The Life of Lokamanya Tilak/Chapter 3
CHAPTER III
THE SCHOOL AND THE COLLEGE
We have undertaken this work of popular education with the firmest conviction and belief that, of all agents of human civilisation, education is the only one that brings about material, moral and religious regeneration of fallen countries and raises them up to the level of most advanced Nations by slow and peaceful revolutions: and in order that this should be so, it must be ultimately in the hands of the people themselves.
From the Statement of V. S. Apte before the Hunter Commission (1882)
MAN'S outlook of the world is necessarily dependent upon his environments. Howsoever indomitable be the individual will, it fails not to realise its limitations and has to shape its course accordingly. Gifted though he was with extraordinary ability, superabundent enthusiasm and magnificent courage, the only outlet Mr. Tilak found for his energies was the comparitively modest field of education. He and his colleagues clearly realised the complete hold which the alien rulers had obtained over the length and breadth of this vast country. Howsoever much the British Imperialists might boast of India's conquest by the sword, it has been fully and freely admitted by Seely that in the willing acquiesence of Indians in the British Suzerainty alone lay the greatest permancy of that rule; and the Educational system introduced into this country by the new rulers sought to secure this acquiescence by capturing the will, the intellect and the imagination of the people. Education, thus is an instrument by means of which the Government has sought to consolidate its power and perpetuate its authority. In self-governing countries where the interests of the rulers and of the ruled are identical, the education that is imparted is necessarily of a highly ennobling kind. It kindles patriotism, refines sentiments, strengthens moral sense and stimulates all the latent powers of the soul. But the education, which India has received during the last hundred years and more has been quite of a different nature. It has taught us to disbelieve our religion, disrespect our social order and even to disobey our parents. It has perverted our patriotism, has made materialistic our outlook of life and by causing us to neglect our ancient history and culture weakened our moral stamina and all but broken our national back-bone. But this is not all. The medium of the English language has put a crushing burden on our students. Add to this the mental isolation of those, who were appointed to fix the curriculum and one can easily understand how the hobby-horses of various Directors and Senators have mined the youths of this country. Education, to be useful must be in the hands of the Nation's chosen leaders. Alien Bureaucrats and uns3mipathetic Missionaries have no right to shape our mental and moral equipment. They would, no doubt encourage the production of a class of well-trained clerks, obedient, loyal, quiet, submissive and single-minded in the discharge o£ appointed duties. But they would try their best to discourage manUness, virihty and patriotism.
If these statements are not now regarded as paradoxical the credit is due, among others to Mr. Tilak and his colleagues who started the New English School Poona, on January 1st, 1880. On the opening day, only 19 students were enrolled. Within a couple of months the school stood fairly on its legs and by the end of the year the number rose to 336. By the end of 1881, it was above 600 and in January 1884, it stood at 858. The mangers of the school astonished the public by taking the very modest salary of Rs. 30 p. m. though every one of them was competent enough, in some other walk of life, to draw ten times as much. Dr. Hunter, President of the Education Commission was supremely satisfied with the wonderful spirit and solid improvements introduced by Mr. Tilak and others and has recorded (1882) his unreserved admiration in the following words:—
"Throughout the whole of India, I have not yet witnessed a single institution which can be compared with this establishment. * * * This institution * * can rival and compete with success not only with the Government High Schools in the country, but may favourably compare with the schools of other countries also."
The question has been sometimes asked: "How is it, that in his attempts to nationalise education, Mr. Tilak did not disdain to take Government grant?" The answer is twofold. In the first place, Mr. Tilak did not surrender any of his principles in availing himself of the tax-payers' money through the Government. He did not bend his knees before the high-handed conduct of educational authorities*[1]. He was not called upon to obey Risley Circulars. Secondly, the difference between the circumstances of those times and the environments of to-day ought to be taken into consideration. To-day, you must either submit to the whims or caprices of the educational authorities or sever your connection with them altogether. But in the early eighties Mr. Tilak started his career with the hope of inducing the Government to transfer the whole of secondary education {and College education, if possible) to popular control. He regarded the spread of education as a preparation for the national struggle. He saw that though the Bureaucrats were not willing to entrust to the children of the soil an iota of real political or military power, still they could be persuaded to part with educational control if we were persistent and enterprising enough. They pretended to hold over political rights only because we were not sufficiently educated. If pressed to educate us quickly, they pleaded the wish but regretted the inability to do so on account of shortage of money. It was the ambition of Mr. Tilak and his colleagues to so cheapen, spread and improve education that the Government could not, without going back on their own words reasonably refuse the transfer of secondary and collegiate education to the people. This will explain why he and his associates accepted such a low salary; this also will explain why he accepted the Government grant. For some time, negotiations, informal no doubt, were actually going on regarding the transfer of the Deccan College to Mr. Tilak and his colleagues. But the reactionary element in the Government at last prevailed and Mr. Tilak's hopes were completely shattered.
