J. C. Kumarappa: The Educational and Cultural Ambassador of Gandhian Model of Development |
- By Shivanand Shettar* J. C. KUMARAPPA, a close associate of Gandhiji coined a concept called 'villagism' which meant that the village must be the focus of economic planning and development. He advocated an economic thesis that was remarkable for its far sighted analysis on conserving the environment. He was quite aware of the dangers of unchecked industrialization. The only sustainable socio-political order in his view was based on what he called the 'economy of permanence' wherein he advocated that human beings should collaborate with nature to meet their needs. True to his belief, his book Economy of Permanence was printed originally on handmade paper which was manufactured from waste paper and grass. Ramachandra Guha, a noted historian, says that Kumarappa's writings are strewn with profound ecological consequences, though he does not express it in these terms... The environmentalists of today are only taking up where he left off. Almost in the same way the critics of the consumerist culture who are trying to explore the roots of our native culture are also taking up where he had left off. Therefore, he is not only an economist but also an educationist and a cultural thinker who was much ahead of his times. The concept of standard of living was vague during Kumarappa's life time by his own admission. It is all the more vague today. Each person may have his own notion of a standard of living and as to what it comprises. Therefore, Kumarappa pleaded for the necessity to work out an objective standard taking into consideration the conditions obtaining in our land. Kumarappa raises a very pertinent question: 'should this standard have an economic basis or follow cultural consideration or social needs? What is meant by high or low standard?1 Availability or satisfaction of a wide range of material wants is considered as 'high' and very limited enjoyment of worldly goods as 'low' standard of living. Having considered the many ways of looking at life and their respective scales of values, Kumarappa came to the conclusion that life is not to be valued purely on a monetary basis nor what looms large in the immediate present, but that a well balanced economy leading to permanence and non-violence which calls for a comprehensive consideration of various factors making life broad based. The market economy which literally rules our life today was not as pronounced during Kumarappa's period as it is now-a-days. Therefore, he cautioned: 'By various means at their disposal-propaganda, advertisements, setting up fashions etc. – the manufacturers, are able to induce the housewives to adopt this model of life and become their devoted customers. Let us beware of such traps which will enslave us to material wants, but offer nothing in exchange...”2 The casual human labour is replaced by machines like vacuum cleaner and dish washing machine etc. The housewives will have to attend to the work themselves. Therefore, the labour saving devices, instead of creating leisure for the house wife are imposing additional labour on her. “In this manner both the labour and the money saved by dispensing with human labour is quickly absorbed by the manufacturers, while the simple gardener's wife sloggers on like a donkey having displaced the help of other human beings ... The simple life, on the other hand can be 'high' and present all that is finest in human life; perhaps even better than a complex life which later kills personality as it follows way set by others.”3 Marketing professionals are working hard to see that even people who live at the subsistence level in remote rural areas are also lured into becoming passive consumers of everything from Cola, Pepsi, to shampoos. All they see is a vast rural market to be opened up for commercial exploitation. We are fast approaching the day when it will be easier to get soft drinks rather than tender coconut or buttermilk in our villages. The increasing presence of plastic garbage in our rural areas is a clear warning signal and a challenge to the clean India campaign. Now it is all the more evident that our priorities are established by the market economy. Individuals are treated as customers. Even teachers are in the habit of calling their alumni as their 'products' as though they are not human beings. The commercial compulsions have brought violence in the realm of culture in a big way. The function of culture is to refine the higher senses of human beings, enrich human relationships and thus enhance joy in life. However, the modern consumerist culture has made a person into a customer and culture into a marketable commodity. It is the market economy which is tempting the individuals to establish their priorities. They have not been able to decide as to what is their need. Therefore, the concept of an economy of limited wants propounded by Gandhiji is pushed to the backdrop. The modern man has not been able to understand the difference between the 'need' and the 'greed.' And it deadens people's capacity for refined aesthetic experience.4 The high consumption lifestyle through aggressive advertising and limitless market expansion is not only unsustainable but also highly dangerous for the well-being of humanity. The high price paid in ecological terms will make it the most suicidal enterprise the human race has ever seen. 'The debate of environment versus development that Kumarappa had anticipated is still racing and the verdict of history may well decide in his favour' states Guha. We desperately need alternative models of development. It is not a wise thing to handover to businessmen the task of dictating the terms to the world as it has been done today. Businessmen cannot be counted upon to have the wisdom or the will to think of the welfare of humanity, leave alone the health of the planet. That is not part of the training of business administrators for they are trained only to do everything possible to maximize profits of the corporations that employ them. The important feature of Kumarappa's thought is his belief that social regeneration could be brought about by a moral appeal to the individuals; they could be persuaded to forsake self-interest voluntarily in favour of the welfare of all. The way to restore sanity is for village communities, cooperatives, civil societies and democratic governments to take back the autonomy and the initiative for their own development, which they seem to have traded away to the giant global business corporations. There is now a great need to re-awaken the spiritual and the traditional wisdom of the people world over. Mahatma Gandhi once contended that the earth has enough for every man's need, but not enough for every man's greed. Westernised elite groups in India, who are in the business of mass entertainment, have actually inflicted violence on a huge scale on the diversity of arts, culture, literature, languages and the whole lot of spiritual tradition not only in India but also all around the world. Therefore, Kumarappa made a sincere appeal that no education can be