment in a typical school sciencelaboratory a little out of sync with the lives of ordinaryvillage children? Shouldn�t the learning of science be mademore contextual � something which a child can relate towith her everyday experiences?

How do children learn science? Perhaps science is learntbest when it goes beyond the four walls of the classroomand addresses the concerns and problems of the largercommunity. Then science becomes alive and vibrant. Alsothe use of local materials for making simple science modelshelps children assimilate them better.

Apart from outlining tried and tested field experimentsthe talk will be interspersed with practical and fascinatingdemonstrations.

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Arvind Gupta is known as a science populariser andtoymaker. He has conducted thousands of workshops inIndia and abroad, and made numerous TV shows onmaking science toys from �junk�. He writes, translates, andshares his passion for books and toys through his popularwebsite arvindguptatoys.com.

Arvind obtained a B.Tech. from IIT, Kanpur in 1975.He opted out of a lucrative career to devote his life to sciencepopularisation. Currently, he works at the MuktanganScience Centre for Children located at the Inter-UniversityCentre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) in Pune.He has been conferred numerous awards for his work,including the inaugural National Award for SciencePopularisation amongst Children (1988), theDistinguished Alumnus Award by IIT, Kanpur (2000) andINSA�s Indira Gandhi Award for Science Popularisation(2008). He has written a dozen books on science activities.His first book �Matchstick Models and Other ScienceExperiments� was translated in a dozen Indian languages.

SCIENCE THROUGH ACTIVITIES

I hearand I forget

I seeand I remember

I doand I understand

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�Believe nothing, merely because you have been toldto, or because it is traditional, or because you yourselfhave imagined it. Do not believe what your teacher tellsyou�merely out of respect for the teacher. But wheneverafter due examination and analysis you find conduciveto the good, and benefit the welfare of all beings, thatdoctrine believe and cling to and take it as your goal.�� Buddha

EVERYTHING HAS A HISTORYIn most schools science is still learnt by rote. Children mugup definitions and formula and spit them out in the exam.This is certainly not a good way to learn science. Science isperhaps a unique subject. The uniqueness stems from thefact that many of its postulates can be tested and verifiedby practical experiments. Most other subjects can belearned with ordinary tools�such as pencil, paper,blackboard, textbooks and a few supplementary aids.These are also essential for the teaching of science but, ifthey are the only tools, science becomes a dull and anuninteresting subject. This uniqueness results from thevariety of materials and experiments necessary for itseffective teaching.

If it is to be learned effectively science must beexperienced. It must be learned and not learned about.

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THE PHILOSOPHYAnn Sayre Wiseman, creative director of the Children�sMuseum in Boston and the author of the landmark book,Making Things, summed up the essence of good sciencein these words:

It�s OK to fail.It�s OK to make mistakes.

You will learn a lot from them.It�s OK to take risks.

It�s OK to take your time.It�s OK to find your own pace.It�s OK to try it your own way.

It�s Ok to fail.You can always try again free of fear.

It�s OK to look foolish.It�s OK to be different.

It�s OK to wait until you are ready.It�s OK to experiment (in safety).

It�s OK to question the �shoulds�.It�s special to be you.

It is necessary to make a messWhich you are willing to clean up.(The act of creation is often messy)

GLEAM IN THE EYEChildren are naturallycurious and have an innatedesire to learn. Children alsohave a tremendous power toconcentrate. If they areinterested in a particularthing they put their heart andsoul into it. They want toknow it. They have atremendous desire tounderstand how it works.Children learn a great dealwithout being taught.

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Maria Montessori demonstrated this over a hundredyears ago. She was Italy�s first woman doctor. After gettingher medical degree, Montessori started working with thechildren of slum dwellers. Montessori is famous the worldover for her deep pedagogical insights. She had designedhundreds of teaching-aids for children. Several of themare still in active use, for instance, the post-box. This is ahollow wooden cubical box. On each surface of the boxthere is a cut-out of a particular geometrical shape �a circle, triangle, square etc. There are correspondingwooden blocks which have to be posted in the respectiveslots. A wooden ball, for instance, would go into the circularhole and a prism in a triangular slot.

There was an elderly priest who was very interested inMontessori�s work. He would drop-by on a Sunday to seethe various experiments, which Montessori was doing withthe children. One day, Montessori took the priest to onecorner of the class, where a little girl, was playing with thepost-box. The little girl was deeply absorbed in her work.Montessori asked the other children to encircle the littlegirl and to sing a song aloud so as to disturb herconcentration. But the little girl was so absorbed in herwork�in trying to figure out which block will go into whichslot that she did not even look up.

After some time Montessori lifted the little girl andseated her on a table. As soon as the little girl got her berthshe once again got absorbed in trying to figure-out theblock which will go into a particular slot. She was totallylost in her own world.

The priest�a good old Samaritan, often used to bringsome toffees and chocolates for the children. On that dayhe had got a big box of biscuits. He started distributingbiscuits to the children. He also gave the little girl a biscuit.The little girl reluctantly took the biscuit. She intentlylooked at it. She saw that the biscuit was rectangular inshape. So, she posted the biscuit in the rectangular slot ofthe post-box. Children do not learn through bribes. Theylearn because they want to understand the world. Mark

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sheets, certificates, medals and prizes are bad substitutesfor the real joy of knowing the world.

THE BEGINNINGSeveral pioneering experiments were done in India priorto Independence to make the learning of science contextualand interesting. One such well documented experimenttook place in Himachal Pradesh in the 1920�s.

Satyanand Stokes was an American who came to Indiain 1910. He pioneered the plantation and propagation ofapples in Himachal Pradesh. Being a philanthropist, healso set up a school in Kotgarh for the local children. In1920, the American economist Richard Greggs�deeplyinspired by Gandhiji�came to work in India. For two years,Greggs taught activity based science to children in Stoke�sschool at Kotgarh. Based on his real life experiences withIndian children, he wrote a book titled Preparation forScience in 1928. This book was first printed by NavjivanPrakashan from Ahmedabad. This remains the mostpioneering treatise on how science should be taught tochildren in Indian schools.

Greggs wrote:The apparatus required is exceedingly simple andinexpensive, and almost all of it is familiar to

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village children. Most of it can be made by villagecarpenters, potters or blacksmiths. The childrenmust not get an idea that science is machinery orstrange technology. The great pioneers of sciencedid their work with very simple apparatus. It ispossible, therefore, to follow their footsteps andlearn to do scientific thinking without muchexpensive or elaborate apparatus. After all, thestudent�s mind is the most expensive piece ofapparatus involved.

Greggs further commented:I do not want Indianchildren in villages to getthe idea that science isonly a school affair oronly relates to shinybrass and glass devicesand paraphernalia.I believe they can learn tothink more clearly and toacquire a scientificattitude without all theexpensive and compli-cated apparatus used inwestern laboratories, orat least with extremely little of it.As has often happened in the history of science, the

prophetic book written in 1928 remained buried untilKeith Warren, a UNICEF consultant rediscovered it in 1975,illustrated parts of it, and brought it out as Preparationfor Understanding.

This book helps children to discover an order in theworld around them. Children are inspired to seek outpatterns using pebbles, twigs, leaves, wire, seeds and othernatural materials - stuff which is free and doesn�t cost anymoney. Children who don�t have paper or pencil could drawpatterns on the ground with a stick. They could arrangeleaves and seeds to make several rangoli-like patterns.

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Pieces of a broken earthen pot couldbe joined with wet clay to create a whole.This is akin to solving a 3-D jigsaw-puzzle.

In another exercise, a child takes foursimilar balls of clay. S/he then mouldseach into a different shaped animal, acube, a pot and a plate. The child is thenasked:

Which one is heavier? Does the shape change the weight?Children pour out the same cupful of water in four differentcontainers. Then they are asked, �Which vessel containsmore water?�

The basic tenet of the book is : Before children canunderstand a thing, they need experience�seeing,touching, hearing, tasting, smelling, choosing, arranging,putting things together and taking things apart. Childrenneed to experiment with real things.

