No
idealized conception of a poet could find more suitable embodiment
than in this gentle singer.
Tagore and I were soon deep in a comparative study of our schools,
both founded along unorthodox lines. We discovered many identical
features-outdoor instruction, simplicity, ample scope for the
child's creative spirit. Rabindranath, however, laid considerable
stress on the study of literature and poetry, and the self-expression
through music and song which I had already noted in the case of
Bhola. The Santiniketan children observed periods of silence, but
were given no special yoga training.
The poet listened with flattering attention to my description of the
energizing "Yogoda" exercises and the yoga concentration techniques
which are taught to all students at Ranchi.
Tagore told me of his own early educational struggles. "I fled from
school after the fifth grade," he said, laughing. I could readily
understand how his innate poetic delicacy had been affronted by
the dreary, disciplinary atmosphere of a schoolroom.
"That is why I opened Santiniketan under the shady trees and
the glories of the sky." He motioned eloquently to a little group
studying in the beautiful garden. "A child is in his natural setting
amidst the flowers and songbirds. Only thus may he fully express
the hidden wealth of his individual endowment. True education can
never be crammed and pumped from without; rather it must aid in
bringing spontaneously to the surface the infinite hoards of wisdom
within.
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