The Common Pursuit (Selections from Convocation Addresses at Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan 1952-1993)

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Foreword This is an attempt to put together some selections from Addresses delivered at the Samavartana or Convocation of Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan since the institution of this ceremony four decades ago. Speeches delivered on such occasions by the Acharyas (Chancellors) of the University, Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Morarji Desai, Umashankar Joshi, Rajiv Gandhi and P. V. Narasimha Rao are of lasting value. Likewise we need to preserve for the posterity the Address to the Snatakas (graduates) by the Guest-in-Chief at each Convocation e.g. Rajendra Prasad, B. C. Roy, K. M. Panikkar, P. C. Mahalanobis, Zakir Hussain, C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar, D. S. Kothari, Karan Singh, M. C. Setalvad, N. K. Siddhanta, V.K. R.V. Rao, Nirmal Kumar Bose, Nihar Ranjan Ray, B. Gopala Reddi and many others equally distinguished. Finally, the thoughts and reflections on the development of the university contained in the Address of the Upacharya (Vice-Chancellor) at the Convocation are of some interest.

The texts of these speeches are scattered in the archives and libraries of the university. Some of these may be lost forever unless they are put together and published. In a few rare cases the text could not be found since an oral presentation was made without a text; in the majority of such cases, however, reports published in the Visva-Bharati News are available. For reasons of economy the speeches could not be published in their entirety and hence this selection of excerpts. We would like to thank Ms Supriya Ray and the staff of the Rabindra Bhavana library for their assistance in collecting the texts of the speeches.

Preface Over the decades, on account of a variety of activities and programmes in Visva-Bharati, there is, as a spin off, a growing amount of literature about them. Of which, the Convocation addresses stand out as something distinctively striking and seminal. Perspectives and moorings of Visva-Bharati figure prominently in such addresses and hence, in the context of the ensuing Platinum Jubilee Celebrations, the publication of some of the Convocation addresses is highly apposite. The present publication is an outgrowth of endeavour initiated by the former Vice-Chancellor Professor Sabyasachi Bhattacharya and it speaks well of the Granthana Vibhaga to have brought it out in an excellent manner. Thanks to everyone who is connected directly or indirectly with this publication. I do hope that this will trigger off ideas and thoughts that would enable us to move, in the decades to come, with a mainstay befitting our ideals and aspirations.

Introduction To those who are not familiar with the substantial corpus of Rabindranath Tagore's writings on education and on Visva-Bharati - only a small part of it is available in the English language a brief introduction may be useful. In the following pages a good deal has been said about the concept of Visva-Bharati and Tagore's educational philosophy, by various eminent personalities in their Convocation Addresses. Our aim will be to situate the evolution of that concept in its historical context and in the perspective of Tagore's educational philosophy as a whole.

Some earlier exponents of this theme have presented this evolution as an undifferentiated continuity leading Up to the creation of Visva-Bharati.1 It may be more accurate to recognise some major changes in Tagore's outlook in various phases and,, at the same time, a continuity in terms of some core ideas. These changes, once they are recognised, do not allow us to interpret Tagore's educational philosophy by compiling at random, without regard to chronology and historical context, extracts from Tagore's writings. What is required is a contextual interpretation of the text, i.e, attention to the chronological sequence as a clue to the stratification. of these writings in relation to contemporary historical circumstances. It is an injustice to Tagore's genius, to his remarkable responsiveness to his own life experiences and to the life around him, if we remain content with an interpretation that he had one set of ideas which he kept on repeating throughout his life, that there was no progress or evolution in his thinking. The historical stratification of Tagore's writings and speeches on education, in the context of his activities and interactions, suggests that broadly we can trace the evolution of his educational philosophy in four different phases.

Apart from resource constraints of financial and other kinds, there was also a problem of lack of definition of functions in changing circum-stances. The change came from the expansion of governmental activity in the areas of health care, schooling, cooperative banking, etc. When Sriniketan was founded the colonial government's policy paid little attention to these activities and hence a great need for social interventions of the kind that Sriniketan and some similar institutions attempted. The planned development and rural programmes undertaken by the government since independence, however short they might have been of expectations, made certain social interventions redundant in some older areas of activity and created the need and opportunity for such activities in other areas. Further, for activities complementary to rural upliftment programmes of the government, the university's conventional manpower employment structure was inappropriate. A redefinition of the role of Sriniketan was called for. Some attempts were made in this direction, in particular in teaching and disseminating Agricultural Science and Social Work, as is evident from reports of the Vice-Chancellors.

THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ROLE

A national and international role was charted out for Visva-Bharati by its founder. In his speech on the occasion of the foundation of the institution in 1921 Rabindranath Tagore outlined this role in the form of two objectives: uniting the diverse cultural streams of India and linking them all with the global civilization of mankind.

The first of these objectives was achieved to a substantial extent. The composition of student population cutting across linguistic and provincial boundaries was a feature of Visva-Bharati in the 'twenties and the thirties.' However, it must be remembered that in those days this was true of universities like Calcutta or Madras as well, since their territorial boundaries were far-flung. What was distinctive about Tagore's effort in Santiniketan was to consciously recognise and promote the, study of language and cultures of different parts of India, and to offer a philosophical framework for the assimilation of cultural diversities. The difference between multingual and multi-cultural student composition in, say, Calcutta and in Santiniketan was the difference between a pile of bricks on the one hand, and on the other a building with an architectonic conception behind it.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages