section - Vivekananda Kendra Prakashan

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 1SECTION - 1SAMSKARASPARENTSFAMILYENVIRONMENT16

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 2SECTION - 2EDUCATIONPRIMARY ANDPRE-PRIMARY LEVEL58

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 3SECTION - 3HEALTH100

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 4SECTION - 4UNDER UTILISINGCHILD-WEALTHSUGGESTED REMEDIES134

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 5SECTION - 5INSPIRINGCHILDHOOD150

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04PARENT EDUCATIONDr. G. PankajamThe growth and development of a child depend uponhis tradition as well as the environment, his parentsand his society create for him, enabling him to knowthe world better. Growth and maturity are mutuallydependent. The parents teach the child his traditionalvalues; They also function as his friends, philosophers andguides so that he can get acquainted with the worldaround.The parents teach a child moral and ethical values,help him grow physically, shape his tastes and endow himwith a general philosophy of life. The characteristics of achild and its traits depend upon its family traditions.Further, in its formative years, a child learns most fromits parents. The parents also should know of the child’snature, talents and gifts, flair, so that they can help theteacher in nurturing the child.A child does not like to come away from itsmother. The mother also may feel that the child may sufferin her absence. Both should be weaned away from suchnotions. Therefore parent - education is an importantcomponent of Pre -Primary Education. (p.p.e) And theconsent and cooperation of parents are essential ineducating the child properly. In fact, child rearing is theprimary duty of the parents. Nowadays parents too wantto learn the modern methods in bringing up children.Through group - discussionand personal conversation, frequentpersonal interactions and meetings,the balasevika should apprise theparents about what goes on in theclassroom. The topics for discussioncould be, a) the parent - childrelationships, b) health andnutrition for the child, c) care of thepregnant women and neo - natalchild, d) infant care, f) psychologicalproblems of children, g) familywelfare, family planning and spacingof children, and h) baby’s bodyweight, an important factor in child- health.The balasevika should invitethe parents to see for themselves theprogress their children are making inthe school.(Extracted and translatedfrom “Palli - mun -paruvakkalvi” (Tamil) LakshmiSeva Sangham, Gandhigram - 1992)In this background a balasevika has to train notonly the children. She has to train the parents also.A child should be made to feel that a p.p.e. centreis an extension of its home.In rural areas, only parents can persuade thechildren to go to school or the p.p.e. centre. Gandhijirightly said that the first stage in child’s education isparent - education.17

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 1CULTURING THE YOUNG- SAMSKARASRaj Bali Pandey1. Introduction: Samskaras orpurificatory, sacremental religiousacts are used extensively inSanatana Dharma. Samskaras areused for educating and cultivatingthe individual. The other meaningsof the word Samskara are training,refinement, perfection, grammaticpurity, making perfect, refining,impression, form, mould, operation,inbuence the faculty of recollection,impression on the memory, apurificatory rite, a sacred rite orceremony, consecration,sanctification and hallowing, idea,motion and conception, effect ofwork, merit of action etc.2. The purpose of theSamskaras: The samskaras aresupported by popular approval,unquestioned faith and sometimesnaïve simplicity. Priestly andcultural traditions also upholdthem. Their origin is due toconscious forces governing thedevelopment and evolution ofsociety, when human beings try toimprove upon nature. Samskarasremove hostile influences andattract beneficial ones, so that manmay grow and prosper withoutexternal hindrances and receivetimely direction and help from godsand spirits. The material aims of thesamskaras were the gain of cattle,progeny, long life, wealth, property,strength and intellect. Samskarasare performed to help man expresshis own joys, felicitations, and evensorrows at various events of life.Samskaras also introduce higher religion and sanctity oflife. The whole body is consecrated to makes it a fitdwelling - place for the soul. Social privileges and rightswere also connected with the samskaras.Another purpose of samskaras was the attainmentof heaven and even Moksha a liberation.A moralizing feature emerged from the materialbody of the samskaras in course of time. Gautama refersto eight good qualities of the soul viz, mercy, forbearance,freedom from envy, purity, calmness, right - behaviour,and freedom from greed and covetousness. These qualitiesare needed for the soul to enter into union with Brahman.The cultural purpose that evolved from the ancient ritesand ceremonies of the Hindus, was the formation anddevelopment of personality. Just as a picture is paintedwith various colours, so the character of an individual isformed by undergoing various samskaras properly. TheHindu sages realized the necessity of consciously mouldingthe character of the individuals instead of letting themgrow in a haphazard way. They utilized the samskarasalready prevalent in the society for this purpose.The general outlook of the Hindus transformed thesamskaras into a spiritual sadhana. To a Hindu, thesamskaras were an outward visible sign of an inwardspiritual grace. The samskaras were a gradual training inspiritualism.Though the samskaras performed extend fromconception to funeral rites, spanning the entire life of anindividual, we shall examine here, only the samskarasrelated to a Hindu child. The constituents of samskarascomprise of a) kindling of fire, prayers, appeals andblessings, b) sacrifice c) lustration or baptismalsprinkling of water d) orientation towards a particulardirection (North, South, East, West) e) symbolism andtaboos d) magic elements h) spiritual atmosphere etc.24

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04Pre - Natal and Post – Natal samskaras: Theyinclude (i) Conception of the child (ii) Pumsavana,(quickening of a malechild) (iii) Simantonnayana (Hairparting) (iv) Jatakarma (birth ceremonies) (v)Namakarana (Name giving) The child is named accordingto Nakshatra, after the month - deity, after the familydeity, given a popular name etc.The unfortunate parents who had lost theirprevious issues gave the child an awkward name, repulsiveand disgusting to frighten away demons, diseases anddeath.(vi) Nishkramana or taking the child out (firstouting) (vii) Anna prasana (First feeding) (viii)Chudakarana (Tonsure) (ix) Karnavedha (boring theears)These are strictly speaking the samskarasperformed before and immediately after the birth of thechild.Educational Samskaras: (i) Vidyarambha,Akshararambha or Aksharasvikarana are rituals forteaching the alphabet. Upanayana (initiation) makes aperson fir to receive scriptural knowledge, Gayatri,Brahma Jnana etc. Vedarambha or the beginning of theVedic study can be said to mark an important stage in thelife of the young person.Adapted from the Book (Hindu Samskaras– Motilal Banarsidass Delhi 1987)25HOLY MOTHER {SHARADADEVI} “ON CHILDREN”by a DevoteeAfter finishing herworship of the Master, theMother was sitting quietly inthe shrine, when one of myfellow disciples suddenly asked,“Mother, how do you look uponthe Master?” The Motherremained silent for a while, andthen said solemnly, “I look uponhim as my child.”I asked her one day,“Mother, sometimes when I seecertain persons on the road, Ifeel that they are well - knownto me. Later, on enquiry, Ilearn that they are eitherdevotees of the Master or ofyou. Why do they appear sofamiliar even when seensuddenly for the first time”The Mother replied, “TheMaster used to say, ‘supposethere is a clump of weed, ifone pulls at a weed, the wholeclump is affected. The weedsare related to one another likethe branches of a plant.”Another day I askedher, “Mother, all otherIncarnations survived theirspiritual consorts (Sakti), butwhy this time did the Masterpass away leaving you behind?”The Mother said, “Do you know,my son, that the Master lookedupon all in this world asMother? He left me behind thistime for demonstrating thatMotherhood to the world.”

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 1HOME-SCHOOLRECIPROCITYS.ThiruvenkatachariLearning and teaching are not confined to school.Learning is often narrowed down in scope to meanonly a vast amount of book study. In its truest sense,it is the accompaniment of every step in education.Learning to walk is part of one’s education, quite asimportant as the later course, called Physical Training.Such fundamental experiences do belong to education. Thehome is clearly responsible for such foundations, suchpractices in learning and such resulting achievement.Again, the word ‘teaching’ has likewise, been far toolocalized. Yet parents are constantly teaching the children,when the later ask questions on a variety of topics.Therefore, the home is the foundation of the school.The school can never make good the deficiencies in thehome, much less usurp the functions of the home.As the first teachers of the children, parents are doingthe most difficult part of the work. They lay thefoundations for everything. Let us take memory. The baby,while kicking on the mat, with wide eyes, is receivingunconsciously those first impressions, which form hisearliest memories. Therefore, parents have to see that thesights that he sees are sights of neatness, beauty and order,the sounds that his ear drinks are musical and soft, tenderand joyous, that the baby’s nostrils inhale only delicatepurity and sweetness. Memories have certain powers ofaccretion. Where there are some, others of a like kindgather and all life is ordered on the linesof the first pure and tender memories.As the child grows, habits of neatness,punctuality and moderation may also beinculcated at home in an indirect way.Similarly, ideas of altruism may be taught.The home environment manifests itself invarious skills which the children show inlater life.With regard to children, it rests withparents not only to infuse life into theworld of intelligence and moral power butalso to sustain the higher life with nobleideas, just as they sustain their bodies withfood. The child is an eclectic. He maychoose this or that. The child has affinitieswith evil as well as with good; therefore theparents must hedge him about with good influences on26

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04all sides. It is good and necessary that children get theright ideas on the great relations and duties of life fromthe very beginning.Often, parents depend on the schoolmaster to makethe child sit up after a good deal of mental and moralsprawling at home. The schoolmaster’s real and proudsuccesses are with the children who have been trained tosit up at home. The pleasure of the teacher in suchchildren is unbounded; the pains he takes with them areunlimited. The successful careers he is able to launch themupto exceed the ambition of those most ambitious ofhuman beings i.e. ‘fond parents’.Inculcating discipline not punishmentExercising discipline is one of the functions ofparenthood. Discipline is often confused withpunishment, but punishment can at best be an occasionalaid. The incessant watchfulness and endeavour, which goto form and maintain good habits, are what we mean bydiscipline, and not mere spurts of punishment. Form thispoint of view, never were there such disciplinarians asparents who could labour on these lines. Every habit ofcourtesy, consideration, order, neatness, punctuality,truthfulness is itself more a schoolmaster, and orders lifewith unfailing diligence.Disposition and genius comemore naturally, but character is anachievement, the one practicalachievement possible to us (i.e.;ourselves and our children) and alladvances in family or individual isalong the lines of character. Theparent must see that the inheritedtendencies of the child are modifiedfor the better, by his ownsurroundings. It is the parent’s partto distinguish the first faint buddingof family traits; to treat every finetrait as the highest sort of possessionto be nourished and tended withcare. What can the parents do whenthe child appears to leave out thebest of hereditary gifts and take theunworthy? The parent has totransform the child, not reform. Hecan drive out the bad habit by a goodhabit; and use being second nature,the good habit takes the place of thebad.STORY OF EVOLUTION SUMMARISED IN INDIVIDUAL LIFEBy Swami Vivekananda (CW.VOL.II)I shall tell you a theory, which I will not argue now, but simply place beforeyou the conclusion. Each man in his childhood runs through the stagesthrough which his race has come up; only the race took thousands of yearsto do it, while the child takes a few years. The child is first the old savageman—and he crushes a butterfly under his feet. The child is at first likethe primitive ancestors of his race. As he grows, he passes through differentstages until he reaches the development of his race. Only he does it swiftlyand quickly. Now, take the whole of humanity as a race, or take the wholeof the animal creation, man and the lower animals, as one whole. There isan end towards which the whole is moving. Let us call it perfection. Somemen and women are born who anticipate the whole progress of mankind.Instead of waiting and being reborn over and over again for ages until thewhole human race has attained to that perfection, they, as it were, rushthrough them in a few short years of their life. And we know that we canhasten this process, if we be true to ourselves.27

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 1Moral ailments need prompt ix. Parental harmony is a great source of joy toattention. Neither punishing thechild nor letting him have his ownway can ever cure a child of moralthe child. His/her emotional well being depends uponvarious signs of parental harmony, loyalty, reliability andmutually exercised sense of justice and decency.evil. The parent must set up a newchain of thought in the child’s mindand so influence the child that thex.rearing.xi.Parental example is the chief factor in childEmbrace opportunities to become betternew should have become automaticto run on its own accord while theinformed as to the needs and responsibilities ofparenthood. Instinct by itself is a poor guide.undesirable part will be gradually xii. The traits which the child should developannihilated. The training of the will,the instruction of the conscience,should be made attractive so that the child wishes, desiresor needs to develop them.and so far as it lies with us, thedevelopment of the divine life in the Schools socialize the individuals without sacrificingchild are carried on simultaneouslywith this training in the habits ofgood life and these last will carry thechild safely over the season of infirmwill, and immature conscience, untilthe individual. The body of citizenship will be stronger andbetter as the units comprising it are improved. Schoolsand homes should work together to make the child respectothers.(From The Hindu)he is able to take the moulding ofcharacter into his own handsA few guide posts for parents:DUTY TOWARDS THE SOCIETYSwami Vivekananda [CW VOL.III]i. Gain rapport with thechild; respect him/her as anindividual.ii. Capitalise your role as afriend, philosopher and guide toyour child.iii. Mental honesty isessential with the parent and thechild.iv. Do not laugh at a child’smistake or failures; keep promises;ignore little things.v. Cooperate with theschool teacher; know the child’sassets and liabilities.vi. Draw out the child.Train him/her to obey authority(internal-instinctive emotional life)and external (conventions, customsetc).vii. Lead the child; don’tdrive him/her.viii. Be tolerant of theadolescent child with problems.What is the mission with which every Hinduchild is born?Have you not read the proud declaration ofManu regarding the Brahmin where he saysthat the birth of the Brahmin is “for theprotection of the treasury of religion”? Ishould say that is the mission not only ofthe Brahmin, but of every child, whetherboy or girl, who is born in this blessed land“for the protection of the treasury ofreligion”. And every other problem in lifemust be subordinated to that one principaltheme.28

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04RELATIONSHIPS WITH PEOPLE:CHILDREN IN JOINT AND NUCLEARFAMILIES: A DISCUSSIONANURADHA, PAWAN ETALDiscussionAlthough innumerable studies have beenconducted to explore factors responsible forschool dropouts, surprisingly none (to ourknowledge) have tried to explore the relationshipbetween dropouts and family structures in the ruralcontext. It is very important to validate this findingby a large sample study because it has significantimplications, especially for the girl child. The mostsignificant finding was that children from nuclearfamilies are more likely to drop out of schoolsthan children from joint families.As stated earlier children from joint families weremore articulate and informed better in school. Thiscould be because most children from joint familieshad grandparents who spoke in the local dialect. Itis a well-known fact that familiarity with the localdialect enriches vocabulary and helps in creativeexpression and thinking, which facilitatesarticulation and language skills. Some children saidduring focus group discussions, “We really like itwhen our grandmother or grandfather talks to us in‘our language’ (the local dialect).” Grandparents injoint families are a perennial source of indigenousknowledge. Indigenous knowledge increases the selfesteemof the child. Enhanced self-esteem resultsin a positive personality. This can be gauged fromthe different ways in which the children from thejoint and nuclear family speak.In our study the importance of sanskars and therole of grandparents in developing positivepersonality traits came across strongly. Sanskarsform the basis of values which leads to higher selfesteem and confidence. Behaviour of a child is a38

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 1good indicator of the level of confidence. One cannotbe honest unless there is self- confidence which isdemonstrated by check behaviour and lack ofhypocrisy.In an earlier study (A Matter of Quality. SIDH1999) it was pointed out by women from rural areasthat schools were responsible for putting moreemphasis on “appearance’ rather than on ‘being’and in their opinion, education should be puttingmore stress on how to ‘be’. This study reveals thatit is not only the schools but also nuclear familiesfrom where children learn not to ‘be’ but to ‘appear’.Relationships are important for the emotionaland social growth of the child and in a joint familythere are more people to relate to. The joint familyprovides children with many people and a conduciveenvironment which makes them more secure. Loveand support give the necessary confidence to thechild to be herself/himself. This leads to higher selfesteemand social responsibility which manifests inthe capacity and will to care for others.For quite some time now, psychologists havebeen talking of the importance of emotional quotientor EQ. They feel that the aim of education shouldalso be to enhance a child’s EQ. The present studyshowed that the children from joint families are likelyto grow up to be more stable, secure, honest,tolerant and cooperative than the children fromnuclear families. This present study also showedthat joint families were more conducive for the socialconcern, of a 10-year-old child from a joint familywhen he asks: ‘If all joint families break up, thenfrom where will we get so many houses?”Extracted from “Child and the Family” Society forintegrated Development of Himalayas”-Mussorie 2002NATIONAL COMMISSIONFOR CHILDREN(Adopted from ‘The Hindu’)1) India is the 40 th Nation inthe world and second in Asiaafter the Philippines to setup a National Commissionfor children.2) This commission generallylocates the authority toenforce decisions and punisherrants. Their roles havejustremainedrecommendatory.3) Children account for roughly38% of the total populationof our country4) Of them 53% suffer formsevere malnutrition.5) 47% of the children arestunted in growth.6) 3% of the children work forwages and 2.6% withoutwages.7) There are 11.3 million childlabourers in the country.8) In this background, therecently passed law, makingbasic education as afundamental right, isdifficult to enforce inpractice.9) According to ourconstitution, we have toprotect children from moraland material exploitation.10)Child trafficking in variousparts of the country, andthe vulnerability of thegirl-child are otherproblems.39

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04HEREDITARYTHEORYNOT TENEBLESWAMI VIVEKANANDAT he simple hereditary theory takes forgranted the most astonishing propositionwithout any proof, that mental experiencecan be recorded in matters, that mentalexperience can be involved in matter. WhenI look at you in the lake of my mind there is awave. That wave subsides, but it remains infine form, as an impression. We understanda physical impression remaining in the body.But what proof is there for assuming that themental impression can remain in the body,since the body goes to pieces? What carriesit? Even granting it were possible for eachmental impression to remain in the body,that every impression, beginning from thefirst man down to my father, was in myfather’s body, how could it be transmitted tome? Through the bioplasmic cell? How could that be? Because the father’s body does not cometo the child in toto. The same parents may have a number of children; then, from this theory ofhereditary transmission, where the impression and the impressed (that is to say, material) areone, it rigorously follows that by the birth of every child the parents must lose a part of theirown impressions, or, if the parents should transmit the whole of their impressions, then, afterthe birth of the first child, their minds would be a vacuum.Again, if in the bioplasmic cell the infinite amount of impressions from all time has entered,where and how is it? This is a most impossible position, and until these physiologists can provehow and where those impressions live in that cell, and what they mean by a mental impressionsleeping in the physical cell, their position cannot be taken for granted. So far it is clear then,that this impression is in the mind, that the mind comes to take its birth and rebirth, and usesthe material which is most proper for it, and that the mind which has made itself fit for only aparticular kind of body will have to wait until it gets that material. This we understand. Thetheory then comes to this, that there is hereditary transmission so far furnishing the material tothe soul is concerned. But the soul migrates and manufactures body after body, and each thoughtwe think, and each deed we do, is stored in it in fine forms, ready to spring up again and take anew shape.Ref :[CW VOL.III]20

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 1SRI RAMAKRISHNA TELLSSTORIES ON CHILDREN1. Childlike should be the Manof Highest WisdomOnce a sannyasini came to the royalcourt of Janaka. To her the kingbowed, without looking at her face.Seeing this, the sannyasini said:“How strange it is O Janaka, that youhave still so much fear of woman!”When one attains to full jnana, one’snature becomes like that of a littlechild—one sees no distinctionbetween male and female.2. The Simple SecretGod can be realized through childlikefaith and guilelessness.DUTY OF PARENTSSwami Vivekananda (CW VOL.I)The following are duties towards children :A son should be lovingly reared up to hisfourth year ; he should be educated till heis sixteen. When he is twenty years of agehe should be employed in some work; he shouldthen be treated affectionately by his fatheras his equal. Exactly in the same mannerthe daughter should be brought up, and shouldbe educated with the greatest care. Andwhen she marries, the father ought to giveher jewels and wealth.A certain person, on coming acrossa sadhu, humbly begged him forinstruction. The sadhu’s advice was,“Love God with all your heart andsoul”. The enquirer replied, “I havenever seen God, nor do I knowanything about Him; how is itpossible that I should love Him?”The holy man enquired whom theother loved most. The answer was,“I have nobody to care for. I have asheep and that is the only creature Ilove”. The sadhu said: “Then tendthe creature and love it with all yourheart and soul, and alwaysremember that the Lord abides in it”.Having given this advice the sadhuleft the place. The enquirer nowbegan to tend the sheep with lovingcare, fully believing that the Lordabode in the creature. After a longtime the sadhu, during his returnjourney, sought out the person hehad advised and enquired how he21

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04was getting on. The latter salutedthe sadhu and said, “Master, I am allright, thanks to your kindinstructions. Much good has cometo me by following the line ofthought prescribed by you. Timeand again I see a beautiful figurewith four hands within my sheepand I find supreme bliss in that”.3. The Nature of aParamahamsaafter this, when the boy again felt afraid in the woods, hecried out, “O Brother Madhusudana!” But there was noresponse. He began to weep aloud: “Where are you,Brother Madhusudana? Come to me. I am afraid.” ThenGod could no longer stay away. He appeared before theboy and said: “Here I am. Why are you frightened?” Andso saying He took the boy out of the woods and showedhim the way to school. When He took leave of the boy,God said: “I will come whenever you call me. Do not beafraid.”One must have this faith of a child, this yearning.At one time I was staying atKamarpukur when Shivaram wasfour or five years old. One day hewas trying to catch grasshoppersnear the pond. The leaves weremoving. To stop their rustling hesaid to the leaves: “Hush! Hush! Iwant to catch a grass-hopper.”Another day it was stormy. It rainedhard. Shivaram was with me insidethe house. There were flashes oflightning. He wanted to open thedoor and go out. I scolded him andstopped him, but still he peeped outnow and then. When he saw thelightning he exclaimed, “There,uncle! They are striking matchesagain!”.The Paramahamsa is like a five yearold child. He sees everything filledwith consciousness.4. This faith of a childA boy named Jatila used to walk toschool through the woods, and thejourney frightened him. One day hetold his mother of his fear. Shereplied: “Why should you be afraid?Call Madhusudana.” “Mother,”asked the boy, “who isMadhusudana?” The mother said,“He is your Elder Brother”. One day5. A Boy actually fed GodA brahmana used to worship his family deity with foodofferings. One day he had to go away on business. As hewas about to leave the house, he said to his son: “Give theoffering to the Deity today. See that God is fed.” The boyoffered food in the shrine, but the image remained silenton the altar. It would neither eat nor talk. The boy waiteda long time, but still the image did not move. But the boyfirmly believed that God would come down from Histhrone, sit on the floor, and partake of his food. Again andagain he prayed to the Deity, saying: “O Lord, come downand eat the food. It is already very late. I cannot sit hereany longer.” But the image did not utter a word. The boyburst into tears and cried: “O Lord, my father asked me tofeed you. Why won’t you come down? Why won’t you eatfrom my hands?” The boy wept for some time with alonging soul. At last the Deity, smiling, came down fromthe altar and sat before the meal and ate it. After feedingthe Deity, the boy came out of the shrine room. Hisrelatives said: “The worship is over. Now bring away theoffering.” “Yes,” said the boy, “the worship is over. But Godhas eaten everything.” “How is that?” asked the relatives.The boy replied innocently, “Why, God has eaten the food.”They entered the shrine and were speechless with wonderto see that the Deity had really eaten every bit of theoffering.(From The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)22

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 1RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CHILDREN ANDOTHERS IN NUCLEAR AND JOINT FAMILIESANURADHA, PAWAN ETALRelationships-Insecurity and loneliness: Ina survey we conducted, Children were asked towrite stories about an incident in their home. Themajority of the children from nuclear families wrote aboutthe trauma when their father, mother or brother wereseriously ill, had had an accident, or had died and theproblems in getting timely help. They also wrote aboutproblems in getting timely help. They also wrote aboutproblems related to poverty or debt or betrayal by a friendof the family or about quarrel between parents. The storieswere different but what was common was the way in whichthey always recalled problem, which depicted a certainhelplessness and loneliness on the part of the child.Children from nuclear families experienced a high levelof anxiety which was reflected in the stories.On the other hand, the stories of children from jointfamilies showed that they lived in a more secure world.The majority of the stories written by children from jointfamilies were about quarrels between family members butnot between parents, or about a traditional healer whowas called to exorcise a family member who waspossessed. Moments of deep anxiety and trauma andproblems like hunger, poverty and feelings of terror orhelplessness were completely absent from the narrativesof children from joint families.Interview with parents revealed that children fromnuclear families felt lonely, insecure and fearful. Someadult responses illustrate this well:“Children often feel sad and lonely in nuclear familiesas they have no one to play with.”“Children from nuclear families feel more insecure,because they do not get much love as there are few peoplein the house, who are mostly busy. In nuclear familiesthere is no one to intervene when the parents quarrel.”“Children from nuclear families get no support whenchildren from other families fight with them.”In the role plays done bychildren, many of which were aboutjoint families, the children wereshown as having lots of fun. Childrensaid: “We have a lot of playmates inthe house; we eat together, playtogether and have fun. The houseseems lonely without people.” In roleplays they were shown going toschool together. Another child said:“We all eat the food from the samechulha (a stove), and are really closeto each other. We share ourproblems and joys with each other.Some typical responses of childrenfrom joint families illustrate thisbetter:“Girls in joint families get morelove.”“In a joint family we learn howto share. We get a lot of love fromthe senior family members and29

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04grandparents because in a jointfamily the grandparents do not haveto work very hard. They can restmore and give us attention.”“Our problems often get solvedby some family member. We have alot of people to help us.”“We get more opportunities togo outside our homes with ourparents and take part in marriagesin other villages too.”“We live in a big house andpeople respect us in the village.Members of joint families get a lotof support when they are introuble.”iv) Personality of the child:We were able to get insights into thepersonality of children from theresponses and observation ofchildren during focus groupdiscussions and role-plays. Theadults used the phrase, “This childhas sanskars”, to define a child’s(positive) personality. They felt thatchildren from joint families imbibed ‘sanskars’ easily aschildren learn by observing and imitating adults; and jointfamilies offer greater scope as there are more adultsaround, specially grandparents. As one 18-year-old girlfrom a nuclear family in Almora district said: “Childrenimitate whatever the adults do in the family. If they seewise and elderly people in the family they also becomewise. But in nuclear families if they see the father drinking,then they learn to do that.” “It is only in joint families thatchildren get ‘sanskars’. That is because there aregrandparents who have the time and wisdom to pass it onto the next generation,” said a 25-year-old woman from anuclear family. Another 23 year-old youth said, “Becauseour grandparents were grateful to God and prayed to God,we also learnt to pray. Our mother cooked in the kitchenand we learnt from her. Today in nuclear families childrendon’t even know what must be done before going to bed.”The positive impact of grandparents on the upbringingof children was frequently mentioned by many people. Agirl mentioned how her grandfather often told the childrenstories of the pre-independence days and how he hadprotested against in-justice.The role plays by children revealed how childrenimbibe sanskars, by observing the behaviour of adults athome. Children were given 15 minutes to enact a typicalscene from their families. The role plays often focussedupon the role and responsibility of the head of the family.A CHILD’S WITSwami Vivekananda (CW VOL.II)Every soul is infinite; therefore there is no question of birth and death.Some children were being examined. The examiner put them rather hardquestions, and among them was this one: “Why does not the earth fall?”He wanted to evoke answers about gravitation. Most of the children couldnot answer at all; a few answered that it was gravitation or something.One bright little girl answered it by putting another question: “Whereshould it fall?” The question is nonsense. Where should the earth fall?There is no falling or rising for the earth. In infinite space there is no upor down ; that is only in the relative. Where is the going or coming forthe infinite? Whence should it come and whither should it go?30

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 1In the role play the family members were shown to haverespect for the listen to his advice about sharing of work,money or material goods. The role plays emphasis headnot only the respect with which the adults addressedtheir parents and other elders (both men and women)in the family but also other ways in which respect wasshown to them. The way the head managed the affairsof the household, took cognisance of the needs of eachmember of the family and the subtleties of it all cameacross clearly. The importance of consensus and notcontest (majority rule) in the functioning of a jointfamily emerged from the role plays very powerfully. Therole plays also depicted the daughters-in-law supportingeach other by dividing the work (which showed how a lotof different jobs like cooking, ploughing, fetching woodgets done smoothly) amongst themselves. The womenwere shown as mutually deciding when each one of themwould take time off to go to their mother’s home.Despite slight exaggeration about the ideal (joint)family, the majority of the role-plays enacted by thechildren revealed how and why people in joint familieswere more empowered. The subtleties in the role playsdemonstrated that there were far more learningopportunities which existed in the (joint) familyenvironment, for children. Role-plays also revealed howchildren learn-by imbibing from the environment inwhich they live. Children learn to be responsible as theysee every member doing his/her allotted share of work.On the other hand, the problems multiply and affecteveryone when even one of them behaves irresponsiblyand the children are also made aware of this. Role playsare good illustrations of how keenly the behaviour ofadults is noticed by children and how role models arepowerful sources of imbibing sanskars. While talkinginformally with children and during focus groupdiscussions, we observed that children from joint familieswere more relaxed while those from nuclear families weremore concerned about making an impression on us andsaying the ‘right’ thing.The majority of the adult responses revealed that thechildren from joint families were better adjusted. Themost important evidence of this was that girls from jointfamilies were preferred as brides. The general feeling wasthat girls from joint families could get along better withother members of the family as well as other people inthe village and adjust better to changes (“khap, sakti hain,sah sakti hain”). People said that they can adjust moreTHE FUTURE OF THE“NEGLECTED MAJORITY”From a sample survey, we findthat if 100 million students getenrolled in the primary school,only about 30 million are foundin middle school and about 16million in high/higher secondaryschool. Of children in the agegroup 6-11 years, about 90-95 per cent enroll in primaryschool, at the secondary state,that is, age group 11-15 years,only 48 percent continue andat the higher secondary stage,that is, age group 15-17 years,only about 24 percent are foundto pursue studies. In the agegroup 17 to 23, only abouteight per cent are in thehigher-educational institutions.From these statistics, we cansee that roughly, above 50 percent of students drop-out atevery stage, in the school. Thequestions that arise are whathappens to all those youth whodrop out of the educationalsystem between the age group11-17 years?31

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04easily as they were not rigid andwere far more tolerant and adjustingthan girls from nuclear families.These was divided opinion about thegirls from nuclear families. Girlsfrom well-off nuclear families wereconsidered to be a little spoilt andself-centered, while those fromrelatively poor nuclear families weresupposed to be more hard working.“Our mother should wear the ghagra (long skirt whichis the traditional dress). It is our custom.”“We do not have to think hard when speaking in ourown tongue.”While children from nuclear families said:“We feel ashamed to feed our guest with mandua roti(mandua is a local grain).”The focus-group discussionswith children showed that childrenfrom a joint family knew more aboutlocal culture than children fromnuclear families. The joint familychildren knew fourteen types of folksongs and dances (out of a total ofseventeen types of folk songs inJaunpur – Myths, Legends and Folksongs of Jaunpur, SIDH, 1997),while the children from nuclearfamilies knew only five types of folksongs. Children from joint familiesalso knew much more about localfestivals than the nuclear familychildren. There was a significantdifference in their level ofknowledge about traditionalmedicines. The children from jointfamilies knew far more homeremedies than the nuclear familychildren.Self-esteem and Selfconfidence:Children from jointfamilies had a higher self-esteemand were not embarrassed abouttheir families, about using the localdialect, traditional occupations, etc.,while children from nuclear familieswere clearly embarrassed. Thechildren from joint families said:“We cannot survive if we do notknow our language. Because then wewill not know how to cut grass orplough the land.”“I like it when my mother wears salwar kameez notthe ghagra”Observations during focus-group discussions revealedsome significant differences in personality among childrenfrom joint and nuclear families. Majority of the childrenfrom joint families had more self-esteem, confidence,spontaneity, honesty, initiative and leadership than thechildren from nuclear families. Children from nuclearfamilies showed a tendency to initially say things thatwould please others, but later on they would contradictthemselves and reveal what they actually believed in. Forinstance, some of the children from nuclear familiesinitially spoke about the importance of manual labour andhow love and affection were more important than money.Yet after sometime when the conversation turned inanother direction, they contradicted themselves by saying:“Farming is the job of the foolish illiterate people, not ofpeople like us,” and “I don’t need to work in the fields, Ican buy anything, even labour and food with money.” Theyspoke earlier of the importance of being together in a jointfamily, but later said that it is best to substitute relativesand joint family with neighbours who could give therequired support. On the other hand, such tension was notseen among children from joint families. They spoke withease and gave examples to illustrate what they said. Veryoften children from joint families volunteered informationin a spontaneous manner. The majority of the childrenfrom joint families displayed and ease with themselves,which contrasted sharply with the children from nuclearfamilies, who displayed two distinct opposite types: eitherthey were full of bluster and over-confidence or they werecompletely tongue-tied. Initiative and leadership inconceiving and directing role-play was noticed moreamong children from joint families. During focus-groupdiscussions children from joint families appeared lesscompetitive than children from nuclear families. Thereseemed to be a lot of jealousy among children from nuclear32

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 1families-indicated by children colluding with and againsteach other. They also appeared to be keen to score a pointover other children and were far more competitive. Traitsof showing off and letting down another in the group wascompletely absent among children from joint families. Theteachers’ reports revealed that children from joint familieswere more confident and co-operative than children fromnuclear families.During the focus group discussions, observation ofchildren’s behaviour showed that children from nuclearfamilies seemed more self-centered. One young boy froma nuclear family said: “We don’t have to work with ourhands. The illiterate will work in the fields.” This completedisdain for the non-literate was obvious in the more welloffchildren from nuclear families. Children from nuclearfamilies spoke of family relations only from a utilitarianperspective. Many of them spoke of building goodrelationship with neighbours, because they felt that jointfamilies restricted their privacy. As one of them said: “Ionly need my brother’s help in a crisis not his interferenceeveryday.” Comments by adults about children fromnuclear families also confirms this, when they said:“Children from nuclear families do not realise theimportance of relatives. They also do not think about theirvillage or neighbours very much. They are too busyworking. Perhaps that is why children from nuclearfamilies only think of themselves.”The grey area: Discipline and obedienceThere is a difference between the perception ofchildren and adults about discipline in joint families.Children feel: “We learn to be disciplined as someonealways stays in the house and punishes us if we makemistakes or do something wrong.” However adults feelquite differently. This fact is borne out in the statementmade by a mother from a joint familywhen she complained: “In a jointfamily we cannot control thechildren by scolding them or beatingthem. Whenever we try to beat orscare our children, some uncle oraunt always intervenes on behalf ofthe child”. But surely we wouldrather have happier children thanthose controlled by violence?The debate between disciplinesfrom freedom is an age-old debate ineducation. In this study anotherdimensions was added to it, namelythe distinction between disciplineand obedience. Discipline is a qualitywhich must ultimately stem fromwithin. It cannot be imposed fromwithout. But one can be made to beobedient through fear.Unfortunately people did not makethis distinction. They often meantobedience when they spoke ofdiscipline and vice versa. It was themajority opinion that children fromnuclear families are more‘anushasit’ or “disciplined” thanchildren from joint families. But itwill be more accurate to say that thechildren from nuclear families aremore ‘obedient’, not necessarilymore ‘disciplined’.(Extracted from ‘Child and theFamily’ Society for IntegratedDevelopment of Himalayas-Mussorie 2002.)33

