A Modern Yogic school for a Modern India?

The incident that inspired this debate in my mind was in the mid of 2007, last year. There was shooting in a up market school of Gurgaon by a schoolboy! Whenever there used to be such incidents at the American universities, we pooh-poohed the topic by our ‘we-are-Indian-rich in culture- and –tradition’ high nosed attitude towards lack of morality in the western nations. But seeing the sorry state of present day schools (esp. in Metros and upcoming metros) we should realize that something has gone wrong somewhere for sure. What values are being taught to our younger generation in schools, apart from violence, modern fads (tattoos, mobiles, Play station 3, drugs, cigarettes, unhealthy viewpoints for the opposite sex and so on…) I am not being paranoid, but am telling from my first hand experiences with various cousins and neighborhood children of the age group. Are our youngsters standing at the crossroads of the socio-cultural transition? Are thy not confused enough? Do they really know what does being an Indian means, apart from the obviously hyped Cricket and Bollywood potpourris?
After discussing innumerably times the sorry state of the educational institutes of all levels in India presently with my lobby mates at IMT Ghaziabad, I think that establishing a modern Indian school with one foot in the future and one foot firmly rooted in the our traditions. And by that, I don’t mean countless ‘International’ schools that have cropped up in the suburbs of metros and other tier1-2 cities of India. And certainly not to talk of the elitist Doon valley schools which command their prestige on the basis of being exclusive and out of reach to most Indians! I am talking of a well planned methodology driven school that creates a child imbibed with our values and bestowed with the rich wisdom of our culture. India is perhaps one of the only countries in the world where own tradition and values are looked down upon and ‘western’ type behavior is considered High class! What hypocrite of a country having much wisdom and knowledge in its 5000 years old scriptures.
The modern yogic school should combine the attributes of the gurukul system of education. We should not forget that even foreigners from far away used to come and study the 64 arts taught at many of the Himalayan foothill ashrams in the ancient times.
The well rounded development of the child is essential, and this was taken care in our ancient education system by sensitizing the child to both sciences, arts, dramatic and music at the same time. What do we see today when we look at the countless young faces carrying bags heavier than them going to schools, only to learn by rote?
At the same time, the modern schools will teach Yoga and meditation techniques to the children. Yoga is the technique of controlling ones emotions and getting in touch with the sub conscious mind of your. It helps a person develop a positive outlook toward life and tackle the problems efficiently without getting emotionally overwhelmed. Isn’t that a desirable trait for success and overall development of the society? Didn’t we have lost the touch of creativity and innovation which was displayed by the ilk of Ramanujam, C V Raman, Sarabhai, Tagores etc?
Combined with these, the study of science and other social subjects and languages will also be taught at this type of school. Problem solving by original thinking will be given importance there. Also, an in house and wise child psychologist is essential at schools. s/he will help growing children with a lot of issues (family tensions, teen worries and blues, other anxieties etc) which is not taken care of, gets them imbibed in the subconscious of the child and later affects his/her decisions in life, thus shaping his/her destiny.
Also, there needs to be a special section for ‘gifted’ children. These are the special children having enhanced level of IQ levels and can prove out to be tremendous asset for a nation. All developed/forward looking countries like USA, Israel, Germany, Scandinavia, Canada etc have these type of schools for the gifted children, where they are trained to hone their skills in advanced forms. These can turn out to be prodigies for our country.
Phew….I keep ranting on topics like these. But how can that a school be feasible financially? Why not, weren’t the IIT’s and IIM’s established in India at the time when funding was a big issue? A political will and vision is more necessary. Funds will follow suit!
A PPP model can be viable here. Roping in the intelligencia of the country who can actually put their visions into actions, rather than attending Page 3 parties and filling the sleepy Op-Ed columns of leading dailies and magazines will provide much needed administration guidance for such type of school.
This can be good entrepreneurial venture idea for budding young entrepreneurs. And it can well create wealth for all, be it investors, country, students, society et al.
Interesting and like minded people are invited for further talks. My email id is er.raman@gmail.com