{"id":2389,"date":"2013-07-13T01:41:18","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:41:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=2389"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:41:18","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:41:18","slug":"31-on-education-address-at-the-baroda-college-social-gethering-vol-01-early-cultural-writings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/03-cwsa\/01-early-cultural-writings\/31-on-education-address-at-the-baroda-college-social-gethering-vol-01-early-cultural-writings","title":{"rendered":"-31_On Education – Address at the Baroda College Social Gethering.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n
<\/p>\n

\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\n \t\t\t
\n \t\t\tPart Three <\/b> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n \t\t\t <\/p>\n

\n \t\t\t
\n \t\t\tOn Education <\/b> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n \t\t\t <\/p>\n

\n \t\t\t
\n \t\t\tSri Aurobindo wrote the pieces in
\nthis part at
\ndifferent times between 1899 and 1920. All of
\nthem except “Education” and “National Education” were published in
\nperiodicals shortly after they were written. <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n \t\t\t <\/p>\n

\n

\t\t\t\t<\/font><\/p>\n

\n \t\t\t
\n \t\t\tAddress at the <\/b> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n \t\t\t
\n \t\t\tBaroda College Social
\nGathering <\/b> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/p>\n

<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n \t\t\t I<\/font>N
\nADDRESSING <\/font><\/b>
\n \t\t\t you on an
\noccasion like the present, it is
\ninevitable that the mind should dwell on
\none feature of this gathering above all others. Held as it is
\ntowards the close of
\nthe year, I am
\ninevitably reminded that many of
\nits prominent members are with us for
\nthe last time in
\ntheir College life, and I am
\nled to
\nspeculate with both hope and anxiety on their future careers, and this not only because several familiar faces are to
\ndisappear from us
\nand scatter into different parts of
\nthe country and various walks of
\nlife, but also because they go
\nout from us as
\nour finished work, and it is by
\ntheir character and life that our efforts will be
\njudged. When I say,
\nour efforts, I
\nallude not merely to
\nthe professorial work of
\nteaching, not to book-learning only, but to
\nthe entire activity of
\nthe College as a great and complex educational force, which is
\nnot solely meant to
\nimpart information, but to
\nbring out or
\ngive opportunities for
\nbringing out all the various intellectual and other energies which go to make up a
\nman. And here is
\nthe side of
\ncollegiate institutions of
\nwhich this Social Gathering especially reminds us, the force of
\nthe social life it
\nprovides in moulding the character and the mind. I
\nthink it
\nwill not be
\nout of
\nplace, if in
\ndwelling on this I
\nrevert to
\nthe great Universities of
\nOxford and Cambridge which are our famous exemplars, and point out a
\nfew differences between those Universities and our own and the thoughts those differences may
\nwell suggest. <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tI
\nthink there is no
\nstudent of
\nOxford or
\nCambridge who does not look back in
\nafter days on
\nthe few years of
\nhis undergraduate life as, of
\nall the scenes he has
\nmoved in, that which calls up
\nthe happiest memories, and it is
\nnot surprising that this should be so, when we
\nremember what that life must have meant to
\nhim. He <\/span> <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t<\/font>
\n\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\n