This book is perhaps still the most relevant book onscience activities for Indian village children. There is noplastic or glass apparatus�specialised science equipmentto be bought. It shows that children learn best from simplethings. And naturally it is most helpful for them tounderstand first those things that are around them in theirdaily lives.

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It is best for two or three children to work together atthese activities so that they can share materials and helpeach other. Thus they begin to learn cooperation.

Science is built from curiosity, experience, analysis,and finally the expression of discovery. The main part ofthis process is arranging objects, activities and ideas so asto create a new order or pattern. Science is the discovery ofnew patterns. These exercises will help children discoverthe patterns and arrangements of the world around themby using their hands, senses and minds. So,Understanding is the discovery of order.

The Hindi edition of the book Preparation forUnderstanding, Samajh Ke Liye Taiyari is fortunately stillbeing published by the National Book Trust.

OTHER EXPERIMENTSAfter independence a few initiatives were taken in India tomake science more interesting. During its formative yearsthe NCERT reprinted a few science activity books developedby an American University. They were even translated intoHindi. Though the experiments came from an alien milieuand were not very contextual to Indian needs it was still aprogressive step�a leap from the chalk-and-talk methodand rote learning practised in most Indian schools. TheNCERT also started the magazine School Science in whichmany pioneering Indian scientists � Prof. D. N. Wadia andProf. P. N. Maheshwari regularly contributed articles of avery high quality. The classic Story of Stone by Prof. D. N.Wadia first printed in this magazine needs to berepublished as an independent illustrated book at theearliest. Some of the other science classics published bythe NCERT were the Akashdarshan Atlas � written byG.R. Paranjpe � the first Indian Director of the RoyalInstitute of Science, Bombay. This atlas gave the Indiannames of all the stars and constellations and so it mademuch more sense to an Indian student. Other good sciencebooks published by the NCERT were Our Tree Neighboursby Chakravarti Venkatesh and What on Earth is Energyby D. P. Sengupta.

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There were other isolated experiments to improve theway science was taught in schools. In the late sixties MeeraParasnis experimented in the Campus School in IIT, Kanpurto make the learning of science more experiential. She wrotea series of five illustrated books titled Science in Action inthe early seventies. These books were brought out byMacmillan and paved the way for further experiments.

SPUTNIK SPURS RACE FOR SCIENCESUPREMACYOn October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union successfullylaunched the Sputnik. Sputnik�s launch changedeverything. It had a world-wide effect on the way sciencewas taught in schools. As a technical achievement, Sputnikcaught the world�s attention and the American public off-guard. That launch ushered in new political, military,technological, and scientific developments. The Sputnikshock shook the US and UK science establishment. Severalnew initiatives were taken to make science teaching moreinteresting.

In a unipolar world it is easy to forget the majorrole played by the Russians in popularising sciencein India. Many Russian science classics like Physicsfor Fun (1905), Fun with Astronomy written by thefather of Russian popular science Yakov Perelman(1882-1942) were available in English, Hindi,Marathi and other regional languages in smalltowns on the pavement for a very moderate price.

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Whereas the American books were expensive andonly available in big towns, these beautifullyillustrated Russian science books were availablein taluka towns at a very affordable price. Manypeople of my generation owe their interest in scienceto the Russian popular science books.

In 1905, for instance, Perelman demonstratedthe use of standard coins � roubles and kopecksas standard weights. As these coins had been mint-made they had a standard weight and could beused by children as reference �weights�. Despitethis it is sad to see the chapter on WEIGHT in mostIndian books starts not with coins (which areaccessible to every child) but with a picture of afractional weight box!

NUFFIELD SCIENCEThe Nuffield Science Programme in the UK in the early60�s based itself on the discovery approach. Children werenot doled out readymade answers. Instead, they wereencouraged to fend for themselves and to discover theanswer themselves. Children learn a great deal bythemselves. It is unfortunate that schools provide very littlespace for children to mess around and discover things forthemselves. But whenever there is a pro-child atmospherethe results are simply electrifying.

This happened in a Nuffield Science classroom inEngland. The junior science students were given a lot oftorch batteries, bulbs, wires, resistance�s etc. to experimentwith. The children were supposed to familiarise themselveswith these components and learn to make simple circuits.After the children had played with them and learnt to makea rudimentary torch etc. the teacher decided to test theirknowledge about these components and gave them apractical quiz.