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04WORK BURDENON THECHILDREN INJOINT ANDNUCLEARFAMILIES- A STUDYANURADHA, PAWAN, ETALWork Burden on Children: The studyrevealed that children from both joint andnuclear families helped in household chores.The boys helped mainly with the work done outside thehomes, like cleaning the cow-shed, fetching water, helpingto plough the fields, grazing cattle, making the boundarywalls etc., while the girls helped in cooking, cleaningvessels, washing clothes and in caring for siblings. Butwhile talking to the adults and children, it becameapparent that there was a significant differences in thequantum of work done by children in joint and nuclearfamilies. Children from nuclear families were overwork weget no time to study.” This was confirmed by several adultresponses like. Children in a nuclear family are really quitemiserable or “Children are happier in joint families, butin nuclear families they only work and work.”Children from joint families did not seem unhappyabout their work. Their statements illustrate it. “Allchildren help in the house. If we are told to do the workonce, it becomes our everyday duty”. Or as one boy said,“I felt happy to have learnt to plough from my father.”However in the nuclear families, the children felt a kindof drudgery while doing the work and were and wereunhappy doing it. their responses make this evident;“We do it because we are told to do it.”“We have to work because there is no one else to helpour family.”“If we don’t work we won’t get any food.”“If we don’t work our parents beat us.”The responses clearly showed that children fromnuclear families seemed to be burdened with far morework than the children from joint families. Also in jointfamilies the children did not seem to perceive work as aburden, on the contrary they seemed to even enjoy doingit while children in nuclear families felt miserable doingit.Extract from “Child and the Family” Society forintegrated Development of Himalayas” Mussoire 200223

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 1HOW DO CHILDREN SEETHE FUTURE?(Centre for Media Studies Report)A significant majority ofadolescents in high - schools foreseethe future to have more conflict andviolence. And, they are not sure thatliving and life is going to be anybetter. No wonder then that againstsuch gloomy perceptions about thefuture, school-going childrenconsider “moral values” as relevanttoday. They consider “discipline”and “honesty” as desired virtues.These are some of the highlightsof the first-ever such study amongeight, nine and 10 th class students bythe Centre for Media Studies (CMS)of New Delhi.The school-going childrenrealise the “double-edged character”of television far more than theirparents.MAN THE MAKER OF HIS DESTINYSwami Vivekananda (CW VOL.III)You know it already that each one of us is theeffect of the infinite past ; the child is usheredinto the world not as something flashing from thehands of nature, as poets delight so much to depict,but he has the burden of an infinite past ; forgood or evil he comes to work out his own pastdeeds. That makes the differentiation. This isthe law of Karma. Each one of us is the maker ofhis own fate. This law knocks on the head at onceall doctrines of predestination and fate and givesus the only means of reconciliation between Godand man. We, we, and none else, are responsiblefor what we suffer. We are the effects, and weare the causes.Teachers are viewed as aninfluencing factor by only half of theadolescents. In fact, more than onethirdacknowledge that television isshaping their character far morethan the teacher. One fifth eventhink that it is a countervailing forceto become a “good student.”A third prefer watchingtelevision rather than reading abook. However, only one sixth,mostly boys, prefer watchingtelevision to going out for a visit orto play.These findings should be ofconcern to elders. For, more thanone-third of adolescentsacknowledge that their parents donot take any initiative on theirTelevision - viewing - habits. Onefifthalso say that there was never anoccasion in the school or in class, not34

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04even informal, when television perse or any particular Televisionprogramme was ever discussed.Obviously, neither the schoolsystem nor the parents at homeseem to realise the role of televisiontoday, or of the need to moderate orcounsel their children aboutTelevision viewing habits.personally interviewed and in equal numbers from theprivate and municipal schools.The CMS study has several implications. These includethe need to reinforce “moral values” as part of the schoolcurriculum and also about the media in general andtelevision in particular. Television should become an issuefor discussion in schools and at homes. Parents, inparticular, should be concerned about its role in theupbringing of their children.The pilot study for a longernational survey in 2003 wasconducted extensively in Delhischools and in institutions on thecity’s outskirts; 2050 adolescentstudents, boys and girls of equalnumber drawn from 10 municipalschools and 10 private schools, wereinterviewed during the last week ofOctober 2002. Most students wereThe reading habit among children needs to bepromoted in many different ways. Independentprofessional counselling facilities should be provided toguide children who are otherwise under the influence oftelevision.“No one could claim concern for children todaywithout being concerned about the role of television inbuilding the character and personality of a child”, the CMSdirector and social psychologist, P.N. Vasanti said,summing up the study.CHILD IS THE FATHER OF THE MANSwami Vivekananda (CW VOL.II)To return to mythology. Behind all those stories we find one idea standingsupreme—that man is a degeneration of what he was. Coming to the presenttimes, modern research seems to repudiate this position absolutely. Evolutionistsseem to contradict entirely this assertion. According to them, man is the evolutionof the mollusk ; and, therefore, what mythology states cannot be true. Thereis in India, however, a mythology which is able to reconcile both these positions.The Indian mythology has a theory of cycles, that all progression is in the formof waves. Every wave is attended by a fall, and that by a rise the next moment,that by a fall in the next, and again another rise. The motion is in cycles.Certainly it is true, even on the grounds of modern research, that man cannotbe simply an evolution. Every evolution presupposes an involution. The modernscientific man will tell you that you can only get the amount of energy out of amachine which you have previously put into it. Something cannot be produced outof nothing. If a man is an evolution of the mollusk, then the perfect man—theBuddha-man, the Christ-man—was involved in the molluse. If it is not so,whence come these gigantic personalities? Something cannot come out of nothing.Thus we are in the position of reconciling the scriptures with modern light. Thatenergy which manifests itself slowly through various stages until it becomes theperfect man, cannot come out of nothing. It existed somewhere ; and if themollusk or the protoplasm is the first point which you can trace it, that protoplasm,somehow or other, must have contained the energy.35

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 1IMPACT OF FAMILY ON THE CHILD(Outside the School)By Anuradha, Pawan etalImpact outside school:Care: Dekh rekh was the word used most often byparents or teachers while referring to the physical wellbeingof the child. For the respondents dekh rekhencompassed health (both physical and mental), hygieneand nutrition.The responses of parents to our questions, indicatedthat children were better looked after in joint families asthere was always someone in the family – grandparent,aunt, etc.—who was concerned about their health andinsured that they had their bath and meals at regularintervals. “Children are better looked after in joint familiesbecause there is always a special person-like a grandfatheror grandmother-to take care of the children. It is onlywhen people at home have enough time or leisure thatchildren can be well cared for.” said a 34 year-old manfrom a joint family. “Joint families are good for children.”said a 58-year-old man from a joint family. “When mygrandson fell ill, we have no problem. But if he had beenin a nuclear family, then who would have gone to the cowshed,who would have worked athome and who would have fetchedthe doctor?” The aforementionedresponses indicate that since there isdistribution of work in a joint familythere is somebody in the family togive children the exclusive attentionthey need. As a 32-year-old womanfrom a joint family said “In a jointfamily different work is allotted todifferent people and there is noexcessive burden on any oneindividual and so every job is donewell, whether it is looking afterchildren, or looking after the guestsor the buffalo or working in thefields…” Some children from jointfamilies said: “When we fall ill, weare looked after and given medicinesat regular intervals.”On the contrary, most peopleare critical of nuclear families likethis 70-year-old woman who said:“In a nuclear family, children are ina bad state. The parents lock themin, and open the door only upontheir return. Sometimes the childrenin nuclear families do not even eatproperly or have a bath.” In nuclearfamilies children are often left incharge of younger siblings:” “Innuclear families young girls take careof children and how can childrenknow how to look after children?”says a 40-year-old woman from anuclear family.Even the emotional needs ofchildren are better fulfilled in a jointfamily. This in turn, moulds theirdisposition and temperament18

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04positively. A 20-year-old from anuclear family in Almora districtsaid, “Grandparents are more lovingthan parents who are overworked.Children in joint families are moreloving and tolerant than those fromnuclear families.”Nutrition: It issignificant that children from jointfamilies did not comment on food,whereas all children from nuclearfamilies spoke a lot about food andalso about food sufficiency in jointfamilies.“Children from joint families,get food at the right time and are fedproperly.”“In joint families, there aremany cows, goats and buffaloes andhence a lot of milk and butter.”“In a joint family, somebody isalways there to give food tochildren.”“Children in joint families donot have to wait for food.”On the other hand, theircomments about nuclear familieswere quite damning:“Children from nuclear familieshave to go hungry often becausenuclear families are usually poor.”“In nuclear families we haveless animals and so less milk andbutter at home.”There was a general agreementamong the majority of children andadults (regardless of age andgender) that children in jointfamilies were better looked after andhence were physically in betterhealth than children from nuclearfamilies.Teachers’ Assessment: The teachers’ reports from 10schools spread over five districts in Uttaranchal, (wherethe teachers scored children in hygiene and health, amongother things), revealed that the majority of children fromjoint families scored higher in cleanliness and health thanthe children from nuclear families. Observation of childrenduring the focus-group discussion also revealed thatchildren from joint families looked better, were well fed,had well-combed hair and cleaner clothes than childrenfrom nuclear familiesFrom the book “Child and the Family” Society forintegrated Development of Himalayas, Missouri 2002DIVORCE AND CHILDRENSosamma PothenChildren of divorcees live mostly with the mother,or grandparents and receive education, orgrandparents and receive educational training.Their loyalties towards father/mother are divided.When grown up, they retain painful memories. Butthey become strong because of their trials andtribulations. They share the family burden withtheir mothers. The majority of divorcees have nochildren. The number of children born to divorceswas any way small. Most children are kept by themother. The law favours such a course. Postdivorceeconomic support of children come from1. Mother 2. Mother’s relatives 3. Father in thatorder. 40% of divorced fathers keep in touch withtheir children, staying with their mothers. Majorityof the children knew of their parents’ divorce, afact that affected them emotionally.In the West, when a divorce takes place, thefamily, a nuclear family at that, breaks up. InIndia a joint family absorbs the shock and thechild continues to have a family even after parentsdivorce. Uncles and aunts substitute the missingparent.(Extracted from ‘Divorce its Causes and Consequences inHindu Society’, Vikas Pub. House (Pvt) Ltd., New Delhi1986).19

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 1REINCARNATION OR HEREDITY[Swami Vivekananda]To one argument in connection with thedoctrine of Reincarnation I will ask yourpatient attention, as it is a little intricate.We gain all our knowledge through experience;that is the only way. What we call experiences areon the plane of consciousness. For illustration: Aman plays a tune on a piano, he places each fingeron each key consciously. He repeats this processtill the movement of the fingers becomes a habit.He then plays a tune without having to pay specialattention to each particular key. Similarly, we findin regard to ourselves that our tendencies are theresult of past conscious actions. A child is bornwith certain tendencies. Whence do they come?No child is born with a tabula rasa—with a clean,blank page—of a mind. The page has been writtenon previously. The old Greek and Egyptianphilosophers taught that no child came with avacant mind. Each child comes with a hundredtendencies generated by past conscious actions.It did not acquire these in this life, and we arebound to admit that it must have had them in pastlives. The rankest materialist has to admit thatthese tendencies are the result of past actions,only they add that these tendencies come throughheredity. Our parents, grandparents, and greatgrandparentscome down to us through this lawof heredity. Now if heredity alone explains this,there is no necessity of believing in the soul at all,because body explains everything. We need notgo into the different arguments and discussionson materialism and spiritualism. So far the wayis clear for those who believe in an individual soul.We see that to come to a reasonable conclusionwe must admit that we have had past lives. Thisis the belief of the great philosophers and sagesof the past and of modern times.[C.W. Vol.-I]SARADA DEVI A UNIVERSALMOTHERBy Her DevoteesIt will be seen that Sri SaradaDevi received from her husbandSri Ramakrishna all that aHindu wife expects. But somemay perhaps object, that shehad no issue. Her own motherShyamasundari Devi oncelamented: “My Sarada has beenmarried to an ascetic. She willnever know the happiness ofbeing addressed as ‘mother’.”The master, who happened tohear it, remarked: “Yourdaughter will have so manychildren that she will be tiredof being addressed day andnight as ‘Mother’.” Andcountless indeed were herspiritual ‘sons’ and daughters’.She was the Sahadharmini, acompanion in life, not of anordinary man, but of theIncarnation of the age, whocame to generate Bhakti andJnana among men, and whosemain teaching inculcatedrenunciation of lust andpossessions. In conformity withhis ideal, which was hers too,the children born of her werenot physical but spiritual, andof these she had a countlessnumber.From ‘The Gospel of the HolyMother’ Sri Ramakrishna math-Madras 9136

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04IMPORTANCE OF CHILDREN -WORDS OF WISE PEOPLE(Collected)1) Every child comes with themessage that God is not yetdiscouraged of Man.- Rabindra Nath Tagore2) Feel the dignity of the child. Do notfeel superior to him, for you are not.-Robert Henry3) The interest of the child and youthare the interest of Mankind.- E.S. James4) Children are God’s apostles sentforth day by day to preach of love,hope and peace.- J.R. Lowell5) When children sound silly, youwill always find that it is an imitationof their elders.- Ernest Dimnet6) The training of children is aprofession where we must know howto lose time in order to gain it.- J.J. Rousseau7) The child is the father of the man.- Wordsworth8) The children have more need ofmodels than of critics.- J. Jonbertthey play or quarrel but even their quarrelling is some kindof play. They do not think of differences amongstthemselves, differences of classes or castes or colour orstatus. They are wiser than their fathers and mothers. Asthey grow up, unfortunately their natural wisdom is ofteneclipsed by the teaching and behavier of their elders. Atschool they learn many things which are no doubt, usefulbut they gradually forget that the esential thing is to behuman and kind and playful and to make life richer forourselves and others.- Jawaharlal Nehru10) The secret of education lies in respecting the pupil.- Anon11)a) If the child lives with criticism he learns to condemn.b) If the child lives with ridicule he learns to be shy.c) If the child lives with shame he learns to feel guilty.d) If the child lives with tolerance he learns to bepatient.e) If the child lives with encouragement he learnsconfidence.f) If the child lives with praise he learns toappreciate.g) If the child lives with fairness he learns justice.h) If the child lives with security he learns to havefaith.i) If the child lives with approval he learns to likehimself.j) If the child lives with acceptance and friendship,he learns to find love in the world.- Anon9) The vast army of children all overthe world, outwardly different inmany ways, speaking differentlonguages, wearing different kinds ofcloths and yet so very like oneanother. If you bring them together,37

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 1HIGH EXPECTATIONSMAY RETARDCHILD’S PROGRESSS.N. PanwarThere is a rat-race among children to securea high percentage at the annualexaminations. I have seen students beggingfor marks in their answer sheets, so that they couldearn a good name from their parents. Even theparents would like to discuss the performance oftheir children, with teachers. Sometimes, the parentscomplain to the Principals that the teachers are prejudicedagainst the children, which could affect their assessmentof papers. Children getting higher percentage of marksand standing first in class have become prestige issues forover-ambitious parents. To satiate this, students indulgein malpractices like leaking of question papers, masscopyingin examination halls, over-writing marks in theprogress report, forging parents’ signature on progressreports, and lying for not securing high marks.Normally, parents do not know the capabilities oftheir wards. They expect their children to become a doctoror an engineer or an IAS officer because of the social statusattached to the profession. The affluent parents are readyto pay up lakhs of rupees to get admission for their wardsin medical or engineering colleges irrespective of theircapabilities. They will turn out to be utter failures.Instead, the parents should take the help of VocationalGuidance Bureau for choosing a career for their wards asper their capabilities.When the high expectations of the parents are notfulfilled, they give vent to their pent-up frustrations ontheir children. Swarms of students show symptoms ofstress. In Bombay Nair Hospital, 10-year-old children areregularly treated for stress-related ulcers because ofexamination - fears. A student always obsessed with fearbecomes diffident or may turn out to be a dangerousdelinquent as he is constantly below his parents’expectations in studies.It is therefore the duty of theparents not to expect too much fromtheir wards. Let them grow andstudy on their own. They can guidetheir wards in their studies butcannot force their interests on them.The parents should create afavourable environment at homewhere the child could developnaturally. The parents should try tofind out the latent talents in the childand encourage them.In the same way theirweaknesses also should be identifiedand corrected. The school is lookingafter the studies for six hours and itis the duty of the parents to help thechild for 18 hours in personaldevelopment. Natural developmentwill make a child confident andfurther guidance by parents willaccelerate the pace of progress in alldirections.40

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04WHO IS THE HERO FOR OUR CHILDREN?(From the Unesco Report on media violence)1. An average hour of televisionprogramming contains at least fiveepisodes of violence, most of themeither thrilling or rewarding.2. Action heroes are known to 88%of the children of the world.3. 51% of the children living in high- aggression environments, and 37% of the children living in lowaggressionenvironments take theaction - heroes as their role-models.They think their characteristics arenecessary to cope with difficultsituations.4. On an average 91% the childrenhad access to television and spendan on average three hours a daywatching it. It is 50% more than anyother out-of-school activityincluding home-work.5. 26% of the children take action -heroes as their role models. 18.5%of the children adapt popstars andmusicians as their examples. Fewergirls consider action-heroes worthemulating.6. Unesco says that censorship isnot desirable, but parents andeducators should exercise theirresponsibility by guiding mediaconsumption of children.7. “Do not blame everything ontelevision” says Unesco. But all thesame, violence on the screen isincreasing. Unesco advocates (i)increased public debates involvingpoliticians, producers andpedagogues (ii) development of professional codes ofconduct and self-discipline for producers and (iii)innovative forms of media education to promote active andcritical media consumption among the young.8. With communication systems like the internet, themedia will be even more omnipresent and universal in thenear future.9. 44% of the children reported strong over - lap in whatthey perceive to be reality and what they see on the screen.10. Nearly half the children surveyed said that they areanxious most of the time or very often.11. 9% had to flee their home at least once in their life.12. 47% said they would like to live in another country.(away from their present home land)13. 16% of the children of high-aggression areas believethat most people in their neighbourhood die because theyare killed by others.14. 7.5% of these children have already used a weaponagainst another person.41

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 1FAMILY AND THE CHILD: A SHORTSURVEY OF LITERATUREANURADHA, PAWAN ETALWhat Others SayStudies have proved that low socio-economic statusneed not necessarily mean predisposing a child torisk. Despite poor socio-economic level, caringbehaviour of mothers and a high value placed uponchildren within the culture serve as mitigating factors. Ina longitudinal study of high-risk children Werner andSmith reported that children who grew up to becompetent, confident and caring were nurtured bysubstitute parents like grandparents or neighbours.Several studies in the area of childhood disability haveshown the significance of familial affection network in thedevelopment and prognosis of children. Rao reportedlesser burden experienced by (joint) families in rural areaswho looked after schizophrenic patients. Phoolka’s studyhighlights the strengths in the size of the family. Despitelow socio-economic status, the majority of the familiesthat had had a nurturing climate (23 out of 30), were jointfamilies.Sharma and Sharma’s findings were based on studiesof children growing up under difficult circumstances inand around Delhi. In their research data of 21 studies overthe last 11 years, they found that children encircled in theirfamilial network seemed to be coping far better than thosewho were deprived’. It was also found that the motheremerged as the major source of resilience and strengthand the major player in sustaining and fostering thechild’s mental health. To the child she is the figure ofattachment, caregiver, source of security and food whounconditionally offers care and stability even when sheherself may be at great risk. Studies with children instress-related situations have shown that positiveexperiences in the family and mediation by parents,during formative years protects the child from being atrisk. Positive life events are protective factors and togetherwhich resilience help children to cope with stress. Pal useda case study approach with autistic children andconcluded that the “children’s homeis the most crucial variable indetermining their presentfunctioning and prognosis infuture.” Many more studies can becited. The important point is that istime we acknowledge and respect thesupport structures in our ownsociety and take these into accountwhile formulating policies.Evidence from cross-culturalstudies conducted in the West havealso proved beyond doubt thatchildren living in relationshipcenteredculture enjoy obviousadvantages over those that do not.Studies in the west have shown veryclearly that despite better livingconditions, the children are highlyvulnerable, because of the highsocial toxicity or the degradation inthe social environment of familiesand communities. We all know aboutthe material progress that the Westhas made, particularly in the last twocenturies. As a result there are verylow incidences of infectious diseasesbecause of availability of safedrinking water, sewage treatment,waste disposal, efficiency and care infood storage and distribution. Yet itseems that these are not enough. Atanother level things havedeteriorated, perhaps beyondredemption. There has been acomplete breakdown of the family inthe West. The latest census reportsshow that a family consisting of twoparents and their children (which46

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04incidentally is now being calledtraditional nuclear family) hasfallen from 45 per cent in 1960 to23.5 per cent in 2000. As a result thesocial environment has become“toxic”.Commenting on thedeterioration of the socialenvironment in cities in the USA.Garbarino draws a parallel betweenphysical toxicity that causesenvironmental degradationresulting in health problems and“social toxicity” that refers todegradation in the socialenvironment of families ofcommunities. As the socialenvironment becomes more toxic, itis the children who are mostvulnerable, who show the effectsfirst, and accumulate the mostdevelopmental risk factors. The riskfactors to which they are constantlyexposed, include “being from asingle parent family, poverty,racism, drug addiction oralcoholism, trauma from violence,and emotional problems that impairparenting”.Stephen Covey says that in thepast thirty years the family situationhas changed dramatically in theUSA. There has been a 400 per centincrease in illegitimate births”;single parent families have tripled;divorce rate has doubled; teenagesuicide has increased 300 per cent;scholastic aptitude test scoresamong students has dropped 73points (according to The Economistof 14 July 2001, 60 per cent of highschool graduates in USA arefunctionally illiterate); one-fourthof all adolescents contract a sexuallytransmitted disease before theygraduate from high school;Domestic violence is the topmosthealth problem for American women as 4 millionAmerican women are beaten by their parents. In 1940sthe top disciplinary problems according to public schoolteachers was: talking out of turn; chewing gum; makingnoise; running in the halls; dress code infractions andlittering. In the 1990s they have changed to drug abuse,alcohol, pregnancy, suicide, rape, robbery and assault.”Needless to say all this adds to the social toxicity of theenvironment.But the West (and also our own educated classesenamoured by them) is either too absorbed in itself or tooarrogant to acknowledge its mistake in the manner theylooked at traditional societies like ours. Despite theobvious social problems they are unable to go to the rootof it all. They tend to perceive everything in terms ofeconomic loss or gain, without realising that thisperception itself may be the cause of it all. They arecertainly re-looking at families but only because there are‘great costs’ involved. Leff (1996) comments: “Ourproblem in the West is that somehow or other we have tomake up for the families who have disappeared and createa supportive structure – not for the patients – but for thesingle relatives who are often desperately trying to copewith schizophrenia. It is of course very expensive to createa network of professionals who act as a surrogate familybut we have to provide that form of support because it iseven more expensive to keep hospitalising patients.” Itseems as if the main concern is the expenses and not thesocial toxicity factor which is compelling them to focusupon their family systems.Extracted from ‘Child and the Family’ Society forintegrated Development of Himalayas-Mussorie 2002.47

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 1SOME CONCLUSIONS FROM A SURVEYOF CHILDREN AND FAMILIESANURADHA, PAWAN ETALThe responses to our survey clearly showed asignificant difference between the children fromjoint and nuclear families. The fact that there aremore people to care for and support the children makesthese children better looked after and more secure.Loneliness, insecurity, an unhealthy attitude towardswork, individualistic outlook towards life and excessiveworkload seemed peculiar to the children from nuclearfamilies.In this context if we were to take stock, we wouldrealise that our continued strength is that: more oftenthan not, children are still wanted; most families are twoparent families; many of our services, including child care,are non-monetized; neighbourhoods have permeablephysical and social boundaries; and there is a philosophyof acceptance – children are God’s gift and not a cross tobear. It is also common sense that as others are availablein joint families to assist parents with child-care tasks andresponsibilities, these parents are ‘likely to displaywarmth rather than rejection towards their children.” Thisis particularly evident in the support extended to familiesthat care for sick children.Since a large number of studies have recognised therole of life-styles and cultural practices in the cause andprevention of illness and promotion of well-being, it istime that we counter the term ‘children in difficultcircumstances’ used so often by researchers, because it isheavily loaded with notions about children, childhood,cultures and coping, from perspectives of dominantcultures. Aptekar and Stocklin agree with this, based upona lot of empirical evidence. As a matter of fact they havestressed the need for caution in the universal applicationof the UN convention for the rights of children.are an integral part of the worldviewof the family. Children who have thesupport of other family members areless at risk than those who do nothave this support. We need torecognise our strengths and look atour systems with ‘our eyes’ ratherthan through the ‘eyes’ of the West.Extracted from ‘Child and theFamily’, Society for integratedDevelopment of Himalayas –Mussorie 2002We have promises tokeep - promises made toour childrenOut of 100 childrenborn in India, 25 will not beimmunised. Sixteen will haveno access to clean drinkingwater, 47 will suffer frommalnutrition in the first threeyears, twenty six will be bornwith birth weight less than 2.5kg (minimum required), 15 willnever go to school. Of every100 children who join firstgrade, only 52 will reach thefifth grade.(A UN DOCUMENT)This does not mean that our children suffer from nodeprivation. We only wish to acknowledge that despiteacute deprivations, in India, the children are vulnerablebut resilient because cultural belief-systems with insociety define family structures. In other words, in theIndian family, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins55

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04TIRUVALLUVARON OFFSPRING1. We know of no blessing as greatas the begetting children thatare endowed withunderstanding.2. Behold the man whose childrenbear an unstained character; noevil will touch him up to hisseventh reincarnation.3. Children are the veritable richesof a man: for they pass to himby their acts all the merits thatthey acquire.4. Sweeter verily than ambrosia isthe gruel soused and spatteredby the tender hands of one’sown children.5. The touch of children is thedelight of the body: the delightof the ear is the hearing of theirspeech.6. The flute is sweet and the guitardulcet: so say they who have notheard the babbling speech oftheir little ones.7. What is the duty of the father tohis son? It is to make himworthy to sit in the front rankin the assembly.8. It is a joy to every man to find himself eclipsed inintelligence by his children.9. Great is the joy of the mother when a man child is bornunto her: but greater far is her delight when she hearshim called worthy.10. What is the duty of the son to his father? It is to makethe world ask, For what austerities of his has he beenblessed with such a son?(Translation by V.V.S.Aiyar)Towards a better tomorrow for childrenThe National Human Rights Commission(NHRC) is making concerted efforts to come to gripswith the major problems affecting adversely therights of the child. Three issues - female - foeticideand infanticide, child prostitution and child labourare receiving constant attention at the highest level.Statistical data reveal that the male/femaleratio in India deteriorated from 1000:972 in 1901,to 1000:927 in 1991. The staggering cruelty, theviolation of the rights of the girl-child and thesocietal pressures and tensions in those parts ofthe country where female - child is more readilyaborted or killed are commentary on the long-termdamage that this violence is doing to society, theNHRC says.Promises to Children not kept (A world - view)P.S. SundararajanPromises made in 1990 Performance up to 20001. The children the world over would They do not have the priority,be given the top most priority in right on resources.allocation of resources.2. More investment on the young. Gross under-investment.3. Mortality rate would be reduced. Slight reduction.4. Primary education from 80 % to 100%. Enrolment 80% Drop out 25%before 5 th grade.5. Infant and under - five - mortality Came down only by 11%.will come down by 33%.(From A UN DOCUMENT)42

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 1DISCOVER THE CHILDDR. K. SUBRAHMANYAMAn aged person of eighty, glowing with gray hair satsilently in a serene place. While the body was still,steady in the meditative posture, the mind wasbuffeted and battered by waves of hope and despair, faithand fear reflecting on the past in the ocean of memory. Itwas difficult to suppress them, silence them. Neither thewave nor the sea of remembrance was sweet. Struggle itwas to overcome the thoughts. It was a strain, not a sportto live with a mind. Gone were the days of sport. Gonealso were the days of peace. Suddenly a child camerunning, amidst her play, towards the old person in silencebrooding over the past and sat on his lap. The eyes wereopened and the person looked at the smiling child.The child asked “Grandpa, Grandpa, what are youdoing, sitting all alone here? I have been playing happilyand looking at you all alone, I came to you. Shall I also sitlike you? When can I become one like you? What am I todo to be like you? You are really wonderful to look at; tellme Grandpa, what should I do to be like you?”The Old person replied, “Dear child, you need not doanything to be like me. You will, by passage time, becomeyoung and then old like me. You need not have to doanything to become old. But I have to struggle andstruggle to be like you – simple and sweet, serene andpeaceful, playful and buoyant, brightand beautiful. All my striving is tobecome a child or child like. I amdoing tapas to discover the child inme”.Children draw all inendearment, for the egoism is not yetformed in them. Sages are endearingto all since the ego is annihilated inthem. It is egoism that eclipses theAtman. All angularities are due toegoism. Both the innocent childrenand enlightened sages are free fromthem.How blessed we will be to bechild like! In mythology there arefive excellent role models – child –teachers – to guide us to the goal ofchild-like sweetness and sport,beauty and bliss. All our sadhana isto regain our childhood andimmortalise it in us.The teachers, the child-teachersto show us the way are five, eachrepresenting a noble trait of eternity.They are Markandeya, Satyakama,Dhruva, Nachiketa and Prahlada. Itis a combination of all the five thatmakes us fully childlike. The fivetraits they represent are the fivepetals of the beautiful flower of life,not transient but lasting for ever.They are faith and truth; dhriti,sraddha and bhakti.Faith is strength. It conquers allincluding fate. Faith in oneself is butfaith in God. Self is God. If fate is thehandmaid of God, faith itself is God.It is but the sport of faith to submitto fate. But when the submission ismistaken for weakness, fate is taughtto behave and shown its place of aservant to faith. Faith and fearcannot coexist. Nor can fate43

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04overpower the person of faith. In theabsence of faith or when the faith isweak, fear and fate overpower us.Markandeya is a boy. His fate isto die young at the age of sixteen. Iffate is unconquerable, he shouldhave died as fated. But he did not,because of his unconquerable faithin himself, in God.The boy had immense faith inSiva. He held on to his God withoutany fear of death. The God of death,Yama came to kill him. But Siva keptYama at bay. Not only was fatevanquished but the boy of faith wasblessed with eternity. Fate is but aflood of time, sweeping andswallowing all weaklings in itscurrent. Those who are strong andskilful oppose its impetuosity andswim successfully against itscurrent. Strength is hidden in us.Skill is latent in us. Courage isconcealed in us. It is faith that wakesthem up and rouses them up toassertion and action. And the actionis manifested in the conquest oftime, conquest of fate, conquest offear by swimming against thecurrent. If everything is to happenaccording to fate, there is no needfor our rishis to write the story ofMarkandeya. Similarly, we find inSavitri the strength of faith toconquer fate. She conquered death.Yama was won over. And she wasable to get her dead husband backto life.Youth and faith go together.The one of faith is ever strong.Strength is in one’s youth, youthfulfaith. Therefore youth, strength andfaith are synonymous, eversuccessfully present in Markandeya.Every individual is born withimmense potentiality to overcomeevery impediment while unfolding the SELF.There is a precondition for the one of faith to beunconquerable and ever successful. And that is one’sawareness of faith existing in oneself, one’s awareness ofthe fact that there is faith hidden in oneself, one’sawareness of the truth that faith is invariably in oneselfas a firm mountain of flint. Faith then is but vibrant andtriumphant since it itself is truth. Satyakama Jabala is aboy with faith in Truth. He sought education in a Gurukul.He made an application seeking admission. At the time ofinterview, he was asked to tell about his family backgroundto facilitate the allotment of the appropriate branch ofstudy. The boy was ignorant of his parentage. He returnedto his mother to learn from her about his father. Themother drew blank, confessing her inability to name thefather. The boy was bold enough to go to the master, fullyarmed with faith in truth. The damaging truth with faithwas declared and the boy was admitted. The onequalification for the study of scriptures is truthfulness.And the fruit of all study is truthfulness.No child ever tells a lie. Untruth is unknown to it. Theegoism of adults and its accompanying evils such aspossessiveness and gain by deceit only train the childrenin the perverse and adverse path of untruth. Initially thechild resists. But it gradually yields on account of theformation of ego from within.Dhriti is determination. It is the fruit of one’s faith inTruth, one’s unfaltering devotion to an ideal, goal-fixationand its attainment in every walk of life, here and hereafter.Dhruva is but the embodiment of Dhriti. When he wasdenied his rightful place on the lap of his father, he didnot keep silent. He regained it with determination. Whenwe are denied our access to our original abode, when weare denied our own fundamental rights, we should bedetermined to reclaim them firmly with faith in Truth.Dhruva succeeded. Dhriti knows no failure as faith knowsno defeat. Victory visualized without a shade of doubt isDhriti. Concretisation of conceptualized success withfirmness of faith at every step is determination. Dhriti anddoubt do not coexist. Determination drives away doubtand is ever delightful reigning supreme in the kingdom ofconviction.While in execution, faith and truth with determinationmanifest as Sraddha. It is Sraddha when the thought,word and deed are meticulously attuned to the goal and44

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 1integrated for the fulfilment of the ideal. Meticulousadherence to every minute detail of the means leading torealization at the end is Sraddha. Nachiketa was a boyopposed to any compromise in the execution of any action.Not only does it contaminate the means, but it fails toproduce the wholesome result. Nachiketa’s fatherperformed a yagna without any Sraddha. He polluted theperformance of the yagna with insincerity. Bycompromising with the means, he adulterated the ideal,resulting in sin. Insincere execution of any duty is sin. Tomake amends, to release his father from the clutches ofthe accrued sin, Nachiketa offered himself as an object ofsacrifice. The father was annoyed when the boy wasrepeatedly harping upon the father’s insincerity. Inannoyance the father asked Nachiketa to get out and hanghimself. In other words, he was asked to die by offeringhimself to Yama the God of death. In letter and spirit, theorder was carried out by the boy. With sraddha, heproceeded to the abode of Yama and presented himselfbefore the God of death. Instead of terminating the life ofthe boy, Yama only liberated him from the clutches ofignorance and immortalized him. Rather, eternity wasrealized and established. It is Sraddha in thought, wordand deed, that paves the way to perfection through perfectmeans. Adherence to the path of righteousness invariablyleads to the right results, the fruit of Truth. Sraddhaunfolds success, uncovers wisdom, reveals the hiddendivinity and shows the SELF. Concentration is Sraddhawhich we find in children more. Attentiveness is theirintrinsic trait.Finally the whole process is sweetened and the labourmade lovable and light by one’s devotion. Faith does notfalter when it is firm. It is fragrant as well, when it iscoupled with bhakti or devotion. Truth is not only brightand luminous but beautiful and blissful whenaccompanied by bhakti or devotion. Dhriti is never drybut is ever delightful because of its inherent devotion toduty. And Sraddha is sweet since it is seldom devoid ofdevotion. Prahlada is a combination of all the virtuesblossoming fully on account of his devotion. His faith intruth and determination to lead the chosen path of lifewith Sraddha soaked in the honey of devotion made hislife lovable, fragrant, beautiful and exemplary. He is eversmiling and blissful. There is never a want or worry,anguish or anger, failure or disappointment. His is a lifeor perennial peace and boundless bliss. It is a life offulfilment. Children are simple, sweet, sincere andcheerful. If only their innocence is protected from theonslaught of egoism, they shineresplendent with enlightenment.Credulity of the childconfirmed and intensified byinner awareness is faith. Nakedsimplicity and oneness of thechildren seen in all andeverywhere as the intrinsicspark of eternity is Truth.Determination or dhriti it is,when child’s inquisitiveness isstrengthened to the core.Child’s attentiveness andadherence to the righteousmeans in every walk of life andin every field of study issraddha. Finally it is Bhaktiwhen the child’s innocent love,sport and cheerfulness areintegrated with life throughoutthe pursuit and fruit with faith,truth, dhriti and sraddha.May the people all over the globeimbibe Markandeya’s faith,Satyakama’s truth, Dhruva’s dhriti,Nachiketa’s sraddha and Prahlada’sbhakti to enliven, enlighten andimmortalize their lives!45

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04ECOLOGICAL POLICY ANDTHE CHILDVimla V.Nadkarni1. In most of the literature on ecology, there is nospecific focus on the family. While women as agroup have received special attention, theproblems of children and the family as a unit havenot been given separate treatment and have to beimplied from the vast sea of literature on thesubject.2. Industrialization, urbanization, switch-over tocash-economy, increased poverty,marginalization, dispossession of the poor andpowerless, affect the children of the poor, oftribals and of nomads. Children across the entirespectrum of the society suffer because ofenvironmental degradation and its effects.3. Because of the increasing inaccessibility of ruralpeople to forest lands, women and children spendmore time in gathering fire-wood and walk moredistances. Their time for education andtogetherness dwindles.4. 30 million people of India, mainly forest-dwellers,depend upon minor forest products (M.F.P) suchas fruit and fodder. Herbs, medicinal plants,turpentine, resin, flowers for cattle feed, oil,liquor, flowers, roots and tubers for food, sustainthe poor and their children. High vitamin foodssuch as gooseberries and honey are becomingmore and more inaccessible tothose who need it most-thechildren.5. Shortage of cooking energymeans decreased food inmany cases for children.6. Smoking chullahs which useagricultural residues injurechildren, affecting their lungs.7. Shrinking forest lands,fodder-and grazing areas andhigh-yielding short-strawgrain varieties, have madeanimal fodder scarce. Morewomen and children spendtime, more time in collectingfodder.8. Shortage of water supply andworsening water qualityhave driven more children tosickness. Children alsospend more time collectingwater. Their mothers, spendincreasingly longerdurations and therefore thechildren are deprived ofmotherly care. Waterscarcity drives people awayfrom their natural homes,affecting social stability forall and social security forchildren.9. In the family, the membersmost vulnerable to theeffects of ecologicaldegradation are the children.Children play an extremelyimportent economic role.They look after the choreswhile their parents are awayfor the daily wage-labour. InPura in Karnataka, forexample, the childrencontribute 29% of the totaltime spent on fuel-woodgathering, 20% on fetchingwater and 34% on live-stockgrazing. They are the first48

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 1ones to suffer from water-borne-diseases where the water systems are drying up or arepolluted.10. The family unit is a both a victim of disaster and also a channel for effecting change inthe community. The destructive effects of disasters, include, disruption of normal familylife due to deaths, loss of income and property, disruption of other social and communitysystems. Studies on post-calamity effects reveal that while many disasters may result indramatic increase in social solidarity, famines produce disorganizations, disintegration,aggressiveness in human attitudes, crime, theft and other forms of anti-socialbehaviour….because famine is a usually long-drawn-out-calamity and is related tohunger.11. In some instances, due to economic hardships, there was loss of control by parents overtheir children.12. Due to drought and scarcity conditions, children are unable to attend school regularly.They are involved in relief works to supplement the income of the family as never before.13. During disasters, the family as a basic social unit serves as the strongest support availableto individuals for coping and it is the most primary one.(Extracted and abridged from “Enhancing the Role of the Family as an Agency for Social andEconomic Development”. Tata Institute of social sciences” Bombay 1994.)49

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04NEED FOR FAMILY FOCUSIN PROGRAMMESFOR CHILDRENMURLI DESAII . Relationship within a Family1. Family is the major source of development forchildren, by way of providing nurturance,emotional bonding, and socialization. It isessential to understand the family context ofchild-development and also because, family hasthe major potential to provide stability andsupport when there are problems from theenvironment.2. The family context of the Child Development: thechild, the family and the environment constantlyinteract with and therefore influence each other.a) The family now has reacheda position of middlemanagement, meeting theexpectations of its society onthe one hand, and meetingthe needs of individualmembers on the other.b) Depending upon the familycomposition, a child forms anumber of dyads of thefollowing types :i) filial or parentchilddyadii) fraternal orsibling dyadsiii) and grandparents-grandchildren dyads.In joint families, the child forms thelargest number of dyadicrelationships, whereas in singleparent families he or she forms aminimum number of dyadicrelationships.c) In a joint-family, the childgets multiple parents andmany adult-figures for his/her identification. Thechildren are over-protected,and sheltered; self-non-selfsegregation is hampered.d) In a nuclear family, the childgets limited number of adultmodels to emulate, gets astrong sense of personalbond with the parents, witha greater scope fordeveloping clear-cut selfidentity.e) Children of single-parentfamilies lack kin-ship andcommunity support.f) A large number of childrenin institutions and on streetscome from single-parentfamilies.50

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 1g) Decisions are made forchildren by others.h) Family structuredetermines the aspects ofdevelopment of the childII. Emphasis on Family inpolicies for childrena) In most cases, the child canbe best helped by treatingthe family as the central unitof service or focus ofattention, whenever and asmuch as possible.b) The UN convention on therights of the child says: Forthe full and harmoniousdevelopment of the child’spersonality, it should growup in a family environment,in an atmosphere ofhappiness, love andunderstanding.c) The U.N. convention isconvinced that the family asthe fundamental group ofsociety and the naturalenvironment for the growthand well-being of all itsmembers and particularlychildren, should be affordedthe necessary protectionand assistance so that it canfully assume itsresponsibilities within thecommunity. A child has aright to be cared for by his/her parents.d) The world declaration onthe Survival, Protection andDevelopment of Childrenhas committed to respectthe role of the family inproviding for children andsupport the efforts ofparents, other care-giversand communities to nurture and care for children.Family has the primary responsibility for thenurturing and protection of children.e) According to the UN documents, all institutionsof the society should respect and support theefforts of parents to nurture and care for thechildren in the family environment. Every effortshould be made to prevent the separation ofchildren from the families. Whenever children areseparated from their families, arrangementsshould be made for appropriate alternative familycare.f) In India, National policy for children directs effortsto strengthen family ties, so that the fullpotentialities of growth of children are realisedwithin the normal family, neighbourhood andcommunity environment. Education, health,welfare and legal systems have been developed inIndia, to meet the development and welfare-needsof children.III Family focus in DevelopmentalProgrammes for childrena) The integrated child development services(I.C.D.S.) is a major child development scheme ofGovernment of India (GOI) with preventive and51

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04developmental efforts. The I.C.D.S. provides apackage of services, periodic health-care checkup,referral and medical services, monitoring ofgrowth, immunization, supplementary feeding,non-formal pre-school education and health andnutrition-education for mothers.b) Functional literacy for adult women,c) National Institute for public cooperation and childdevelopment.d) Health and Nutrition education (HNE)e) Adolescent girls scheme.All the schemes together try to see the child notas an isolated entity, but as a product, to the evolution ofwhich a series of factors have contributed. All these factorshave to be cared for as a part of child-welfare.Family life-education should enrich familyinteractions and relationships. This education shouldprepare family members for different stages of family lifespan. Empowerment of family members for strengtheningfamily interaction with other systems in the environmentis an essential facet of Family-life education programmeIII. The need for a Family Focus inWelfare Programmes for childrena) GOI’s policy on children gives a greater priorityto Institutions over the family, which is a wrongapproach. The goal should be to minimize and notto expand institutional services.b) Most of the crèches are in the urban areas whereasmost of the working women, whose children needcrèche service, are in the rural areas. ICDS shouldalso provide day-care-service in rural areas.c) Street children also should be integrated withtheir families. Or they should be placed in a familysetting.d) Families which have problems with child-caremay be served in an integrated manner, dependingupon the problem situation for the child.e) Families may be strengthened to look after thechild by means of child- guidance, child-day-careand child-sponsorship. These services, if widelyavailable in urban as well as rural areas, can takecare of major causes of the problems with childcareand prevent the removal of the child from thefamily.f) The foster care of thechildren if needed, should bewith relatives or neighboursi.e. in familiar surroundings.g) Foster families for destitutechildren should be plannedfor with great care.IV . Implications For Actiona) GOI should incorporate therole of the family in itsNational Action plan forchildren and consider plansfor strengthening the family.b) Future rehabilitation plansshould be family-centred.c) NGO’s should create publicawareness regarding reformsin family norms, laws andpolicies. Family-lifeeducationprogrammes arevery important.d) Social science and academicinstitutions should givepriority to research onfamilies and children at risk.(Extracted from “Enhancing theRole of the Family as an Agency forSocial and EconomicDevelopment”-Tata Institute ofSocial Science-Bombay 1994.)52

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 1SARADA DEVIANDA BEGGAR-GIRLBY HER DEVOTEEWhile at Benaras one day, the HolyMother fell asleep a little. The housewas almost silent with everybodyresting. In that silence a song washeard from the verandah:“Where has my Mother gone?For many days have I not seenyou; Mother, take me in thelap.What sort of a Mother artThou, so stony- heartedtowards the child!Grant Thy vision, Mother, andmake me weep no more.”The song was sung in such a gentletone that I felt as though some onewas weeping at quite a distance.Suddenly the Holy Mother woke upand said, “Who is singing? Let us go,my dear, to the verandah and see.”We went and what I saw struck medumb with astonishment. One girlwas singing the song and her chestwas bathed in tears as she sang. Asthe Holy Mother sat there, the girlbowed down to her and said,“Mother, my heart’s desire of manydays is fulfilled today. I cannotexpress the joy that is flooding metoday, Mother.” The Holy Motherblessed her and asked her aboutherself.Girl: I am only a beggar girl, Mother.Mother: Where do you stay?Girl: I stay at the gate of Annapurna, near the Behari Baba’stemple at the Dasasvamedh ghat.Mother: You are well off by taking alms, I hope?Girl: By your blessing everything goes on well, Mother.There is no worry about daily needs. By the grace ofAnnapurna, no one has to go without food here. Mother, Iam worried about how to get a little Bhakti.Mother; That will certainly come about, my dear. You stayin such a sacred place. Here Lord Viswanath and MotherAnnapurna are reigning actually. By their grace everythingwill come about.The Holy Mother asked her to sing another song. Shebegan to sing:Mother, may thou be pleased tokeep me as a child!Let me not grow,leaving behind the beauty of childhood.A beautiful simple soul,unaware of honour and infamy;It does not know cruelty,nor censure nor shame nor contempt.Mother: What a beautiful song!Girl: I had a great desire for many days to see you. Hearingthat you are here, I often think of coming but feel afraidthat some one would object.Mother: None will sayanything. Come wheneveryou like.The Holy Mother askedPrasad to be given to her.After receiving Prasad thegirl was taking leave. TheHoly Mother told her,“Come again, my dear.”Later she told us, “The girlhas great devotion.”After a few days, thebeggar girl mentionedearlier came and boweddown to the Holy Mother.In her hand was a pear. Sheoffered it to the Mother and said, “Mother, it got it as almstoday, and so I have brought it for you. But Mother, I53

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04cannot muster the courage to offer it to you.” “You havedone well,” assured the Holy Mother. “Ah! Give it to me,my dear.” Saying this she took the pear, touched it to herhead and said. “The things given as alms are very pure.The Master loved them very much. It is quite a good peartoo. I shall eat it now.” The girl was deeply touched andsaid, “I am only a beggar girl, what compassion are youbestowing upon me!” tears trickled down her cheeks asshe said this. The Holy Mother continued, “Your songsare so sweet. Now do sing a song for me.”The girl sang:Gopal, I shall deck you now.Do dance thus and thus, wheel and turn about.I shall fix up your anklets, my dear,They would sound well jingling.A golden cloth I shall wrap around your waist.Gopal, my dear, I shall feed you,And give you two pairs of golden wristlets.Concluding the song, she added, “Mother, if this song issung, the Behari Baba Sadhu of Dasasvamedha ghat wouldkeep dancing just like Gopal. His nature is exactly like thatof a boy.”The Holy Mother said, “Quite a good song, won’t you singanother?” She sang another song. The Holy Mother askedPrasad to be given her. Taking the Prasad, she boweddown to the Mother saying, “I shall take leave for the day,Mother.”“Come again, my dear, come whenever you like”, said theHoly Mother.From “The Gospel of the Holy Mother”The Ramakrishna Math, Madras-9154

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'04CREATIVE ACTIVITIES INPRE-PRIMARY EDUCATIONby N. Krishnamoorti1) Why creative activities in pre-primayeducation? [p.p.e.]Creative activities nurture theimaginative capacity of a growing young childof p.p.e. age. Imagination is a world by itselfwith the individual as the only citizen of thatprivate world. These activities, constructive infunction, positive in mood, and creative in out- look, train the child to express its ideas in aprecise and communicative manner. Theseactivities afford the child a chance to examinevarious articles with which a child comes intocontact. Basically a constructive activity is ahappy experience for a child and the childindulges in it for the sake of the activity withoutany hope of external reward. The child growsin confidence, when it finds a picture, or amould or a story grow in the manner it wantedit to grow. Infact the constructive activityreveals to the child heretofore unknownpossibilities and aspects of its own‘personality’. The child also is warned to bewareof its weaknesses. These activities teach thechildren to live, work, function and create inharmony with the other children of thecommunity. Only such activities help the childgrow as an emotionally balanced individual andwith a rounded and well-integrated personality.The child’s intellectual growth becomes actionbased.It also develops in it an artistic feeling,a keen eye for observation and trains itself - ineye - hand - muscle coordination, an essentialrequirement in life.The child also learns how to generalise andbecomes better informed.2) The role of the trainer:The trainer of a child in constructiveactivities should rise to the challenge of the job.He/She should encourage the childcontinuously. He/She should never give amodel to the child, instead should prod thechild to draw from its inspiration, imaginationand memory. A child is a unique phenomenon.Instead of egging the child on to work in a spiritof competition, the guide/trainer should try todraw out the uniqueness of the child. There liesthe core and soul of creative action. The trainershould trust the child and should patientlyteach it how to keep its body and itssurroundings clean. The creativity - sessionshould tap the eagerness of the child, respectits likes and dislikes, train its skills, foster itsself - confidence and protect its uniqueness.Creativity is freedom IN action and it shouldnever be an act of obedience, shoved down thethroat of the child.3) What kind of creative activity dowe envisage for a child of p.p.e. age?Shaping articles in coloured doughs orplasticine can be one. The child can makeshapes with saw-dust. Colour combinations insands can be interesting. Soap-sculpturing,string - painting, spraying patterns, paperfolding and paper - cutting, pasting sand59

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 2particles, stone pebbles, pulse - pieces, broken banglepieces on to paper in colourful designs, colouring,painting, sketching, gardening, washing and cleaningone’s own clothes and personal articles, preparations ofteaching aids, beading, creating patterned knots inropes and strings, making rattles and cloth-balls,arranging seeds, beads and shells as patterns,numbers, letters and pictures, etc. There is no limitto the creative, constructive and productive way oflooking at life and preparing the child to a life ofsatisfaction, application and happiness.4) Free conversation and outing:Encouraging children to talk freely, is an art by itself.The guide/trainer/balasevika should be patient andprod the child to ask questions and should be able toanswer them. Free -conversation trains the child incoherent and meaningful formation of sentences. Theguide should encourage the child to talk about itssurroundings, home, objects of its daily use etc. Once ina while the trainer/balasevika should take the childrenfor outings, so that the children perceive the real world,experience real distances, heights, and things. The childlearns to accept changes, and grow out of its small worldas a frog in the well. The children perceive the real worldthrough their senses and add variety and depth to theirexperiences. These visits should nurture the enthusiasmof the children, and help them grow intellectually. Butadults should remember that what appears pedestrianand ordinary to them may turn out to be miracles for thechildren, who see things for the first time. The placesvisited may be as ordinary as a dairy or a post - office, aPLAY BASED APPROACH FOR CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENTW.A.F.HOPPER1. Playing 2. Singing3. Dancing 4. Imagining5. Acting 6. Observing7. Experimenting 8. Story-telling9. Drawing 10. PaintingObjectives to be realized: i) Acquisition of basic knowledge ofthe immediate environment ii) Formation of basic good habitsand values iii) Acquisition of basic linguistic skills iv) Acquisitionof basic mathematical skills.(The Hindu)garden or a railway - station, but thechild will be charmed.5) Stories for children ofpre-primary agegroup:Selected and pre-determinedstories, skits, episodes and legends,orally conveyed to children havegreat educational value. They makeexcellent pastime. The child alsoshall narrate them. The child learnshow to use a word in a specificcontext. It learns the art ofnarration and exercises the power ofimagination, and practises the art oforderly and full expression of its ideasin words. Intellectual growth, thegrowth of the child’s ability to relateitself with lives, objects and peoplearound itself, etc. arehelped by a childlistening to stories andrelating stories on itsown.Tales and storieshelp the child inunderstanding its ownemotions properly.Checking one’suninhibited feelingsand instincts,intensifying right typeof emotions like love,wonder etc. are all by -60

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'04products of story - telling. Slowly a child graspsthe knack of selecting and reading a tale froma book that suits its taste.Clearity, self – control, faithfulness andhopefulness are virtues, children like in thecharacters of their stories.The stories narrated should suit the age,sex and the cultural background of the child.They create a personal bonding between thechild and the narrator. The child identifies itselfwith the characters of the story, especially,characters of the same age as the child. It isform such stories, that a child selects its rolemodels for its ideal life.The stories for children should create a lovefor nature, environment and lives around thechild in its mind. The sounds and gestures ofanimals and birds should from parts of thestories. Children enjoy funny stories. But all thestories should be short and should be narratedat one go. As the child grows, it will start likingtales with moving objects, animals and people.Love of humanity, love of nature, spiritualvalues, altruism, patriotism, socialconsciousness etc. are other values, which canbe imbibed by a child through the medium ofpowerful stories. Catchy tunes, songs, clapping,rhythmic action etc. add to the attractivenessof a tale narrated. Spiritual and mythologicalstories have always found favour with children.The narrator should be thoroughlyconversant with the story and should notbetray any hesitation while telling the story tothe child. Voice modulation, simple narration,explaining new words, suitable gestures and anattempt to draw a picture in the mind of thechild through descriptive words, deepen theimpressions created by the story.The narrator may also make use ofeducational aids such as flannel boards, sand -trays, actions and gestures, puppets, cinema,video, computers, television etc. Toys andcharts bring alive the characters. The humantouch by the narrator is more important thanall the mechanical devices put together.A tale should have the basic aim ofinculcating values in children. Fairy tales, gypsy– tales etc. have always clicked with children.From Hanumanji down to Harry Potter, suchtales carry the children with them, to newrealms of fantasy and imagination. But thenarrator should remember that the actions ofthe heroes should not be cruel or terrifying.6) The role of music in child’seducation:Songs have tremendous impact on thechild and their efficacy in impressing the child,enhancing retention, in the child’s memory,helping the child in forming mental picturesand quickening the process of recallingmemorised themes has been well researched.A song is a well - adjusted composition ofwords, tune, tone, ideas, rhythm and base-note(sruti). A song helps the child’s emotionalgrowth and culture. A child understands thesound of the word even before it understandsits meaning. Sound is the basis for music. Thechild’s daily routine, actions and education arefull of music and rhythm. Singing and listeningto songs lighten the burden of work. Musictrains, and cultures a child’s voice andharmonises it with the rest of the group, when61

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 2it sings in a choir etc. The basic exercises such as listeningclosely and repeating what one has heard are carried outin a song session. Enthusiasm, memory, constructiveattitude, positive mood, voice modulation, flexibility andincreasing range of voice are qualities sustained by music.The child learns that happiness, sorrow, compassion,fear, humour etc. can be expressed differently usingappropriate sounds.A song chosen for the child should have the samequalities as a story - simple, with few words. But the tunealso should be simple, the lines short, with words beingrepeated in catchy rhythms.Children love funny songs,carrying meaningless but -funny words, funny themesetc. Birds, animals, fellowhuman beings and thesounds they make, shouldfind place in songs forchildren. As the child grows,story - songs (or song -stories) and songs withscope for action should beintroduced.The teacher should singthe whole song once and then start teaching the piecesor parts to the child. The songs should be led andfollowed! Clapping and beating rhythm with someinstruments add to the efficacy of thesong. Rhythmic gestures, jumping,dancing and running add up to theweight of the song and make it moreincisive. Songs well - endowed withrhythm, action - songs, story - related- songs, songs suitable for indoorgames, question and answer songs,number - related songs, and of coursegroup songs add to the variety andcharm of songs.7) Intellectualgrowth of the child inpre-primary educationHandling books,browsing them, freeconversation, visits toout - door - stations etc.help the intellectualgrowth of the child.Books makethe child responsible andskilled, giving them asense of possession andmastery. Booksintroduce pictures, numbers, words,colour and shapes to a child. ATelevision - Video - or a ComputerMUSHROOMING PRE-PRIMARY SCHOOLSS.LAKSHMI NARAYANAN1. Schools open pre-primary wings in order to ensure clientele for their primarysections.2. They collect exorbitant fees from the pre-primary school children.3. Ordinary teachers with no special training in handling pre-primary school(P.P.S) children are appointed.4. The teachers and managements often do not have any scientific approach.5. These pre-primary schools impose books on their children against scientificconventions.6. The society at large is allowed to escape the responsibility of educating theparents.7. There is no regulatory authority for pre-primary schools.8. Too many books create an aversion for studies in the mind of the child.(The Hindu)62

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'04screen also does the same, and makes the visualmore lively and dynamic.Story - books, song - books, books thatteach the child numbers and alphabets,informative and communicative books andcartoon - books which delight the child,combine to introduce the child to a new worldof knowledge.Scientific, analytical and integrativethinking can solve the problems for a child.Thinking and intellect can inspire the curiosityof the child to know more about the objectsaround it.Well - designed toys bring out the scientificspirit of the child’s instinct. The child analysesa toy by taking its parts away, and integratesthe parts to form the whole toy once again. Byinstinct, a child is a scientist. Observation,experimentation, verification, generalisationetc., the basic concepts of science, are pickedup by the child in a p.p.e. centre. The child canbe helped to discover what it does not know. Itcan also observe the similarities anddissimilarities between two objects or twoexperiences, or two qualities. A child should beexposed to a variety of experiences from whichit can choose a satisfying experience. Learningto argue, think, enact, accept or refute on alogical basis, a child becomes very enthusiasticto learn and meditate. Knowledge growsthrough new experiences and new objects andthrough child’s reactions to them. A simpleschedule of zoological, botanical, physical,chemical, mathematical teaching can be builtwith locally available and locally relevantmaterial.8) Learning through playing:A child’s world consists of a lot of playfulactivities. A child, like Brahman of Vedanta, isplayful by nature, purposeless, efficient, self -less, and delightful action is its play.A child, through play - acting, ratherrehearses its future life. A child’s abundantenergy releases itself through its play and thisrelease cultures the child’s mind and emotions63and trains its intellect. Physical and mentalgrowth, a good digestion, followed by properappetite etc. are the immediate benefits of agood play - session for a child. Perspiration,better blood - circulation, deep breathing,strong bones and flexible joints are otheroutcomes of a play - session. A play - field is anexcellent place for the child to express itsfeelings. The child is made active, busy. Theplays and games prepare the child foranticipating life’s opportunities and threats.Cleverness and spontaneous and quick reactionto external stimuli, are other traits inculcatedby game - plays in a child. Perhaps the greatestcontribution play - games make to the life ofthe child is to prepare it to encashopportunities. Responsibility, self - confidence,completing a given job, leadership qualities areall imbibed by a playful - child. Intensifying itsfeelings, the child gets an emotional release. Asense of fulfilment or satisfaction follows a play- session. A proper coordination of a child’seyes, hands, feet, mind and muscles is a greateducation for a child, earned in a play - session.A child learns to play within the frame - workof rules, and learns to be honest, to obey theleader and to cooperate with team - mates. Aplay - field truly builds the character of a child.A spirit of fair competition, takingsuccess and defeat as parts of life, practisinghumility in success and dignity in defeat, andlearning to treat a victor with grace and with -out envy are other qualities learnt in a play -field.In this manner constructive activitiesshape a child, and contribute to its integratedgrowth.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 2I. Why a Nursery school?1) When a child grows, it should learn how to makeproper use of its limbs. It should learn the use andpurpose of every one of its actions.2) A child should learn to express its emotionsprecisely. The child wishes to learn of the world and needsto express itself to the would outside. A nursery schoolfulfills this need.3) To develop an innocent child into a properlyendowed human being, a nursery school is essential. Theinstitution acts as a bridge between home and the societyat large.4) The nursery provides the child with anopportunity to play and socialise with its peers- other children of same age group.5) It is the nursery school that can affordto provide the child with all play- materials andeducational aids.6) The children of parents working infarms and factories are left uncared for. Theyrequire the protective care of nursery schoolsto help them to grow in an organized manner.7) A nursery provides the rightcombination of freedom and restriction, to thechild.8) To wean the child away from theconfinement of its home and acclamatise it tothe society outside, a nursery training is helpful.9) A nursery is meant to help the child in its all -round growth.II How did nursery schools come into existence?A variety of socio-economic reasons helped nurseryschools for children of preprimary - age - group to cometo existence.a) In times of war, nursery institutes helped warwidows and war - orphans to come together and findsolace in each others’ company.b) Industrial revolution and urbanization led to thebreak - up of joint families. Nuclear families whichemerged left the children deprived of the care by familymembers. Nursery institutions try to fill the gap.c) Female literacy, empowerment and freedom havecombined to send children to nurseries.THE ROLEOF CRECHES/NURSERYSCHOOLS/PRE-RIMARYINSTITUTIONS(COMPILED)d) Much psychological research,carried out in the last two centurieshas sensitised the parents andeducators to the need of preprimarytraining for children. This is the agegroup when a child picks up thingsfast.c) Medical knowledge has provedthat defects of children both physicaland psychological, can be remediedif detected early. Nursery schools alsoserve the corrective and rehabilitativepurposes.III) What exactly does a nursery- school seek to do?a) A nursery institution (N.I.)seeks to fulfill the basic physical andpsychological needs of a child.64

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'04b) It gives, or trains parents / balasevikasto give, the basic inputs such as food, shelter,dress, air, water, right type of environment etc.to the child.c) It is in the nursery institution that thecrucial psychological necessities of the child,namely a sense of protection and security, love,freedom, encouragement, action basedcreativity etc. are fulfilled.d) A N.I. is an extension of a home.A Balasevika is a surrogate mother.e) A NI encourages the motor actions ofthe child by engaging it in games and plays andgives it play - materials and toys.f) A NI helps the child in regulating itsemotional upsurges.g) A child’s instincts are regulated, trainedand cultured in a N.I.h) It is a NI that quenches the intellectualcuriosity of a child and eggs on itsinquisitiveness.i) The tastes of the child are refined so thathe/she can discriminate and enjoy the best.When a child experiences love of nature etc., itwishes to cultivate similar tastes and sharpenthem.j) A child from a state of dependence,learns to stand on its own legs. It develops intoa self-sufficient and self-supporting humanbeing through the N.I.h) Positive attitudes, creativity etc., areinculcated in a child in a N.I.l) Proper habits and routines are imbibedby the child. Timely and correct dosages offood, sleep, learning to perform ablutions atproper times and proper places, healthy habitsand manners, a sense of duty etc. are learnt bythe child in a NI.m) A NI encourages the integrateddevelopment of the child, combining physicalactivity, emotional stirrings, intellectual andlinguistic abilities, social, patriotic and spiritualconsciousness etc.n) A NI prepares the child for higher levelsof learning and formal education. In a N.I.,reading, writing and arithmetic are not directlytaught. But there is hidden and covert trainingof the child in these aspects of learning and thechild prepares itself in the NI for educationproper, at the primary, or formal school.Integrated Development of a ChildDr. G. Pankajam1) A child has many dimensions of growth.Its physical development, proper andrightly proportionate physical growth,weight - gain, freedom from diseases andphysical and functional efficiency formthe basis of the child’s growth.2) Motor development: The child shouldmove about and function normally. Itshould employ its muscles properly andthe body should be helpful in the socialfunctions of the child. A variety of gamesand exercises help the child in thisdimension of growth.3) Cognitive Development: From thesensory motor development - stage toformal operational stage, the child growsgradually.4) Language development.5) Concept formation.6) Intellectual development.7) Emotional development.8) Social development including patrioticfeelings.9) Spiritual development.(From Dr. G. Pankajam’s Book - “Pallimun-parruvakkalvi”- Lakshmi SevaSangam - Gandhigram - 1992)65

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 2EVERGREEN-STORIESLeela Madhusudan1. The bygone times saw children grow up at leasttill the age of five, enjoying their grandparents’ love,affections and above all listening to their stories, whichindirectly educated them and influenced their lives to agreat deal. Stories of great warriors and their heroic deedscan inspire and instill courage and determination in theyoung minds. They can inculcate a sense of patriotismby listening to the life stories of Jhansi Rani.2. The present generation kids are glued to TVhaving no one to entertain them at home.3. The scenes from the small or big screen affect thepsyche of the children with a negative effect.4. The stories narrated by elders at home, unlike TVserials, are of short duration.5. A small child understands from the elders thatvirtuous deeds are rewarded and evils punished.6. Stories also contribute to the all-rounddevelopment of a child. Right type of character formationis helped. Early lessons of honesty, punctuality, sincerity,efficiency and politeness, are imparted to the children.7. Development of rational thinking, understandingthe need for planning, (thought before action) andproblem solving capacities, are the other gains fromlistening to the stories.8. Children will understand how cleverness,intelligence and presence of mind can overcome theobstacles in life.9. Expressing curiosity by asking a variety ofquestions, eagerness to know etc. are other benefits thatthe children get from stories.10. Stories warm up the minds children and help indeveloping their retention capacity. The central ideacontained in them remains with the children for years tocome. When they recollect the stories, their memory isstirred up and the children get increased capacity forinformation-storage.11. Today, parents and teachers can use stories asan effective medium for cultural and traditionaleducation. Stories can elaborate the importance ofreligious festivals and ceremonies.12. Stories teach languages to the children. A healthyreading habit, learning to use libraries, references booksand, voice modulation techniques are learnt.13. The teacher also should havethe flair for narrating stories to thechildren.OVER-INDULGING INCOMPUTER-LEARNINGG.GAUTAMAAs we enter the 21 st century,children believe that machine ismore powerful, better than a livinghuman being. The machine hasacquired status, become a symbolof power and modernity withavailable future. The young aregrowing and learning. Whatquestion does this kind of thinkingpose to the establishment,educational institutions, teachersand parents?While the computer’s limitationsare not being adequatelyunderstood, one is not sure,whether talking about the dangersis relevant. Whether we like it ornot machines are here for good.They are going to occupyincreasing, physical spaces,psychological spaces particularlyfor the younger generation. Humansociety has a tremendousresilience for legitimizing thingswhich are not fully acceptable.66

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'04FACTORS INFLUENCINGCHILD BEHAVIOURMRS.J.K.PILLAIAs more and more mothers are going outto work and therefore have less time tospend with their children, especially theyoung ones, does the mental health of thechildren suffer?Are the children likely to becomedelinquents as they view violence on TV moreand more?What are the effects of divorce on children?Why do some parents become babybatterers?Are boys more intelligent than girls?Why are some children educationallybackward?Psychologists have been interested instudying the process of development ofchildren and have been examining such socialproblems to find out answers useful to society.It would be wrong to suggest that modernpsychology has final answers to all thequestions. Human behaviour is very complexand it is very difficult to assess. Currentknowledge available on the various factorswhich influence child behaviour and learningare highlighted.Babies come into the world as individuals. Theyare neither good nor bad when they are bornbut have the potential to become either goodor bad through his interactions with the variousenvironmental factors. Child’s developmentoccurs in a social context. Not only does theenvironment act on the child but the child toocan act on his environment. Parents canenhance or suppress the child’s educationalpotential. It is also true that a child is neverjust a passive being that one can mould intowhatever shape the adults desire. Thephenomenon of baby battering which hasattracted so much attraction in the recent yearsis not really something new. It is probably asold as the family itself. Various investigationshave revealed that violence results from acombination of several factors such as financialand occupational problems facing the familymembersand friends, inadequacy of theparents and some characteristics of the childhimself. There is evidence to show that thebattered children are the most difficult children– either sickly, born prematurely, faced feedingproblems or sleeping troubles. Being moredifficult to rear, they make extra demands thatthe parents are not able to meet, and thus thechild unwittingly invites trouble.There is a widespread belief that childrenespecially in the pre-school period require fulltime mothering and that it is the duty of themothers to stay with the child night and day –otherwise the child’s mental health wouldsuffer.Comparisons of children with mothers atwork and those with mothers at home have notfound any difference between them. It has beenfound that children who go to well-run, wellequipped,crèches/day care-centers, with the67

