Chapter - V. Sister Nivedita. And her. Contributions towards. Women s Education

Transcription

1 Chapter - V Sister Nivedita And her Contributions towards Women s Education

2 5.0 Sister Nivedita and Women s education Sister Nivedita came to India in January 1898, primarily to assist in the educational work among women. She did a lot for the uplift of Indian women. Her work borne fruit in several fields, one of them is the establishment of her own school. As early as in 1898, when India was at the height of its agony under foreign rule, it v/as this brave European lady, who fought against all odds to establish a school to train Indian women so that they could stand on their own feet. With the breadth of vision and depth of heart, Nivedita inaugurated a school for girls which blossomed into a premier girls school. Inspired and influenced by the broad Vedantie ideas of Swami Vivekananda, she decided to dedicate her life for the cause of suffering Indian women who were then engrossed in illiteracy. This heroic self-sacrifice, the dauntless spirit, the unflinching faith and untiring energy of Sister Nivedita will always be remembered in reverence. Before she met her Guru Swami Vivekananda in London, in 1895, Sister Nivedita or Margaret Noble had taken up a career devoted to teaching. She was barely twenty-one, when she was appointed a teacher at the Secondary School in Wrexham, a large mining centre. Along with teaching, she gained practical experience in social welfare work among the poor and needy miners. In 1889, she took up a job at Chester, where she worked with a class of eighteen year old girls. Her studies acquainted her with the ideas of the great Swiss educational reformer Pestalozzi and with those of the German Froebel, both of whom laid emphasis on the importance of the pre-school age of the child. According to them, education should begin by gratifying and cultivating the normal aptitude of the child for 84

3 exercise, play, observation, imitation and construction. They called it new education, or the Kindergarten method of education. Margaret experimented with this new educational method on children, aged four to six years in her own school, known as the Ruskin school - which she opened in 1892, in the Wimbledon locality of London. There was no formal learning. Children were taught to do things: It was all play, but as they played, they learned. The school s reputation was quickly established. While in London, Vivekananda had heard a great deal about Miss Noble s educational works. He went to see her school in Wimbledon and was greatly impressed. Swamiji realized that Miss Noble was just the woman he needed to do his work in India and told Margaret, I have plans for the women of my own country, in which you, I think, could be of great help to me. (The Master as I saw Him- Sister Nivedita, 1910) Vivekananda felt that unless the condition of women in India was improved, there was no chance for the regeneration of India. In his scheme for the uplift of women, education had the most important part to play. At that time he could not find any women in his own country who could shoulder this responsibility. Hence his choice fell upon Margaret. Miss Noble, on her part, was deeply attracted by Vivekananda s personality, the breadth of his vision, the great intellectual newness and interest of the thought he had brought to the West and she became his disciple. She wrote I had recognized the heroic fibre of the man and desired to make myself the servant of his love for his own people. (The Master as I saw Him- Sister Nivedita, 1910) She knew that through this invitation she had heard a call that could change her life; and it did. 85

4 Margaret landed in Calcutta in January, She had to go through a phase of rigorous apprenticeship under the careful guidance of Swami Vivekananda and other Ramakrishna monks. She had to learn the local language, Hindu religious texts and epics, and go through intense mental and physical hardships. It was training for transforming herself from Margaret Noble to Sister Nivedita. 5.1 Nivedita s ideas on Indian women and their education Nivedita s future work in India was pre-determined by her Master, Swami Vivekananda. It was to be among the Hindu girls and women'of a native quarter in Baghbazar area of Calcutta. A rented house was taken for her in Bose Para Lane at Baghbazar. Nivedita started her modest life in it. Her stay in Baghbazar gave her the opportunity to study Indian home life at close quarters. In the shy, gentle, retiring and proud women she saw undreamt of beauty, unparalleled grace and unthought-of religious training and culture of the mind and heart. She saw that the mothers play a great role in the child s life. The women of India helped the people to preserve the ideas of perfect chastity and sanctity of marriage and motherhood. This led Nivedita to remark The Indian home thinks of itself as perpetually chanting the beautiful psalm of custom. To it, every little act and detail of household method and personal habit is something inexpressibly precious and sacred, and external treasure of the nation, handed down from the past, to be kept unflawed, and passed on to the future. This mode of thought is interwoven with the passionate quest of ideal purity and with the worship of motherhood, to make 86