She gave them four identical wooden boxes with onlytwo terminals on their top. Inside the box, the two terminalswere either connected to a battery, a bulb, a resistance or

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nothing at all (i.e., an open circuit). Children could onlyexperiment by touching only the two terminals on the topof the box. They could only attach wires to these twoterminals. They had to find out which box had whichcomponent hidden in its belly. It was fairly simple if therewas just a battery hidden inside. The battery being an activeelement, if one just attached a bulb from outside it wouldglow. If there was an open circuit inside that was also easyto find out. But how does one find out whether it was abulb or a resistance, hidden inside the box? It was a toughquestion and not at all easy to crack. If you connected abulb and a battery from outside, in both cases the bulbwould light up. Even the teacher, who had set up the quiz,did not have a clue to the answer.

But a little boy found out the answer. When heconnected a single battery and a bulb to the two terminals,his bulb lit up. As the glow of the bulb was a bit �dim��itmeant that there was either a resistance or a bulb insidethe box. Then he attached two batteries, and his bulbbecame a little bright. Then he just kept on adding morebatteries and every time the glow of the bulb becamebrighter. But when he attached six batteries, the highvoltage busted something inside and the circuit becameopen.

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The little boy had found the answer because whileplaying he had fused two bulbs by connecting severalbatteries to them.

UNESCO SOURCE BOOK FOR SCIENCETEACHINGMany nations were devastated during the Second WorldWar. Later on, these countries built schools but had nomoney to set up science laboratories. At the behest ofUNESCO, J.P. Stephenson, science master at the City ofLondon School prepared a book on science activities titledSuggestions for Science Teachers in DevastatedCountries. This fully illustrated book showed teachers howto make their own apparatus from simple, everydaymaterials at little cost.

The title of the bookSuggestions for Teachers inDevastated Countries took theworld by storm. It showed thatexpensive, fancy equipmentwere far removed from the livesof ordinary children � in factvery alienating. UNESCOagreed to widen and deepen thescope of the book and thuscame out the famous UnescoSource Book for ScienceTeaching � which 50 years laterstill remains a bible for scienceactivities. In 1963 this book wastranslated in Hindi by Professor Gorakh Nath andpublished by the Publication Division. It's third and lastedition appeared in 1981. But for over a quarter centurythis wonderful book has been out of print in Hindi. At aboutthe same time this book was translated in Marathi byBhaskar Dhondu Karve � son of the great social reformerBharat Ratna Maharishi Karve. One lone edition of theMarathi edition was published by Orient Longman in 1963

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and then the book was shelved. Recently the book hasbeen republished by Manovikas Prakashan and has beenhailed as the rebirth of a major classic. The UNESCO SourceBook for Science Teaching must have been translated byinspired individuals in other Indian languages too. Butgiven the apathy towards activity-based science learningthese language editions too must have been long buriedinto obscurity. I wish that someone would digitise andupload them on the internet for posterity.

The UNESCO Source Book for Science Teachingperiodically revised and updated, has been translated intomany languages of the world, reprinted scores of timesand has sold several million copies.

Good science teaching must be based on observationand experiment. There can be no substitute for these. Butperforming experiments and learning to make closeobservations require special facilities, and these are lackingin many parts of the world, especially in the elementaryand middle schools of poor countries. As a result, scienceteaching suffers a severe handicap in these regions. It isoften believed�though erroneously�that to introducelaboratory teaching, even at the elementary level, requireselaborate equipment made by commercial manufacturers.Such materials are prohibitively expensive for most schoolsand in many parts of the world are quite unobtainablebecause they are not manufactured locally and cannot beimported because of the prohibitive costs.

HOSHANGABAD SCIENCE TEACHINGPROGRAMMEThe best Indian effort to revitalise school science educationwas certainly the Hoshangabad Science TeachingProgramme (HSTP). Started in 1972, the HSTP eventuallyspread over 1000 government middle schools in 14districts of Madhya Pradesh. Inspired by the NuffieldScience Experiment it was based on the discoverymethod�where children performed simple experimentsand then answered questions based on what they did. They

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were not �passive consumers� but �real constructors� ofknowledge. There were no textbooks, only workbooks. Theprogramme involved the active participation of teachers indesigning the curriculum. It attracted many passionateand competent people. Professor Yashpal came as the firstteacher trainer. It unleashed tremendous energy andcreativity. The task was not just to replace standard flaskswith local glass bottles. The search was for local substitutes,low-cost, non-alienating materials, close to the culturalmilieu of the child. This required an open mind and acritical outlook. Children dispensed �dissecting needles�in favour of �babool� thorns (see box). Phenolphthalein �an indicator used for titration�was discovered in the wellknown brand of laxative �Vaculax�. The tablet was mixedin a known quantity of water to make a wonderful�indicator�.

A THORNY ISSUE

The Hoshangabad Science Teaching Programme (HSTP)emphasised on activity-based science learning. It wasthought that the best way to learn science was by doingscientific experiments. There was a lot of emphasis onlearning from the environment.

It was thought that the best way to learn about varioustypes of plant roots was not by drawing pictures of taprootsand fibrous�roots on the blackboard but by actually

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stepping out of the classroom and studying these realplants in the field. For botanical observations the childrenwere provided with hand lenses and dissecting needles.

One day the children went on a field trip. They were tocollect different wild flowers and dissect them. Soon thechildren were cutting the flowers and examining thestamens, pistils and ovaries. They were all using theirdissecting needles to pry open the flower parts. But onegirl had forgotten to bring her dissecting needle. What couldshe do? She was searching for something pointed andsharp to open up the flowers. And soon she found a lot ofBabool (Acacia arabica) thorns. These thorns were strewnall around and worked as beautiful dissecting needles.

This little girl had taught the Science Programme agreat lesson. Why use the standard dissecting needle�along steel needle embedded in a plastic handle, when youcan use a thorn for the job. The needle had to be boughtfrom the nearby town, as it was not available in the village.The thorn on the other hand was free. Millions of thosethorns were crying to be picked up right there in the village.The humble Babool thorn had become an important toolfor scientific inquiry!

The HSTP inspired by the Nuffield philosophy of�learning by doing� had to reinvent all the hardware tosuit local conditions. The idea was to critically look at local

resources and find possibilities of doing innovative scienceusing local, low-cost, easily accessible materials. TheMatchstick Mecanno was used successfully to learngeometry and three-dimensional shapes. It used little bitsof cycle valve tubes and matchsticks to make an array of

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3-D structures. Matchsticks were readily found at homeand as bicycles had made inroads in all our villages cyclevalve tube could be bought locally.

The HSTP slowly spread from just 16 schools in thedistrict of Hoshangabad to more than 1000 schools in 14districts of Madhya Pradesh. At its peak over one hundredthousand village children learnt science using appropriateteaching aids, where the emphasis was on comprehensionand not rote learning. Especial testing methods andexaminations were devised which tested the child�s�understanding� and not his/her ability to mug and spit.

But despite its innovative features the HSTP was shutdown by the Government of Madhya Pradesh in 2002.Today, when the government is welcoming corporatepartnership in the education sector, the HSTP was hailedas the largest intervention in science education and a grandpartnership between the government and a NGO. Thegovernment provided the infrastructure, money and, inturn, the NGO providing the passionate human inputs.But, despite the fact that the programme had succeededin demonstrating a paradigm shift�from rote learning tounderstanding, it was shut down. It was a big blow forthinking people. Why was this relevant, appropriate, cost-effective, tried and tested programme shut down? Thereasons soon became clear. No government whether of theleft of the right wants any organisation (private or NGO) tointervene in education at the mass level. The government

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feels deeply threatened. As long as NGO�s work in a fewschools the state is happy. If there are more NGO�s andmore experiments the better for the state, because thenthe state can �showcase� and trumpet this �bouquet� ofeducational initiatives and can take legitimate credit forits liberal attitude for �letting a thousand flowers bloom�.But if the experiment is of a radical nature promoting theattitude of �questioning� everything and if the interventionis on a large scale then the ruling class becomes jitteryand politically stalls and �kills� the initiative.

The HSTP unleashed the creativity of thousands ofteachers and gave an opportunity to academics in some ofIndia�s best research institutes to contribute their bit tomake the learning of science more interesting in villageschools�where their help was most needed. Though theHoshangabad Science Teaching Programme was shutdown the experience conclusively demonstrated that goodscience education in our village schools could be madeinteresting and fun and relevant using very cost-effectivemethods. The HSTP has inspired scores of individuals whoare trying to implement it in their own regions withvariations and regional specificities.

SCIENCE KITSExperience the world over has shown that prepackagedscience kits seldom work. On several occasions multi-national organisations have appointed consultants andexperts to design science kits for village schools. Then thesekits are �mass� produced and distributed by a centralauthority to far flung village schools. This process is notunique to India alone. This is the experience of manydeveloping countries. In most cases the kits lie unopened.As the teacher did not think of them, design them, assemblethem so s(he) does not feel confident to use them. The kitcould break when used. Who will bear the consequences?So the teacher simply keeps it locked.

But whenever teachers have been shown possibilitiesof making simple science models using everyday materials,readily available in their surroundings they have shown

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great enthusiasm. When they make things with their ownhands they feel �empowered� and are more likely to usethem in practice. If something breaks they can alwaysrepair it.

We live in a consumerist society which producesmountains of junk�cardboard cartons, ball pen refills,old pens, coins, broomsticks, newspapers, cycle tubes,matchboxes, tetrapaks, milk bags, ice-cream sticks, straws,etc. The list is endless. All this stuff can be recycled backinto joyous science models and toys for children.

RECYCLE! REUSE! REDUCE!This ancient story carries a deep lesson about conservationin a consumerist society.

We buy, use and throw. Often we buy much more thanwe actually need. The whole consumerist culture is basedon the principle: �Buy more! Throw more!� Today as wesplurge�we plunder the earth�s scare resources andproduce so much junk that not only our garbage dumpsbut even our parks overflow with rubbish.

But has it always been like this? Have we Indiansalways been so profligate and wasteful? No. History tellsus that Indians have been fairly austere. They have had adifferent way of looking at the material world. Accordingto this viewpoint a thing can have several uses. Not justone, but several lives. The concept of reuse/recycle hasvery deep roots in the Indian culture. This 5,000 year oldstory shows a deep respect and sensitivity for the materialworld. It has many lessons for modern dayenvironmentalists.

One day the great Buddha was taking a round of themonastery.

He was approached by a monk who wanted a newwoolen shawl (angarkha).

Buddha asked him, �What happened to your oldshawl?�

�It had become very old and worn out. So I ampresently using it like a bed sheet,� replied the monk.

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Buddha asked again, �But what happened to your oldbed sheet?�

�Master, that bed sheet got old with use. It was wornand torn. So I cut it up and made a pillow cover out of it,�replied the monk.

�But there certainly was a pillow cover before you madea new one. What did you do to your old pillow cover?�asked the Buddha.

�My head had rubbed a million times against the oldpillow cover and made a big hole in it. So I made a foot matout of it,� replied the monk in earnest.

Buddha was not satisfied by this answer. He alwaysdelved deep into any issue. In the end he asked the monk,�Tell me what you did with your old door mat?�

The monk replied with folded hands, �Master the olddoor mat had got totally worn with use. Because ofrepeated use the warp and the weft had come out. So Itook the cotton fibres and braided a wick out of them. LaterI burned the cotton wick in the oil lamp.�

Buddha smiled after listening to the monk. The monkgot a new shawl.

TOYS AND TRINKETSThere are many examples of creating fairly sophisticatedscience models from junk. For instance, primary schoolchildren could make a wonderful hand pump with twofilm cans joined by a length of old cycle tube with flaps ofsticky tape for �valves�. This inexpensive pump can inflatea balloon and throw water 10 feet away!

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Another wonderful example is of trying to balance adozen nails on the head of a vertical nail. This experimentdoes not require any specialised equipment�only nailsand a piece of wood-materials which are amply availablein the rural areas.

Toys have been used successfully to demonstrateprinciples of physics. Most inspiring physics teachers havetheir pet toys hidden away in drawers, cabinets and pantpockets. They include things like the dunking bird,gyroscopes, yo-yo�s, a tippy-top, propeller on a notchedstick, Newton�s cradle, slinky and coupled pendulums.Most toys have an advantage over conventionaldemonstration equipment in their relatively low-cost andthe fact that children relate well to them. Unfortunatelymost toys are not made for repeated use and that they areoften no longer available when one looks for replacements!

Children understand best when they see a scienceprinciple incorporated in a toy. If they can play with it,then they get a better �feel� for it. �Centrifugal� and

39

�Centripetal� forces are abstract words and mean little tochildren. But a broomstick �spinner� can lend meaning tothese words. A self-made toy acrobat which flays its handsand legs when spun can concretise this concept. A hundredsuch wonderful science toys have been collated in a booktitled The Joy of Making Indian Toys, by SudarshanKhanna (published by the NBT and costing Rs 40 only).These toys have been there since ages. Every generationhas enlarged this repertoire and left them behind in thepublic domain. These toys, made from �throw away� stuff,are eco-friendly and the poorest children can enjoy them.In sculpting them, children learn to cut, trim, glue, fix andassemble together a variety of materials. They also learngreat science.

The crisis of science is that people still do not want todirty their hands. Rote learning, the chalk-and-talk methodstill reigns supreme. Everyone is out to �cover� the course,forgetting that the whole task of education is to �uncover�things.

PRIMARY SCHOOL SCIENCEOver the years there has been ashift in thinking and schools areadopting more progressivemeasures. In many mainstreamschools children in Class 7th or8th are taken to the laboratorywhere the teacher �demon-strates� certain experiments�how to make oxygen etc. But stillthe children do not get a chanceto do experiments with their ownhands. Often the primary yearsare the most neglected phasewhere children seldom get achance to mess around and do experiments.

The UNESCO Source Book for Science in the PrimarySchool, authored by Winnie Harlen and Jos Elstgeest, was

40

first published in the early 1990s. Its international editionwas priced at US $20. Fortunately, the National Book Trustreprinted a low-cost Indian edition of this wonderful bookpriced at just Rs 95. This book has never been reviewedbut it is still in the fourth reprint. This reposes our faith inordinary teachers�a good book, reasonably priced, willsell well. The book has two parts: a theoretical sectionfollowed by four amazing science activity sections�Children and Water, Children and Balances, Children,Mirrors and Reflections and Children and theEnvironment. This book has already been translated andpublished in Hindi by the NBT. It will be wonderful if thisbook is published into other regional languages too.

Believing that science and the scientific method ofproblem-solving should play a significant role in anymodern educational scheme, UNESCO offers this book inthe hope that it will assist science teachers everywhere intheir important work. The point of view taken is that scienceis most effectively taught and learned when both teacherand pupils practise the skills of problem-solving byengaging in group and individual study. The devising ofexperiments and the improvising of simple equipment forcarrying them out should form no small part of such study.Thus, the present includes instructions for the making ofmany pieces of simple apparatus from materials usuallyfound in almost any region. It also proposes a wide arrayof science experiments from which a teacher may selectthose most suitable for providing the observations uponwhich effective learning may be based.

In many parts of the world, science education occupiesa comparatively insignificant place in primary-schooleducation and unfortunately what actually happens in theclassroom under the label of science is often totallyinadequate. Teacher training both pre-service and in-service, is one of the keys to this problem. Starting fromthe premise that this training should be carried out in waysmore closely related to the active methods which teachersare expected to use in their schools, this sourcebook

41

provides a variety of materials for use in training workshopsfor primary-school teachers which can be used both ingroup-work and by individual teachers for independentstudy.

The String and Sticky Tape Experiments column wasintroduced in the magazine The Physics Teacher broughtout by the American Association of Physics Teachers(AAPT), in the early 1980�s. It showed experiments usingthe simplest, least expensive materials. The materials couldbe purchased at the nearest store � you did not needanything expensive � not even need a stopwatch. All youneeded were common rubber bands, cello tape, styrofoamor paper cups, string, drinking straws, glass marbles,plastic ruler, coins, pencil, paper and scissors to performa series of wonderful process-based experiments.