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 2extra stimulation they get through play materials andcontact with other children, gain both socially andintellectually. There is no evidence to show that thechild’s attachment to the mother is in any way dilutedby a daily period of being apart. But one has to make sure,that the quality of the substitute care provided incrèches/day care centers is satisfactory. It has also beenfound that mothers, who go out to work not only developa sense of self-worth and self-esteem but are capable ofhaving a warm interaction with the child while spending‘quality time’ with them.It has been established that there is nothing magicalabout the blood bond. Children do equally well with goodadoptive parents as with good biological parents, sincesuccessful parenting is a matter of particular personalitycharacteristics and not of “blood”. There is also no truthin the notion that fathers cannot carry out the functionsof parenting as mothers.No one doubts that children learn from television.There is enough testimony to show that they learnefficiently from instructional television. But an averagechild tends to view more of fantasy and formulaprogrammes such as cartoons and films. In the earlyyears of childhood when he is quite foggy about the storyworldand the real-world, the mass media content hasgreater impact on children, if they believe that it “reallyhappened”. Many children get suggestions for theirfuture lives from what they see in the TV. But delinquencycannot be explained in terms of simple reasons such asT.V. VIEWING AND CHILDRENAlladi Prabhakarheredity or poverty or lack ofdiscipline or watching TV. Acombination of circumstances needsto be considered if one has to explaindelinquency. Open disagreements inthe family, marital conflicts, intergenerationalconflicts, impact ofalcoholic fathers, divorce and brokenhomes etc. lead to increasedaggressiveness, antisocial behaviourand delinquency in children. Due tothe embarrassment and stress causedby the adverse changes in the family,children become “problem children”.Late arrival to school, unaccountableabsences, unpopularity among otherchildren, sudden display of violent1. Watching T.V. certainly depresses the students’ academic achievements.Quite a few programmes are useless.2. Those children who are able to select items for viewing and practiserestraint are found to do better academically than non-viewers or overindulgentviewers.3. American children are not high viewers. But Japanese children are addictsto the idiot box.4. T.V. viewing has declined radically in the U.S.5. Moderation for Indian children, with restricted view of cultural and currentevents is the ideal dose.6. Heavy views take a toll. Students are radically affected if the childrenexceed 3 hours a day of T.V. viewing. One hour should be sufficient.68

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'04temper, being moody etc., are traced todifficulties at home.The child resorts to cheating inexaminations, if he is afraid of meeting theparent’s anger when he gets poor marks.Research indicates that poor living conditions,economic problems, stress in the family,conflict among family members, unstimulatingenvironment, lack of cultural and leisurefacilities experienced by lower economic andsocial status families, act as powerful handicapsto the educational progress of the child.Many factors influence children’s learning.It is through language that the child is able toindulge in complex thinking which leads tointelligent behaviour. Verbally fluent,expressive households have enormousadvantage over the child whose home isverbally impoverished. Talking to the child,encouraging him with verbal praise andconversing with him help the child to build upa working vocabulary. Lack of verbal skillsmakes the child isolated; he does not makefriends easily, but becomes physicallyaggressive and ill-mannered.There are no genetic differences inintelligence between races. Nor are there anydifference based on sex. In a given population,there are as many intelligent girls as boys andas many dull boys as girls.A number of factors influence the child’sability to learn. Cognitive factors likeintelligence, creativity and memory, affectivefactors like motivation, social factors likematuration, age, sex, social background andstudy habits are of great relevance to learning.Learning for reward is preferable tolearning under punishment.Learning motivated by probability ofsuccess is preferable to learning motivated byfear of failure.Children with high-esteem and lowanxietyperform better than children with lowesteemand high-anxiety.Meaningful material and meaningful tasksare learnt more readily than meaninglessmaterial and tasks.The ability to think clearly and sensibly isneeded to grasp concepts. Children go throughthree stages of thinking – thinking based ondoing, based on imagery and based onlanguages and symbols. Practical experience isthe first step for thinking andconceptualization.Both lateral and vertical thinking areinvolved in intelligent behaviour. Usually weconcentrate on vertical thinking or logicalthinking. More opportunity for lateral thinkingsuch as problems of brain-teasing-varieties,quizzes, puzzles etc. improve their intelligentquotients.Good study habits are increasinglyimportant as the child grows older and takesresponsibility for his own learning.Notable differences exist betweenindividual children in speed of learning, energyoutput, depth of feeling and facility of insight.Learning opportunity should meet the needsof the learner and adapted to their levels ofmaturity.Children need models more than they needcritics in building up character and values.(From The Hindu)Encouragement of divergent thinking,nonconformist answers, flexible thinking,playing with ideas, fantasizing etc. promotecreative thinking among children.69

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 2CULTIVATING EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCEIN CHILDRENDR.R.PARTHASARATHYIn his book, ‘Working with emotional intelligence’,Daniel Goleman includes the following five basicemotional and social competencies:Self awareness: Knowing what we are, feeling at themoment, and using those preferences to guide ourdecision making; having a realistic assessment of our ownabilities and well grounded sense of self-confidence.Self-regulation: Handling our emotions so that theyfacilitate rather than interfere with the task at hand;being conscientious and delaying gratification to pursuegoals; recovering well from emotional distress.Motivation: Using our deepest preferences to moveand guide us toward our goals, to help us take initiativeand strive to improve, and to persevere in the face ofsetbacks and frustrations.Empathy: Sensing what people feel, being able totake their perspective and cultivating rapport andattunement with a broad diversity of people.feelings so that they are expressedappropriately and effectively,enabling people to work togethersmoothly toward their commongoals. Finally, our level of emotionalintelligence is not fixed genetically,nor does it develop only in earlychildhood. Unlike IQ, which changeslittle after our teen years, emotionalintelligence seems to be largelylearned, and it continues to developas we go through life and learn fromour experiences – our competence init can keep growing.The personal and socialcompetencies do not develop in avacuum. Our socializing processes,especially the socializing agents –family and school, play a vital role incultivating emotional intelligence inchildren.Social skills: Handling emotions in relationships welland accurately reading social situations and networks;interacting smoothly; using these skills to persuade andlead, negotiate and settle disputes, for cooperation andteam work.These five components of emotional intelligencepave the way for actualizing or utilizing our potentialsto the fullest extent. The experts have indicated thatemotional intelligence does not mean merely ‘being nice’.At strategic moments, it may demand not ‘being nice’,but rather, bluntly confronting someone with anuncomfortable but consequential truth they have beenavoiding. Secondly, emotional intelligence does not meangiving free rein to feelings. Rather, it means managing70

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'04UNBURDENING THE CURRICULUM LOADJ.S.RAJPUTFormative years of learningThe initiation of a child into the learningprocess is a matter of greatcontemplation. Generations ofeducationists have reflected deeply upon thenecessity to strike a balance between thetraditional tools of imparting basic knowledgeto small children and the contemporarytechnology available to simplify the earlylearning process. All around the world, childrenare going to school at a rather young age—asearly as two years of age. Early Childhood Careand Education (ECCE), is the stage when thechild is prepared for the primary school stage.Parents of today are perhaps the firstgeneration to have benefited from the preschooleducation process. Quiteunderstandably, they place a high degree ofimportance upon their child’s evolving mindbeing furnished with the right setting forassimilation of appropriate scientific temperand social outlook. The latest venture of theNational Council of Educational Research andTraining (NCERT), of developing a newcurriculum framework, began in 1999 and afterextensive consultation and consensus building,finalized in the form of the NationalCurriculum Framework for School Education.Pre-school education and primary educationhave been given special treatment in the newproposals out of a consensus that the learningexperience at the very beginning of educationcan play a crucial role in the later education ofchildren. At the ECCE stage, it is proposed toinformalise the process completely. Learning,at this stage may be characterized by groupactivities, play-way techniques, languagegames, number games and a range of activitiesdirected to promote social adaptability andenvironmental awareness in children. The useof the three Ps’—pleasure, perception andparticipation needs to be emphasised upon.Children need to be attracted to the learningprocess and the response should bespontaneous. It is envisaged that such anapproach would ensure readiness to learn anddo away with curriculum load which mightdamage their neuro-muscular capabilities.Formal teaching of subjects, reading andwriting must be clearly prohibited. Further,ECCE needs to be made uniformly available toall children of the country to ensure equity.During this period, there ought to beopportunities to use the language orally andlisten to it in the natural interactive mode.Children should be provided with ampleopportunities for developing essential skills ofidentification, comparison, matching, naming,drawing and counting, without subjecting themto formal ways of learning numbers. Socialawareness can be instilled in children byfacilitation of child-to-child interaction andorganizing activities helpful in developingpositive attitudes, reflexes and habits forhealthy social participation. They should beencouraged to play with pets, identify thecommon birds, animals, plants, means of71

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 2transportation and celestial bodies like the sun, moonand the stars.After the child crosses five years of age, it enters theprimary schooling stage. The NCERT’s New CurriculumFramework has visualized the primary stage in twosegments with inherent internal continuity.The first segment comprises standards oneand two, a period where transition frominformal to formal education should besmooth. The child gets to face the blackboardfor the first time, observes basic classroomdiscipline and interacts with peer groups.The goodness of healthy livingcan be explained by organizinggames, teaching yoga, music, drama,drawing, painting, and claymodelling. In organizing theseactivities, local factors may be givenThe second segment consists ofstandards three through five, when layers ofunderstanding of basic systems are graduallyimplanted on the youngsters’ minds. Duringthis stage, the child is prepared to understandthe environment and learn in a systematicway.NCERT’s scheme of studies for the first of the twosegments is as follows: (1) one language – which may bemother tongue or the regional language. (2) mathematicsand (3) art of healthy and productive living. It isenvisaged that the teaching of the language andmathematics will constitute an integrated whole, takingin to its fold the natural and man-made environment.The teaching process will be fully woven around theenvironmental concerns. About the art of healthy andproductive learning, it can be said that these arevisualized to contribute towards all-round developmentof the personality of the child.due importance. The children will beencouraged to participate in creativeactivities such as free-hand drawingand painting. They will be involved inthe activities related to workeducation,so as to enable them to befree from inhibitions and promote agood work-culture. For furnishingtheir minds with sound values, theywill be treated to stories andanecdotes from a variety of spiritualtomes drawn from every religion andschool of thought.For the second stage, standardsthree through five, the NCERT hasstructured the learning process inthis way: (a) one language: themother tongue or regional language:(b) mathematics: (c) environmentalstudies; and (d) art of healthy andproductive living. This is the stagewhen the child’s mind will bedeveloped so that the child growswith a scientific temper. They will beprovided with experiences to helptheir socio-emotional and culturaldevelopment with a realisticawareness and perception of the72

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'04physical world around them. This may beaccomplished by stimulating the power ofobservation, classification, comparison and thedrawing of inferences through activitiesconducted within and outside the classroom.The integrated approach would be mostsuitable to achieve the desired objectives. Theknowledge assimilated in the previous segmentwill be further strengthened by ensuring theparticipation of all children in the activitiesrelated to music, dance, drama, drawing andpainting, puppetry, health and physicaleducation, games and sport, yoga andproductive work.Much discussion has been stimulated overthe language learning approach proposed in theprimary stage. The NCERT believes that duringthe formative years of learning, languageinstruction is crucial not just for meaningfullearning in all the subject areas, but also to thelearner’s emotional, cognitive and socialdevelopment. It is a harsh Indian reality thatwe are still witnessing the admissions processto the educational system of the first generationlearners who need to be given special treatmentbecause of the strong probability of themdropping out. It is estimated that the dropoutrate at the end of the primary stage is as highas 35 per cent. Failure to teach language skillsproperly and adequately in the child’s earlyyears may lead to serious impairment of hisabsorption and retaining powers at higherstages, thereby pushing him to drop out. Aboveall, language education must aim atencouraging independent thinking, free andeffective expression of opinion and logicalinterpretation of the events of the past and thepresent.Despite general acceptance of theimportance of language education, the practicalside has been ignored for too long. The oralaspect of language has to be emphasized andoral examinations in language must be madean integral part of evaluation process.Emphasis would have to shift from the teachingof textbooks to extensive general reading.73Finally, children should be encouraged to usethe language in speech and writing foracademic purposes, at work places andotherwise.(The author is the Director of theNational Council of educational Researchand Training NCERT. The article is fromThe Hindu)Needs of a child attending aNursery institution(Collected)When the child comes out of themother’s eye-range for the first time, itfeels very insecure. The (NurseryInstitution) should provide the child asense of security and protection andprepare the child to withstand the traumaof separation from its mother and trainit for increasing self dependence. Thechild should get enough opportunities forplaying especially with self - correctiveeducational toys. The child gets trainingin socialization by interacting with otherchildren. Mental and intellectual growthis assured. The children are trained inthe art of conversation, asking questionsand getting answers. The analyticalintelligence of a child gets an opportunityfor growth in the N.I.A child expects others to handleit with compassion and treat its fearsand apprehensions with sympathy.Self - dignity, independence inaction and freedom of the child shouldbe nurtured and expressed. Itsenthusiasm, creativity and flair forcollecting or making beautiful objectsshould get outlets in a N.I.The child’s right for total physical,mental, intellectual, social and spiritualgrowth is fulfilled in a N.I.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 2SOME RECOMMENDATIONSON SCHOOL CURRICULUMANURADHA, PAWAN ETALOur earlier study, A Matter of Quality as well asthe present one, has revealed very forcefully thatinstead of developing any analytical or criticalskills, the school succeeds in replacing the old values,beliefs with new and alien ones. This erodes theconfidence and self-esteem of the child and ultimatelydemoralises society by disparaging all that is one’s own– be it the lifestyle, clothes, language, food, occupations,manner of thinking, knowledge systems, etc – and createsa division between the school and the home. The childrenstart coveting and imitating all that is western under themistaken belief that it will make them ‘developed’ and‘modern’.To regain the strength of our society, we needto restore the self-esteem of our children. Thiscan be done by giving them the confidence abouttheir own systems. This is difficult becausemodern education has mesmerised everyone tosuch an extent that only certain ways of thinking,are considered as ‘rational’ and ‘scientific’ whilethe rest are clubbed as superstitious orunscientific; only certain things are progressive,while the rest are ‘backward’. Therefore torebuild our indigenous strengths it is essentialthat we simultaneously challenge the symbols of‘modernity’ in order to recover the spacesusurped by the dominant paradigm. It is onlywhen the children are be freed from itsstronghold can they recover the ground to findtheir roots, correct the mistakes and realise theirstrengths.Therefore we need to make an assessment of theproblems created by the modern schooling system. It isnot just the textbooks but also the values upheld by theschool teachers and their administrative bureaucracythat get communicated to children in schools. This needsto be investigated and steps taken to rectify the damage.Textbooks/Curriculum:We need to conduct a criticalanalysis of primary and secondaryschool textbooks at the national levelto see the impact of the damage doneto rural lifestyles and the confidenceof the people and make appropriatecorrections.· If our textbooks canhave stories which show a mullahor the pundit or the sadhu as acharlatan then we shouldsimilarly have stories about thelawyer, the doctor, thebureaucrat, and the scientist alsodepicted as sometimes cheatingpeople. We can show that fraudsand good people exist in everyprofession. This will help restorethe balance.· Our textbooks depictMr. Singh as a person who isshown walking with a dog and astick wearing a suit (obviouslyeducated and affluent) while hismali (gardener) called Budhua isshown wearing a dhoti (obviouslynot educated and poor in the eyes74

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'04of the textbook writer). It is important tosee how distorted values can be impartedto children even through one such picture.Our textbooks show a clean house as onewhere there is no cow but a dirty housewhere there is a cow and cow dung. Thisgives a very strong message to our ruralchildren to refrain from farming andkeeping a cow.· To restore the balance in thesociety which is getting completelymesmerised by “modernity”, the childrenmust also be encouraged to understand that‘science also makes mistakes.’ There areumpteen examples of medicines which havebeen banned after fresh discoveries. Thesecan be brought to the notice of children toshow that the modern medical system is notflawless. A large number of diseases arethemselves caused by the modern medicalsystem. That technologies like fertilisers orpesticides also have adverse side effects.· The children must learn tomake distinctions. For instance betweensaksharta (literacy) and shiksha (closestwould be education); between sukhhappiness, contentment, peace etc.) andsuvidha (convenience); between lakshya(objective e.g.sukh) and madhyam(medium e.g., conveniences, money etc):between opposite and different. Childrenneed to be taught there is not always aneither/or Yes/No, black/white kind of asituation. That things are more often‘different’ rather than ‘opposite’. Theseneed to be incorporated in the curriculum.Extracted from ‘Child and the Family’Society for integrated Development ofHimalayas-Mussorie 2002TEACHING FOR THE 21 ST CENTURYAruna Appaswamy1. Teaching methods have to takeinto consideration not only thesyllabus, or the examination butfostering a healthy curiosity.2. The ability to learn should bedeveloped.3. Auto-learning should befacilitated.4. Concept-learning should bepromoted. Appropriate questioningtechniques have to be adopted.5. For slow-learners, individualinstruction methods are to bepractised.6. Teachers and students have todevelop reference skills.7. Values, character education,methods of knowledge gatheringshould find places in thecurriculum.8. Cultural education, art-training,appreciation of art to develop ouraesthetic sense are needed.Brain-storming session by teachers,compulsory reading habits, demonstrationclasses by experts, involvement ofteachers to solve the institution’sacademic problems, in-service training forteachers, feed back from students etc.will improve the campus atmosphere andhelp the institution fulfill its objective.(From The Hindu)Education is the manifestation ofperfection already in man.- Swami Vivekananda.75

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 2THE MONTESSORI WAYVASANTHA NADARASSANTo form a democratic society, it is important tocultivate democratic attitudes in children whenthey are tender. To inculcate such feelings andattitudes Madam Maria Montessori, chose two-and-ahalfyears as the optimum age after extensive experimenton child development.It is due to the lack of such values that peoplehave no chance for social interactions. When people growolder they become shy, backward, develop inferiority orsuperiority complex, with adisturbed “psyche.” Sometimesthey become bossy withoutbeing direct and simple. Theyexpect others to do what theywant, otherwise get irritable.People are jealous andstubborn, over - possessivemany a times, with all sorts ofnegative attitudes. Theymisunderstand others withouta valid reason, lose theirtemper and are easilyinfluenced by wrongconditions. They spend theirtime and energy, thinking,talking and laughing at other’smistakes. Lack of gratitude, orrespect for elders - all theselead to unacceptable behaviourin society. Such uncaringattitudes develop socialdisasters and ultimately harmnational integrity. Socialfactors/skills cannot be taught,she says it comes fromexperience and not fromexplanations.Beating joy out of a childWhen a parent or a teacherbeats a child into submission, his/herinnocence is destroyed; the child’s lifebecomes utterly joyless.A violent childhood may lead toa violent adulthood. A child who facesthe wrath of an adult grows upbelieving that violence is the answerto all problems. Such children becomecomplex individuals. Corporalpunishment makes a boy or a girl sullenand defiant. Often his/her intellectualdevelopment slows down in the absenceof congenial peace. They lackconfidence, become nervous and insome cases become bullies. Ultimatelythe rod fails. On the contrary itcauses greater indiscipline andsuffering.(From The Hindu)Dr. Maria Montessori, experimented it scientificallyin classrooms, calling it the “Society of New Children,” asociety by “Cohesion.” By this she meant to imply that itwas something formed by an attraction among the76children and not imposed fromoutside. It is based first of all onrespect for their rights of others - forexample, children would never thinkof quarrelling with one another overthe apparatus. Thus, she had only oneset of each apparatus in the classdesigned for the special purpose. Ifany problem arose over priority theydid not run to the teacher but theywere capable of solving them bymutual consent and agreement. Theteacher gives them perfect freedomand observes the phenomenon ofperfect discipline.This is the societyof New Children -a normalised one.They learn to waitfor their turns.These littleones live in ahigher plane.Theirs is truly acooperativesociety. First,there is reciprocalhelp. The olderchildren help theyounger and theyounger help eachother. They showrespect for andinterest in eachother. There is noenvy, there is onlyadmiration amongthe children whenone newlysucceeds in a task.The admiration is spontaneous justas we admire the work of a greatsculptor. When the child has themisfortune to break something, he isvery sorry, because when the children

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'04are at this stage they are not destructive. Theyare concerned and they handle the materialswith care. If such an incident takes place, otherchildren console him and help him to tidy up.Children can also become a moral help toone another-when one child is a disturber inthe class, when no one has corrected him,another one says “you are naughty - but youmust become good.” This bad behaviour is amisfortune and the unfortunate child is helped,which goes a long way to form the character ofthe children to care for the lesser fortunate, likethe disabled, handicapped and elderly whenthey become adults in society. They learn to putback the materials in the same place, once theyhave finished it. This helps them to be patientand give due respect to others which is moreimportant in adult life for sharing and caringhabits within thefamily and insociety.All these littlethings bring aboutunderstandingand sympathytowards eachother. Gradually, aharmoniousatmosphere isdeveloped whichgives them amarvellous spiritof serenity. Herefreedom anddiscipline cometogether. Butusually we thinkthey do not gotogether. Actuallythere is no freedom without discipline. Thisharmonious combination leads to a realbuilding up of a democratic society later whenthey become adults. Order is the basis of thisharmony.Some activities are done in groups. Thechildren learn to have the same aim and work77together in order toachieve it. They aim atperfection. They have to berelaxed and gain selfmasteryof mind and bodywhich becomes a unifyingexperience. The childrenunderstand that they haveto help each other in orderto achieve the results.Peace and joy are the resultof this combined effort. Inadult life too these effortswill make them achieve wonderful results bygrouping themselves in society for achievingcommon benefits.An adult society organised as aconstructive society on the same basis as thesechildren will be a naturalsociety of cohesion.Attachment to otherpeople is the first stagewhich brings all men towork for common good.Our forefathers such asMahatma Gandhiji andAmbedkar hadenvisaged and strivedfor such a society.with free activity.Whenever a child isin need, other childrenimmediately run to helpand furnish the task.Thus, they have a socialactivity. They cooperatewith each other in usefulactivities. Cooperation inthis way is theconsequence of a free lifeThey also have a social discipline. It’s not aforced discipline. No one orders them but theydo everything harmoniously together, but whatwe find in schools as discipline is a social error.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 2It is the discipline of the school but not apreparation for social life, because in society each onechooses his/her work, each must do different thingsbut all must work in harmony with due respect toeach other.Gradually, a construction becomes obvious inthese children which cannot be seen in deviatedchildren. Even if the teacher is not in the class theywill work properly - what we see in normal schools,such as children shouting once the teacher is out ofthe class or children rushing out madly through the gatesare reactions to an unnatural discipline.This, on the contrary is an environment of real workand real responsibilities. Slowly, the child takes thesentiment of thegroup. He feels proudand happy to belong tothis group. This is therudimentaryexpression of socialsentiment. Later, thisis identified by thechild, he is happy tobelong to his class,school team or evencountry. He is proudnot only about hiswork but also aboutthe wholesomeachievement of hisgroup. This is more complex kind of unity. It is a highersentiment such as love for the nation.We often think that freedom and obedience are twocontrasting things. But children who do enjoy freedomare obedient. Because this obedience comes from theformation of an individual as a result of inner growth,otherwise it is external and is real repression. The realobedience blossoms unto the perfection of an individual.None other than one who is a master of himself can obey.If we do not have the “inner discipline” it is difficult toobey. Children who are happy, harmonious and are atpeace will obey their teacher, the teacher who asks andnever commands.Character formation is the most important aspect ofan individual. A person of character is able to completehis work. Mostly, we find people take up different thingsand unable to complete any of them.They are incapable of decisionmaking.They are not sure ofthemselves. They are like childrenwho cannot act independently. Howdo we build up a good character, whatcan we do about it, are the vitalquestions parents and teachers arefacing now in our society. Buteverything becomes futile withoutproper character. If a child has nopatience he cannot understand whatwe want to preach or teach him. Ifthey are indecisive it is useless to tellthem to decide for themselves. Thesequalities can be developed throughexperience and exercise so what wehave to do is simple as this.We have to give the childrenenough opportunity to exercisethemselves in these respects ineveryday life.They musth a v eopportunitiesto exercise allthese virtueswhich togetherform a strong,g o o dcharacter. Lifeis based onchoice, all day in numeroussituations, so that they learn to maketheir decisions. They cannot acquirethese qualities through obedience tothe command of another. If he is tobe proficient, he has to practise. He78

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'04has to practise to become anadult in the same way.The formation ofcharacter cannot be taught,it comes from experienceand not by explanations -everything needs longpreparation and muchpractice. Moral instructions alone cannotachieve the wonderful results we get from aMontessorian environment. It would be easy togovern if one could make people better by finewords. The greater part of knowledge comesthroughcontinuousexercise. Wemay changethe exercisebut we mustcontinue topractise,otherwise westand to lose what we have gained. Thereforechildren must not be abandoned. They need theteacher for quiet guidance and positiveexpectation. They must have the rightopportunities for both these aspects should befulfilled with day-to-day consistency andcontinuity. Then when the children are at thisstage they naturally exercise themselves and domuch more thanchildren of thisage are generallycapable of.S o c i a ldevelopment, thequestion ofc h a r a c t e rformation, therelationshipbetween theteacher and thechild, etc. are to bep l a n n e daccording to Dr.Maria Montessori,the great educationist and scientist of childdevelopment.Children are naturally full of love andsympathy. They develop these qualities withoutdirect help from the teacher, the marvellousactivity and discipline come naturallyaccording to her. They become remarkable menand women later but it is left to us to make useof her scientific techniques devised with greatcare.“Child is the father of the man” - thehidden powers of the child await understandingand helpful approach of the adult to blossom.CHILDREN CANNOTSPEAK FOR THEMSELVESThey depend on us to speak for them.They are powerless.They suffer most when resources are maldistributed.They need us to bring their very special needs to the notice the powerful.79

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 2PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT OF A CHILDTHROUGH YOGA PRACTICESDR.H.R.NAGENDRA ETALa) Personality development at the physicallevel:Does the growth of physical personality imply abulky body weighing 100 kgs.? An ideal body has thefollowing features:(i) A proportionate body with all themuscles relaxed in normal state. It is soft likea flower, flexible to the core.(ii) Instantaneously, it can acquire adiamond’s hardness. Having all the organsand systems in the body with leastabnormalities is the first feature of a goodpersonality at the physical level. The chronicand acute ailments are thus absent in such abody. It is here that the therapeuticapplication of yoga is cutting grounds.The second aspect of personality development at thephysical level is to make the body work more efficientlyby using the energies in the most controlled fashion. Atresting periods, all the muscles metabolic rate is very low.During normal activities, just the necessary amount ofenergy is used by the body. At critical times, underconditions of high stress, the functions of the organs sonicely co-ordinate regions which need more energy. Thebody gets all the necessary strength to deal with thesituation. This ‘stamina’ of the harnessing of the innervital energies and training the different organs andsystems to work in such co-ordination, can be effectivelyaccomplished by yogic practices. It is in this area ofapplication of YOGA that specialists in physical culture,wrestlers, sportsmen and dancers are keenly interestedand are putting yoga to utmost use.b) Personality Development – Mental LevelThe power of imagination – ‘creativity’ and‘steadfastness or will power’ are the two aspects of themind which come under this head of personality properprinting. Ithas beenseen thaty o g i cpracticesenhancet h ecreativepower ofman. Ass u c h ,m a n ymusicians,poets, film-artists, engineers andtechnologists have been attracted toyoga.‘Will Power’ is an essentialrequirement for all persons toaccomplish any work howeverinsignificant or great the task be.Yoga by its systematic and consciousprocess of calming down the minderases the weaknesses in the mindand builds ‘will power’ into it. Intosuch a mind, each challenge arousestremendous energy to combat thesituation and bravery becomes a partof the personality. Steadfast to thecore, such a person takes up withmarvelous sobriety the challenges inlife and converts them toopportunities for accomplishing hismission.c) Intellectual Levelin the modern era of science, asharp intellect and the faculty ofreason play a key-role in the schemeof education. Rather than mechanical80

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'04crammingup ofinformation,thinking andunderstandingare valuedmore in thelearningprocess. Thechildren aretaught rightfrom theprimarystage to thinklogically andscientifically.The capacity to analyse and correlate relevantinformation forms the function of the intellect;concentration is the expression; precision is theoutcome.However, this enhanced power of thesharpened intellect associated with deeppowerful concentration among the ‘intellectualcream’ of the society has also bound man to thewhirlpool of the strong clutches of deepconcentration. Though it is torturous and he,very much wants to come out of it, he cannot.His worries and attachments do not releasehim. The development of personality at theintellectual level should not only result in anintense sharpening of the intellect sharpenedintellect. Swami Vivekananda rightlyemphasizes,‘Concentrationand Detachment’as the two vitalparts of education.Not only should itbe possible for oneto delve deep intoany subject onhand but also beable to come outof it any moment.It is again thespeciality of YOGAthat can bringabout this81comprehensive development of the intellect. Aswe have seen, YOGA includes the skill to calmdown the mind.Hence, YOGA is attracting the attention ofmany ‘intellectual sufferers’, bringing theminto its fold.d) Emotional Level :Our emotions control our behaviours,especially at a crucial juncture. The challengesof the modern era pose a great threat to theemotional faculty of man, probably strongerthan ever. Yet, the culturing of the developmentof our emotional faculties-finds no place in thewhole scheme ofeducation. Manlooks lost amidstthe atrocities of lifeunable to overcomehis emotionalconflicts, blocksand turmoils. Theresult is deepunrest, agony andpsychosomaticailments.Yoga trains us (i) to systematically sharpenand sensitise our emotions, (ii) to consciouslyexpand and diffuse the overtones and suchsensitization.Thus, YOGA offers a fine tool for thedevelopment of the emotional personality ofman.e) Spiritual Growth:A man may have a very sturdy physique,amazing creative power, a powerful intellectand a highly sensitized emotional grasp, yet,may have no idea of spiritual progress. He maynot possess even an inkling of the spiritualdimension. What then can be said tocharacterise the development of personality atthe spiritual level. The Kathopanishad definesthe same thus : Normally, all of us are so

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 2structured that we look mostly outside ourselves at theenvironment. The senses grasp the things around them– predominantly the objects of the world outside, solvingthe problems associated with it, unraveling the mysteriestherein using such knowledge to make our life morecomfortable and enjoyable; bringing up our children toperpetuate and sustain the society around us; striving toset patterns of behaviour and etiquettes of transactionsand so on. We are busy throughout. Notwithstanding thispattern of life, some glimpses into the depths of our innerdimension occasionally flash in all our lives. Very fewcatch these glimpses but some are awefully struck by thehitherto unknown dimensions hidden within. The searchbegins; the quest starts.ijkafp[kkfu O;r`.kr~ Lo;aHkw% rLekr~ijku~ i’;fr u vUrjkReu~df’pr~ /khj% izR;xkReueS{kr~Avko`r p{kq% ve`rRofePNu~AA dBksifu"kr~Paranci khani vyatrnat svayambhuh tasmatparan pasyati nantaratman,Kascit dhirah pratyagatmatmanamaiksat avrttacaksuh amrtattvamicchan. [Kathopanishad]The self-existent lord structuresthe sense as out-going.Therefore, one sees the outerthings and not the inner Self: arare, discriminating one,desiring immortality, turns his eyesaway and then sees the indwellingSelf.Then that person is on the marchtowards spirituality. Thus thespiritual dimension of man concernsitself with the inner world, the movetowards the causal state of the mind,the root of the intellect, and thesubstratum of the emotions whenman starts looking inwards. It is thisinward journey that marks thebeginning of the spiritual quest. Anintrospection, an inward look, aninner awareness, feature the quest.The subtler layers of the mind unfoldthemselves; the inner dimensions ofthe personality open out.Yoga is not only a process forleading man towards this astoundinghidden personality of man bybringing mastery over the body,82

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'04mind, intellect and emotional faculties, but alsoa powerful tool to manifest those hiddenpotential powers in him. As man progresses hiszeal to perfect himself grows. In the process,he learns and understands the expressions ofNature around him. The great scientists andgreat seekers of reality do not hesitate to openthemselves to unknown regions as well. Thereis an adventure in it for them. The new glimpsesof the inner world draw them within. it is thisopenness, humbleness and humility among thehighly developed researchers of the modernscientific era which is making them use yogicpractices in their quest. They know noprejudices. Appreciation of such developmentsby their earlier seekers characterize them. Yogais leading them to open up their spiritualdimensions.This process of education for thedevelopment of personality is a continuousfunction of one’s growth level as portrayed in aschematic. The greater the development ofpersonality, greater will be his educationalimplications and greater will be the unfoldmentof perfection in him. This growth ofthe individual is coupled with theemergence of the 4-foldconsciousness enunciated earlier.Let us try to understand what wemean by them:f) Civic Sense:shattered. Such enforcements should beaccepted by the citizens and we all should helpin maintaining law and order in the societywhich is our primary responsibility.g) Patriotic Urge :A deep feeling that I am an Indian and Ishould strive my best to foster the interest ofthe country forms the basis of patriotism. Thisfeeling for the country may be evoked in thestudents by making them aware of our grandculture which is the oldest, of the beautifulresources our Motherland has provided and ofthe role India has to play in maintaining worldpeace by carrying the message of real humanvalues. In teaching history, geography, science,etc., we should direct the attention of ourstudents towards the great heritage of our land.Most of the nations which have achievedgreat success and growth, built up their countryfast, have one common factor – patriotism.Almost every one of the citizens carries thismark of intense love for his country. That spiritRecognition of the importanceof civil rules and regulations laiddown by the State in tune withjurisprudence and a wilful adherenceto these codes of conduct, a sinceredischarge of civic responsibilities asan ardent citizen of the students that if wevoluntarily accept and adhere to the rules, thereis great joy, satisfaction and growth not onlyfor ourselves but also for all in the society as awhole. Examples: Road traffic rules – avoidingto go round the circle; strikes and destructionof civic amenities.The State should enforce these rulesstrictly or else the ‘Tamas’ in man cannot beof patriotism gets expressed even in trivialactions. They are prepared to sacrifice for thesake of the country.A visitor to Japan lost his wrist watch ina hotel. His complaint was taken quiteseriously by the manager and the police werebrought in for the search. The visitor wasleaving the country and the watch could not83