5 the guiding and restraining force of the whole Indian character. (The Complete Works of Sister Nivedita, vol-1,1967) Sister Nivedita found that the role of Indian woman as a mother is supreme. She remarks As mother, an Indian woman is supreme. The honour that a man does here by the simple word my wife, he does better there by saying the mother of my children. Sons worship their mother as the ideal. Motherhood is the ideal relation to the world. Let us free ourselves from self-seeking as the mother does. Let us be incapable of jealousy as is a mother to her child. Let us give to the utter most... Let us be undiscriminating in our service. Such is the Indian woman s conception of a perfect life. Such is the moral culture with which she surrounds her children. (The Complete Works of Sister Nivedita, Vol-II, 1967) In those days when Indian women were generally criticized by Westerners as being ignorant and oppressed, Nivedita refuted their charge. Once she said in this regard, To all who make this statement we may answer that Indian women are certainly not oppressed. The crime of ill-treating women is at once less common and less brutal in form here than in younger countries. And the happiness, the social importance, and may I say, the lofty character of Indian women are amongst the grandest possession of the national life. When come to the charge that Indian women are ignorant we meet with a far deeper fallacy. They are ignorant in the modem form, that is to say, few can write and not very many can read. Are they then illiterate? If so, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana and the Puranas and the stories every mother and every grandmother tells to the babies, are not Literature. But European novels and the Strand Magazine by the same token are. 87

6 Can any of us accept this paradox? (The Complete Works of Sister Nivedita, Vol- II, 1967) It was Nivedita s firm conviction that the Indian women, contrary to the ideas by some western critics, were neither uneducated nor ignorant In substantiating her point Nivedita gave the supreme example of the Holy Mother, Sarada Devi, who had none of the formal education, yet being the epitome of wisdom. Nivedita remarked,...an Indian woman who has the education of the Indian home, the dignity, the gentleness, the cleanliness, the thrift, the religious training, the culture of mind and heart, which that home life entails, though she cannot read a word of her own language, much less sign her name, may be infinitely better educated in every true sense, and in the literary sense also, than her glib critic. (The Complete Works of Sister Nivedita, Vol-II, 1967) The question that can arise in one s mind is that if such was the elevated condition of the women in India, then what was the purpose of Nivedita s work in India? Why was it then necessary for Nivedita to make arrangement for the formal education of Indian women? With deep penetration into the depth of this ancient culture Nivedita clearly understood the course of her work. The need of the nation was to see women grow in modem outlook and intellectual robustness. In the growing national life, women had to fulfill their civic and national duties. For long they have dwelt in their family ideal, they had now to adopt the civic ideal too, which fostered the spirit of public service. Nivedita thus wanted Indian women to strike a harmony between the family and civic ideals. They had to maintain with dignity and labour the civic life of the community, just as they looked after their 88

7 homes. But they had not to adopt the aggressiveness of the women of the West. There was a danger of women going astray after giving up their family ideal completely. Hence we find Nivedita guiding her sisters lovingly and carefully on the path of reconciliation between the old and the new. She remarked to them, You, my sisters, each of whom I dearly love for being the daughter of this lovely land of India, each of you I urge to study the grand literature of your East in preference to the literatures of the West. Your literature will uplift you. Cling to it. Cling to the simplicity and sobriety of your domestic lives. Keep its purity as it was in ancient times and as it is still existing, in your simple homes. Do not let modem fashions and extravagances of the West and its modem English education spoil your reverential humility, your lovable domestic ties consisting in the loving forethought the elders display for the beloved one, depending on them, and the resulting respectful deference filially and dutifully accorded by the young to the aged. (The Complete Works of Sister Nivedita, Vol-II, 1967) Nivedita was thus deeply convinced that the education of the women ought to undergo some change. The modem mind, with its scientific severity and accurate sense of time and place, had to find an oriental expression. Thus, the Indian women were to be made efficient to meet the present needs without the loss of their type of character. 5.2 Nivedita s concept of National Education As a thinker and worker in the field of education, Nivedita made immense contribution. Her writings and lectures on education are thought provoking. In the 89

