When our Centre friend, Pradyut Ghosh, proposed yet another interaction with teachers in a rural area, we were delighted. The proposal had been discussed with Chandrakanta Dutta of the Tagore Society for Rural Development, Abadnagar in Birbhum district. He was very keen to have an interaction on Education and in particular on J Krishnamurti’s vision for right education.
The date was fixed. Saturday 17 February. Happily for us, two experienced facilitators (also friends of the Centre) volunteered to facilitate the interaction in Bengali. Thank you, Sudeshna Sinha and Piyali Basu. The program was planned in two parts. The first being selected readings from the book ‘Why are you being educated?’ in Bengali (Tumi pora sona keno korcho) and discussion with participants. The second part of the program was intended to put the focus on and explore the possibility of a new mind in education. Selected readings from the booklet NEW MIND (Notun Mon) were followed by discussion. Two books were presented to each participant.
There were 30 participants. What stood out in the whole experience was the quality of the interaction; sincere and intense. One got the feeling of a program with a soul. There is something about these programs in a rural context that is so, so different from the urban context. There is a feeling of goodness and innocence that is difficult to describe. That provides a lot of hope.
We are most grateful to Pradyut Ghosh for bringing all the somewhat complicated logistics together. The team travelled to Bolpur by train on 16 February and from there to the Bakreswar Thermal Power Plant (BTPP) guest house by car. On 17 February morning, the team travelled to Abadnagar (Birbhum District) by car for the program. The venue was the office of the Tagore Society for Rural Development.
We hope to review the event for our own learning and also be in touch with the participants in the coming days. We hope that the program has touched the participants in some way or the other.