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 2be found. While boarding the plane, the visitor finds thePolice Inspector apologizing for the unfortunateincident and requesting the visitor to accept one of themost expensive watches of Japan. After handing overthe watch, he appealed, ‘I would appreciate if you canhold back the news of this incident to yourself backhome’.Often, patriotism is considered disruptive, especiallyin an age of global communications seeking worldharmony and peace. A right attitude to Nationalism aspart of Internationalism would ward off this narrownessand fanaticism. One belongs to his family as well as tothe nation and to the world. There is no conflict aboutthe same; The NCERT syllabus should be framed as toinvoke interest and develop patriotism among thestudents.The names of Scientists, Technologists, Historians,Musicians, etc. from their own country can be invokedas done in Russia could be one of the means by whichself-confidence and love for our elders could be infused.Studying the lives of great patriots is yet anotherpowerful means.Such a spirit of patriotism can channelise theenergies of the students in the right direction for nationalgood. Such an atmosphere all around can bring excellencein people.All over, the national freedom movement had spreadlike all consuming fire. People sacrificed everything atthe altar of Mother Bharat. The spirit had a deep and widespread impact on the minds of all scientists, artists, etc.That invoked the dormant potentialities in most of thepeople. Best of talents emerged in this period only. TwoNobel prizes were awarded for outstanding work inScience and Literature. They were only symbols of theemergence of excellence.The students should be made torealize that there is greater joy ingiving than in accumulating forthemselves. For the ailing humanityall over the world with greed andspeed, love is the need. Service is thepenance. The new value system withlove and service as the fore-runnersis the need of the hour. Let us fosterthis, right from childhood.h) Spiritual Urge:An intense quest to find theREALITY, the meaning and purposeof life, the connection between theworld outside and inside, the secretof happiness and misery-forms thebasis of spiritual urge. Byunderstanding and experiencing eventhe simple tenets of spirituality, anappreciation of the grand spiritualheritage can be developed. It is thenthat a zeal to foster and propagatespiritual wisdom develops. AsSwamiji says, ‘Service to Humanity isService to Divinity is the message ofspirituality most relevant to themodern era. It has to be inculcatedin the students through variousprogrammes.From “Yoga in education” VKYOGAS BANGALORE 198884

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'04PRE-SCHOOL EDUCATIONNEEDS OVERHAULINGK.SIVADASAN PILLAI1. Pre-school education—what andhow?The education offered to children belowthe age group of 5 years is called preschooleducation. It is also termed asnursery education, kindergarten, Balvadis,Anganvadis, crèche, play school, etc, tomention a few.Local names are also prevalent in mostStates. The usual pattern is to offer children of3 and 4 years this kind of pre-school education.Even children below 3 years are sent to suchinstitutions or centers.When both the parents are employed andgrandparents are not living with them to lookafter the kids, (consequent on the emphasis onnuclear family in place of joint family system)children below 1 year are also put into day-carecenters. Thus it can be noted that pre-schooleducation has no specific lower age limit.(Upper limit is 5 years – in rare cases childrenare retained in such institutions after 5 years).This is mostly in the non-formal sector andrun by voluntary agencies or individuals whohave a room and a little open space to spare.2. The approach neededChildren are not expected to be taughtduring pre-school stage. What is expected atthis level is to give children “Sensory training”.Through observation and real life experiencechildren see, smell, weigh, touch, taste andthereby formulate perception and conceptsrhymes are offered to them orally and childrensing, dance, play, act etc. according to theiraptitudes. Number concept is also indirectlygiven to thembut nothingformal. Butwhat ishappening inmost preschoolsisteachingreading,writing, andarithmetic.Though this is against the pedagogicprinciples, many parents need this and if anyinstitute or individual declines to do so onprinciple, they withdraw their children andadmit them in some other institution. Mostparents ask their wards in the evening whatthey learnt that day. To satisfy this, thenursery/pre-school teachers are forced toforget “sensory training” and resort to formalteaching.3. The non-academic factors thatinfluence pre-primary educationIt is alleged that entrance tests andinterview are conducted before admittingchildren to L.K.G. classes. What a pity! In someschools, the parents’ capacity to donateliberally as and when asked for is verified ininterviews. Only the rich who can rise to suchfrequent demands get their children admittedto such schools. The fees charged also vary.Nearly one year ahead, booking to LKGadmission begins. It is even more tough in casesof managements having classes from LKG uptoMaster’s Degree courses in one premises or inthe neighbourhood. Thanks to YashpalCommittee who directed the authorities not to85

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 2conduct entrance tests and interview at this level, andnot to punish children with formal studies and cartloadto textbooks, note books etc. How far these suggestionshave been implemented, has to be enquired into andremedial measures taken.4. The right to education!The right to education is among the fundamentalhuman rights as per the Vienna declaration. In ourconstitution we are yet to make education a fundamentalright. “Literacy is a right, not a privilege”. So should bethe case with education. This should not be interpretedthat any one can pursue any type of education accordingto one’s desire. This should not however affect thesovereignty and solemnity of the nation. India shouldhave an “Enlightened and humane society” as suggestedby the Ramamurthy Committee. Indian culture andIndianness should be reflected in our system ofeducation.5. English at what stage?One should not rule out English medium schools ordivisions. But should we adopt it at pre-school level also?Can’t we retain mother tongue as the sole medium ofinstruction at least upto standard IV? It is better tointroduce Hindi first and then only English in ourschools. Provision should be madefor learning as many languages, aspossible—Indian and foreign—as perone’s likes, abilities and needs, butonly one language and that too, oral,only at the pre-school stage.6. Social regulatory mechanismLike primary and secondaryschools, there should be rules andregulations for establishing andrunning pre-schools. The minimumrequirements by way of space,building, infrastructural facilities,teaching-learning aids according tothe Montessori type of didacticapparatus, open spaces, etc. are to belaid down. Accessibility, location etc.are also important. Whereverpossible, pre-schools should beattached to the lower primary schoolsor established in nearby areas tofacilitate the children joining thelocal primary school (The pre-schoolsto act as feeder schools!)Even such schools with 25-30students should have one teacher andsome persons to help. Where thenumber is large, a proportionateincrease may be made. The approachshould be one of “sensory training”and not of formal teaching andlearning. Fees may be chargedaccording to the ability of the parentsand exemptions may be given indeserving cases. No child should bedenied of pre-school education ongrounds of poverty, castedenominations or locality.86

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'04THE ROLE OF MUSIC INEDUCATIONUma PrasadPre-primary level1. Arts including music will help theoverall development of the child.2. The character of the child will undergosubtle changes for the better when itlearns music.3. Nursery Rhymes help the child infocussing on the teacher, her tunes,gestures etc.4. The children learn the subjects faster.5. They show keen interest to attendschool6. They will not be restless in schools.7. The entire class will participate in thelearning process.8. The students become more disciplined.At the Primary level Music helps the childin the following ways1. The boredom in learning is reduced.2. The effort needed to memorise portionsof text books is reduced.3. Group singing promotes team spirit.4. Learning instinct is kindled.5. Children enjoy coming to school.At higher level (Upper primary level):1. Extra subjects can be learnt easily.2. After school hours also the effect ofmusic stays.3. A hobby to occupy the leisure time isacquired.4. Classical and instrumental music canbe taught to this level of students.At high school level, songs, prayers with greateremphasis on context can be taught. Values suchas devotion to God, patriotism, tolerance,personality development etc, can be inculcated.( The Hindu 14.07.1998)87

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 2RIGHT-BRAIN ORIENTED CURRICULUM FORALL ROUND DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHILDD.VENKATARAMAN1. IntroductionNeurological studies indicate that education as it isnow structured develops only one part of the humanbrain i.e. (Left Brain) and leaves the other part i.e. Righthemisphere (Right Brain) untouched, which has a highlevel potential. The prevailing pattern of education isheavily biased towards left cerebral functioning and isantithetical to the right-cerebral functioning. It nowseems likely that many of the objectives of education canbe achieved and youth problems can be solved throughkind co-operation of the right hemisphere functions. Soit is important to develop and activate the functioning ofthe right-hemisphere for development of creative factors.3. Left hemispherefunctionsResearch conducted during thelast two decades has revealed that thehuman left cerebral hemisphere is tobe specialised for primarily verbal,analytical, abstract, temporal anddigital operations. (Bogen, 1969,Gazzaniga, 1970 Ornstein,. 1972)4. Right hemispherefunctionsThe right-hemisphere islateralised for multiple processing. Itcan be more insightful, can have arudimentary verbal conceptualscheme, elaborate languagecomprehension,analogic elaboratelanguage comprehension, analogicand aesthetic experience, producemore visual imagery and see thingsin a broader perspective.(From The Hindu)Hence the understanding of hemisphericity dominanceof students and development of right-brain orientedcurriculum are important and indispensable.2. HemisphericityHemisphericity is the cerebral dominance of anindividual in retaining and processing different modesof information in his own style of learning and thinking.The differences in preference of the two hemispheres forinformation processing have been referred to as styles oflearning and thinking (SOLAT) by Torrance (1977).88

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'041. IntroductionTOWARDS BETTER TEACHING -LEARNING ENVIRONMENTLALITHA RAMAMURTHIWe all know that the first teacher is themother. According to medical research andinvestigation, it has been proved that theemotions of a pregnant woman affect the babyinside. This shows that the learning processstarts from the womb. A growing infant feelssafe and happy in the hands of a content andconcerned mother. This feeling of security andhappiness forms the basis on which thepersonality of the child develops.2. The home frontIt is imperative that the children are givena proper home environment which is conduciveto positive growth and development. The roleof a mother is of greater importance than thatof a father, during the earlier years of a child.A mother singing a lullaby is actuallyinstilling a sense of music, of rhythm, ofharmony of notations in the young mind. Whenshe tells him stories, real and fictitious, she isinstilling discipline, moral values andfearlessness. Children come to know fromstories that the good always wins over the evil.They love the heroes of folklore because theyare physically strong, morally bound andalways ready to help the needy. That is whywhen the children refuse to eat or do exercisethe ‘parents tell them – “If you don’t eatproperly and do proper exercise, how you canbe a hero like….”.Therefore, it is upto the mothers to groomthe children. Mothers should be educated.Motherhood is not an easy job. They should beready to deal with any situation. Mothers canmeet, exchange views, analyse problems posedby children and help each other. They shouldmeet teachers at regular intervals to get somepicture about their children in school.For a male child, his father is always a herobecause he commands respect. When the fathercultivates habits which lead to violence athome, he becomes a fallen hero for the child.When there is a constant fight between parents,the most affected person is the child. Childrenresent fights and heated arguments. Thisresentment, if left untackled, slowly growsdeeper into the child’s psyche.The more repressed his anger, the moredisobedient he becomes. The more disobedienthe becomes, the more punishment he gets fromthe school and from home. When he grows intoan adult, either he becomes a very violentperson, hating the world or he withdraws intoa shell avoiding everybody. In either case, thechild is deprived of a normal life.89

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 2AN ANALYSIS OF PUBLISHEDLITERATURE ONCHILDREN’S EDUCATIONS. Thirumalai KumarA study of Newspaper articles onEducation for children reveals the followingpoints.1. Profound education means perfection ofcharacter.2. Corporal punishment instead of helping theteachers, serves only to widen the gapbetween the teacher and the child.3. A child who is deprived of parental loveand affection can be tempted easily to goastray.4. Parents should understand the ‘gap’ –generation gap between them and thechildren.5. Character building can be achieved only bybuilding proper atmosphere in the school.6. Success to a child should mean developingskills and an acceptable personality.7. Children like to feel thatthey are big.They relish any responsibility,test of skills or any otherchallenge.8. Education ensures the growthof the child’s self-esteem.9. Expression of personalopinion and independentthinking should beencouraged.10. Curriculum should helpdevelopment of character,skills, attitudes, values, andpersonality of individuals tomake the children goodcitizens.11. Today’s children havepsychological and socialproblems at school as wellas at homes. Teacherstudentreport should focuson that problems.(The Hindu 14.7.1998)The price of healthProviding primary healthcare - including waterand sanitation, trainedworkers communicabledisease control and basicdrugs - would cost andextra $50 billion a yearfor the next 20 years.That is $12.50 per personper year.ESSENTIALS FOR ALL ?The cost of providing this is small compared with other expenditure.90

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'04NEIGHBOURHOOD-SCHOOLSSARALA RAJPUTThe education commission known as the Kothari commission recommended theestablishment of neighbourhood-school systems in India. The concept of commonschools and neighbourhood-schools is a reality in many countries. As identified bythe Kothari commission, it (lack of neighbourhood awareness) is the main problemin the country. Those staying in metropolitan cities can hardly believe in a situationin which all children of the neighbourhood, irrespective of caste, creed, community,religion, economic condition or social status would attend the same school. Thiswas a dream enshrined in the commission report, which fondly hoped that suchschools would provide quality education, generating interest in all sectors of thecommunity in the affairs of the school. When the commission report was translatedinto the policy document, it was suggested that all privileged schools should berequired to admit students on the basis of merit. It has hardly been implemented.MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCEN.C.SRIDHARANDr.Howard Gardner who has done extensive research on human excellence says:“Intelligence is the ability to solve problems that one counters in real life and theability to generate new problems to solve. The human mind should also have theability to make something or offer a service that is valued within one’s culture.1. Linguistic intelligence to express ideas and concepts in words.2. Logical-mathematical intelligence to concentrate on thinking logically3. Spatial intelligence to enable a person to think in a three dimensionalperspective. It calls for a high level of visual-constructed images andcreativity useful to architects, painters or pilots.4. Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence-the ability to manipulate various things andobjects as needed by sports persons, dancers and surgeons.5. Musical intelligence; these are right-brain driven persons who can appreciateparameters such as pitch, melody, rhythm, or tone.6. Interpersonal intelligence is the capacity to improve the rapport and peoplemanagementskills. This helps in teachers, social workers, politicians etc.7. Intra-personal intelligence-the ability to introspect and understand oneselfis newer dimensions. This is helpful in planning one’s life, to understandone’s own strengths and weaknesses for theologians, psychologists,philosophers and original thinkers.8. Naturalist intelligence: The ability to understand nature and the gifts ofnature for one’s own development. Agriculturists, farmers, landscapers etc.require this knowledge.It is possible for educational institutions to develop these eight types of intelligence.91

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 2CHILDREN :THE PERENNIALSOURCES OFNATIONAL RESURGENCEDR. GIRISH S. BAPATDIRECTOR, JNANA PRABODHINIPUNE, INDIA.Children of IndiaIndia is an ancient land. Generations aftergenerations have gradually built itsculture and heritage over thousands ofyears. For such a continuity to bemaintained, there must have been andthere must be even today, a system ofpassing over the torch to the nextgeneration. In every generation theremust have been creators, preservers andreformers of this age-old Indian culture.Such latent creators, preservers andreformers are present in this twenty-firstcentury also. They are the children ofIndia. Today, in the first decade of thetwenty-first century, we will see only thechild-like form of these potentialbuilders of the future and makers ofhistory. But in the second decade they willbe the torch-bearers. They will be shapingand adding to the Indian heritage byliving in it.which includes all the major religioussects in the world, all the ecologicalhabitats of the world, a diversity oflanguages and all types of politicalideologies. This process is a meltingpot which retains the distinguishingfeatures and yet establishes acommon identity. The efforts toaccept different forms of the sameidentity are a speciality of India,arising out of its spiritual motto of ‘EH§$ gV² odàm: ]hþYm dXpÝV .’What will be successful in India willbe a role –model for the world. All theAll the Children have Two SpecialGiftsAll the children in India are born with the twingifts of humanity and Indianness. They are human beingsand Indian. Even these two gifts should equip them tobecome makers of future India. The very fact that theyare human, gives them the capacity to will, the capacityto act purposefully and the capacity to make sense of,and build knowledge about, their surroundings. Beingborn as an Indian, gives them the opportunity toparticipate in a unique nation-building process, a processchildren in India must be consideredas blessed for this uniqueopportunity that they have beforethem.The Physical and MentallyChallenged ChildrenTo have a special gift on yourperson and not to be aware of it is92

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'04very unfortunate. Though endowed with thespecial gifts of humanity and Indianness, thereare children who do not have the time, securityand encouragement to become aware of and toexplore and own the gifts with which they areborn. Some are physically challenged, whilesome are mentally challenged. Unconsciouslyor consciously they have to spend theirchildhood, and even later years, coping withthese challenges. The generation which isholding the torch today will have to search forpotential Ashtavakras (Aï>mdH«$).Ashtavakra had his physical frame bent ineight places. Yet he was a sage at a very smallage. He was ridiculed by learned punditsbecause of his external features. Only Janaka,the king and yogi could recognize his worth. Weneed Janaks to recognize Ashtavakraschallenged by their physical frame. Among thementally challenged there are slow learners andlate starters. Totaka was so slow that he hadnot learnt to speak till he was eight years. AdiShankaracharya saw the spark in him andstimulated him to become a poet and anacharya. There are not enoughShankaracharyas to stimulate thechildren.Children Who Have to Struggleagainst AdversitiesMany children who are fortunatenot to have the above challenges, eagerlyexplore their surroundings. They, like allchildren, are also gifted with the abilityto dream. They have boundless energy.They have spontaneous curiosity. Theyare unashamed of their ignorance. Theycan raise questions showing insight. They canbe very imagnative. They are open to newexperiences. They are very receptive. They canstrike friendship with strangers.Before they can start using their gifts,these children are forced to go along a differentpath. A girl of eight years has to baby-sit forher siblings. A boy of ten years has to go afterthe cattle. A boy of twelve starts working in thefields with his father. A boy or a girl of fourteen93has to leave school and start contributing tothe family purse. A girl of sixteen finds that thenext day she is going to be given in marriage.All such children suddenly find that childhoodis not just being and becoming, growing andmanifesting. They discover that childhood isstruggling and coping. These children slowlylose the contact with their valuable mental andintellectual gifts through non-use. They arechallenged by the poverty and ignorance oftheir parents and the momentum and inertiaof the society around them. The gifts of thesechildren have to be salvaged before theybecome engrossed in the struggle againstadversities. The future Dr. Ambedkars andLal Bahadur Shastris are hiding in each of theseadversity - challenged child.Children Straitjacketed by their EldersThere are many families where theparents suffer and protect their children fromadversities. There are other families who haveIn those countries which have succeeded inreducing the number of deaths in children,there is a decline in the birth-rate withinone generation. One parents have confidencethat their children will survive, the need tohave many children declines. In the past, ittook one or two generations for the birthrate.Now it takes less than a generation. Afall in child deaths has always come beforea fall in birth-rates.- From Our Children's Worldalready overcome the adversities and thechildren are totally unaware of them. Thesechildren too share all the gifts which thephysically, mentally and adversity-challengedchildren have but cannot use. The childrenunfettered by adversities are free to explore andfind out what other gifts they are born with.They discover that they have the ability toconcentrate, the ability to persevere, the abilityto search for problems, the ability to solveproblems and make innovations, the ability to

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 2feel others’sorrows, theability to helpothers, thecourage to ownup mistakes, theurge the protectothers. All theseabilities areuseful in nationmaking.Thesechildren shouldhave a chance todevelop andexercise thesegifts. But manyhave parents andteachers whohave exhaustedall their energiesand will inprotecting theirchildren from the adversities. They feel that they haveachieved and their children should also be satisfied likethem with fending for their families. Children have thepotential to contribute to the welfare of ten, hundred andthousand families if their abilities are nurtured. Theirvision becomes limited to their own family only becauseof the over- cautiousness and short-sightedness of theirelders.Giftedness Poised on Various Rungs of theLadderT h echildrenchallenged byhandicaps oradversitiesn e e dunderstanding,helping hand,guidance anda gentle pushtowards selfreliance.Thechildrenlimited bytheir eldersTHE PRIORITIES FOR CHILDREN: FOOD, HEALTH CARE, PLAYThree groups of children were given different services andcompared with elite children.· Health care alone gives no change.· Adequate food combined with health care gives full physicalgrowth.· Food, health care and stimulation lead to full intellectualdevelopment.For every parent, adequate growth of the child’s brain in thefirst two years of life should be priority. Adequate growth of achild as shown by a weight curve is the only practical way toensure adequate brain growth.Vitamin A is found in dark green leafy vegetables. Each year14,000 Indian children go blind for the rest of their lives becausethey are not fed these foods.- From Children of our WorldTHREE PERIODS OFHEALTH CARE1. Improved nutrition, livingconditions, water supply andwaste disposal, achieved bysocial reformers not doctors.2. Individual care, vaccinesand antibiotics.3. Health improvementdependent on changes inlifestyle and environment.-From Children of Our Worldneed a vision of their role in anarena larger than their families. Thechildren who are already selfreliantand have a larger vision needmotivation to self-actualisationthrough national resurgence. Thenthere will be some children who willsay that they have the gifts not onlyof being human and being Indian,but also have the gift of the urge forspiritual self-realisation. All thechildren of India have gifts rangingfrom being human to having an urgefor spiritual self-realisation, butthey have to start from differentrungs of the ladder of enablingconditions. They can climb theladder each at his or her own pace.It is necessary for the resurgence ofIndia to recognise the gifts not onlyof those on the top rung of the ladderbut also of those standing on all thelower rungs. The gifts of some arelike surface water, immediatelyaccessible to the nation. The gifts ofothers are like ground water,accessible with difficulty and94

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'04after much effort. But the gifts of all thechildren are the resources of the nation. Thechildren of all generations are the perennialsources of our national resurgence. Thechildren are the nation. Their gifts are theirassets. Their gifts are therefore national assets.Search for the GiftsThe gifts that the children have beenendowed with are numerous. They can besensed and observed by their parents, teachersand peers. Sometimes even the children areaware of their own gifts. For the last hundredyears, a scientific search has been also going onfor detection of the emotional and intellectualgifts existing in the human being. This searchhas discovered special and general intelligence;intelligence functioning in specific area andthat active over a range of subjects. This searchhas found that there are some who have a talentfor languages, while some have a fascination forsymbols. There are some who have a facility inmanipulating figures, while some are good atforming and enriching human interrelationships.uncovered, shaped and sharpened bypurposeful efforts.The Third GiftThe human form gives the ability tomanipulate, to communicate, to formrelationships, to think. To be born in Indiagives access to the common Indian heritage -its unique creations and its spiritualorientation. Besides being human and Indian,being born in a particular species and in aparticular place, all the children have one moregift. This third gift is the ability to receiveflashes of intuition and work towards bringingthat intuition into reality by spurts ofunsurpassed viguour and dedication. Thehuman form may have some defects. A childmay be born in the shadowy darkness of theIndian society where the light of India’sachievements has not yet reached. Even thesechildren have this third gift which is the realsource of permanent advances in the nationallife of our country. This gift seems to need notraining. Only the blocks have to be removedand the direction of its application has to beindicated.A STIMULATING ENVIRONMENTGood food, adequate growth andmaintenance of health are importantbut growth of the intellect is essential.Play is the vital schooling of the youngchild.- From Children of our World.Some have the gift of thinking criticallyand some can think creatively. Some canmemorise, some can analyze, some canevaluate. The range of human gifts is enormous.This search is going on in India as well as inmany other countries. What has been observedis only the tip of the iceberg. It has also beenfound that many of the observed capacities canbe enhanced by training. All these gifts are aconsequence of the main gifts of being human.All the children have them. They have to beMotivating the Children to Kindle theirGifts.We find many times that there arechildren for whom the physical limitation, thesocial handicap or the economic adversity itselfbecomes a source of motivation. They sing thesong of ‘We can overcome’ and make a placefor themselves in the society by theirachievements. Today’s Dr. Mashelkars and Dr.Abdul Kalams are outstanding examples ofsuch motivation. There are other children whohave the gifts and the favourable conditions forthe use of their gifts. These children have to bemotivated to excel in their field of study andactivity. They have to be motivated to deploytheir gifts in solving relevant problems —social, technological, economic — for thebenifit of an individual and for the benifit ofIndia.95

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 2These children who are on a firm and favourablestarting ground need an exposure to a variety of learningexperiences. They need interaction with stalwarts invarious walks of life. They need to see the whole range ofsocio-economic conditions. Some of these exposuresstrike a chord in their hearts, rouse their curiosity. Thissets them on a learnig curve leading them to challengeswhich test their abilities. Learning to overcome thesechallenges, they find an area, where it becomes their lifemissionto set new standards of excellence in it.Motivated in this way, they then get a sense of selfgrowthby their contribution in their area leading tothe resurgence of India to higher levels of humanexistence. We have to remember that the gifts of Indianchildren will be fully manifested when they are used tofill the gaps and holes in the national life of India andraise it to a higher level of consciousness.NEIGHBOURHOOD-SCHOOLSSARALA RAJPUTThe education commission known as theKothari commission recommended theestablishment of neighbourhood-schoolsystems in India. The concept of commonschools and neighbourhood-schools is areality in many countries. As identified bythe Kothari commission, it (lack ofneighbourhood awareness) is the mainproblem in the country. Those staying inmetropolitan cities can hardly believe in asituation in which all children of theneighbourhood, irrespective of caste, creed,community, religion, economic condition orsocial status would attend the same school.This was a dream enshrined in the commissionreport, which fondly hoped that such schoolswould provide quality education, generatinginterest in all sectors of the community inthe affairs of the school. When thecommission report was translated into thepolicy document, it was suggested that allprivileged schools should be required toadmit students on the basis of merit. Ithas hardly been implemented.96

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 3MALNUTRITION-CAUSES,EFFECTS ANDSOLUTIONSDr.N.JAYATo be healthy and active, it is essential to have food in adequate quantity, quality andvariety to meet one’s energy and nutrient requirements. Without adequate nutrition,children cannot develop their potential to the fullest, and adults will experience difficultyin maintaining or expanding theirs.Nutrition and its significanceNutrition is perhaps the most important factor, which affects the health of a child. Itplays a profound role in combating diseases as malnourished are susceptible to diseases. Thisleads to infection, which further deteriorates the nutritional status, resulting in a vicious circle.Infections may sometimes become lethal to a malnourished person. Over a third of the world’smalnourished children live in India. More than two-thirds of India’s preschool children aremoderately or severely malnourished. Of the 11.18 million children under the age of five, childmortality is estimated at 3 million children (Lopaz 2003).One reason for children being vulnerable is their rapid growth rate coupled with demandingand excessive nutritional needs. Ideally, young children need frequent and nutrient densefeedings, but all too often, weaning foods used in poor countries like India, are bulky and are ofpoor nutritional quality. These children are also exposed to an overwhelming array of agents ofinfections, respiratory and gastro-intestinal, at a time when their immune systems are developing.Infections lead to poor appetites and their metabolic effects result in substantial energy andnutrient loss.Evidence from the fields of physiology, nutrition, psychology, education and other fieldscontinue to accumulate to indicate that the early years are critical to all of later life and henceprovision of balanced nutrition is essential.· Brain cells are formed during the first two years. Recent research shows thatstimulation of a child’s senses affects the structure and organization of neural pathwaysin the brain during the formative period. By age six, most of these connections are made(or not, as the case may be). Thus providing opportunities for appropriately complexperceptual and motor experiences at an early age favourably affects various learningabilities in later life and can even compensate, at least partly, for deficits associated withearly malnutrition (Dobbing, 1987).· Allowing disability and arrested development to occur when it could be preventedis a violation of human rights. The fact that children are dependent on others forsatisfaction of their rights, creates an even greater obligation to help and protect them.116

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'04Research evidence demonstrates that the early years are critical in the development ofintelligence, personality and social behaviour and that there are long term effects associatedwith it. Society benefits economically from investing in young children because its productivecapacity increases. The increasing survival of vulnerable children, changing family structure,composition and child rearing practices, urban rural migration, the growing presence of womenin the labour force, and other changes create imbalances that require concerted attention toearly care and development. In compendium, a person who is well developed physically, mentally,socially and emotionally will be in a better position to contribute economically to family,community and country than a person who is not.117

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 3· Low birth survivors are likely to suffer growth retardation and illness throughoutchildhood, adolescence and into adulthood.· Long term impairment in mental and motor development.· Impaired learning and low school achievement.· Low hemoglobin levels.· Growth failure in early childhood leads to women who are very short and havenarrow pelvic inlets; this places them at great risk of delivery complications anddeath.· Growth retarded adult women are likely to carry on the vicious cycle ofmalnutrition by giving birth to low birth weight babies.· Reduced muscle mass and limited physical work capacity.· Reduce productivity hampering economic growth and· Lower life expectancy.Succinctly, malnutrition leads to reduction in overall well being, quality of life andcompromises on the holistic development of the human potential.What can be done?* Create awarenessA great deal of energy must be put into raising awareness about the process of childdevelopment, the deteriorating conditions affecting early childhood development, about the longtermeffects of developmental faltering on individuals and societies and about the options thatexist. Perhaps, mass media should play an important role in helping to raise awareness, correctmisconceptions and provide basic information about child development.* DemystifyAn effort is required to demystify myths related to child development and to overcomemisconceptions that impede actions. For instance:Child survival and child development are perceived as sequential processes (rather thansimultaneous one). As a result, programming to save lives usually defined in terms of treatingdiseases, comes first; programming for child development, with mental and social and emotionalcomponents comes later. They can and should come together.Health and nutrition are known to influence psycho-social well being, but the reverse isseldom recognised as true. This one way view favours programmes concentrating on health andnutrition, with psycho-social development left aside, or vice versa.The myth that mothers are the social and always the best caretakers of their childrenthroughout the early years is associated with the idea that programmes of care outside the homewith other people is detrimental.118

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'04The native notion that real learning and education begin at school seems to have grownstronger as the system of schooling has expanded. Failing to realize that the earliest months andyears of life is equally significant is an important reason for this.This is a tendency to think that so called ‘traditional’ child rearing practices and beliefs areout-mode and need to be corrected or replaced with modern practices. This biases early childhoodprogrammes towards a “compensatory” model rather than towards a supportive and constructiveone, working with the strengths of families and communities.* InformBut more than dissemination of information is required for changes in awareness and attitudeto occur. An active strategy is needed creating opportunities for discussion, dialogue, experiencewith alternatives, and participation in all phases of programming for child development. Such astrategy must build on both academic knowledge and experience.Girl Child: Concern of EveryoneIn spite of many reservations, in reality, the girl child has to accept an inferior status in thesocio-economic, religious set-up and enjoys only fewer of the childhood years than boys. Femalechildren even without going to cradle are sent to the grave. The girl child continues to be neglectedat all levels. Right from the beginning she is forced to live a life of deprivation, ill health andexploitation because of age-old traditions, social customs and prejudices. On the contrary, thebirth of a son is celebrated with a lot of enthusiasm. Discrimination against the girl child doesnot end here. In manifests itself in various forms in the family and society. Deep-rooted in-builtsocial prejudices ensure that she is shackled to a life of deprivation, humiliation, docility, blindobedience and total dependence. The dubious society of ours consciously or subconsciously andsystematically discriminates against the girl child rights from her birth, if at all she is allowed tobe born. Unceasing assault continues till her grave.119

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 3The different discriminations and atrocities directed against the girl child in the context ofhealth are elaborated here in after.I. STATUS OF THE GIRL CHILDDemographic Distortions.The following tables and facts emphasise the distortions in the demographic distribution ofgirl children.Total Population ( in crores)Year Total Males [%] Females [%]2001 102.70 Cr 53.12 Cr 49.57 CrCensus of India [100] [51.73] [48.27]*Census of India 2001, ‘Provisional Population Totals’· The total population of girl children (0-14 years) in Indian constitutes 19 percentof total population and 40 percent of all women in the country.· Of the child population (0-14 years) nearly 50% are girls.Sex Ratio of Total Population and Child Population 1961 – 2001Year Sex Ratio in the Age Overall Sex RatioGroup of 0-6 Years1961 976 9411971 964 9301981 962 9341991 945 9272001 927 933* Census of India, 2001, ‘Provisional Population Totals’120

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'04· Out of the 12 million girl children born every year in India.- One and half million does not live to see their first birthday;- Within 5 years another, 3,50,000 succumb to premature death; and- By the 15 th year three million of them die.- Age specific death rates reveal that up to 35-years more females than males dieat every age level (wal, 2000)Low Level of Sex-ratioIt is indeed ironical that the woman craves more for a male child than a man does, andunfortunately, she is usually blamed for producing a girl child though science has provedconclusively that the sex of the child is determined by the male chromosomes. Beginning withthis root-cause, there are other reasons for eliminating the girl child.· Deliberate discrimination against girl child takes several forms: Nutritionaldenial such as inadequate breast-feeding and early weaning; insufficient or delayed medicalcare; lack of attention, emotional deprivation and insufficient investment in resources. Allthese have been documented as leading to excess mortality of the female child.· Womb to Tomb Syndrome : Sex selective female abortions – anothermanifestation of gender discrimination against girl children is sex-specific abortion of femalefoc-tuses. It is sad how modern technology and scientific possibilities are being exploitedto determine the sex of the unborn child in the womb of the mother even during the firstfew months of pregnancy. It is the attitude of the community and preference of the malechild, which encourages such practices.· Maternal mortality is a long-term fall-out of the neglect, deprivations anddeprivations undergone by the girl child, represented by the vicious cycle below:121

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 3· Female infanticide, purposive killing of new-born femalebabies, is another terrible practice that has been existing forgenerations and is still prevalent in many parts in India. In theaverage Indian society, it is considered a disgrace to have a girlchild because men are the pride of the society. The parents ofthe girl child feel inferior and consider the girl child a liabilityin terms of future dowry and social status.· Malnourishment and neglect of the girl child result inhigher mortality at young ages. In Europe and America, moreboys than girls die in the first five years. In India, 20 percentmore girls die during the first five years. It is again the story ofgender bias, neglect and deprivation. The neglect of the girlchild affects her health in many ways. She is given less food, attimes even deprived of her mother’s milk, because she is onlya girl. Foods such as milk, meat, eggs are usually reserved for men and the growing boys. Neglectalso includes deprivation of necessary medical care at times of illness that boys are promptlygiven, while girls are rarely provided. Premature death of the girl child is the consequence ofall these neglect.Recommendations· Strict action against the culprits of female foeticide and infanticide. Government shouldendeavour to strictly and totally curtail pre-birth sex determining tests, which have reducedmarginally and otherwise gone underground following the legal ban on the practices.· Creating necessary public awareness.· Tightening of the dowry-laws and reducing expenditure on girls would surely help inbringing down the incidence of female infanticide.· Family life education for the use of birth control practices would help women inpreventing unwanted births.· Eliminating all forms of discrimination against the girl child and the root causes of sonpreference, which result in harmful and unethical practices such as prenatal sex-selection andfemale infanticide. This is oftencompounded by the increasing useof technologies to determine foetalsex, resulting in abortion offoetuses.· All community groups havetheir own associations. They havecontrol over their people. Theleaders of these associations can beentrusted with the checking offemale infanticide in these regions.122