\t\t\t\t<\/font> <\/p>\n

\n

\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t \t
\n\t\t\t \tDelivered in
\nBaroda on 22
\nJuly 1899. Text published in the<\/i>
\nBaroda College Miscellany,
\nSeptember 1899<\/i>. <\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t \t\t\t <\/font> <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 353<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t goes up
\nfrom the restricted life of
\nhis home and school and finds himself in
\nsurroundings which with astonishing rapidity expand his intellect, strengthen his character, develop his social faculties, force out all his abilities and turn him in
\nthree years from a
\nboy into a
\nman. His mind ripens in
\nthe contact with minds which meet
\nfrom all parts of
\nthe country and have been brought up in many various kinds of
\ntrainings, his unwholesome eccentricities wear away and the unsocial, egoistic elements of
\ncharacter are to a
\nlarge extent discouraged. He
\nmoves among ancient and venerable buildings, the mere age
\nand beauty of
\nwhich are in themselves an
\neducation. He has
\nthe Union which has
\ntrained so many great orators and debaters, has
\nbeen the first
\ntrial ground of so
\nmany renowned intellects. He
\nhas, too, the athletics clubs organized with a
\nperfection unparalleled elsewhere, in
\nwhich, if he has
\nthe physique and the desire for
\nthem he may find
\npursuits which are also in
\nthemselves an
\neducation. The result is
\nthat he who entered the University a
\nraw student, comes
\nout of it a man and a
\ngentleman, accustomed to
\nthink of
\ngreat affairs and fit to move in
\ncultivated society, and he
\nremembers his College and University with affection, and in
\nafter days if he meets
\nwith those who have studied with him he
\nfeels attracted towards them as to men
\nwith whom he has a
\nnatural brotherhood. This is
\nthe social effect I
\nshould like the Colleges and Universities of
\nIndia also to
\nexercise, to
\neducate by
\nsocial influences as
\nwell as
\nthose which are merely academical and to
\ncreate the feeling among their pupils that they belong to
\nthe community, that they are children of
\none mother. There are many obstacles to
\nthis result in
\nthe circumstances of
\nIndian Universities. The Colleges are not collected in
\none town but are scattered among many and cannot assemble within themselves so
\nlarge and various a
\nlife. They are new also, the creation of
\nnot more than fifty years -and fifty years is a
\nshort period in
\nthe life of a
\nUniversity. But so
\nfar as circumstances allow, there is an
\nattempt to fill up
\nthe deficiency, in
\nyour Union, your Debating Club and Reading Room, your athletic sports and Social Gathering. For the success of
\nthis attempt time is
\nneeded, but your efforts are also needed: and I ask you who are soon to go
\nout into the world, not to
\nforget your<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 354<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\t\tCollege or
\nregard it as a
\nmere episode in
\nyour life, but rather as
\none to
\nwhose care you must look back and recompense it by
\nyour future life and work, and if
\nyou meet
\nfellow-students, alumni of
\nthe same
\nCollege, to meet
\nthem as
\nfriends, as
\nbrothers. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t There is
\nanother point in
\nwhich a
\nwide difference exists. What makes
\nOxford and Cambridge not local institutions but great and historic Universities? It is
\nthe number of
\ngreat and famous men, of
\nbrilliant intellects in
\nevery department which have issued from them. I
\nshould like you to
\nthink seriously of this aspect of
\nthe question also. In
\nEngland the student feels a
\npride in
\nhis own University and College, wishes to see
\ntheir traditions maintained, and tries to
\njustify them to
\nthe world by his own success.
\nThis feeling has
\nyet to
\ngrow up
\namong us.
\nAnd I would appeal to
\nyou -who are leaving us -to
\nhelp to
\ncreate it, to
\ncherish it
\nyourselves, to
\ntry and justify the College of
\nits pupils. Of
\ncourse, there is
\none preliminary method by
\nwhich the students can
\nadd fame to
\ntheir College. Success in
\nexaminations, though preliminary merely, and not an
\nend in
\nitself, is
\nnevertheless of no small effect or
\nimportance. You all know how the recent success of an
\nIndian student has
\nfilled the whole country with joy and enthusiasm. That success reflects
\nfame not only on
\nIndia but on his University and College, and when the name of
\nthe first
\nIndian Senior Wrangler is
\nmentioned, it
\nwill also be
\nremembered that he
\nbelonged to
\nCambridge and to St.
\nJohn’s. But examinations, however important, are only a
\npreliminary. I
\nlay stress upon this because there is
\ntoo much of a
\ntendency in
\nthis country to
\nregard education as a
\nmere episode, finished when once the degree is obtained. But the University cannot and does
\nnot pretend to complete a
\nman’s education; it
\nmerely gives some
\nmaterials to his hand or
\npoints out certain paths he may
\ntread, and it says to
\nhim, -“Here are the materials I
\nhave given into your hands, it is for
\nyou to make of
\nthem what you can;” or -“These are the paths I
\nhave equipped you to
\ntravel; it is
\nyours to
\ntread them to
\nthe end, and by
\nyour success in
\nthem justify me
\nbefore the world.” I
\nwould ask
\nyou therefore to
\nremember these things in
\nyour future life, not to
\ndrop the effects of
\nyour College training as<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 355<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t no
\nlonger necessary, but, to
\nstrive for
\neminence and greatness in your own lines, and by
\nthe brilliance of
\nyour names
\nadd lustre to the first
\nnursing home of
\nyour capacities, to
\ncherish its memory with affection as
\nthat which equipped your intellects, trained you into men, and strove to
\ngive you such
\nsocial life as
\nmight fit
\nyou for
\nthe world. And finally I
\nwould ask
\nyou not to
\nsever yourselves in
\nafter days
\nfrom it, but if
\nyou are far, to
\nwelcome its alumni when you meet
\nthem with brotherly feelings and if you are near to
\nkeep up
\nconnection with it, not to
\nregard the difference of age
\nbetween yourselves and its future students but associate with them, be
\npresent at such
\noccasions as
\nthis social gathering and evince by
\nyour acts
\nyour gratitude for
\nall that it did for
\nyou in
\nthe past. <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 356<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t<\/font>
\n \t\t\t\t<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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