CONCLUSIONIn the last few years there has been a silent revolutionunderway in terms of the quality of state textbooks. TheNCERT has tapped the best talents in the country to reviseand upgrade its textbooks. This is very significant. Formost of our children the textbooks perhaps will be the onlybooks they will ever read. So, making them world-class isa major achievement we all can be legitimately proud off.This is also true of the science textbooks. Today the NCERTtextbooks set new benchmarks for the private sectorpublishers to emulate. The internet has been a great levellertoo. There are many organisations working to makeeducation and specially science education more interestingand relevant for our children. Some pioneering experimentslike the Hoshangabad Science Teaching Programme mighthave been shut down for myopic political reasons, but theyhave left behind seeds for future innovations.

42

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Arvind GuptaArvind Gupta (born 1953) had his initial schooling inBareilly (UP). After graduating in Electrical Engineeringfrom IIT, Kanpur (1975) he worked with TELCO (TataMotors) in Pune for a few years. In 1978, he took one year�sstudy leave to work with the grassroots village scienceteaching programme run by Kishore Bharti in theHoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh. There hedeveloped many useful low-cost science teaching aidsusing locally available materials. The possibilities of usingordinary things for doing science and recycling modernjunk into joyous toys appealed immensely to children.During 1978, he also spent four months with the famousarchitect Laurie Baker in Trivandrum.

Arvind�s first book Matchstick Models and otherScience Experiments (1986) was translated into 13 Indianlanguages by different Popular Science groups and soldmore than half a million copies. These science models andtoys showed possibilities of doing hands-on science usinglow-cost, appropriate materials. These science models werewidely featured in daily newspapers and magazines acrossthe country. Over the years he has written 13 books onscience activities and translated over a 100 books onscience, environment and education in Hindi. He hasconducted science workshops for children and teachersin over two thousand schools across the country. As aUNESCO advisor on science education he has worked withchildren and teachers in over 20 countries. In 2006, hewas invited to Pakistan by Professor Pervez Hoodbhoy towork with school children in four different cities.

Arvind has presented over 110 TV programmes onscience based fun activities, innovative toys and teachingaids on the national television. These films have been madeby the NCERT and the UGC for countrywide classroom.He was featured as the Green Guru on the popular TVprogramme titled Living on the Edge and Science Safariproduced by the National Geographic. He has also been

43

featured on MAD (Pogo), Margdarshak (ETV) and IBN-Lokmat.

His outstanding contribution in designing scienceteaching aids for young children has been recognised byseveral international organisations such as UNESCO,UNICEF, International Toy Research Association,Halmstad University, Boston Science Centre, MIT (MediaLab), Walt Disney Imagineering and Research and theInternational Play Association. In 2007, he won the MostInnovative Workshop Award at the Sasol Science Fair,Grahamstown, South Africa.

Arvind has been actively associated with the BombayNatural History Society, Conservation Society of Delhi,Spastic Society of North India and the Bharat Gyan VigyanSamiti (BGVS). He is an advisor to the National Book Trust,the NCERT and Manchi Pustakam on popular sciencebooks. The Balvachan Series of a 100 books which heedited for the BGVS has sold over a million copies.

Arvind has received several national and internationalawards for his outstanding contributions. These includethe inaugural National Award for Science Popularisationamongst Children (1988), National Association for theBlind Award (1991) for designing teaching aids for blindchildren, Hari Om Ashram Award (1995) of the UniversityGrants Commission, Distinguished Alumnus Award of IIT,Kanpur (2000) and the Indira Gandhi Award for SciencePopularisation (2008) given by the Indian National ScienceAcademy (INSA).

Since Oct 2003 he has been working at the MuktanganChildren�s Science Centre at the Inter-University Centrefor Astronomy and Astrophysics in Pune. He continues toshare his passions for science toys and books through hispopular website http://arvindguptatoys.com.

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