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'04HEALTH & NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF THE GIRL CHILDA. Prevailing ConditionsBirth Rate & MortalityParticulars (1999) Indian Tamil Nadu* IMR/1000 72.0 67.2* MMR/1000 4.0 1.1* Roy (2000) Women and Child Development in India* Infant Mortality is found to be a direct fall-out of early marriage and young age of themother and lack of attentive medical care immediately following birth, if the new-bornis found to be a girl.Nutritional Profile of Girl ChildrenThe NNMB data on rural population show that the average heights and wrights of girls arelower than that of boys. The girls stood lower than boys when compared with the growth standardof the National Centre for Health Statistics (NCHS) for Indian children as well (Reddy et.al.,1993)123

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 3· 15-20% of the girls in India do not achieve their expected height and weight as women- In the age group of 1-5 years almost half (49.1%) of girls were under weight;.- 20.3 percent were severely underweight;- And Stunting was observed in 56% of girls (Tenth Five-Year Plan: Interim Report of theWorking Group on empowerment of Women, May 2001).· In India an estimated 50-55% of the girls in adolescence are said to be anaemic.· As an unavoidable repercussion 60-70% of the women during pregnancy are severelyaneamic· In India, in 1990, 19 percent of maternal death were due to anaemia (National NutritionMonitoring Bureau-NNMB Report of Repeat Surveys 1988-90).CausesMore than a quarter of the country’s population – girl children and adolescents areconsidered as the lesser child.Surveys have shown that male children are breast-fed for longer period, than the femalechild is, thus nutritional discriminations starts very early in life. A male child is breastfed when the mother has time, while girls are breast fed for shorter period, so thatmothers could be pregnant once again for a male child.Later in life, more nutritious food is given to the male child in preference to hisunfortunate sisters who have to make do with leftovers. Girls are given inferiornutritional intake. Also boys have greater access to fruits and other foods outside thehome as they get pocket money for going to school. Girls are denied this, since theymostly stay at home.Differential maternal care for male and female children.Medical attention in case of illness is mostly delayed and even denied in case of girlchildren. While male children are promptly referred to medical services at times ofillness, while the girl child is rarely taken unless she is very seriously ill or is about tobe married.Deep-rooted gender discrimination deprives the girl child of her childhood. She iscompelled into early marriage and child bearing. More than 15 million girls aged 15 to19 years of age give birth each year. And this results in several unhealthy outcomes.ImplicationsIn India, for the girl child, the period from infancy to adolescence is made to be a perilouspath as described Figure. Girlhood: A Perilous Path.Existing discrimination against the girl child in access to nutrition and physical andmental health services endangers the girl child’s current and future health.Inadequate food and frequent infection lead to malnutrition and hold back the physicaland mental development of millions of girl children.Although the girl child has a natural biological advantage over the boy, in India socialdisadvantage outweighs the genetic advantage of girls.The unhealthy outcomes of early marriage and child bearing are that:The child grows into an adult, who has not grown fully to her genetic potential, and thuscontinues the vicious cycle of under nutrition, disease, and poor health.Motherhood at a very young age entails complications during pregnancy and deliveryand a risk of maternal death that is much greater than average.124

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'04The children of young mothers have higher levels of morbidity and mortality.- Early child bearing continues to be an impediment to improvements and severelycurtails the educational and employment opportunities.- Early marriage and motherhood has a long-term adverse impact on the youngmothers and their children as described in the Figure; The Inter-generationalNutrition Depletion Cycle (National Nutritional Monitoring Bureau –NNMB Report of Repeat Surveys 1988-90).Involvement of various groups in promoting nutritional status of children.· Politicians need to understand the problem, potential solutions and broader social,economic and political implications of action.· Planners require a greater technical understanding, must have a feel for specific actionsopen to them and need to know abut costs. They must be shown that intellectual, socialand emotional development of young children is not simply a by-product of otherprogrammes. They need examples of integrated attention.· Professionals need help to redirect their thinking towards more supervisory roles andtoward actions that draw upon experience as well as on other academic preparation.Curricula will need to be reviewed and revised so those medical doctors in training learnabout child health and nutrition.· Programme implementers in communities, NGO’s and government need to thinkholistically of the various ways in which real participation can be incorporated into theprogrammes.· Families and other caregivers need concrete information about actions that they cantake in the home. They need to be supported with adequate knowledge regarding childrearing.125

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 3Recommendations· Girl child in India is subjected toinequality, Disparity and Neglect. Genderbiased inequalities permeate the very fabric ofthe social and cultural environment and thevalue system. Following which the girl child haslesser entitlement to health care, nutrition,education and even parental attention. At timesdeprivation of girl children may also resultfrom parents inability to feed their childrenbecause of poverty. Taking an holistic view ofthe situation.- Immediate political, social and economic reformations are imminent for solving theproblem.- Necessary action by the national Governments with due participation and involvementof the people at the community level are mandatory for effective solution.· These apart there are some basic healthessentials for ensuring healthy girl children infuture.- From birth to the age of three years theyshould be weighed every month. If there is noweight gain for two months, means something iswrong and this requires attention.- Breast milk alone is the best possible foodfor about the first six months of a child’s life,which the girl child should be provided withoutdeprivation.- By the age of four to six months, the child needs other food in addition to breast milk.And a child under three years of age needsfood at least four to five times a day. Againthe girl child should be provided these on parwith their male siblings.- It should be considered obligatory that allchildren, especially girl children need foodsin breast milk, rich in vitamin A, green leafyvegetables and orange coloured fruits andvegetables. Inadequate food stunts childgrowth and also infections and illness.- Girl children also need timely and appropriatecare during illness. Repeated infectionsand illness accompanied with inappropriatecare result in poor child growth.· The health of the girl children in thedeveloping world could be dramaticallyimproved if all families were empowered withtoday’s essential child health information.126

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'04· For elimination of discrimination against girls in health and nutrition the followingactions are suggested to be taken by governments and NGOs:- provide public information on the removal of discriminatory practices against girls infood allocation, nutrition access to health services.- Sensitise the girl child, parents, teachers and society concerning good general health andnutrition and raise awareness of the health dangers and other problems connected withearly pregnancy.- Include health and nutritional training as an integral part of literacy programmes andschool curricula starting at the primary level for the benefit ofthe girl child.· With a futuristic approach safekeeping of girl children’s healthshould also include awareness about safe sexual practices, selfprotection,access to and reduction of the cost of treatment,encouragement for HIV counselling and testing, youth friendlyservices, and revenue generation activities for afflicted women.The answer to tackling child malnutrition in India does not liein the elaborately manufactured foods. The need is not fortrained doctors or for advanced food technology. A huge dentcould be made in a huge problem by relatively simple means,if we could summon up the resolve to make the reduction ofdeprivation our number one goal and if governments of thedeveloping countries like India could accept this as a numberone priority.References:Jaya, N (2001), Girl child: vision of the future, National Policy for Empowerment ofWomen, Centre for women’s studies, Pp.8.Lopez, S.K. (2003). Practical Solutions to Tackle Child Malnutrition in India, Food andNutrition World, Vol.1 (6), 32.Rao, R (2001) child Sex Ratio: Stop feticide, Social, Welfare, November 2001 48(8), pp27.Reddy, V Rao, N.P.Sastry, J.G. & Kashinath, K (1993) Trends in India,Hyderabad : National Institute of Nutrition, pp.30Development; Priorities for 21 st Century (1 st ed) Vol.I,pp.182-185, New Delhi127

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'04NEWDIMENSIONSINMODERNEDUCATIONDR. H.R.NAGENDRA ETALThe last four centuries in our globe have broughtabout immense changes in our understanding ofNature around us. Corresponding educationalmodifications have become mandatory in the society. Themodern educational system has changed quite fast tokeep up with this growth in understanding. Yet, a biggerchange appears to be in the offing.Newton-Descartes’ mechanistic world-view and theclassical deterministic approach featured by objectiveexperimental methodology have kept us going over thelast three to four centuries. The religious superstitions,blind beliefs, dogmas, rituals, customs, manners andhabits have been replaced by rational thinking with a lifestylebased on comfort. The era of science and technologyhas been the result. Education is also tailored to this eraand today, it is predominantly science-oriented andtechnology-based.In the encounter, man has moved from ignoranceand superstitions to a place of rational thinking. Theintellect is developed. The power of discrimination isharnessed. This move has brought great dividends interms of solving (i) the basic needs of man’s food, shelterand clothing and (ii) unravelling the secrets of thetremendously vast spectrum of the physical universefrom the level of fundamental particles at the micro-levelto the galaxies and milky-ways at the macro-level.Generalised laws like relativistic mechanics and quantumtheory have replaced the classical mechanics. We are nowgoing even beyond the quantum theory.The last and the present decades are showing signsof new break-throughs in physics, micro-biology, brainresearch and medical sciences on the one hand andeconomics, technology and social sciences on the other.Sensitivity and matter-based approach are good buthypersensitivity may be devastating. Too much ofmaterialism may turn too bad. It is then that the newtransformation begins. Problems become stepping stonesto newer understanding. About four to five decades ago,under similar situations, the probability theory andquantum mechanics sprang up opening a new vista ofknowledge. Soon, our world view will undergo a totaltransformation, said Professor Josephson, the NobelLaureatte of the University of Cambridge in his lecture105

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 3‘Beyond Quantum Theory’ in 1985. From the presentmatter-based world-view, we may advance to a morefundamental world vision that consciousness, intellect,mind, life, etc. are primary and matter is secondary. Thatwill be a total turning of the tables in science. And sowill be our approach to education.If micro-biologists have started adding life as aseparate entity, brain researchers have recognized theinevitability of using consciousness as the innate core ofall brain—functioning – the medical world has recognizedthe limitations of the modern drug therapy, mainly basedon the matter-based world view, in dealing withpsychosomatic diseases and psychiatric problems.Just as petrol based technology is turningpredominantly ecological, non—pharmacologicalapproach is getting increasingly recognised in the fieldof medicine.Economic models have started including health costsand expenditure on tension and stress hazards in makingthemselves more realistic; the classical objective, linearmodels in economic theories are replaced by non-linear,highly probabilistic and sophisticated models. Socialphilosophies have started reconsidering the value system(GNP) on which they classified the nations. Economicsas a total measure of social growth is being replaced byhuman well-being as the measure. All these mean a totaltransformation. Educationists too are dissatisfied withthe pattern of education and are introducing rapidchanges in the curriculum. Naturally, it appears, we areon the verge of a transformation and at a turning pointas rightly and Professor Fritjof Capra envisages.In this transition towards a fundamental andprofound change in our world-view, Professor Josephsoncontinued, “We find a direction, a new light in theEastern wisdom-the wisdom from the Vedas,Upanishads, Shatdarshanas etc.” Many otherprogressive scientists and thinkers have similar view andresearch is progressing all over the globe. So areeducationists examining the concept of the education aspropounded in the East.Swami Vivekananda was very clear in portraying thisconcept of education of our ancient seers – ‘Education isthe manifestation of perfection already in man’. It is notmere cramming of information. Neither is it a meresharpening of the intellect. It is aprocess of transforming a man to aMAN, a process by which man raiseshimself from his sleeping animal levelof instincts, to a normal level andthen becomes a great man, superman,divine man and ultimately reachesdivinity itself. This process is a verilyyoga. Hence, education and yoga arealmost synonyms. InMundakopanishad, the widespectrum of education has beendivided into two categories – Paraand Apara in response to an ardentstudent seeking true education froma seer. He asks him thus:dfLeUuq Hkxoks foKkrsloZfeane~ foKkre~ HkorhfrAKasminnu bhagavo vijnatesarvamidam vijnatam bhavatiti.(By learning which I knoweverything Sir, please teach me thatequations. In answer to thisfundamental question, the teacherintroduces two types of education).}s fo|s osfnrO;s ijkpSo vijk pDwe vidye veditavye para caivaapara ca.Para (divine) and Apara(secular) are the two vidyas to belearnt.Aparar= vijk% _Xosnks ;tqosZn% lkeosnksvFkoZosn% f’k{kdYiksO;kdj.ke~ fu#Dre~NanksT;ksfr";fefrATatra aparah Rgvedoyajurvedahsamavedoatharvavedah, siksa kalpovyakaranam niruktam, chandojyotisyamiti.106

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'04The para vidyas include the fourVedas, Rgveda, Yajur, Sama andAtharva and the six Vedangas(supporting scriptures) –epistemology, code of rituals,grammar, etymology, metre, andastrology.ParavFk ijk ;;k rn{kjef/kxE;rsAtha para yayatadaksaramadhigamyate.(Mundaka, 1.5).The para vidya (divine) is thatactual process by which one reachesthat perfection or unmutilatedreality. While the first concerns itselfwith the knowledge of the externaluniverse and the internal world, thesecond refers to the actual process ofgetting at it, experiencing it by a totalmetamorphic transformation ofoneself. A total personalitydevelopment and not merelycramming up information is what issuggests. Hence, the holistic vision ofeducation propounded in theUpanishads include both the secularand the divine emphasising trueeducation, the process oftransformation as primary and thesecular as secondary. This is what istermed as ‘Spirituality-basedEducation’ to bring about aspiritually-oriented culture in thesociety featured by love andharmony, efficiency and coordination,bliss and fearlessness,affluence, supporting the growth ofthe ethical value system, etc.Swami Vivekananda enunciated‘Concentration and Detachment’ asthe principles of true education toachieve the goal of total development.This is what Patanjali portrayed in hissecond sutra while defining yoga:;ksxf'pRro`fRrfujks/k%Yogah citta vritti nirodhahYoga is total control over mental modifications.A capacity to concentrate which helps to overcomethe randomness of the mind and a skill to vanquish allthoughts totally and remain silent are the two-foldprocesses of mastery or control over the mind. Thus, thefundamental part of education is to achieve this mastery.What we are at, mostly in our education, is the formerand not the latter, a skill to calm down the mind asbeautifully portrayed in the great text on yoga –Yogavasistha:eu%iz'keuksik;% ;ksxbR;fHk/kh;rsManah prasamanopayah yoga ityabhidhiyate.This aspect of relaxation and detachment is themissing part in our educational process. And that is thenew dimension to be added into our curriculum.To meet the demands of modern life-style, full ofspeed, stresses and tensions, an all-round personalitydevelopment is mandatory. Integral yoga is what issuggested by Sri Aurobindo. The physical, mental,intellectual, emotional and spiritual components of manhave to blossom to greater and greater levels. This thenbrings a fourfold consciousness-civic sense, patrioticurge, service zeal and spiritual aspiration to make man auseful component of the society in which he lives. Thisapproach towards a total growth of man forms the basisof a holistic vision of education.(From Yoga in Education Vol.I VKYOGAS-Bangalore1988)107

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 3CHILD AND AYURVEDAProf. (Dr.) S.K.MishraAyurveda is a complete philosophy of life whichencompasses duets of pleasure and pain, usefuland useless, the life that fulfils and that which doesnot, and at the top of all this, it enables one to quantifythese attributes. By living an ayurvedic way of life, onebecomes one’s own master. It enables a person to live ina radiant state of happiness. This state in Ayurveda istermed “Hitayu”. This enables a person to make all fourachievements described as Dharma, Artha, Kama andMoksa.“Atharva Veda” – it goes withoutsaying that this is the continuation ofDivine knowledge. It enables a personto develop the divine element in himand achieve the ultimate – TheNirvana – which is termedKAIVALYA by same. The spiritualapproach which clears the psyche andincreases the level of consciousnessof the persons makes a healthypsychosocial behaviour which is thereal motivating force for the futuregenerations.The Gita clearly says – “whateveris done by the enlightened onebecomes an evidence and is followedby the masses –“Yadyadacarti sresthas.TadtadevetarojanahSa yat pramanamkuruteLokastadanuvartate.Ayurveda has assigned to itself two main functions1. Maintaince of Health in a healthy person.2. Cure from the ailments in a diseased person. Itdescribes a definite set of measures of this.In the present era these concepts are beingcompromised for narrow short term gains, which isdecomposing the persona of an individual which is theroot cause of the chaotic and destructive situation in themodern world. Since Ayurveda is the ‘upaveda’ of theThe practical steps taken in India in thefield of preprimary educationThe Kothari commission has recommended somepractical models for p.p.e. in India .1) For children of age group 3-5 years,integrated care - centres especially in urbanslums.2) Half - day balwadis is urban as well as ruralareas.3) First stage - day - care centres.4) Anganvadis in rural areas.5) Institutions linked to primary schools.Which clearly implies thatAyurveda-way of life will be a definitemotivating force for the futuregenerations if it is adopted by thesociety.If we consider the child-inmaking,we will be convinced that“Ayurveda” is the only science whichhas given so much of thought for this.The Sukra-Sonita Samyoga – i.e. thetime of fertilisation is the occasionwhen the Atmana (Soul) enters thefuture body of the child – Hence anayurvedic physician will alwaysadvise the couple to be Satwika(creative) during the days one istrying to have a child. If we considerthis an atmosphere and bodilySatwik qualities are likely to developa fully healthy and long-living child,capable of making all the worldlyachievements in his life. If theparents take care of the Ayurvedicknowledge, regarding the Dharma(duties) of the future parents, the108

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'04poor child who often pays for thefollies of the parents will be saved ofit. These considerations have beenglamourised but not utilised.The “Dincarya” (Day-schedules)“Ratricarya” (night-schedules), and“Rtucarya” (the seasonal routines)have been vividly described. If theyare followed by the parents in the firstplace, they themselves will lead ahealthy living, then they will producea healthy offspring and last but notthe least, their exemplary life willmake healthy habits in their children.If the parents want their children tobe happy and healthy they have toeducate themselves first, which willbe giving a natural training to theirchildren as parents. We all know thatthe parenthood in a child developswhen he is being parented. Hence ifwe want some Ayurveda to go to theparenthood of the future India, thepresently sexually viable couples ofthe reproducing age must adapt toAyurveda. This will enable them torear their children in Satwika(creative) personalities which willsolve not only their but some of thenation’s and world’s problems also.EDUCATION OF AYURVEDATO CHILDRENIn the modern era of glamourand artificial living, children are notbeing given any education regardingtheir Ahara (Diet), Vihara(Behavioural pattern), Carya(Routines and schedules of life). Inthe name of education, they arebeing prepared for the rat racewhich has nothing to do with theirpersonality-development or raisingtheir level of consciousness. This isthe cause of worsening child andadolescent crime-situation.How does a child collect information?A child gathers 87% of its information throughits eyes, 7% through its ears, 3.5% throughits sense of touch, 1.5% through its sense ofsmell and 1% through its sense of taste. Acreche/nursey teacher should select hereducational equipments accordingly.(From “The Hand - book of Nursery schools”)Madurai 1-1980.Ayurveda, if introduced from the primary educationlevel in a graded manner, and be gradually enhanced atthe secondary school and higher education level, theindividual, social and national health can be better takencare of. The western model of hospital-beds per quantumof population as a health indicator is not going to solvethe problem. If the child gets to know how to take careof his health by the resources readily available in hissurroundings and the atmospheric vicinity, he will notonly save the pollution of the milieu exterior, but alsowill be purifying his milieu interior. These components109

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 3cannot be introduced to a child without educating himabout the ayurvedic concepts of Ahara, Vihara andCarya.AYURVEDA AS THE CULTURE:If Ayurveda is introduced to the child as the modernculture, the child will learn to save the national resourcesand the bio-diversity of the country. At this juncture, Iwould like to point out that, instead of propagating onlyplantation of trees, plantation of trees of higher medicinalproperties like Neem, Amla, Aswagandah, Arjuna,Jamuna, and so many others could be easily introducedto the children who will not only plant but educatethemselves as well as the society regarding the selfhealthcaresystem.Ayurveda has simple ways of correcting ailments andpreventing even serious ailments if the thoughts ofAyurveda are introduced. Why should a child be noteducated about the Ayurveda-way of life in personalhygiene, sexual behaviour, and Sattwik, Rajasic andTamasic, diet which directly affects the psyche of thechild?If Ayurveda was adopted it would have neverprompted the Government to open Beer bars so freely orCola drinks availability would have declined just for thelack of demand.ON BRAIN GROWTHScientists’, research onbrain growth has revealed thefollowing fact. A chimpanzee babyis born with 70% of its brainalready developed. The remaining30% also develops within the firstsix months after the birth of thechimp - baby. This is also true ofmost birds and animals. But a humanbeing is born only with 23% of itsbrain developed. The remaining,70% is developed within the firstsix years and the balance 7%develops and completes the processbetween 19 and 23 years.During the balwadi/creche/pre-primary school age of the child(1 to 6 years), the speed of braingrowth is faster in the first halfand slower in the second half.(From “The Hand book of Nursery- schools” by A. Avaiyan & A.Ebenezer,SarvodayaIlakhiyapannai, Madurai 1-1980.Even today if the concepts of preventive andpromotive health are introduced to children, they canbecame better and move useful units of the society – aninvaluable asset of the nation.We have already lost too much, by not adapting toAyurvedic way of rearing a child and educating childrenabout Ayurveda – Let’ us start now. Better late thanneverSarve Bhawantu SukhinahaSarve Santu NiramayahSave Bhadrani PashyantuMa Kascidduhkhbhagbhavet.110

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'0453 p.c. of Children Malnourished(From a newspaper report)It is in the area of immunisation against childhood diseases, that India hasmade rapid progress, covering a record of over 80 million children on oneday-against-poliothrough the oral vaccine. The drive against whoopingcough, diphtheria, tetanus and measles also continues with as many as 80to 90 per cent children covered. This is expected to make a significantimpact on child mortality over the next few years.The disparity between what has already been achieved in somedeveloping countries and India comes out sharply in the area of schoolingfor girls - in India 39 per cent girls are deprived primary schooling,whereas in China only 5 per cent are left out. In some countries of thesub-Saharan region as many as 90 per cent girls are denied primaryeducation.111

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 3THE ROLE OF AYURVEDAIN CHILD HEALTH-CAREVAIDYA SURESH CHATURVEDIAyurveda, the India system of medicine is fullyenriched with the knowledge and experience oflearned scholars. At least 1000 years before thedevelopment of modern paediatrics, Maharshi VriddhaVagbhata had written a treatise on Ayurvedic Paediatricsknown as Kasyap Samhita. Even before Kasyap, pioneerslike Charak and Sushruta had also discussed this branchof paediatrics at length, if not very elaborate.Ayurvedic paediatrics, named as Kaumer Bhrityathrows light not only on the management of paediatricillnesses, but also deals with the health aspects of anormally growing child so that it could develop into ahealthy adult individual.CARE OF CHILD:After the birth of child as it starts breathing itstemperature decreases. Therefore the child should becovered with woolen clothes for atleast one hour.FEEDING:The child should have mother’s milk for severalweeks. If mother’s milk is not available in sufficientquantity, then cow’s milk should be given after dilutingit. A healthy child having approximately 3 kg of weightshould feed at least five times a day. The weight of achild decreases after its birth in the initial days. But,after some days the weight of the child again increases.As the children in the first stage require nothing butmilk of the mother or of wet-nurse, or milk-substitute,so long as the quantity of milk is sufficient in everyrespect, the child will continue to be healthy and playful.But if the milk is insufficient the child may have anynumber of diseases, the human constitution is heir to.In the case of children sustained only on milk, if thechild gets diseases, the mother or wet-nurse also shouldbe treated along with the child. And if milk-substitutesare used for sustaining it, thesubstituted milk should be properlypurified with medicines, in additionto the treatment given to the child.A child is likely to get any number ofdiseases at the time of its teething.These, however, pass off when theteeth come out prominently. Theseailments should therefore, be treatedwith mild remedies befittingchildren, by a proper physician.Age as a whole has been dividedinto four phases viz. Childhood, earlyadulthood (Youth) late adulthoodand senility. The term “childhood” isused for the age between the birthand sixteen years. This is again subdividedinto three phases, which are:-1. Shishu 0-5 years2. Bala 5-12 years3. Kishore 12-16 yearsThe child should thus be lookedafter till it attains the age of youth.There are three stages of Shishut viz:1. Sustenance on milk only.2.Sustenance on milk and ordinaryfood.3.Sustenance on ordinary food alone.Massage:For proper development of thechild daily oil massage should begiven with a lump of dough flour.This will make the baby’s skin cleanand soft. It also helps in providingnutrition to it. Give the child a wash112

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'04with lukewarm water after oilmassage. Carry out massage andwashing in a closed room to protectthe child from the wind. Dry thechild’s body properly with a cleantowel. Wrap the child in loose linensand let it sleep.3. A Child requires sleep from 10 to 12 hours.4. For Age from 12 to 16, sleep requirement isfrom 8 to 10 hours.COMMON DISEASES OF A CHILD:The irregularities in diet and deeds create variousdiseases in a child.Eye:For preservation from variousdiseases and to maintain normal-eyesightit is necessary to use the Anjansfrom the child-hood daily at bed time.There are many ayurvedic medicines,which are useful in preserving andimproving the eye-sight.Exercise:A Child does require any specialexercise but his natural movementssuch as walking, running sports(indoor and outdoors) are enough fordeveloping its physical strength andgrowth.Sleep:For a human body sleep is veryessential for health-preservation,according to the person’s age. Thesleep balances the physical andmental strength, as it is a basicrequirement of our body.1. Baby requires sleep nearlyabout 16 to 18 hours.2. Infants sleep about 12 to 16hours.Pain:When the child feels any pain it starts crying. Thedegree of pain can be easily measured by the degree ofcrying. The location of pain should be ascertained fromthe place of his body where he/she frequently touchesor cries when touched. It is therefore, desirable to keepthe baby wrapped for at least an hour.Eruption of Teeth:When teeth begin to appear, there is a possibilityof every type of ailment appearing in the body of thechild. These should be temporarily treated, because itgoes away when the teeth actually appear.Memory:It is having an important role in human life butright from the childhood, we should develop thememory, so that we can improve our rememberance forwhole of our life. For this purpose, we have to maintaindaily routines properly and nourishing diet is requiredin daily meal, specially milk, butter, curd, boiled butter.And fruits and dry fruits are helpful for the improvementof the memory.The diet and deeds in daily routine are explained inAyurveda in a very simple manner for the prevention aswell as cure of diseases.113

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 3Factors influencing Infant-MortalityC. Chandra MouliDirector of Census Operations, TamilNadu1.IntroductionThe socio-economic conditions of a population areindicated by a sensitive index called Infant Mortality Rate(I.M.R) It measures the level and quality of health careand other social infrastructures.India’s socio - demographic goal is to reduce IMR to30 per 1000 live births by 2010.Tamil Nadu, West Bengal (IMR - 51) Kerala (14),Maharashtra (48) are the most successful states in Indiain this field.2. Components of IMRIMR’s two components are a) Neo-natal mortalityup to one month, influenced by biological andendogamous causes and b) post-natal mortality up to areyear, influenced by nature and quality of environment.Neo-natal mortality accounts generally for 75% of themortality.3. Causesa) Respiratory infection of the new-born b) causespeculiar to infancy c) prematurity d) congenitalmalfunction e) diarrhoea of the new born e) birth injuryetc. account for 80% of infant deaths in Tamil Nadu.Other causes are a) accidents and injuries b) fevers c)digestive disorders d) disorders of the respiratory systemse) central nervous system-based disorders, f) circulatorysystem failure and g) cord-infection.In Urban areas, slow foetal growth, malnutrition,immaturity, birth - trauma, hypoxia, birth asphyxia, andrespiratorial conditions account for 75% of the deaths.4. Factorsa) Infanticide: 100 blocks locatedin 6-7 districts practise femaleinfanticide. One sixth of all female -infant - deaths in the state are due toinfanticide.b) Infant mortality: It declinessharply with increasing education ofthe mother. It is 89/ per 1000 livebirth for illiterate mothers and 34/per 1000 line births for mothers withhigh school education.c) Medical attention: IMR forbirths with no care is 111 for 1000 livebirths. With antenatal and or deliverycare, the IMR comes down to 65 per1000 live births. With both antenataland delivery care the IMR is 51/per1000 live births.d) Age of mother, birth order andspacing: Mortality risks are higher forvery young and very old mothers, forhigher order of birth, and for birthsoccurring within 24 months ofprevious birth.e) Birth weight: Many studieshave found that low - birth - weight -babies (under 2500 grams) have asubstantial increased risk ofmortality.5. Conclusion: Thus a complexset of biological, socio-economic,demographic and cultural factorsinfluence the Infant Mortality Rate ofa population. There are no quickfixesto solve the problems. TheGovernment and the NGO’s areworking out a multi-prongedstrategy.Socio - economic, cultural and demographic causesof infant mortality in Tamil Nadu are:114

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'04KERALA WORLD’S FIRSTBABY-FRIENDLY STATEK.P.M. Basheer1.Unicef, Kerala health department, andIndian academy of paediatrics havetogether declared Kerala as the first Baby-Friendly state in the world.2. Kerala gets this honour for its efforts toprotect promote and support exclusive breastfeedingof infants for six months, andsupplementary breast-feeding beyond.3. This effort has led to substantial reductionin infant mortality and infant diseases.4. 90% of the state’s, hospitals are declaredbaby - friendly.5. This tag is given to those hospitals whichsystematically and successfully promotebreast-feeding.6. Here health facilities do not promote Breast- milk - substitutes; free samples (of milk -substitutes) are not to be given to newmothers.7. Breast - feeding reduces infant infection,diarrhoea and other diseases.8. High levels of general and female literacy,health consciousness, regard for child’s rightsand gender equality have contributed toKerala’s success.9. Tradition of Breast - feeding up to ageone has helped.10. Kerala already has the lowest infantmortality rate, (lower than some prosperousWestern countries) the highest rate ofinstitutional delivery and the highest lifeexpectancy at birth in the country.(Adopted from an article in the Hindu)115

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 3A SILENT EMERGENCY –MALNUTRITION IN INDIASheeladevi 1 , Dr. Lakshmi Rahmathullah 21 - Lions Aravind Institute of Community Ophthalmology, Madurai2 - Family health and development, research and service foundation, MaduraiIntroductionIn the public imagination the word “Malnutrition”brings vision of the emaciated child with sunken eyes andflies humming around the mouth seen on TV in conflictregions of Africa and in famine conditions. In India oldergeneration-doctors will remember the emaciated childwith thin legs and pot-belly or a child with the bloatedand puffed face and swelling of the feet. Fortunately wedo not see these extreme malnutrition-cases now. Butmalnutrition continues to be a problem in our country.To address this problem, India is the first country to havetaken action to improve the nutritional status of childrenand emphasis was placed on Protein Energy Malnutritionand efforts were made to improve the condition. Indiahas based its nutrition programmes on the followingpresumptions.1. Nutrition of children is very importantand it is the responsibility of the mothers.2. For decades we have looked at nutritionwith a welfare approach which has treated peopleonly as recipients ofwelfare.India is in the“ N u t r i t i o n a lTransitional” stage andhence we have bothundernutrition andovernutrition in theform of obesity. Thepoor eat less of all fooditems and the rich overeat the wrong food itemand lead a sedentarylife. The 1993-94 National Sample Survey (NSS)indicated that 70% of the adult population had a foodintake of less than 2400 calories which have beenrecommended. This (the intake) is even less than 2100calories in rural areas. On an average an adult consumes1700 calories per day and 10% of thepopulation consumes less than 1300calories per day.The welfare approach has notdelivered any dramatic result. Whatwe need is a “Rights Approach.” ThisRight’s Approach lends itself toseeing the poor in the developmentprocess and leading towardscommunity involvement andownership that will ensuresustainability rather than overridingthe coping strategies.India has the world’s largestnumber of malnourished childreneven though food production is moreand the national income is betterthan some other countries in Africawhich have smaller number ofmalnourished children. The nutritionprogramme in India was started 20years ago and Tamilnadu has a verywell planned nutrition programme.Today we do not see gross101

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'04malnutrition that we did in thesixties, however the number ofchildren malnourished is still high.It is estimated that the effect ofmalnutrition on productivity, illnessand death in India costs the Nation,10 billion dollars a year. Micronutrientdeficiencies have come todominate the thinking of thegovernment and NGOs who havebeen concerned about this. Howevertill recently most of them wereinvolved in vertical programmes ofindividual micro-nutrientdeficiencies and Vitamin Adominated the services of thoseorganizations involved in eye-care.The major micro-nutrientdeficiencies identified are Vitamin A,iron and iodine and Zinc also isemerging as a matter of concern.National scenarioIn India, the prevalence of severe and moderatemalnutrition in terms of weight of the age (in childrenaged 0 - 4 years) is 53%. Almost one third of the childrenborn in India have a birth-weight less than 2.500 Kgswhich is termed as “low birth-weight” and had adverseconsequences in growth and some of the children startedshowing growth retardation before birth. The survivalGlobal scenarioEveryone will be surprised toknow that the worst affected regionin malnutrition is not Africa butSouth East Asia with India andBangladesh as leading countries. InAfrica only 30% of the children areunder-weight for age as against morethan 50% in India and Bangladesh.Among the total world childpopulation, 20% of the children areliving in India and among themalnourished children 40% of thechildren are living in India.chances of these children are less, when compared tochildren born with normal birth-weight, which is 3.000Kgs. This malnutrition is a pure and simple consequenceof inadequate intake of food and can happen in cases offamines or non–availability of food or lack of money.However India has not had any wide spread famines, ornon-availability of food or lack of money when comparedto other developing countries.Nutrition-supplementation-schemesIndia was one of the first countries in the world toinitiate feeding programmes for children. A number ofschemes are available to feed the indigent population.Other countries that have copied and adopted ourfeeding-programmes for children have overtaken us andhave better nourished children and women. TheGovernment of India spent Rs.5,100 crores on foodsubsidiesduring the year 1994-1995 and Tamilnadugovernment’s nutrition-supplementary-programmecosts Rs.175.94 (Rs.168.63 incurred by State and Rs.7.31by Central government) per child in the age group of 0 –14 years during the year 1992 -1993. But the nutritionexpenditure per malnourished child per year inTamilnadu during 1993 - 1994 was Rs. 732.37. The totalexpenditure on nutrition by Tamilnadu governmentduring the year 1994 – 1995 was Rs.302.50 crores. All102