It is not to be supposed that the success achieved by the New English School in an incredibly short time was due to any accidental combination of favourable circumstances. Far from this being the case, enormous difficulties met Mr. Tilak on every side. The vested interests that suffered raised a storm of abuse and misrepresentation. The lack of public spirit made the work of collecting funds very difficult. Money came not in torrents but in dribblets. More formidable than the scarcity of money, was the difficulty of getting suitable men, willing to accept the work in true Jesuitical spirit. The Kolhapur Defamation case, the sudden death of Chiploonkar, the incarceration of Tilak and Agarkar added to the difficulties. The patriotic fervour of Tilak, Agarkar and Chiploonkar greatly impressed even the green-eyed Times of India, which while recognising that the ambition of the founders of the New English School was legitimate, was somewhat afraid that this ambition was " destined to have momentous effects on the future of India."
Mr. Tilak was the soul of this devoted band. Modest and unassuming, he never loved lime-light. Though most of the work of organisation fell on his puissant shoulders still he never cared to figure as the Head. That honour he delegated to others. "I like to work" he said " and never think of honours."
In school, he taught Mathematics and sometimes English. His greatest difficulty was that he never found it easy to adopt his teaching to the capacity of his pupils. In this point Apte and Agarkar easily beat him.
Another peculiarity which distinguished him from his colleagues was his supreme isolation from the lighter moods of his students. Generally the most popular teacher is he, who would occasionally find time to indulge in those digressions on current topics which are the delight of students. Apte, Agarkar, Gokhale, Bhanu and Gole,—all sometimes gave themselves up to " fun and frolic." Mr. Tilak however was severely regardful of his lesson. Students could never draw him out. Indeed, the attempt even was never made by them.
And yet he was, not perhaps the most popular, but certainly the most revered teacher. For him boys felt that mysterious regard which genius and greatness always evoke.
With teachers of first-rate qualifications and capacity like Tilak, Apte and Agarkar, it is no wonder that the results of the New English School at the Matriculation were exceedingly bright. The admiring citizens of Poona were proud of these young lions and felt boundless confidence in them. Indeed, the New English School began to be considered as the new centre of public life and inspiration in Maharashtra. The school of thought led by Ranade began to dwindle and its brightness paled before the lustre shed by the heroes of the New English School. No prophet was required to foretell that before the avalanche of these activities Ranade's followers would be swept away.
It is not necessary to go into the various improvements made in the system of education by the founders of the New English School. The utility and efficacy of these improvements has been tested by time. Before 1880, the distribution of History, Geography, Mathematics and Science over the different standards of schools was arbitrary, unsystematic and unsuited to young boys. Tilak, Apte and Agarkar made the necessary adjustment, which at that time provoked much comment. They also insisted on the vernacular being made the medium of instruction; they discouraged the use of English as much as possible. Special attention was paid to the equipment which the students brought to the lowest English class and as this equipment was found to be very much below the normal—it is the same even now—a Vernacular school was started with the object of providing better intellectual material to the English school and every care was taken to make the instruction in the Vernacular school animated, more systematic and less rigid. An idea of the crude educational methods of those times can be had from the fact that, when what is known as the "Subjects System," was introduced in place of the old system, it was received in no friendly spirit and a storm of opposition and criticism awaited an improvement which no man in his senses thinks of condemning now.
It was impossible for Mr. Tilak and his colleagues to rest content with the establishment of a successful High School. Since the very foundation of the New English School, Mr. Tilak had cherished the ambition of starting a College. Besides, he believed that the establishment of a College would enable him to get from its alumni the right sort of men, properly imbued with the spirit of sacrifice and anxious like himself to cover the Presidency with a net-work of educational institutions. A preliminary meeting of the well-wishers of the New English School was held and on 24th October 1884 the Deccan Education Society was formed and an application to the University for permission to start an Arts College was made. It is needless to trace the slow developments of the College till 1890 when Mr. Tilak after eleven years of hard work had to leave the Society. Suffice it to say, that most of the work of organisation, collection of funds etc. was done by him and Namjoshi. He was the guiding spirit of the institution and can claim a handsome share of the credit of having made it a success.
