compare contrast between mahatama gandhi and rabindranath tagore view on both indian and western education
Answers
Tagore and Gandhi had great admiration for each other but at the same time they had many disagreements on a variety of subjects, including nationalism, patriotism, the role of rationality and of science, and the nature of economic and social development.
Science:
The two remained deeply divided over their attitudes towards science. However, while Tagore believed that modern science was essential to understanding physical phenomena, Gandhi’s views on epistemology were interestingly heterodox.
This was clearly exemplified during Bihar earthquake in 1934. Gandhi believed that the earthquake was a divine chastisement sent by God for sins - in particular Untouchability. Whereas, Tagore who equally opposed Untouchability, was against such interpretation of an earthquake to be caused by an ethical failure. And he was still more worried for the wider acceptance of such unscientific views by large section of countrymen.
Nationalism and Patriotism:
Tagore had the greatest admiration for Mahatma Gandhi as a person and as a political leader, but he was also highly sceptical of Gandhiji’s form of nationalism and his conservative instincts regarding the country’s past traditions.
Tagore rebelled against the strongly nationalist form that the independence movement often took, and this made him refrain from taking a particularly active part in contemporary politics. He was afraid that a rejection of the West in favor of an indigenous Indian tradition was not only limiting in itself; it could easily turn into hostility to other influences from abroad.
The was a duality in Tagore’s attitude towards cultural diversity and Nationalism. He wanted Indians to learn what was going on elsewhere, how others lived, what they valued, and so on, while remaining interested and involved in their own culture and heritage. He tried to maintain the distinction between opposing Western imperialism and rejecting Western civilization.
Tagore illustrates the tyranny of the past in his parable ‘Kartar Bhoot’ (‘ The Ghost of the Leader’). As the respected leader of an imaginary land is about to die, his panic-stricken followers request him to stay on after his death to instruct them on what to do. He consents. But his followers find their lives are full of rituals and constraints on everyday behaviour and are not responsive to the world around them. Ultimately, they ask the ghost of the leader to relieve them of his domination, when he informs them that he exists only in their minds.