8 West she had the advantage of coming in contact with educational ideals of the Swiss reformer Pestalozzi and his German follower Froebel. On the invitation of Swami Vivekananda, she came to India in 1898 and started a school in Calcutta in November that year. In the intervening months she got acquainted with a new surrounding to Swami Vivekananda, who himself was a great educator. In this regard she later remarked, I...had been given leisure and travel and mental preparation... I had to learn what was wanted, to determine where I myself stood, to explore very world of which my effort were to become a part. The one thing that I knew was that an educational effort must begin at the stand point of the learner, and help him to development in his own way. But I had no definite plan or expectation, save to make some educational discovery which would be qualitatively true and universally applicable to the work of the modem education of Indian women. (The Complete Works of Sister Nivedita, Vol-l 1967) Her ideas on education did not undergo vital changes after coming to India, but they were definitely reoriented to suit the needs of the Indian people. Swami Vivekananda s dynamic and creative teaching on philosophy, religion and education had great influence on her. Nivedita wrote many papers and delivered lectures on all aspects of education. Her conception of education extended to all degrees, from the lowest to the highest grades. However, all her educational ideas had the national fervour. All her thoughts on education were chiefly meant to channelize the energies of the student world not for himself only but for Jnanadesha- dharma or for the people, the country and the national ideal. Before independence, the patriotic leaders thought in terms of nation- building. But 90

9 because of their contact with the western world, some also thought in terms of internationalism, forgetting that only on a strong national edifice can the super structure of international relationship be built. Those days many educationists put great emphasis on the place of foreign culture in education. Nivedita conceded that place should be given to the foreign culture but she vehemently opposed the idea of giving it at the beginning. She said that an individual must adhere to his own culture first. One can educate an individual truly when he can make the individual think about India. Besides formal education, she insisted on cultivating and upholding the values of the general religious and cultural traditional education that was prevalent in Indian home. In this respect she wrote, We must surround our children with the thought of their nation and their country. The centre of gravity must lie, for them, outside the family We must demand from them sacrifices for India, Bhakti for India, learning for India. The ideal for its own sake. India for the sake of India. This must be as the breath of life to them. We must teach them about India, in school and at home. Some lessons must fill out the conception; others must build up the sense of contrast. Burning love, love without a limit. Love that seeks only the good of the beloved, and has no thought of self, this is the passion that we must demand of them. (The Complete Works of Sister Nivedita, Vol-IV, 1968) Thus the fundamental idea behind all her thought was that education must make the pupils love their motherland and serve her. 91

10 5.3 Sister Nivedita s own school in India Nivedita started her modest life in Calcutta from a rented house in Baghbazar area since She wrote It has taken for granted from the first, that at the earliest opportunity, I would open a girls school in Calcutta. (The Master as I saw Him, Sister Nivedita, 1910) On November, 13th, 1898 she opened the girls school at 16, Bose Para Lane. Swami Vivekananda and other monks of Ramakrishna Math visited it on the first day. Sri Sri Sarada Devi, the holy consort of Sri Ramakrishna came and performed the opening ceremony. She prayed that the blessings of the Divine Mother might be upon the school, and the girls it should train be ideal girls. Nivedita later wrote in this regard, I cannot imagine a grander omen than her blessing, spoken over the educated Hindu womanhood of the future. (The Complete Works of Sister Nivedita, vol-i, 1967) On November 14, the school began with a few girls of the neighbourhood attending. In the beginning it was Nivedita who had to watch and learn from her tiny students and constantly endeavour to win their confidence. They were completely a different lot from those she experimented with, in her Wimbledon school in London. Here she applied the Kindergarten method in a simpler manner, suited to the Indian need. The curriculum initially comprised of reading, writing and arithmetic. Along with it she introduced painting, clay work and sewing. The arithmetic lesson took place around a basket of tamarind seeds, turned out on the ground. The children picked up as many seeds as they could count and multiplied them. Then a basin full of clay gave them the joy of moulding forms, inventing images 92