As a professor, Mr. Tilak maintained an exceptionally high level. He was a specialist in Mathematics and Sanskrit ; and he was occasionally required to take Science also. His teaching was always thorough and satisfied the cleverest of students. It was marked by rapidity, profundity and originality which frequently was the despair of average students.
The causes which compelled Mr. Tilak to sever his connection from the Society had their germs in the very initial stages of the progress of the New English School. They rapidly accumulated since 1885, resulting in greater and greater acrimony. It would have been better for the peace and harmony of the infant School and the infant College had more care and rigidity been observed with respect to the admission of new life-members, had the basic principles of the body been put down as articles of faith and had members joining the Society been required to observe them or withdraw from the body. As a result of this laxity, different temperaments could not harmoniously be blended by solemn obligations; this want of harmony inevitably resulted in incompatibility of views, which, in its turn. Increased bitterness and finally brought about rupture in 1890. Mr. Tilak and his associates started their career for the cheapening and facilitating of education. They placed before themselves the aim of establishing an Indian Educational Mission, forming a network of schools throughout Maharashtra on the Jesuitical idea of poverty and self-denial. In the discussions which Mr. Tilak had with Mr. Agarkar in 1879 this ideal was fully accepted. It was over and over repeated on each and every public occasion which they and their associates could get. It was repeated when Mr. Apte gave, on behalf of his colleagues, evidence before the Hunter Commission in 1882 ; it was repeated on the occasion of the visit to the institution of Sir James Fergusson, then Governor of Bombay (Feb. 1884). If Mr. Tilak's colleagues, later on found this oft-repeated pledge inconvenient, if by continuous and sometimes devious tactics they sought to temper its rigour, if regarding him as almost an obstacle in the way they harassed him by magnifying his faults, questioning even his capacity, taxing him with self-assertion and self-glorification under the cloak of Divine disinterestedness and stoicism and by going to the length of passing a vote of censure upon him, surely it was no fault of Mr. Tilak that he felt himself obliged to resign. The first three years of the school were spent in the struggle of asserting its existence. When the school and the newspapers became accomplished facts, inspite of desertion, death, incarceration and disappointed malice the next three years were spent in organizing the institutions. By the end of this period, the constitution of the D. E. Society was formed and the bye-laws of the managing board were passed on the model of the regulations of Missionary bodies. All life-members were to receive equal pay and had equal rights. As the monthly pay fixed was not very high, it was provided that under special circumstances gratuities might be granted in addition to monthly salaries. A further provision for accidents etc., was made by assuring the life of every member for Rs. 3,000 and Mr. Tilak who did the whole of this business thought that this arrangement would leave no motive for anybody to seek work outside the body and thus divert his energies in a different channel.
When, however, the struggles and cares of establishment and organisation were over, some members began to long for more and began to talk of the growing needs of their families. The cry was catching and when the lead was taken by some of the elders newly admitted members who had but a dim perception of why and how the principle of sacrifice was adopted naturally joined in it and every excuse was pleaded to discover a loophole and break through the original understanding.
The first attempt in this direction was made in 1885. It sought to remove the inequalities of payment received by members. In the beginning (1880) some members had taken no payment while others were allowed to draw more, even in after years in consideration of their special wants. It was proposed to remove these inequalities with effect from 1880, by making up the account of each life member since 1880, excluding the special gratuities in each case and the accounts were so adjusted as to make the sum drawn by each proportionate to the period of service.
It was unfortunate that the conduct of the Kesari and Mahratta was combined with that of the School and the College. The financial position of the school improved earlier while the newspapers were not paying concerns at all. The writers did not get any profit from their work. As long as the whole body were working zealously for the joint concerns no difficulty arose. But when members began to count the market-value of their energy and ability, it so happened that while some ceased to write to the papers and devoted themselves to more paying pursuits, others had to devote the whole of their time to the Press without receiving anything.
This brings us to the main question, "Whether or not a member of the Society could do some outside work for his private gain." In the initial stages of the school some members were paid extra gratuity for their special wants, because no member was to work in his private time for personal end. From 1885, however, the principle of equal pay and equal work began to be preached and it was urged that if any member had any special wants he should meet them by private work and that the duty of each and every member was to teach in the school for 4 hours and that, beyond that every individual was free to do what he liked. The result of this was that the membership of the D. E. Society began to be considered as a good start for a beginner in Poona and that if he had any energy and ambition, he could use it as a stepping stone for personal distinction. The scale of the salaries of the members of the Society was first increased to give them free time and energy to work for the common object and then the theory of four-hours' service was propagated to satisfy the financial ambitions of individual members, who priding themselves on the name of Indian Jesuits, were not willing to imitate the singleminded devotion of the European Jesuits. Mr. Tilak, therefore rightly insisted that either the outside work should be stopped or that, a rule should be made that the profits of the extra work should go to the common fund as in the case of Missionary Societies.*[2] It was with this view that a resolution was passed, in February 1888, that if any special book was required for the school, it should be prepared by open competition and its copyright purchased by the Managing Board. The very first case, however that came for consideration, was decided on a contrary principle. Mr. Gokhale, who was given Arithmetics of Standard VII discovered that a suitable text-book was wanting and the Board resolved to make his book a text-book for 1889, before it was published.
About this very time Mr. Gokhale, who had been for some time working for the Sarvajanik Sabha journal now thought of accepting the post of the Secretary of that association with 2 or 3 hours' regular work every day. Mr. Tilak objected to such a diversion of members' energies. He declared that it would be carrying the privilege of private work too far to allow members to contract such definite engagements outside the body. The Secretaryship had been offered to him before, but he had declined to accept it for the above reason.
In February 1887, Mr. Agarkar found himself in money difficulties. Under ordinary circumstances, he should have put in an application for gratuity. But, while advocating members' right to earn extra money by doing extra work he had been chiefly instrumental in passing a resolution that the occasions for gratuities should be rare. He therefore brought before the Board a proposition to increase the monthly salary of all the life members. The only reason given for the proposed change was that the financial condition of the school permitted it. Mr. Tilak urged that if necessary to Mr. Agarkar, a gratuity might be given to him but the supposed prosperity of the finance was no ground for increasing salary, at least so long as the Society was not properly endowed.
These and like discussions, frequently held, created a lot of irritation which left behind it a trail of bitterness and even rancour. Questions of general policy, of starting a Boarding House and a Technical school, of accepting a European professor helped to widen the breach. Mr. Tilak steadfastly tried to remain loyal to the original ideals while others were equally determined to give way to circumstances. Finding the situation hopeless, Mr. Tilak took leave (June 1889) for one term with the object of ultimately withdrawing from the body. A compromise was then effected on the question of outside work, salaries and internal relations and then Mr. Tilak rejoined the school. But like previous arrangements, this too proved nothing more than a paper arrangement. So for the peace and harmony of the institution he loved most, Mr. Tilak, after a very painful struggle severed his connection from the D. E. Society (Dec. 1890).
When Mr. Tilak has detailed these reasons in his memorable resignation, when the records of the D. E. Society bear witness to the incessant struggles between his lofty idealism and the continued efforts of some of his colleagues to improve their financial position at the cost of the great principle of self-sacrifice, is it not rather strange that those v/ho, though not eye-witnesses to the events culminating in Mr. Tilak's resignation have at least ready access to the documents of the Society, should have come forward to anyhow discredit Mr. Tilak in the eyes of the general public? The Hon. Mr. Paranjpye, in one of his gratuitous attacks on Mr. Tilak has attempted to discover the causes of Mr. Tilak's disagreement with his colleagues. But he has not a word to say about the sordid considerations and disputes which disfigured the Society's Proceedings Book for a number of years. All these controversies he conveniently ignores and rushes to his own pet theories which. unsupported by evidence and having no foundation in facts should never have been propounded. According to Mr. Paranjpye, Mr. Tilak had two unpardonable faults. He never learned the simple lesson that two persons could differ on some points while agreeing on many others; and worse still, Mr. Tilak was such a masterful personality that he could never work with an equal. The inevitable consequence followed. Mr. Tilak, unable to tolerate differences of opinions in his colleagues became more and more overbearing in his dealings with them; and jealousy completed the breach thus created by intolerance.
Is there any shred of truth in these accusations? Have they been supported by any evidence, real or imaginary? The answer is no. That Mr. Tilak held strong views on many important problems of the day is well-known; but that differences in opinions created the breach in the D. E. Society has yet to be established; and that Mr. Tilak allowed these differences so to over-power him as to influence his conduct with those interested in the work of the Society is indeed a large assumption. Why, we can enunciate just the contrary proposition and undertake to prove it from manifold instances on record. Unlike Messrs Apte and Agarkar—his principal opponents in the Society— Mr. Tilak was essentially a man of action; and being a man of action he never hesitated to co-operate even with his opponents. Times without number, Mr. Tilak had occasion to crosss words with Dr. Bhandarkar; but in the picketing campaign of 1908, Dr. Bhandarkar was his friend and ally. Times without number, Mr. Tilak had occasions to condemn the public conduct of Dr. Bhatavdekar; but in the astronomical conferences held in Maharashtra to improve the old calenders, Dr. Bhatavadkar was always by his side. In the plague of 1897, Mr. Tilak co-operated even with the Government. In the famous Home Rule agitation, he joined hands with Mrs. Besant. There have been occasions when Mr. Tilak has co-operated with Mr. Paranjpye himself. If Mr. Tilak could co-operate with the missionaries, with the Government, with persons of the type of Dr. Bhandarkar, Dr. Bhatavadekar, Mrs. Besant and Mr. Paranjpye, surely the charge of intolerance falls to the ground and cannot by any stretch of logic or rhetoric be sustained against one, who of all others was chiefly instrumental in securing for the D. E. Society the patronage of Ranade, Bhandarkar, Telang, Mandlik, Wordsworth and many others.
Mr. Tilak jealous! Mr. TUak unable to work with his equals Mr. Tilak, who during eleven years of his life in the D. E. Society never once cared to accept the post of a Principal, Head-Master or Superintendent! And prey, jealous of whom? Not of Ranade or Telang—his intellectual peers; but of Apte, Agarkar and Gokhale!! "Mr. Tilak saw soon after Gokhale's admission to the society that here was a man likely to be his formidable rival." Mr. Paranjpye is here speaking of the Gokhale, not of 1905 or 1908, no, not even of 1897; the Gokhale of 1885 or 1887 was, according to his own biographers, regarded by his own friends and Mr. Tilak's opponents as nothing better than a clever college student. Apte was a Sanskritist and nothing more; Mr. Tilak's versatile genius could beat Apte on his own ground. As regards Agarkar, his title to fame rests more on his great sacrifice, his championship of every kind of reform and his eloquent style, rather than on his genius and learning. In point of intellectual equipment, Mr. Tilak far surpassed all his colleagues; and if there was any jealousy at work, it must have been rather in the minds of those who, accustomed to regard Mr. Tilak as an equal ever since the college days, could not now bear with equanimity his enormous superiority.
Whether Mr. Tilak should have so much valued the principle of self-sacrifice as to endanger unity and good-will might leave room for difference of opinion. But from the foregoing account it must be abundantly clear that, not jealousy or intolerance but the great principle of self-sacrifice on which Mr. Tilak would brook no compromise was responsible for Mr. Tilak's separation from his colleagues. The incident, however deplorable or painful brought happy results; for the loss of the D. E. Society was the gain of India. One need never lament the day—howsoever unpleasant the circumstances attending the event—when Mr. Tilak decided to give that to this country which he had so unselfishly and ungrudgingly given to the school and the college. Our only regret is that he did not leave the D. E. Society a few years earlier.
- ↑ * In the critical days of 1897-8, the Deccan Education Society had the misfortune of incurring the displeasure of the Bureaucracy and had to submit to arbitrary orders of the Government. This is not perhaps the only occassion when the Society felt constrained to consider discretion the better part of valour In justice, we may add that latterly, under the distinguished Principalship of the Hon. Mr. Paranjpye, the D. E. Society has shown admirable firmness on more than one occassion and has refused to act against its conscience, merely to please official whims.
- ↑ * Mr. Gokhale, who in these controversies had uniformly opposed Mr. Tilak has himself framed the following rule for his Servants of India Society:—
(Rule IX d) That he (a member of the Society) will be content with such provision for himself and his family, if he has any, as the Society may be able to make. He will devote no part of his energies to earning money for himself.
What Mr. Tilak insisted upon, in all the acrimonious controversies which his opponents in the D. E, Society thought fit to indulge in, was only this that a Life-Member of the Institution will devoie no part of his energies to earning money for himself.