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 3these facts indicate that malnutrition is not due to lackof government spending, or lack of food grains, or lackof per capita income. It suggests that it’s not enough tospend money on various schemes to the population, equalefforts have to be taken to understand the customs andbeliefs and eating habits of our population. The presentcondition reveals the fact that achieving the Nationalnutritional goal for 2000 by the year 2010 itself verydifficult.Malnutrition is a problemacross all social classes.Following are the factors that contribute towards thenutritional status of the population.affects the eye but it also challengesthe immune-response-system of thebody. Thus a vitamin A-deficientpersonis unable to cope—with therepeated attacks of infections towhich the population is exposed.Vitamin A deficiency is seen inpockets and commonly found amongthe very poor. However, a vitamin Adeficient pregnant woman complainsof night blindness and is at risk ofgiving birth to a child that couldsuffer from nutritionally inducedblindness after birth.1. Total calories intake of food is belowrecommended standards among the poor and far abovethe recommended standard among the rich with theadded problem of sedentary life styles.2. Also there are major micro-nutrient deficiencieswhich affect the health of the population. However manymore micro-nutrients necessary for health are receivingattention.The three major micro-nutrient deficiencies are:1. Iron deficiency anaemiaThis is a major problem among both women and childrenof all social classes. It is also a problem among men.Prevalence of Anaemia inChildren 1-5 yrs - 53%Adult Women - 75%Pregnant women - 83%Adolescent girls from affluent families -60%The consequences of anaemia are poor productivity,loss of hair, loss of appetite, sleeplessness, irritabilitywhich contributes towards poor quality of life.2. Vitamin A deficiencyVitamin A deficiency has been reduced enormouslydue to the sustained government programme ofproviding vitamin A to children since 1971. HoweverVitamin A deficiency is still a Public health problem andin Tamilnadu it is 3.11%. Vitamin A deficiency not only3. Iodine deficiencyDue to wrong agriculturalpractices we are seeing goiter in areaswhere it did not exist earlier and theprevalence rate of mild goiter in Indiais 21%. The effect of this is mildmental retardation.Some suggested causes forpersistent malnutrition· Attitude - food is seen as arequirement to assuage hunger andnot for health.· Control of money – Even thewage earning woman has to handover her earning to the husband ormother-in-law and she is given justsufficient money for food for thefamily. Hence the money she controlsis money for food and when she needssomething, she has to take it from thefood-budget.· Total lack of self-esteem inthe housewife - The woman whobrings a pay packet is more respectedthan the woman who is a house-wifeand who meets the needs of thefamily. Hence she looks at cooking asa chore she would like to avoid orspend on it as little time as possible.The energy and time she spends incaring for the family is not quoted in103

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.'04terms of wages that she would havereceived for services.· In the Indian context offamily-relationships, men are ignoredin all the nutrition programmes.· Last of all, and more importantis that the woman has neither theenergy nor the time to put the requiredbalanced-food on the table for thefamily.All the above factors have to beaddressed to understand the problemto tackle malnutrition in the country.Consequences of malnutritionIf malnutrition affects the childwhen the child was below the age of 2years then the child fails to achieve itsfull physical and mental potential,leading to fall in productivity and nowseriously retarding the child’sdevelopment. As most of the childrenin India (under 2 years) aremalnourished, when they becomeadults, they will not be able to exercisetheir mental capacity required at thattime and thus we will have a hugephysically and mentally underproductivepopulation to cater for. Thechild who is malnourished is not onlyunder-weight for a given age, but it alsosuffers from all the nutritionaldeficiency that is to be avoided for goodhealth, mainly iron deficiency. Theconsequences are enormous. When the low birth-weightinfants become adults, they become vulnerable patients forgetting all chronic illnesses like diabetes, hypertension etc.Investment on nutrition and economicdevelopmentThe present situation demands the government toinvest more money on health and nutrition of the childrenin the country. The amount invested on these programmesshould be viewed as an investment on the future humanresources of the country that would contribute for theeconomic development not merely as a food subsidyprogramme.· It reduces health-care-cost as children whofall sick due to undernutrition have a longer stay inhospital than the children well-nourished.· It reduces the burden of noncommunicablediseases – It has been established thatdiabetes, heart disease and cancer absorb a highpercentage of health budget. It has been stated thatpreventing early undernutrition may reduce the risk ofthese conditions in later life.· It improves productivity and economicgrowth – Undernourished children become smalleradults with reduced physical capacity. Productivity ofadults who are undernourished even on seasonal basisis impaired. Better health leads to longer working life,reduces absence due to illness and increases the numberof productive days. This contributes towards theeconomy of the country.· It promotes education, intellectualcapacity and social development· Undernutrition in foetal life and infancydamages the child’s mental development and impairsthe capacity to learn. Undernutrition is associated withdelayed schooling, absence from schools and thushinders the opportunity for both social and economicdevelopment of the child.ConclusionHealth is a human right and good nutrition for thepeople of a country is a national asset. It helps in economicgrowth and prosperity. Efforts have to be taken to createawareness among the younger generation who are drivenby the fast-food culture. To tackle this, problem, health andnutrition-education has to be included in the schoolsyllabus. We should bring out behavioral changes in thecommunities. A silent emergency is happening within thecountry affecting our future generations and this is thechallenge that every citizen of India must accept toimprove the situation.104

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04Child - Labour, the other side of the story from SivakasiBACK FROM THE JAWS OF DEATHS. GurumurthyWe are not worried about the foreigncompetition in trade. We can faceglobal business challenges.” This wasnot a claim made by big business magnates ofIndia, Tatas, or Birlas or Ambanis.This claim was not made not in India’spolitical capital Delhi or in Mumbai our trade- capital. Not even in Bangalore or inHyderabad, world leaders in software business.This claim was made in a conversationwith me in Tamil Nadu, in Sivakasi, describedby Jawaharlal Nehru as mini-Japan. Theclaimant was Shri Mariappan, Secretary of theassociation of cracker manufacturers in thattown.I was charmed by this voice of challengeraised in Sivakasi, at a time when our industriesare being decimated by globalisation anddespair marks the scenario.In the year 2001, I undertook a survey -tour of Tamil Nadu, in connection with a Trade-Fair to be organised in Coimbatore.In January, I visited Sivakasi and couldparticipate in a seminar, organized by thechamber of commerce there.Among other things,the talks veered round thepresent struggles thebusiness community isfacing there - rather a slipfor the mini-Japan ofJawaharlal Nehru.What is their problem? They are hesitanteven to tell the truth or were they afraid to tellthe truth?The great sin the industrialists of Sivakasihave committed is that the majority of themare engaged in the manufacture of crackers.Crackers are closely associated with the Hindufestival of Deepavali. Crackers enliven thefestival, children, youth and adults are charmedby the cracker - bursting - festival. This perhapsirritates some people.This irritation gave rise in the past tenyears, the problem of child - labour. It startedin a small way and assumed giganticproportions.Some non-governmental organizations -NGOs seized this issue and attempted to malignthe industries of Sivakasi and the industrialistsand damn the town of Sivakasi itself.I.L.O. appreciates India’s Programmefor elimination of child - labourIndia has committed itself to implement the international programme for Elimination ofChild Labour, by enacting a central legislation, providing for a minimum age, not less than14 years – for admission to employment and work.Compulsory education upto middle-school level, and non-employment benefit to parentsfor working towards abolition of child - labour, were other measures hailed by the I.L.O.(From a Newspaper Report)135

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 4They even tried to torpedo the industrialset - up of Sivakasi. Behind these efforts werethe Christian churches and priests who wereand are engaged in converting people toChristianity. These evangelists assert that thechild - labour problem is rampant in Sivakasiand try to get foreign - funds for studying the“problem”.NGOs go with begging bowls to foreigndonors with the avowed mission of studyingand ‘solving’ the child - labour problems. Thetraders - in - religion who abet and support theNGOs, together have succeeded in winning overgovernment officials to their side. Thecollector’s office receives a sum of Rs. 4 croresper year from foreign sources to ‘manage’ theproblem of child - labour. Thus, every oneconcerned gets money, vehicle - facilities,telephones, cell - phones and the exalted statusas social - workers, in the name of child - labouremancipation.About thepress, the lesssaid the better.All print -media accordtop - priority tothe ‘social -workers.’ Inthe cacophonyof their cries,the voice of theSivakasiindustrialist islost. Once it isknown thatChristianpriests are engaged in this work, which politicalparty will dare to condemn this kind ofvilification of the Sivakasi’s society?The politicians faded away. Money power,administrative - authority and publicity allaligned themselves against the SivakasiIndustrialist.Whenthey werefeelingorphaned,t h eSwadeshiJagaranM a r c hstepped into reviveSivakasi’sglory - thatwas in thebeginningof 2002.136The best printing centre in the World, thehome of the world - famous Nightingale Diaries- the hub of match-industry and crackerfactories, Sivakasi’s trade turn - over is morethan a thousand crores of rupees a year. In acountry where unemployment is a seriousproblem, Sivakasi is a welcome exception. Signboards - ‘workers needed’ welcome artisans towork places. Such a centre of toil has its nametarnished with the epithet of “child - labour -exploitation - centre.”How did Sivakasi come to earn thisdubious distinction? Two reasons combine todo so. One is that Sivakasi has attained world -wide fame because of its match and crackerfactories. Second is its NGOs who send the hataround to collect money in the name ofSivakasi’s child - labour problem.When a Sivakasi Industrialist goes abroadon a business trip, he has to face the stigma -the foreign friends ask them: “Why do youexploit child - labourers?” He has to hang hishead in share.But what is the truth? Statistics tell adifferent tale. Sivakasi has a population of85,000 and 1,25,000 if the surrounding villagesare taken into account. There are 42 schoolshere plus 3 arts colleges. A girl’s college and anengineering college and two polytechnicscomplete the scene. The total number of

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04students in these educational institutions is39,000. These schools, colleges andpolytechnics were established not bygovernment, but by the prosperous cracker andmatch factory owners. The government hasdeclared Virudhunagar district (of whichSivakasi is a part) as a cent percent literate area.If the industrialists live off child - labourers,why should they establish educationalinstitutions? How will their need for child -labourers be met, if they run schools? Here liesthe truth.The end - result was that Sivakasi won! Inthe business season of 2002 Deepavali, salesran as smoothly as the pre - scandal years andSivakasi holds its head high today by the forceof unity its sons and daughters have forged; bythe fact they kept away politicians and partiesand sought to solve Sivakasi’s problems by thedint of its own strength.(Adapted and Translated from the Tamilarticle of Thuglak dated 19-20-2003)But the maligners of Sivakasi, those whowould seek to destroy that town claimed:“There are 45,000 children working in Sivakasifactories” They collected crowds and organizedseminars. Out of a total population of 85,000how can 39,000 children attend schools and45,000 children work in factories? How dothings add up? Every one including the pressknew the truth. Knowing it fully well, the NGOsand priests went to schools all over the country,organised human - chains of students, mailedthousands of pre - written post - cards, andmade thousands of students swear that theywould not purchase crackers made by the‘tender hands of children.’ They pressurisedmany governments to ban bursting crackers,and in this manner tried to annihilate Sivakasi,and its industries.Last year, on 19-2-2002 the bubble burst.There was an uproar against this libel andinfamy. The entire Sivakasi organized itself intoa bandh. The world press began realising thetruth. The NGOs who were making neat packetson the basis of false - propaganda received ajolt. The government was amazed. How didthese people awaken? With politicians andpolitical parties shying away from helping, howdid the Sivakasi industrialists organise thebandh, revealing the truth to the press and toothers?Child - Labour (I.L.O. Report)According to an I.L.O report, in developingcountries alone about 250 million childrenaged between 5-14 years are forced towork on paltry wages.Poor enforcement of laws in countries likeIndia has emboldened unscrupulousemployers to take full advantage of thecheap labour. Carpet-making, restaurantsand small-business are the usual culpritemployers.Child - labourers are the worst hit duringa cyclical recession in the economy,especially in poorer states. Poverty alonedoes not push children to labour. Weakersections become easy targets forrecruitment of child-labour. The root -causes are poverty and socialbackwardness. Closure of factoriesemploying child-labour is no solution to theproblem. Children should go to schools andparents should have jobs. Expandingprimary education facilities is urgentlyneeded. (From an I.L.O. report)The reason was Sivakasi’s unity. Theemployer and the employee, the rich and thepoor, sank their differences and rose in unison,forcing the maligners to retreat!137

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 4National Child - LabourProject to be extended[An I.L.O Press release]The ILO-sponsored project, thoughidentical to the NCLP, would have some moreactivity thrown in: the former envisagesformation of women groups and self-helpgroups, sensitising employers, etc. Under theNCLP, the Central Government has so far spentan amount of Rs. 13.50 crores in the past 10years.According to a study conducted in 1991,the number of child - labour in Tamil Nadu is5.78 lakhs, as against 7.13 lakhs in 1971 and 9.75lakhs in 1981. The national figures for thecorresponding periods are as follows: 1971-1.07crores, 1981 - 1.36 crores and 1991 - 1.12 crores.While Andhra Pradesh tops the list with having14.7 per cent of total child - labour, other Stateswhich closely follow are Uttar Pradesh, 12.5 percent, and Madhya Pradesh, 12 per cent.Tamil Nadu with 5.1 per cent is placedat the sixth position, and these children arefound to be employed in various sectors suchas agriculture, livestock, mining and quarry,gem-cutting, processing, servicing and so on.With a view to wean the child - labour awayfrom factories and other work places, the NCLPis being implemented through the Child -Labour Eradication Project in eight districtssuch as Coimbatore, Trichy, Virudhunagar,Tuticorin, Vellore, Salem, Pudukottai andDharmapuri.Special Schools: Special schools too havebeen started in these districts with the primaryobjective of imparting education among child- labour so as to bring them into mainstream.Against the target of starting 377 such specialschools in Tamil Nadu, 361 have already beenset up with a total strength of 16,005 children.By way of encouragement, a monthly incentiveof Rs. 100 is being given to either parent orguardian of the child, and Rs. 800 to teachers.Free Trade andChild - LabourFrom a Consumer Unity andTrust Society Report1. The Globalisation of economy by Indiamay aggravate poverty and increase thesupply of child - labour in the market, if itaffects the income distribution in anadverse fashion.2. The capacity enhancing projects wouldalso increase the demand for labour,including child - labour.3. The simultaneous availability of free andattractive school in the area may limit thesupply of child - labour.4. The school option is non-existent unlesssome incentive is given to children toattend schools.5. If free education to children does notensure employment for children,alternative methods of skill building, inaddition to conventional education may beevolved.6. Children may be paid to attend centresfor vocational training.7. It would cost India Rs. 50,450 croresto 67,740 crores every year to eliminateboth actual and potential child - labour.138

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04A GIGANTIC JOB(From a World Bank Report)1. THE World Bank has published thereport on a new study “Primaryeducation in India”.2. At the current rate (without extraeffort) of growth, in primary schoolingin some of India’s largest states,educational attainment will not reachan average of 4-5 years of primaryeducation, until the middle of thiscentury.3. India has now the second largesteducation system of the world (afterChina). India has 67 million childrenaged between 6-10 years, attendingprimary schools.4. Enrolment date and age-specificliteracy rates show that India has madegreat strides in expanding access toeducation. In 1987, 85 million childrenwere enrolled in primary school. In1993 this figure went upto 100 millions.5. Reaching full enrolment for 6-10 agegroup is a great challenge a distant goal.6. Six states Andhra, Bihar, MadhyaPradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, andWest Bengal account for 75% of thechildren not in school.7. 95% of students are in the 15 majorstates. Kerala, Tamilnadu, Karnataka,Maharashtra and Punjab providealmost all their children with primaryeducation.8. Within states, also vast regionalvariations exist.9. India has reduced the disparitiesbetween boys and girls in primaryeducation.10. India has to address four issues ineducation, access, efficiency, learningachievement and school quantity.11. Specific challenges in reforms are to bemet.12. Accommodating all children between6-10 years in primary schools in thenext decade would require:-a) Building 1 to 3 million ClassRooms, b) recruiting 7,40,000teachers13. 80% of the resources needed will beavailable in a decade if he presenttrends continue.14. Boosting budgetary contributions,local efforts and monitoring areneeded.139

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 4CAMPAIGN AGAINST CHILD - LABOURYIELDING DIVIDENDSMr. G. Athipathi, President, All IndiaChamber of Match Industries, says“We have stopped employing childrenabout five years ago.” The match units fetchadult - workers from as far as 100 km now.However, he concedes that children could beemployed in cottage units.The employment of children, vis-a-visthe fireworks industry, the officials concede, is“absolutely marginal.” The manufacturersclaim that no children below the age of 14 yearsis employed in the factories. However, theyadmit that adolescents, between 14 to 18 years,do work in the units. Major fireworksmanufacturers demand that the minimum agefor employment should be 18 and not 14, ifemployment of children were to be totallyeradicated.Mr. A.P. Selvarajan, president, TamilNadu Fireworks and Amorces Manufactures’Association, says the UNICEF personnel andjournalists can visit the fireworks units to seefor themselves whether children are employedin them. He claims that major fireworks unitshad become aware of the child-labour problemin the 1980s.The firecracker employment is dealtwith on a relatively low key by saying that“similar conditions”, as in Guatemala wherechildren risked “burns, amputation and evendeath”, prevailed in the fireworks units. But thefireworks manufacturers are quick to point outthat no child has been reported injured ordeceased in the 1990s in any mishap in thefireworks units.The decline or the “eradication” ofemployment of children in match and fireworksunits can be attributed to various factors.There has been an increasing awarenessin the community about the need to sendchildren to school, instead of to work.The 1990s have seen the infusion ofyoung and fresh minds in the management offireworks units in the district.The managers of the units are alive tothe social concern over the employment ofchildren. at the same time, the evil of childlabour has shown a tendency to branch out tonew areas.(From The Hindu)These units have regulated themanufacture of ‘thukkada’ crackers and someof them have even stopped the manufactureforthwith. Because children were employed inthe manufacture of ‘thukkada’ crackers.U.S. Labour Department report: A recentreport of the U.S. Labour Department, “By theSweat and Toil of Children”, discusses at lengththe employment of children in agriculturaloperations, sports goods factories, glass,footwear and tanning industries, stone -quarries and fire-cracker units in India.140

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04CHILDREN AT WORKC. Rammanohar ReddyChild-labour in India is numerically morecommon in the rural areas, but it is theissue of children working in anumber of export - industries which hasbeen attracting more attention in recentyears. Whatever the motives in the Westfor turning the spotlight on this kind ofchild - labour the ILO report has someinteresting facts to offer.The ILO studied the carpet,bangle, diamond and gem-polishing, andmosaic - chip - quarrying industries inIndia, to investigate claims that “childworkersare, either for technical oreconomic reasons, irreplaceable in certainindustries that would become uncompetitivewithout them.” The studiesseem to refute the “nimble fingers”argument as also the need to employ child- labour on economic grounds. First, thework done only by children in these industriesis largely of the menial and unskilled kind,which adults can do just as quickly.Situation in export-industriesThe report notes: “Some of the best carpets,those having the greatest density of smallknots, are woven by adults. If child dexterity isnot uniquely necessary to knot the finestcarpets, it is difficult to imagine the othertrades for which the ‘nimble fingers’ argumentcould be valid.”What about the presumed economicadvantages of using child - labour? The savingsin labour - cost by hiring children rather thanadults is small, - less than five per cent of theprice of carpets. If child - labour is yetemployed in spite of local and internationalcriticism, then the reason-in the carpetindustry-is that most looms are owned bypeople who themselves are just this side ofpoverty and work on very slim profit margins.The five to ten per cent savings in coststhat come from employing child - labour can,according to the ILO. mean a doubling of theloom - owners’ income. A finding is that sincethe incomes of the loom - owners are so low, “avery small levy on the consumer purchaseprice-one-third of the sales - tax in manyindustrialised countries-would be sufficient tosubsidise the cost to the loom - owner of usingexclusively adult - laobur if the transferpayments could be targeted.”The larger issue will, however, remaineven if the issue of child - lablour in exportindustries is addressed. It is a truism thatpoverty promotes child - labour and that child- labour in turn, perpetuates poverty.(The Hindu)141

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 4ENDING CHILD - SOLDIERINGOlara A. Otunnu(From a UN report on Children and Armed conflict)The problem of child-soldiers is immenseand has been growing. There are nowover three million children under 18,used as combatants, camp-labourers, sex -slaves, and runners in 30 armed combats worldwide. Using children as soldiers is one of theworst forms of brutalisation and it is practisedin every corner of the globe. A treaty is beingsigned to empower states and persuade peopleto desist from the evil, a cynical exploitation ofchildren.Long - drawn and intractable wars drawchildren into them. Thousands of children,often abducted from schools and refugee -camps, risking beatings and death, if theyattempt to escape, become at times not onlyvictims but also perpetuators. And oncechildhood is snatched from them, they are cutoff from their normal development, educationand relationships. Devastated by suffering andhardened against the suffering of others, thesechildren require psycho-social rehabilitation,education and economic opportunities withintheir communities.Why do youth end up in armed groups?Some are coerced or induced, some areabducted, some join them because, economic,social systems around them have collapsed.Still others join for ideological reasons, becausethey have been manipulated by religions andpolitical forces.Root - causes of war, such as poverty,repression and devastated economies take theirtoll on children as well adults. Children becomesusceptible and vulnerable, to being induced tobear arms before they can make decisions forthemselves.As the United Nation Secretary -General’s special representative for childrenand Armed conflict, I have talked with manychild - soldiers in many different parts of theworld. These children have recounted to me,the committing of atrocities and being forcedto kill their friends as proof of loyalty to theircaptors. Their nightmares never leave them,but they dream of returning to normal life.The new treatywill help the childrenachieve their dreams.It out - laws the useof child - soldiers. Itarranges forresources for theirrehabilitation,reintegration, todisarm them, tobreak the cycle ofviolence. It seeks toeducate and give thechild training andpsycho-socialtreatment.Those wargroupsthat use children, cannot escape theglare of the world. They too seek legitimacy.The basket of the carrots of financialaid and legitimacy, together with the new stickof the treaty and world opprobrium mean, thatit is within our grasp to eradicate the use ofchild - soldiers for the first time in history.142

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04COMBATING CHILD - LABOURThe Indian ArenaDIPAK BASU1. In India 25% of the children are workers.2. 14.4% of the total number of workers are inthe 10-14 age group.3. In Central and Eastern Europe, U.S., etc. thenumber of child labourers is increasing.4. The largest group of working children is theunpaid family workers.5. A high percentage of children give theirwages to their parents and guardians.6. Rural children work more than urbanchildren.7. Labour by children is considered essential tomaintain the economic level of the householdsas (a) work for wages (b) help in householdenterprises (c) chores that free adults foreconomic work elsewhere.8. Children work in hazardous industriesskipping their studies.9. Illiterate parents see no need to send thechildren to schools.motorized equipment shape the workingatmosphere. They degrade the lives thechildren.14. Not being mature, the children get injuredor fall ill. Agriculture, mining and constructionsectors expose children to more risks.15. Girls working as domestic servants run therisk of abuse.16. Proper laws, enlightened government andtrade unions, environment in schools, middaymeals, increased salary for parents etc., helpcutting down the number of child - laboures.17. Pressure by other parents, force parents ofchild-labourers to send the children to schools.18. Kerala and West Bengal have successfullyreduced the number of child-labourers.19. Opening up of imports by developingcountries, making them dependent uponimported technology, World Bank credits witha number of anti-labour conditions, serve onlyto increase child - labour.(From an article in The Hindu)10. High cost of education, made higher byprivatization of education, inhibits parents.11. Schools serving the poor children are of poorquality. Children leave in frustration.12. Majority of working children work morethan 9 hours a day, six to seven days a week.Girls work for longer hours.13. Hazardous life, industrial activity, farmingwork, exposure to harsh climate, sharpenedtools, heavy loads, toxic chemicals and143

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 4The Rights of ChildrenN.R. Madhava MenonMember, Law CommissionTHE W.T.O. AND THECHILD - LABOURDipak Basu1.Children constitute one third of Indianpopulation (300 million). Of them, 50% livein poverty, ill health, and exploitation.2. Children form a vulnerable group. They aretherefore given certain special privileges andentitlements. But even for accessing thesebenefits, children have to depend upon elders.3. Neglected, abandoned, delinquent, HIV -infected and drug - addicted children becomea menace not only to themselves but tosociety at large too.4. India has 20m. child - labourers, 2 millionstreet - children, 100m school - drop - outs,40m. children with avoidable debilitatingillnesses, and several million abused children.5. Family and gram-sabha, should beempowered, to deal with children.6. Health, education, environment and welfareof children should be ensured.7. Planning in these fields should be localized.8. The rights of the children in the fields offood, nutrition, health, education, recreationand security as a special class should beensured.9. Prevention of abuse and exploitation,creation of monitoring and accountabilitysystems should arranged.10. Nyaya panchayats, should be empoweredto deal with children’s cases.11. Proactive and child - centred legal aidshould be sponsored.12. The child - right protection - apparatusshould be decentralized, locally-based,participative, proactive, non-adversarial andresponsive to children’s needs.13. Parents, and the community should besensitized.14. NGO’s should act speedily and efficiently.(Extract from an article in The Hindu)The arguments of the developingcountries that inclusion of labour rights andenvironmental issues are meant to stop theirexports to the developed countries do not cutmuch ice. Developing countries suffer muchmore when they open up imports whichresults in growing unemployment asdomestic industries and agriculture areunable to compete. The acceptance of a newproduct-based patent system will also ruinmany industries, particularly drugs andpharmaceuticals. These will makedeveloping countries technologicallydependent on the developed world. When adeveloping country accepts a loan from theWorld Bank for a project, it forfeits its rightsto buy materials from domestic sources orto employ domestic contractors. Antidumpingmeasures are being used againstthe developing countries to take away theircomparative advantages.If the developing countries face tradesanctions through the WTO, they will beforced to implement fundamental humanrights of the workers and children.Progressive measures sometime come out ofreactionary set-ups. Legislationimplemented after the long campaigns ofLord Wilberforce against the slave trade, orof Abraham Lincoln against slavery in thesouthern United States are some of theexamples. The WTO is an oppressive andreactionary organisation no doubt, butinclusion of labour rights, which may helpto abolish - child labour and slavery, is aprogressive act indeed.(The writer is Professor in InternationalEconomics, Nagasaki University, Japan) Thisarticle is an extract from his article in ‘The Hindu’144

BALABHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04STREET CHILDRENVaasanthiAccording to an estimate of an-NGO (in1995) Chennai had street childrenbetween 5-19 years numbering 75,000.They are candidates for all kinds of abuses.They may carry life-threatening diseases.NGO’s supply condoms to them (instead ofrescuing them). Of these 75000 children, 43%chew pan masala, 36% smoke 17% drink and13% are addicted to narcotic drugs.It is true that the number of street childrenin large cities is on the increase the world over.Poverty, a sense of rejection, and anger againstsociety, are what impel children towards violentgangs, and terrorist organizations according tosociologist, Devaki Jain. These are theyoungsters that guerilla leaders so easilyconvert into human bombs in the name ofreligion and language dogma. With no goals intheir lives, and no one to care for them, streetchildren can easily become terrorists.Surveys were conducted on the number ofschool going age children that do not attendschools in Tamil Nadu. While the NGO’s surveysays there are about 40 lakhs of children thatdo not go to school, the Government figures(according to a Tamil weekly source) say thatit is less than 2.12 lakhs for the year 2002-2003.You can be sure you can trust neither.The problem is that it hardly matters to thepublic whether the figures are right or wrong.The world at large is governed by market forcesand economic viability. Is child-education aprofit? Does mobilizing street children forbetter life profit? Is such investmentprofitable? Can children as mere commoditiesbe used for the profit of adults?The children are watching us! In Ranipet,I saw child-bonded-labourers rolling beedis atthe rate of 2000 per day. They have to do so inlieu of some petty loans their parents havetaken. (From the Sunday Express 27.04.2003)145Child - labour a globalphenomenonExtracts From An I.L.O report1. Estimates of child - labourers below theage of ten and of girls who are engaged infull-time domestic work, are not available.2. Global urbanisation has pushed up childlabourersin town and cities, but, 9 out of10 child - labourers live in villages.3. Even developed - countries have child -labourers, but fewer in number. Theirworking conditions are better.4. In Southern Europe, a significant numberof children are believed to work for pay inseasonal activities, street - trade, smallworkshops or in home settings.5. In Central and Eastern Europe, where theeconomy is in transition from centrallyplanned to a market economy, child - labourin growing.6. In the U.S. the growth of the servicesector, the rapid increase in the supply ofpart-time jobs, and the search for a moreflexible work - force have contributed tothe expansion of the child - labour market.7. Children work at the “suggestion” of theirparents. Working children in Indiacontributed 20% of the household income.Help in the household enterprise is animportant occupation for the child.Child - Labour in Chennai City1. Hoteliars, tea-shops, liquour - outletsuse child labourers.2. Thousands of child-labourers, some ofthem bonded, are working near Red Hillsarea in rice-mills. They are exposed tothe hot sun and dust pollution.3. Child beggars are recruited and used inChennai.4. Chennai alone has 16,000 childlabourers.(A State Human rights Commission report)

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 4Global Convention toban child - labour(From the I.L.O sources)Unicef Slams LankanWar - group on child-Soldiers1) 174 members of I.L.O including India willparticipate in the convention.2) The convention will target practices suchas child - slavery, forced or compulsorylabour, trafficking, debt - bondage,serfdom, prostitution, pornography andvarious other forms of hazardous andexploitative work jeopardizing the health,safety or morals of children.3) The proposed new standards will prioritisethe identified areas for action.4) Focus will be on young children, especiallygirls.5) I.L.O estimates: a) 250 million children (5-14 years) are in work in developingcountries alone.b) That is 25% of the total number ofchildren in developing countries areeconomically active. 120 m. of them fulltime. The rest combine work and schooling.c) In some countries 68% of the workingchildren are engaged in hazardous work.d) World over, 50-60 million children ofage-group 5-11 work in hazardouscircumstances.e) Effective enforcement of laws,adequate prevention-measures, removal ofchildren from work - place - hazards,rehabilitation and social integration ofchildren are being legislated.UNICEF has accused a Srilankan war- group for breaking a commitment not torecruit children for combat in its war againstthe SriLankan state.The situation for children hasworsened after 1998.The group has given an undertakingthat it would not recruit children below 17.It would desist from using those below 18for armed combat.Some parents have reported toUnicef that their children have beenrecruited.The war - group was recruitingchildren as young as 10 years and age was noconsideration as long as the child was ableto carry a gun.Helpless parents no more protestedwhen their children were taken away becauseof the terror - tactics and intimidationemployed by the war - group.(From Unicef report)Remedial measures: The majorrecommendations include adopting nationalprogrammes of action, which identify, reachout to and protect the very young children,girls, children with special vulnerabilities andall children at risk; Raising awareness andmobilising societies; establishing monitoringmechanisms to ensure effective application ofthe new legal instrument and determining andcompiling data on most hazardous work andactivities like criminal offences.146

BALA BHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04SATYAKAMA,THE TRUTH SEEKERR.R.DIWAKAR1. Introduction: Here is a young maneager to take the vow of a brahmachari, andgo out is search of the Reality. His onlyqualification is that he is truthful. That makesthe guru or the preceptor accept the youngstripling as his disciple. Thrown on hisresources in the forest, he communes withnature and arrives at the truth. He goes intothe jungle as the common cowherd and comesback as a man of knowledge. The touch ofperfection, however has to be given by his guru.That is the story of Satyakama Jabala.2. The Truthful Disciple:Satyakama said to his mother “Dear Mother?What is my gotra or lineage? I wish to go to aguru and offer to live with him as abrahmachari.”She said “My son! To tell you thetruth I know not your gotra. Whileyoung and wandering as a housemaid serving here and there, I begotyou. How then can I know? But I amcertain of one thing and that is thatyour name is Satyakama and mineJabala. Therefore go forth and fellyour guru that you are SatyakamaJabala.Satyakama Jabala approached GuruHaridrumata Gautama, known for his wisdomand informed him of his intention to learn athis feet.As expected, the first question the guruasked was about his gotra.Satyakama reported the wholeconversation that had taken place betweenhimself and his mother. He finally added “Thushere I am, sir, known as Satyakama Jabala”.“O brave and truthful child” exclaimed thewould-be-guru. “No one not born of aBrahmana would dare tell such an unpleasanttruth. Go therefore and bring Samidha-orsacrificial fuel and I shall initiate you intobrahmacharya. You have not departed fromthe truth, but cling fast to it, happen whatmay.”After the usual ceremony of initiation,Satyakama was enrolled as regular inmate ofthe ashrama. The guru seemed to be a veryhard task-master.One day he summoned Satyakama, and puthim in-charge of four hundred lean, weak andpoorly-fed cows. He told the young disciple totake the whole lot to the forest, andasked him not to return till they hadbecome a herd of a thousand.It was one of the duties of thedisciple to serve the guru in the waythat would best please him. So out wentSatyakama as a cowherd, with his newcharge and with a determination tocarry out the guru’s orders.He lived in the forest, befriendingnature as a part of a great reality.One day the friendly leader of the herd, anaged bull whispered to him “Yes! All these fourcorners of the earth are one aspect of Brahman”Then the dancing flames of the camp-fire whichhe lit, told him that light and darkness, the solidearth beneath and the domed space abovestudded with stars were all part of Brahman.The morning sun, the midday sun, thesetting sun told him that the eye that sees all151

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 5things, the life that pulsates in all things, themind that wonders at beauty, these too are partof Brahman. His mind slowly realizedBrahman in touch, hearing, speech, sight andtaste, in the beating of the heart, in waking andin dreams.Prompted by the leader-bull, Satyakamaand his bovine encourage, now one -thousand- strong returned to the guru’s ashrama. Thedutiful disciple gladdened the heart of the guru.The master was also pleasantly surprised whenhe gazed at the brilliant face of youngSatyakama.Seeing a man of Brahman in him, theMaster asked Satyakama “Who was it thattaught you? You were in the forest only withthe cattle and raw Nature?”The guru realized that Satyakama was ripeand ready for spiritual instruction. Keepinghim in the ashrama for some time the Masterperfected his knowledge.(From “Upanishads in Story and Dialogue”Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, 1975)SATYAKAMA JABALASwami VivekanandaI will relate to you a very ancientstory from the ChhandogyaUpanishad, which tells howknowledge came to a boy. The formof the story is very crude, but weshall find that it contains a principle.A young boy said to his mother, “Iam going to study the Vedas. Tellme the name of my father and mycaste.” The mother was not amarried woman, and in India thechild of a woman who has not beenmarried is considered an outcast;he is not knowing your family name;I was in service, and served indifferent places; I do not know whoyour father is, but my name isJabala and your name isSatyakama.” The little child wentto a sage and asked to be taken asa student. The sage asked him,“What is the name of your father,and what is your caste?” The boyrepeated to him what he had heardfrom his mother. The sage at oncesaid, “None but a Brahmin couldspeak such a damaging truth abouthimself. You are a Brahmin and Iwill teach you. You have not swervedfrom truth.” So he kept the boywith him and educated him.152

BALA BHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04UPAKOSALASwami TattwanandaGautama had initiated Satyakama Jabalainto Brahma Vidya and made him afamous teacher in his own sight. Amongthe disciples of Satyakama was one Upakosala.Upakosala had spent more than twelveyears with Satyakama but in spite of his earnestservice to his Guru, the graduation ceremonyof the boy, marking his completion of thestudies, was not performed. In spite of the pleasof his wife, Satyakama departed on a longpilgrimage, without performing the passing outritual for his young student.Perhaps Upakosala was to attain BrahmaJnana only by serving Agni the God of fire. ToUpakosala, it was the darkest hour, butdarkness preceding dawn. Agni took pity uponhim and offered to initiate him into BrahmaVidya.Agni told Upakosala that Prana isBrahman. Ka (pleasure) is Brahman and Kha(space) is Brahman. Upakosala meditatedupon Agni’s words and realised that theHridayakasha (the cavity of the Human heart)is the abode of Brahman. Agni, Aditya, Anna,Earth, Water, Air all seemed to be permeatedby a divine radiance. The truth dawned uponUpakosala like a flash of lightening thatBrahman is life’s emergent value.When Satyakama returned home, hefound Brahma Tejas, the light of spiritualwisdom shining on the face of his neglecteddisciple, Upakosala.On Upakosala reporting to his teacher, hissource of knowledge, Satyakama, realised thatthe hour of initiation of his disciple into fullblast of spiritual wisdom had arrived, and thelearned Guru completed the formality. By theremoval of all diversity, the central being couldbe attained. The worthy teacher set the patientand young Upakosala on the path to wisdom.(Adapted and condensed from:“Upanishadic Stories And their significance”.The Bangalore Printing & Publishing Co.Ltd.,Bangalore 18-1965)A CHILD PRODIGYBy Swami Vivekananda (CW VOL.II)This story belongs to Upakosala Kamalayana, discipline of this Satyakama, who went tobe taught by him and dwelt with him for some time. Now Satyakaama went away on ajourney, and the student became very downhearted ; and when the teacher’s wifecame and asked him why he was not eating, the boy said, “I am too unhappy to eat”.Then a voice came from the fire he was worshipping, saying “This life is Brahman,Brahman is the ether, and Brahman is happiness. Know Brahman.” “I know, sir,” theboy replied, “that life is Brahman, but that It is ether and happiness I do not know.”Then it explained that the two words ether and happiness signified one thing in reality,viz. the sentient ether (pure intelligence) that resides in the heart. So, it taught himBrahman as life and as the ether in the heart. Then the fire taught him, “This earth,food fire, and sun whom you worship, are forms of Brahman. The person that is seenin the sun, I am He. He who knows this and meditates on Him, all his sins vanish andhe has long life and becomes happy. He who lives in the cardinal points, the moon, thestars, and the water, I am He. He who lives in this life, the ether, the heavens, andlightning, I am He.”153

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 5NACHIKETA(From the Kathopanishadof Krishna Yajur Veda)Swami TattwanandaNachiketa requested Yama as his first boonthat his father might recognize him and takehim back on his return from the abode of Yama.Yama granted the boon.There was a great sage called Vajasravas.His fame had spread far and wide on accountof his charitable disposition. His son, who wasalso called Vajasravas, wished to perform thegreat Viswajit sacrifice.He organized the sacrifice in a splendidsacrificial hall. But Nachiketa,the son of Varjasravas was notimpressed by the splendour.Dry and old cows were giftedin the sacrifice which act wasagainst the spirit of theoccasion. He went and askedhis father “To whom do youpropose to give me as a gift?”Questioned twice, thrice, theenraged father said” I give youto Yama, the god of death”.Nachiketa felt that was notime to regret or toremonstrate. He saw in thewhole turn of events anopportunity to pursue Truth.“All life is transitory and deathtriumphs over life. Why should then feardeath?” so saying Nachiketa went to the abodeof Yama.Yama was not at home then; nor did anyone else welcome him. For three days andnights, until Yama returned, Nachiketaremained fasting. Yama, on his return feltfriend for this breach of hospitality. He receivedNachiketa with proper reverence due to a guestand by way of atonement for having kept himwaiting for so long, Yama offered him threeboons, one for each day of waiting.As the second boon, Nachiketa asked Yamanot for himself, but for the sake of sufferinghumanity, the technique of the fire sacrificewhich helps man to transcend the miseries oflife and attain the felicity of heaven. Yamainitiated Nachiketa into the secret of thetechnique. As Nachiketa was endowed with aspiritual outlook and abright intellect and waspure and sincere, hecomprehended at once allthat was taught. Yama wasequally pleased with hisyoung disciple; and he, asa token of good-will,offered to name theparticular sacrifice afterNachiketa himself. He alsodeclared that whoeverperformed that particularsacrifice would realize theVirat Purusha, manifestedas Agni, Vayu and Aditya,would realize all thebenefits of initiation, fromhis parents and hisspiritual guide, would be liberated from theround of birth and death though not in anabsolute sense, and would attain the peace thatis born of meditating upon the Virat Purusha.Now came the question of the third boon.Nachiketa felt that without the knowledge ofthe self, whatever happiness we have is onlyexternal to us; and therefore cannot be Nitya,our own and eternal. He requested Yama to lethim know, if there is an Atman apart from thebody and the senses; and if so, what is fromthe human end, the great enigma of life.154

BALA BHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04This was more than Yama has bargainedfor. He never expected a boy of such tender agewould raise such a metaphysical problem. Butthe Guru does not impart knowledge to all andsundry. Yama wished to test the mental calibreof the boy before imparting to him the supremesecret that transcends both life and death.Yama raised all kinds of difficulties. Hesaid that even the Devas are in doubt as to theultimate reality; that it is too abstruse forhuman understanding, and that he might aswell choose something else.But Nachiketa was firm in his resolve. Hewill never have a better teacher; one moreeminently fit to solve the great mystery.Although Yama was pleased within himself, hestill wished to divert the attention, of the boyby holding before him, all kinds of attractiveobjects, with which men, grown up children asthey are, enjoy themselves. Wealth, youth,beauty, or whatever else satisfies the sense ofpower, were held up before Nachiketa. ButNachiketa declined all that with thanks. Tohim, they were merely in the nature oftemptations. He did not wish to miss hissupreme opportunity. He remained firm in hisoriginal resolve. He sought that supremeknowledge, which would throw light on life’sgreat problems, the value and destiny of theindividual from the point of view of theAbsolute.from the body, that which lies beyond all pairsof opposites, and which is life’s supreme value.This is the story of Nachiketa, who madehis fathers’ words come true. He dared to meetYama-Death incarnate, and put away alltemptations, which tried to deflect him awayfrom the path of Supreme knowledge-”Samparaya Vidya.”Editorial Note : It is from the dialoguebetween Yama and Nachiketa, that SwamiVivekananda chose the inspiring phrase:“Uttishthata Jagrata PrapyaVarannibodhata”: (Arise! Awake! and stopnot till the goal is reached)Nachiketa came out successful in the testwhich Yama imposed upon him. Even sagesand Devas have at times succumbed to thosetemptations.Highly pleased, Yama told Nachiketa, thatthe young lad has chosen the path of virtue andrejected the path of enjoyment.Then Yama instructed Nachiketa onBrahmavidya, the art of distinguishing the self155

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 5BHRIGU LEARNSTHE HARDWAYR.R.Diwakar(The spirit is, as it were, encased in fivesheaths (kosas), one within the other. We firstcome across the gross material sheath, and thengo deeper to more subtle sheaths, the last beingthe sheath of joy or bliss. This teaching occursin the Taittiriya Upanishad and forms thesubject of a conversation between Varuna andhis son.)But that too was not a satisfactoryconclusion. His father asked him to go intomeditation again. His father asked him to gointo meditation again. He then found that themind or the psychic plane was the thing fromwhich all manifestation emerged and mergedagain into it at the end. It was subtler than grossmatter and prana and could pervade both ofthem.He reported this experience to his father.But the father sent him back again with the oldadvice to perform more tapas.Bhrigu was the son of Varuna. Heonce approached his father and said,“Father, impart to me the spiritualknowledge you possess.”The father said, “Matter, vitalairs, eyes, ears, mind, and speech arethe things that you daily come across.You must now know that Realityfrom which all these things issue andlive, towards which all these moveand in which they finally merge. Thatis the Brahman. You can know himby tapas or concentration andmeditation.”The son obeyed the father and after somemeditation came to the conclusion that grossmatter itself is the Brahman. He went and toldhis father so. But the father was not at allsatisfied with his son’s finding and he exhortedhim to go again and perform more tapas.“Meditation alone will give your real insight,”said the father.Then the son went away and began tomeditate further.Next he realized that Prana or the vitalpower was Brahman and that it was out ofprana that things took their birth and intoprana they finally merged. Prana indeed is thelife-giving principle.Bhrigu again meditated andfound that the power ofunderstanding (vijnana) wasthe thing from which all thingsissued and towards which allthings moved. But the fatherwas not satisfied and repeatedhis advice to his son.The son again meditatedand finally came to theconclusion that bliss or pure joywas Brahman—the source andthe goal of the creation. All thebeings are verily born in bliss,they exist by the power of bliss,and they all move towards blissand into bliss they all merge in the end.When Bhrigu told his father about thisconclusion of his, he was overjoyed and said,“Dear child, this indeed is the highest term ofexistence. All these five sheaths are there, onemore subtle than the other, but the finest andthe subtlest is bliss eternal. These are not allmutually exclusive. They are inter-penetrating.But the basis of all is bliss, the bliss of Brahman,pure spiritual happiness. He who knows thisand realizes it, goes beyond all sorrow anddeath.” This is known as the Bhargavi VaruniVidya.(From “Upanishads in Story and Dialogue”Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay 1975).156

BALA BHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04SVETAKETU, SONOF AUDDALAK ARUNIR.R.DIWAKAR1. Introduction:Arunis’ power of expression in theChandogya Upanishad is very refreshing. He iseasily the most brilliant rishi in that Upanishad.By a number of homely illustrations, he conveysto his son Svetaketu, the subtle knowledge of theAtman and impresses upon him the fact that inessence he too is the Atman. ‘That you are theburden of the talk. The affectionate father repeatsit at the end of each of his illustrations andthrough this pregnant phrase, he preaches thegospel of one God, transcendent and immanentin all things.2. At the feet of the Guru:“No idiot has yet been born in our line norhas any in our family neglected the study of theVedas. So young soul, go to a gurukula, be abrahmachari and learn the Vedas.” The sageAuddalaki Aruni thus addressed his young sonSvetaketu, when he attained the proper age to goto a preceptor for study.not know what you refer to, otherwise he wouldnot have failed to impart it to me!”Aruni taught his son that mystic wisdom. Heexplained to his dear son, how, understanding theessential nature of the clay, of which all earthenpots and toys are made, Svetaketu can know andunderstand all those things too!Then all these are mere names and formswhich the clay has assumed. Similarly with steelor metal. “You should get to know the essence ofThe dutiful son obeyed his father. Afterstudying all the Vedas for twelve long years atthe feet of his guru, he came home. When thefather saw him, he could at once perceive thathis son had become a man on learning but thathe had missed spiritual training at teaching.Instead of humility he had developed conceit andinstead of peace, there was turmoil in his mind.One day Aruni asked Svetaketu ‘Son! Do youhave that mystic wisdom which is the key to allother knowledge, to all other thought and thatwisdom which unfolds the unknown to man?’.Svetaketu’s surprise was great! “Dear Father!what is that wondrous knowledge you talk of? Doteach me that yourself. Obviously my guru didthings, the one thing that underlines this vast andmultitudinous mass of name and form”, theaffectionate father said.Aruni explained to his son, how out of a PureBeing, the many have come. He narrated to him.“When a man sleeps he becomes for the timebeing one with the Spirit or one with the oneeternal Being. He is merged in himself as it were.The subtle power that pervades the universe isthe Truth. That is the spirit. That you areO’Svetaketu.”157

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 5The father further explained to his dear son:Honey drops lose their individual identity whenthey fall into the hive. Individual living beingslose their separateness when they merge in theocean of Being. Merged in the ocean ofconsciousness, each animal or a worm loses itsindividual identity. Rivers loose their individualidentities,when they merge into the ocean. Thatpower by which life lives eternally, is the spirit.That you are O’Svetaketu”.“Just like a huge banyan tree which comesout of a minute seed, which the human eye cannotsee, the power that is the spirit unseen, whichpervades everywhere and everything. Have faith.It is that spirit which is at the root of all existenceThat you Are O ‘Svetaketu’!Thus the wise father explained to his son, theunity of all that exists and the glory of the Atman.(Extracted from “Upanishads in Story andDialogue-Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan , Bombay ,1975)SHUKA THE PERFECT CHILDSWAMI VIVEKANANDAShuka, was born perfect. Vyasa taught his son wisdom; and after teaching himthe knowledge of truth himself, he sent him to the court of King Janaka. He wasa great king and was called Janaka Videha. Videha means “without a body”.Although a king, he had entirely forgotten that he was body; he felt that he wasa spirit and this boy Shuka was sent to be taught by him. The king knew thatVyasa’s son was coming to him to learn wisdom: so he made certain arrangementsbeforehand. And when the boy presented himself at the gates of the palace, theguards took no notice of him whatsoever. They only gave him a seat, and he satthere for three days and nights, nobody speaking to him, nobody asking him whohe was or whence he was. He was the son of a very great sage, his father washonoured by the whole country, and he himself was a most respectable person; yetthe low, vulgar guards of the palace would take no notice of him. After that,suddenly, the ministers of the king and all the big officials came there andreceived him with the greatest honours. They conducted him in and showed himinto splendid rooms, gave him the most fragrant baths and wonderful dresses, andfor eight days they kept him there in all kinds of luxury. That solemnly sereneface of Shuka did not change even to the smallest extent by the change in thetreatment accorded to him; he was the same in the midst of this luxury as whenwaiting at the door. Then he was brought before the king. The king was on histhrone, music was playing, and dancing and other amusements were going on. Theking then gave him a cup of milk, full to the brim, and asked him to go seven timesround the hall without spilling even a drop. They boy took the cup and proceededin the midst of the music and the attraction of the beautiful faces. As desired bythe king, seven times did he go round, and not a drop of the milk was spilt. Theboy’s mind could not be attracted by anything in the world, unless he allowed it toaffect him. And when he brought the cup to the king, the king said to him, “Whatyour father has taught you, and what you have learned yourself, I can onlyrepeat. You have known the Truth; go home.”(FROM THE COMPLETE WORKS)158

BALA BHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04BALA BHARATAM[Phylosophical considerations]N.KRISHNAMOORTI1. Introduction: Bharata Varshaworships its children as gods and goddesses. Atthe same time some of its children are neglectedand abused and left to suffer terribly.In free India, tremendous efforts have beenmade to improve the lot of children. Moreschools and pre-primary institutions,integrated mother – child - care systems, betternutrition facilities, post-natal care and steps toeradicate polio and other ailments to which alarge number of children fall victims, havecombined to save the child and bring down therate of infant mortality. The effect of thesesteps in bringing down birth-rate has also beenvery encouraging.Unfortunately, the large initial numberswith which the modern – child care system inIndia had to contend and initial poverty andcenturies old accumulated social inertia, havemade the task most challenging. Nearly athousand years of colonial and alienexploitation, unconscionable neglect of ruralareas and collapse of the social network wereenough problems. Added to them were thefailure of free Indian governments to bringeducation nearer to women, and the impossibleunemployment situation. Education andemployment were essential for distributingfood and wealth among the masses in thecountry. The result was great inequalities inincome, and failure of the benefits ofdevelopment to reach the poor and the downtrodden.In any social system the children are worstaffected and the evils and inadequacies of thesystem visit the children first. Rural mothersand families are interested in getting morechildren who can go to work, so that they canearn more. The problem of child labour is acuteenough without the press contributing to theconfusion. Today nine out of ten references inthe press about children harp only on childlabour.All the other efforts made in the fieldof child - development are totally neglected orhave only received a light treatment. The firstthought the common reader of a newspapergets when he hears the word ‘child’ is childlabour.This kind of obsession in the media,makes the position of the constructive workersvery difficult.2. The child – god: The innocent child,totally guileless, the “monumental – alabaster”– is likened to god in Indian tradition. The childis not only pure, it is held to be ideal in itsawareness. The Upanishad compares a BrahmaJnani to a child – “balawat, unmattavat.” Achild is spontaneous and free from inhibitions– vikalpas -. Such pure and happy childhoodand its memories are being sought again andagain by human beings throughout their adultlives. Childhood is the path to one’s earlierlives. Writes Mirce Eliade a great disciple ofProf. S.N. Dasgupta,:“Like Samanas and Brahmana, theBuddhist monks attempted to recollect theirearlier lives. With the heart steadfastclarified and purified, it was thus that theyapplied their hearts to the knowledge whichrecalled their earlier existences. They calledto mind their diverse existence in the past –a single birth, then two, and so on to ahundred thousand births, many an aeon ofdisintegration of the world, many an aeon ofits re-integration. Buddha attached greatimportance to memory as such; the godslose their divine condition and fall from theirheavens when ‘their memory is troubled.’159

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 5Even more: inability to remember all of one’sformer existence is equivalent tometaphysical ignorance. Buddha enlarges onthe case of the gods who fall from theirheavens because of their defective memories.Some of these gods, born as men, practiseasceticism and meditation recover a part notall of their memories. In other words theydo not remember the beginning of theirseries of lives – because of this forgettingthey have a false view of the eternity of theworld and the gods. The Buddha then, set avery high value on the ability to rememberprevious lives. This mystical ability made itpossible to reach the ‘beginning of time’ –which implied ‘emerging from time’Ananda or other disciples ‘rememberedtheir births,’ were among the rememberersof their births (jatissara). Coomaraswamyhas shown that the epithet jatissarso’suggests Agni’s epithet Jatavedas for Agnitoo knows all births (Visva Veda janima)and is the All knower (Visvavit). Vamadevain a famous Rig Veda hymn, said of himself.“Being now in the womb (garbhe nu san), Ihave known all the births of the gods.” Thusspoke Vamadeva, lying in the womb.“Krishna knows all his births” says the Gita.Hence for Brahmanism as for the Buddhamemory, in short knowledge was a divineand most precious faculty; he who knows, hewho recollects proves that he isconcentrated; distraction, forgetfulness,ignorance, fall are causally connectedsituations and modes of behaviour.The Buddhist text describes how,catching hold of a memory just nearest to thepresent moment, one can travel throughtime backward in order to arrive at originemwhen the first life ‘burst’ into the worldsetting time in motion; thus one reaches theparadoxical moment beyond which time didnot exist because nothing was yetmanifested. The meaning and the end of thisyogic technique, which consists in unrollingtime in reverse, are perfectly clear. Throughit the practitioner obtains the true superknowledge, for he not only succeeds in160recognizing all his former lives, but hereaches the very “beginning of the world”;proceeding backward against the stream, onemust necessarily come to the point ofdeparture, which, in the last analysis,coincides with the cosmogony, with the firstcosmic manifestation. To relive one’s pastlives is equivalent to understanding them,and, in a certain measure, to “burning” one’s“sins” – the sum, that is, of the actsperformed under the domination ofignorance and transmitted from life to lifeby the law of karma. But there is somethingstill more important; One arrives at thebeginning of time and one finds noontime,the eternal present that preceded thetemporal experience begun by the first fallenhuman life. In other words, one “touches”the non-conditioned state that precededman’s fall into time and the wheel ofexistences. This is as much as to say that,setting out from any moment of temporalduration, one can succeed in exhausting thatduration by travelling through it in thereverse direction, and will finally reachnoontime, eternity. But to do so was totranscend the human condition and enternirvana. This is what led the Buddha todeclare that he alone had recognized all hisformer existences, whereas the arhats, whilethey knew a large number of their past lives,were far from knowing them all; as to thesamanas and Brahmans, they hastened, aswe have seen, to formulate certainphilosophical theories on the reality of theworld and the Self, instead of penetratingdeeper into the past and beholding thedissolution of all these “realities” (for the onetrue reality, the Absolute, could not beformulated in the language of the currentphilosophies).It is easy to see the importance of thismemory of former lives for the yogictechnique whose aim was to emerge fromtime. But Buddha did not claim that this wasthe only means. According to him, it wasperfectly possible to get beyond time – thatis, to abolish the human condition – by

BALA BHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04taking advantage of the “favourablemoment” (ksana), by obtaining“instantaneous illumination” (the ekaksanabhisambodhiof the Mahayanistwriters), which “broke time” and allowed“egress” from it by a rupture of planes. Thereader will certainly have noted thecorrespondence between the yogic techniquefor recollecting former lives and thepsychoanalytical method of reconstitutingand, through a corrected understanding,assimilating one’s memories of earliestchildhood.”(Yoga, Immortality and Freedom)The essence of the argument is thataccording to the Vedas, Yoga and Buddhism,turning the mind inward, searching for one’schildhood memories and trying to go beyondare all part of one’s spiritual sadhana, with thecompelling aesthetic and moral dimensions ofthe efforts.3. Vatsalya Bhava: The purity,innocence and broad consciousness of the childhave moved mystics to see god in children andgod as a child. Writes Vinobaji.“If we learn to see the Lord in littlechildren how we should rejoice! Dhruva,Prahlada, Nachiketa, Sanaka, Sanandana,Sanatkumara, were they not all children? Butthe authors of the Puranas, Vyasa and therest, did not know where to place them, whatto do with them. Shukadeva andShankaracharya were free from desires evensince childhood. And so too was Jnanadeva!All of them were children! No where is theLord manifest in such clear, pure form as inthese children. A saint loved children dearly.Once His disciples asked Him “you speak somuch about the kingdom of god. Who canenter it?” He lifed up a child standing by andset him on a table and said “Of such is theKingdom of god. To enter therein, one mustbecome as a little child.” What he said is true.Swami Ramadasa was once playing with161children. Some grown up people whoobserved the saint, romping with thechildren, were surprised. One of them asked“What has come over you today?”Samartha answered:“Those who remained young became great,Those who grew up became great rogues”As one grows up one sprouts horns, onedevelops self-will. Then one never thinks ofGod. The hearts of little children areunspoilt, their minds pure. We say to a child,“Don’t tell lies.” He asks, “What is a lie?”Then we expound to him the doctrine thatstatement must correspond to fact. The boyis puzzled and begins to wonder whetherthere is another way of speaking than sayingwhat is. How can one say what is not? Thisis like telling one to call a square a squareand not a circle. All this only surprises thechild. What are children? Images of purity,of God-head. Grown ups teach them allwrong. The truth is; if we cannot see the Lordin mother, father, teacher, saint and CHILD,in what other form can we see Him? There isno nobler form of God than these. Learn firstthese gentle and familiar forms of the Lord.In these the Lord is written in bold, clearletters.” (The talks on the Gita)That is why in Sanatana Dharma, God isworshipped as Ganesha and Kartikeya, thechildren. Sri Rama and Krishna are portrayedin the writings of Suka, Surdas, Tulasidas,Periyazhwar and Kulasekhara as GodlyChildren. Vatsalya bhava, treating God as achild is glorified in our literature. It is easy topractise. It ennobles the practioner. It is opento all.Taking this attitude further,Kumaragurupara and others have treatedGoddess Minakshi and Lord Kartikeya as Idealsof childhood and have created a new genre ofliterature called ‘Pillaitamizh’ (Glorifying Godas a Child.)

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 54. Mother worship as a psychologicalcorollary of child endearment:Carl Jung has dwelt on the Universality ofthe Mother aspect in his “Four Archetypes.” Inworshipping Mother, we revere the child too.Sankara, Abhirama Bhatta and a host ofMother - worshippers have composeddevotional verses, positioning themselves atthe emotional vantage points of children –children of Divine Mother. The idealMotherhood goes with the ideal childhood.Lalita the Mother along with Lakshmi andSaraswati, the Goddesses of power, wealth andwisdom bestow on their children the best ofgrace. The worship and service of Motherlandas the ultimate has been a very old tradition inBharat and that type of devotion received a newimpetus during the freedom movement fromthe writings of Bankim Chandra, Bharati andSri Aurobindo. Sister Nivedita has recordedhow Swami Vivekananda used to pronouncethe word ‘India’ with great reverence and lovedue to The Mother. All that is best in a child isbrought out in the presence, physical or mentalpresence, of its mother. Bharat’s traditionportrays Mother as Janani, Mata, Prasavitri,Dhatri and Amba. Each term has a specialfunctional significance to the child and itsdevelopment.Jung records: “The qualities associatedwith the Mother Archetype are maternalsolicitude and sympathy; the magicauthority of the female; the wisdom andspiritual exaltations that transcend reason;and helpful instinct or impulse; all that isbenign all that cherishes and sustains, thatfastens growth and fertility. The place ofmagic transformation and rebirth togetherwith the underworld and its inhabitants arepresided over by the mother. On the negativeside the mother archetype may connoteanything that devours, seduces (purely aWestern concept – Vivekananda KendraPatrika editor) and poisons, that is terrifyingand inescapable like fate. The ambivalenceof the attributes “the loving and the terribleMother” has been recorded by me. In India,“the loving and terrible Mother” is theparadoxical Kali. Sankhya philosophy haselaborated the mother archetype into theconcept of Prakriti (matter) and assigned toit the three gunas or fundamental attributes– sattva, rajas and tamas.”The mother archetype presupposes achild and functions in the context of thechild. It has the child as the focal point.As a foil to the Mother archetype is theuniversal feature of the Trickster – figure.Carl Jung writes:-“(In celebrating the Trickster image)there is a reversal of the hierarchical order.Something of this contradictoriness alsoinheres in the medieval description of thedevil as simian dei the ape of god and in hischaracterization in folklore as the‘simpleton’ who is ‘fooled’ or ‘cheated’. Acurious combination of trickster motifs canbe found in the alchemical figure ofMercuricus, for instance, his fondness for slyjokes and malicious pranks, his powers as ashape – shifter his dual nature, half-animalhalf – divine, his exposure to all kind offortunes and his approximation to the figureof a saviour.”From poltergeists, to Sri Krishna, theentire spectrum of negative and positivemischiefs are represented in the trickstercharacters across civilizations. They areworshipped, adored, idolised in art and caughtin performing artistic forms. Child Krishna isthe most popular theme in devotion, dharma,philosophy, religion and art.5. Child as the father of the man:Another aspect of the child is that it is born witha very expansive consciousness and by a seriesof indoctrinations by the society, teachers,home, tradition, school etc, it gets a definiteidentity and a limited amount of consciousness.162

BALA BHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04The journey from childhood to adult stage isdescribed often as a narrowing down ofsensitivity and loss of divinity. A very touchingaccount of this loss is given by Wordsworth inhis immortal ode. “The ode on intimations ofimmortality from reflections of earlychildhood.” The lines go well with the Indianethos.There was a time when meadow,grove and streamThe earth, and every common sightTo me did seem,Apparell’d in celestial lightThe glory and the freshness of a dreamIt is not now as it has been of yore; -Turn where soe’ver I mayBy night or day,The things which I have seen I now can seeno more.Modern researches in the educationalpsychology of a child confirm this idea of thepoet. A child is able to learn very fast (an‘absorbent mind’ it is called by Dr MariaMontessori). The capacity to learn and changedecreases as the child grows. A chimp forexample is born almost with all the facultiesdeveloped, leaving little scope for training orimprovement after birth. Whereas a humanchild is born with just one fourth of itsintellectual faculties developed. This leaves thehuman child amenable to manouvring,acculturation, training and adjustment. Somebiologists feel that all human births are prematuredeliveries, the process of growth beingcompleted long after the birth of a child. In factit takes years to complete the process.6. The original debate: In the beginningof the 19th century, a great controversy ragedamong psychologists. A section of this branchof scientists said that all cultural values areimprinted on the mind of a new - born humanbaby from outside and the inborn traits havelittle or no bearing on the adult humanpersonality. Another school pleaded for some163importance for instinct, or inborn knowledge.Among the Western scientists especially ofMarxian thought, the earlier mentioned ideasprevail. There is nothing natural about thehuman mind. All its culture, spirituality, socialrelations etc. are learned or imposed fromoutside and a child can be manipulated to growin a particular way. This led the Westernsocieties to organise a number of creches whichweaned the children away from their mothers,much before they were biologically ready toleave the safety of their Mothers’ laps. InAustralia, the new settlers took away the babiesof the Natives in order to bring them up as“True Christians.” In Russia the same mindsetled the educationists to wean the childrenprematurely away from the ‘corruptinginfluence of the parents and their traditionalcultures.” In government - run crèches, thechildren could be brought upon as idealproducts of the Revolution – the truecommunists. Among the missionaries whoconverted the indigenous people toChristianity, the same attitude existed. Theyfound that tribal people have their owncommunity– centres, where the distinctqualities of the tribes are ingrained in thepersonality of the children. The missionariescut this cultural – umbilical cord andsegregated the children from the parentalsociety.It took Sanatana Dharma, so ablyrepresented by Swami Vivekananda, to play upthe role of Atman, Samskaras and Karma inthe evolution of a child. Swamiji declaredemphatically that drawing nourishment fromthe environment, a child grows according thelaws of its own being. He emphasised thekarma theory. He said the history of evolutionof an entire species is summarised and repeatedin the life of one individual. He underscoredthe limits to which the environment caninfluence the growth of a child. He talked aboutinvolution, the process by which thepersonality of a person and all his karmas areencrypted in the form of samskaras in thesukshma – sarira – subtle body of a child. He

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA SECTION - 5discussed the untenable nature of thehereditary theory. In this manner SwamiVivekananda summarised the position ofVedanta in the controversy between “instinctand environment.” History has proved thatscience is moving towards Vedantic conceptsthough habits of the old fashioned theorists diehard. Theories such as atavism (resemblanceto remote ancestors rather than to parents inplants and animals; reversion to earlier type)have given the lie to environmental origin ofhuman qualities and have forced scientists tosearch for origins of traits at some deeper level.7.Maria Montessori: She shook theWestern world from its lethargy and made itwonder whether the Bharatiya concept of thespiritual perfection of a child was after allcorrect. The mind or the spirit of which themind is an expression, is in the form of an allembracing continuum in a child. There is anatural cohesion between children, aconnection which is lost as a child grows intoadulthood. This is the position Bharat wouldtake. Says Dr Montessori, “The society of Newchildren is a society of Cohesion.” By this shemeant to imply that it was something formedby an attraction, among the children and notimposed from outside. Respect for the right ofothers, a capacity to share and an ability tosolve problems by mutual consent andagreement, the readiness to wait for one’s turn,mark the children. “These little ones live in ahigher plane. Theirs is a truly cooperativesociety. There is a reciprocal help. The olderchildren help the younger and the younger helpeach other. They show respect for and interestin each other. There is no envy, there is onlyadmiration among the children when are newlysucceeds in a task. The admiration isspontaneous. The child is very sorry when ithappens to break something. It is not naturallydestructive. They are concerned and theyhandle the material with care. (From an essayon Montessori by Vasantha A. Natarassan inthe Hindu dated 13-4-1999). These are thequalities one would like to term spiritual. Achild is truly spiritual.1648. Preprimary Education: Theknowledge of the ability of the child to learnfast in early childhood has spawned a plethoraof crèches, Nursery schools, pre – primaryinstitutions and LKG, UKG classes in schools.In fact the education of a child starts even inthe mother’s womb. Modern research talksabout providing stimuli to the brain cells of achild in the mother’s womb. The connectivitybetween cells (called synapses) is improved andthe child born is more intelligent. ThisAbhimanyu factor works well it seems. InIndian tradition, the rituals, food restrictionsand cultural practices to be observed by apregnant women are very well codified in ourliterature on “Samskaras.” Modern science isable to see much sense in these traditionalpractices. Parent – education as a part of child’searly education has been talked about byMahatma Gandhi, Zakir Hussain, and anumber of teachers in India and abroad. Apartfrom non - formal education, play - educationin the pre – primary age group and primary andsecondary education of formal nature, thechildren continue to require parental guidanceuntil they are 18 years old. Sociologists believethat the mother’s and the father’s are genderspecificroles. And talking about theconvergence of the roles of the mother and thefather is not science. It is pure politics. Theparental emergency the child undergoes, callsupon the father and the mother to play theirrespective roles in the life of the child.9. The role of parents, family,community and environment: The partplayed by the parents and family in nurturinga child, tells not only upon the physical,emotional and sociological development of achild. Even the spiritual and psychologicaldevelopments of the child are impacted. Theeffect of family - planning on the psyche of thesurviving children is tremendous. Children feelthey are born in spite of the attitude of society,its health machinery, census enumerators anda whole host of others trying to stop them frombeing delivered from the mothers’ wombs.Children are no more god’s answers to prayerssaid in Rameshwaram or Gaya. They are not

BALA BHARATAM Aug.-Jan.’04there to save the parents from a hell called‘PUT.’ They are accidental products who havebeaten an inefficient family – planningprocedure. Such children may not be expectedto revere the family system, love the society orcontinue the tradition. Therefore the familyplanning system has to be administered withgreat care and sensitivity.Economic activities of each generationhave come to be evaluated in terms of theireffect upon future generations. Sustainabilityis the buzz word for measuring such activitiesand overall development. Sustainabilitypresupposes, development and exploitation ofnature’s resources and life – support systems,in a manner, that a comparable life – style isassured for future generations. Enough rawmaterials should be conserved for our children.Environmental experts pontificate. “You havenot inherited the Earth and its resources fromyour parents. You have borrowed them fromyour children.” For the first time in humanhistory, environmentalists, sociologists,economists, development workers, ethical andspiritual thinkers have concurred, on a point.It is that for a couple of generations now,people have become utterly selfish spendingresources upon their sense pleasures,disregarding the sacredness of theenvironment, ignoring their loyalty to theirchildren, loosening the bonds of family andcommunity and endangering the collective lifeof the Nation and of the world.10. Remedial measures: 1. A study ofthe lives Spiritual, National and environmentalheroes and heroines with special reference totheir childhood. accepting them as the society’srole - models.2. According priority for humandevelopment with children, youth and womengetting the special attention.3. Giving special care for women ofproductive age group 15 – 44, care for pregnantwomen and new born children.4. Emphasising, nutrition for survival anddevelopment and health as different fromfashion - based fast-foods.5. Taking to positive health programmesinstead of a disease - and medicine - basedapproach. Stress on Indigenous products andpractices.6. Education that brings out the best inevery human being, education that helps eachperson in identifying his/her niche in thefamily, society, Nation and world, instead ofeducation that makes each person treat the restof creation as a competitor or a threat,Education that celebrates cooperation and coexistence.It should take advantage of ourBharatiya - tradition which has done so muchfor humanity.7. A family – planning philosophy thatworships life, reveres life, instead of that whichdestroys and devalues life.8. A clear understanding that each person,child, youth, adult or old person has childhoodmemories lingering in him/her. This memoryis the stimulus for all ethical, moral, spiritual,social and environmental values. The aim of thesociety should be to make the life of every childmemorable, worth remembering.165