various social needs. Vinoba believed that the education system devised by the British for their colonial aims should be changed, He said that the first thing after Independence that the people and the government of India should have done was to close all educational institutions for a year.
All our educationists should have sat together and decided what kind of India they wanted. Once that was decided, they should have decided on the kind of educational system necessary for it. What kind of India do we want? It must start with the kind of man-making education we provide. Being an adwaita Vedanti, Vinoba wanted to start with “I”. Who am I? ’We’ Indians, is a plural of ‘I. I have written to you about this idea earlier. Do you remeber it?
This basic stage was avoided. A lot of ad hoc experiments were made, committees were appointed new ideas of education were tried out. But all of them were mere amendments. They did bring about some changes. But the basic stem remained the same. A revolution needs a totally new perspective, a new way of working. It never arrived. Successive generations of Indians since 1947 have come up from the same old colonial educational process. We are today producing people for use in Western countries. There is very little for local consumption. All is exported. We are seeing this all around us.
‘An awareness about our society, our people, our poor and unlettered and who have not received any of the benefits of Independence is totally missing from the minds of our educated people. The education that we have in India makes us more literate, more vocal, more skilled and more selfish. Where is the conscious- ness about others who are less privileged? Each one wants all the cake for himself. He does not bother about others. Then what was the purpose in having a struggle for Independence? Gandhiji’s idea of Swaraj was not meant to change from white rulers to brown rulers. That was the political part and a small part of his Total Vision. And it is the Total Vision that moved millions to participate in the freedom movement, which made Independence possible.
Vinoba wanted Swa-rajya (Self Rule). He was not happy
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