Write an appreciation of Gandhi’s art and craft of Autobiography
Appreciation of Gandhi’s art and Craft of Autobiography Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was an Indian
lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist and political ethicist who employed
nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence
from British rule, and to later inspire movements for civil rights and freedom
across the world.
Mohandas Gandhi was, however, not a great scholar, nor was he
a great warrior. He was not born with exceptional faculties. Neither was he a
good orator, nor a great writer. He did not claim anything exclusively divine
in him. He did not claim being a prophet or having superhuman powers. He
considered himself an average man with average abilities. Born in a middle
class Bania family in an obscure princely State in a corner of India, he was a
mediocre student, shy and nervous. He could not muster courage to speak in
public. His first attempt at legal practice miserably failed.
But he was a humble seeker of Truth. He was a man with
exceptional sincerity, honesty and truthfulness. For him, understanding meant
action. Once any principle appealed to him, he immediately began to translate
that in practice. He did not flinch from taking risks and did not mind
confessing mistakes. So Appreciation of Gandhi’s art and Craft of Autobiography
, No opposition, scorn or ridicule could
affect him. Truth was his sole guiding star. He was ever-growing; hence he was
often found inconsistent. He was not concerned with appearing to be consistent.
He preferred to be consistent only with the light within.
Gandhi's autobiography, which he had titled 'My experiments
with Truth' can be rated as one of the most popular and the most influential
books in the recent history. It was written at the instance of Swami Anand. Appreciation
of Gandhi’s art and Craft of Autobiography - It
appeared in the Weekly 'Navjivan' during 1925-28. It covers Gandhi's life up to
1920. He did not cover the period after that as it was well known to the people
and most of the concerned persons were alive. Besides he felt that his
experiments in that period were yet to yield definite conclusions.
Gandhi's autobiography is very different from other autobiographies. The autobiographies normally contain self-praise by the authors. They want to criticize their opponents and boost their own image in the people's eyes. Gandhi's autobiography is completely free from all this. Appreciation of Gandhi’s art and Craft of Autobiography - It is marked with humility and truthfulness. He had not hidden anything.
In fact, he is rather too harsh on himself. He did not want to show to the world how good he was. He only wanted to tell the people the story of his experiments with Truth, for Gandhi, was the supreme principle, which includes many other principles. Realization of the Truth is the purpose of human life. Gandhi always strove to realize the Truth.
He
continuously tried to remove impurities in himself. He always tried to stick to
the Truth as he knew and to apply the knowledge of the Truth to everyday life.
He tried to apply the spiritual principles to the practical situations. Appreciation
of Gandhi’s art and Craft of Autobiography , He did it in the scientific spirit. Sticking
to the truth means Satyagraha. Gandhi therefore called his experiments as
'Experiments with Truth' or 'Experiments in the science of Satyagraha.' Gandhi
also requested the readers to treat those experiments as illustrative and to
carry out their own experiments in that light.
MEANING OF EDUCATION
According to Gandhiji “literacy is neither the beginning nor the end of
education. This is only a means through which man or woman can be educated”.
Gandhiji observes “by education I mean an all round drawing out of the best in
child and man- body, mind, and spirit. This is only a means through which man
and woman can be educated.”This is how Gandhiji summed up his idea of true
education accordingly.
EDUCATION IS DEVELOPMENT: “All round” implies harmonious development. ‘Drawing out the best’ recognizes a great potentiality coiled up in the child which can be realised and developed to its perfection through education.
Appreciation of Gandhi’s art and Craft of Autobiography - It is development of human personality in terms of physical, intellectual and spiritual aspects. Education should take care of the whole child, the human personality. It should be the function of education to bring about a harmonious development of all the aspects of human personality so that it can grow to its highest stature and serve the society at its best.
EDUCATION IS NOT LITERACY: Gandhiji did not favour teaching and learning of as literacy in itself is no education. Literacy is just a means of education. He emphasized the development of head, heart, hand and health. According to Gandhiji “true education is that which draws out and stimulates the spiritual, intellectual and physical faculties of the children.
Crafts-centric education for skilling
Our efforts at rectifying the imbalance in our education
system through empowering potential of skilling finds a deep connect with
Gandhian principles of craft-centered education. Whatever we are striving for –
learning by doing, work integrated learning, respect for manual skills,
self-reliance through sustainable livelihoods, – concepts like these are deeply
ingrained in Mahatma Gandhi’ s emphasis on manual and productive work as integral
to basic education. Let’s look at some of his key thoughts and ideas that have
found a way in current endeavours to link education with employment and
entrepreneurship through skill development.
Education through crafts
Mahatma Gandhi had emphasized that handicrafts should be
taught “not merely for production work but for developing intellect of the
pupils.” And, this idea has been implemented in schools as Socially Useful and
Productive Work (SUPW) as per reports of landmark commissions and policy. Appreciation
of Gandhi’s art and Craft of Autobiography , SUPW
is mostly perceived as a hobby; it could be embroidery, clay modeling, bamboo
crafts, leather work, pottery and many other socioculturally relevant
creatively stimulating activities that have a potential for enabling
livelihoods. When connected with skilling and vocational options, SUPW can
transform the way children perceive manual work and impact their young minds
positively towards dignity of work and labour.
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