11 arid creating everything from their world of familiar objects. It was a novel experiment which claimed all her attention. Very soon, she won the hearts of the children who came to her school and the confidence of their mothers. The children, both frightened and curious, were glad to attend the school. Their mothers who were mostly poor orthodox women of the neighbourhood, found in Nivedita, a good friend. This social acceptance made her school popular and by the middle of 1899, there were about thirty girls on the roll. Nivedita s educational project from the very initial stage, suffered from shortage of funds. It had neither permanent fund nor any steady source of income. The students too could not provide the tuition fee. So she closed her school temporarily in May, 1899 and set out for a lecture trip abroad to raise money for her school. Sister Nivedita s school in Calcutta, evoked lot of interest in the Vedantie circles of New York - where a Vedantie society was already working. Many Americans who were drawn to the Vedantie Philosophy preached by Vivekananda, this school provided an opportunity for showing gratitude through financial support. After a few month s hard work, Nivedita was able to form the Ramakrishna Guild of Help in America. A booklet titled, The project of the Ramakrishna School for Girls was published and sent to the donors. Mr. & Mrs. Legget, who were the disciples of Swami Vivekananda, helped Nivedita and gave a large sum of money to continue with her work. Nivedita came back from her foreign trip in early 1902 and reopened her school. This time she was assisted by Miss. Christine, who was an ardent disciple of Swamiji and conversant with the kindergarten system of education. Nivedita 93

12 and Sister Christine gave their whole hearted attention to the school after Swamiji s death in From 1903 onward, the school progressed rapidly. Its curriculum expanded and it included Bengali, English, Arithmetic, Geography and History. Besides these academic subjects, various handicrafts like clay modelling, mat weaving, paper cutting drawing, brush work and sewing were introduced in the course of the studies. This experiment was quite successful and the number of enrolled girls increased. Nivedita however, could not be satisfied at heart with the progress of the children for two reasons: first, they were very irregular in attendance and second, child marriage put an early end to the studies of these promising young girls. The system of child marriage in the Hindu society robbed Nivedita of the best of her human resources and destroyed the dreams of her future projects. This difficulty turned her attention to expanding her educational activities. Along with Sister Christine, Nivedita opened a Women s section in It was some kind of an adult educational centre, made attractive by training in sewing and needle work and occasional religious discourses. It was named Pura Stree Vibhaga. The time fixed for the school was between the hours of 12 and 4 in the afternoon when women of the locality were free from domestic work. This experiment proved a great success. Instead of sitting at home and whiling away their time in idle gossip, ladies spent those hours at the school. Gradually and cautiously, academic subjects were brought in. Some lessons in History and Geography were given to the ladies, in a story- telling manner. Thus Nivedita could bring in a silent revolution in the orthodox Hindu society. Nivedita was away from India again for 94

13 two years between 1907 and But her school ran smoothly under the supervision of Sister Christine and Sister Sudhira. After returning to India in July, 1909, she took full charge of the school. Apart from academic subjects, Nivedita encouraged her girls to develop their skills in various handicrafts - drawing, painting and needle work. She greatly valued the spontaneous design created by her girls on paper and in clay, and proudly exhibited them to the outsiders. Drills and games were also introduced. Occasionally she arranged small picnics and outings for the students. She enjoyed taking the senior girls to see the museum or the zoo. These were short educational trips which combined knowledge with fun. Thus the school continued to thrive till the untimely death of Nivedita in October, The school was later affiliated to the Ramakrishna Mission and it was given the name - Ramakrishna Mission Sister Nivedita Girls School. It still continues even today with the name Ramakrishna Sarada Mission Sister Nivedita Girls School 5.4 Contemporary schools of women s education in Bengal The women of the early nineteenth century Bengal in general, led a dismal life. They were kept confined in the inner chamber of the household, forced to stay away from all avenues of enlightenment, denied education and thus obliged to remain economically dependent on the patriarchal society. Bom and bred in this environment, they gradually came to accept practices like polygamy, female infanticide, child-marriage, widowhood and sati system. 95

14 With the abolition of the Sati system, a move towards women s education got under way. In 1848, Drinkwater Bethune came to Bengal as the Governor General. With the assistance of Dakshina Ranjan Mukhopadhyay of Young Bengal and Pandit Madan Mohan Tarkalankar of Sanskrit College, Bethune started a girl s school under the name, Calcutta Female School. Girls of respectable Hindu families were admitted there. Bethune s successor Lord Dalhousie, also lent his patronage to this school. On his departure from India the school came under the full supervision of the government and remained a model for many a girl s school to come. It was a source of hope in the midst of despair, inspiration in the midst of depression. On April 2, 1860, a girl s school at Konnagar was set up under Shib Chandra Dev s exclusive initiative in the face of oppositions from conservative Hindus. He offered the services of his own horse-carriage for transport of the students to and from his school. It was approved as Junior High School in 1944 and a High School in The sapling that sprouted up under the name Konnagar Girls School with four classes in 1860 gradually became an expansive tree with Higher Secondary status. Another such school that was set up was Baranagar Rajkumari Baiika Vidyalaya on March 19, Inspired by Bethune and his effort on women s education, Shashi Bhusan Bandopadhyay started this school. His wife Rajkumari Devi was his first female student; other women of his family followed. Under such circumstances in 1862, Keshab Chandra Sen resolved to take up the cause of women s education. In 1871, he set up Female and Adult Normal School which 96

15 later came to be known as Victoria Institution. Keshab Chandra opened this institute with a view to help women develop their personality. Under his able supervision, the school not only earned an annual governmental grant but also a name in the neighbourhood for its combination of freedom and restraint, its insistence on decency and decorum. Meanwhile the Missionaries too, had been fighting for emancipation of women from their age-old bondage. Under the supervision of Miss Neele and Miss Sampson, a school was opened on 1882 at Christ Church Parsonage at Cornwallis Street, Calcutta. Miss Neele identified herself with the Bengali to spread women s education. The school shifted to DumDum premises later on. In 1967, the school was upgraded to Higher Secondary multipurpose one. A similar institution was Brahmo Balika Sikshalaya that began its journey with meagre means in 1890 at Cornwallis Street, Calcutta. It was later shifted to Mirzapur Street, Calcutta. Tireless efforts of Shibnath Shastri and other selfless educationists led to the expansion of the school and increase its role strength. Lady Abala Bose, wife of renowned scientist Dr. Jagadish Chandra Bose, had been a potent force behind the development of the school. She included in the school curriculum such items as music, drawing, drill, gardening, cooking, nursing etc. - all aimed at the all round development - physical, mental and moral. Under these circumstances the researcher finds Sister Nivedita to start her own school in 1898 in the Hindu orthodox area of Baghbazar, Calcutta. 97

16 5.5 Significance of Nivedita s School. Sister Nivedita played the role of a pioneer in giving most of her energy in the constructive thought of women s development, when very few of our countrymen worked in that direction. When she came to Calcutta and opened her small school at Baghbazar, she had to think particularly about the education of the Hindu girls - because that was the task given to her by her Master, Swami Vivekananda. To accomplish that task, Nivedita had to transform herself completely. While discussing the future of women s work, Swamiji told her - You have to set yourself to Hinduise your thoughts, your needs, your conception and your habits. (The Master as I saw Him, Sister Nivedita, 1910) Before settling down in her own house at Baghbazar, Nivedita stayed with Sarada Devi and her companions for some time to gain some experience in the rituals, customs and many other intricacies of a Hindu household. She was touched by the friendliness and pleasure with which she was greeted by the lady devotees. This helped to instill in Nivedita an admiration and respect for the ideals of Indian womanhood. This admiration for Eastern women, their simple domestic virtues and values, influenced Nivedita s concept of Indian women s education to a great extent. She wrote, We must give Indian girls their own colour... For this, we must convince of its own Indianness. (The Complete works of Sister Nivedita, vol-v, 1968) The academic curriculum of Nivedita s school taught the girls to respect their heritage and tradition; to learn their literature, art and history. The handicraft classes brought out the girls natural skills and talents. 98

17 There is also another significant aspect of Nivedita s educational project. It always kept in view the national ideals. Her girls, along with reading, writing and learning various crafts, also learned to love Mother India. She wrote in a letter in 1910, How can I serve my country? How? - Should be the cry of every educated woman s heart. (Letters of Sister Nivedita, Vol-II, 1982) This was a passionate obsession with Sister Nivedita, inherited from Swami Vivekananda. Her school flourished during the period of Bengal Partition ( ). Swadeshi and the cry of Vande Mataram were in the air of Bengal. Nivedita could not remain aloof from these national developments. In the Swadeshi Exhibition organized by the Indian National Congress in its Annual Session in Calcutta in 1906, she sent the handicrafts of her students for display. Her pupils embroidered a national flag. Spinning and singing of Vande Mataram were introduced in the school curriculum. Thus in spite being a foreigner, Nivedita inspired in her students a proud sense of nationalism and patriotism. The respectful reverence for Indian values and Indian ideals, distinguished Nivedita as an educationist from the contemporary Brahmo reformers and Christian Missionaries, who worked for women s emancipation. Brahmo leaders and social reformers like Shibnath Shastri, Keshab Chandra Sen, and Lady Abala Basu did a lot for women s education in Bengal. But the few girls school they founded, catered to the need for the English educated upper-class. Their aim was to bring up a generation of girls educated on the European model. Nivedita was vehemently opposed to this ideal of women s education. She felt Those who 99

18 educate an Indian girl to be an ornament of English or French society commit a crime. (The Complete Works of Sister Nivedita, vol-v, 1968) Thus one finds that Sister Nivedita combined in her, the dual role of an educator and a social reformer. The children of her school came from widely different castes and social background, though belonging to the Hindu community in general. Nivedita was highly conscious of this socio-cultural milieu, to which her school belonged. She noted the caste affiliation and social background of each child who joined her school; carefully recorded their attendance, progress, aptitude and general behavior in her own register. For instance students like Santoshini, Subhashini Dutta and Bidyutmala Bose came from high caste 4Brahmin and Kayastha family. A student named Gyanadabala, for instance, was a low caste ikyborto But all of them received equal attention from their dear Sister and they loved her dearly. The child Santoshini, a spirited girl, took a vow never to marry, revolted against her father s marriage plan and was given shelter as a boarder in the school. Thus Sister Nivedita could silently bring in a social revolution in her school as early as Nivedita s role of social reformer embraced a very important and poignant stratum of Hindu society of then Bengal - the widows. A large majority of the young girls who came to join the adults section of the school were child widows. Nivedita was very kind and compassionate to these young girls. Some of such students were Prafulla mukhi and Giribala Ghosh. Thus the school, as conducted by Sister Nivedita, involved no uprooting from familiar surroundings. The suspicions against a foreigner running a school were soon removed from the 100

19 minds of the orthodox people of Baghbazar, and they accepted her as their own dear sister. Thus the educator and teacher Nivedita got intermixed with that of a great social reformer. Sister Nivedita was thus a unique gift of Swami Vivekananda to India. A bom educator, with breadth of vision and depth of heart, she inaugurated a school for girls which blossomed into a high school. Inspired and influenced by the broad Vedantic ideas of Swami Vivekananda, Sister Nivedita decided to dedicate her life for the cause of Indian women who were then engrossed in illiteracy. It goes to the credit of Nivedita that with all her intellectual accomplishments, scholastic depth and western rationalism, she could completely identify herself with this segment of Bengali women. She became one of them, won their love and respect and set an outstanding dedication for the cause of women s development in India. Thus Sister Nivedita Girls School fulfilled a historic need of the time. That was, to bring a section of the poor, orthodox and illiterate women of Bengal into the national main stream. Her main contribution in the field of women s education was in giving ideas, in making them think and act in consonance with the needs of the time. 101

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