complete unless it has some relation to art. Poet Tagore tried it in Shanthiniketan as Gandhi tried to convert the ancient concept of Ashrama into a training ground for Satyagrahis. On the same lines Kumarappa insisted that there should be an emphasis on folk songs, music and art in our village schooling. The sound culture of the masses has to be upheld. Unless this is done, '... no nation can ever hope to take its place in the vanguard of the nations which has not got its roots in its own culture. We cannot shine on borrowed feathers. We have to develop our own contribution to the world of literature, art and music'.5 Gandhiji insisted on leading a life in harmony with nature. On the same line Kumarappa says that when life is allowed to run its natural course it is resourceful enough to provide itself for every body's needs without any further conscious effort on our part. Nature is a hard task master. It never awards permanence to grudgingly rendered work. If we wish to attain permanence we must put in whole work; no transient labour which satisfies only the passing moment will answer the purpose. Nature refuses to be brow beaten or cheated. What is interesting about Kumarappa's other dimension of personality is the application of this principle to the field of art. For example, an original work of art on a canvas involves hard work which may appear as drudgery. But such labour had to go into the making of a masterpiece. A lithograph may avoid such drudgery but its products are as good as a waste-paper when compared with the work of the real artist.6 He very clearly states that multiple print making or the poster culture as it is understood today is no substitute for a genuine work of art. The originality of Kumarappa lies in the fact that he not only recognised Gandhiji's distinctive contribution to the science of non-violence but also identified the economic basis of violence involved in the so-called modern civilization. He went on to develop a new ethics based and peace-promoting way through and economy of permanence which was consistent with higher possibilities in human evolution. The neglect of the Gandhian economic principles has not only made today's world economic order permanently crisis-prone but also more and more thinkers around the globe are recognizing the devastation caused by the reigning global economy in developed and underdeveloped countries alike in the form of unemployment, environmental degradation and community breakdown. Hazel Henderson, a noted thinker on sustainable development, who is immensely influenced by Gandhian economic philosophy remarks thus: Economics is now widely seen as the faulty source-code deep in societies' hard drives ...replicating unsustainability: booms, busts, bubbles, recessions, poverty, trade wars, pollution, disruption of communities, loss of cultural diversity and bio-diversity ...7 Speaking about the gross negligence of natural resources, a passionate believer in Gandhian model of development Edward Goldsmith, an Anglo-French philosopher remarked thus: 'The notion that we owe nothing to posterity seems to justify, in the eyes of many people, our terrible egotism and the deliberate pilling of the world's natural resources to which our society is so committed in order to satisfy the requirements of the corporations that control it.'8 Therefore Kumarappa insisted that we should never lose sight of 'Mother Nature' who is a great teacher while studying human institutions. Anything that we may devise if it is contrary to her ways, she will ruthlessly annihilate sooner or later. The western model of economic growth which has actually necessitated most violent attacks on the environment is the violence of first order. Another form of violence recognised by Kumarappa is massive disruption of community life and a very natural institution of mankind, the family. Women are so overburdened with the maintenance of modern amenities that in Kumarappa's view it is not a wonder that the complex standard of life is forcing women to get rid of the 'nuisance' of having children. Adoption of modern way of life by housewives, which is induced by the propaganda of the advertising agencies, is forcing them to develop a positive distaste for motherhood which in their view adds to an already overcrowded timetable of theirs. Indian culture is appreciated world over for the invaluable contribution of its family ethos. The institution of family helps its members to imbibe values such as love, mutual affection, care, cooperation etc. But the laws of modern economics have forced the erosion of family and community values in the so-called developed countries. People in developing countries have been thinking that these are the worthy values to be emulated by them. Modern man is increasingly obsessed with short-term considerations and aspirations for his finite existence on this planet with the 'here and now' approach. He is least bothered about his ancestors' expectations from him or his own obligation towards the generations to come. 'This has resulted in a cognitive and behavioural disorder in the modern man.'9 A very interesting historical episode is recorded in a book published by the Kumarappa Birth Centenary Committee of Karnataka. Prime Minister Nehru came to Madras in 1960 at a time when Kumarappa was admitted in a hospital because of his deteriorating health. As soon as Nehru came to know about it he rushed to the hospital and met Kumarappa. It was a very touchy meeting. Silence loomed large for quite some time. Afterwards the old friends recalled their memories and discussed many things. During, the discussion Nehru sought Kumarappa's suggestions for the then prevailing economic problems. Gradually Kumarappa expressed his ideas and suggested certain solutions. Nehru noted down the details with patience on a piece of paper. Later Kumarappa asked for the paper on which Nehru had noted down the points. When Nehru handed it over to him he took it with a smiling face and tore it off. When Nehru asked him as to what he was doing, Kumarappa replied “I did what you would have done after reaching Delhi.” This is how the great disciple of Gandhi reacted who had already become a serious sceptic about the state machinery. He had distanced himself from the ruling government and the party. In any case, he communicated his message to the Prime Minister with love and concern though in an impassionate way. While revisiting the ideas of either Kumarappa or his ideological Guru Gandhi, can we expect any readymade formula to overcome the multiple maladies of the modern or the so-called civilized world? The answer of many contemporary thinkers to this question is in the negative. But however the philosophy of Gandhi and Kumarappa would immensely help us to understand the source of these maladies. The crisis lies in the reigning economic system, which in turn has distorted the socio-political systems. Not only in India that, it has seriously affected education, religion and culture, but also in the world around. In that sense their diagnosis is capable of providing a medicine-kit of ideas that can help us cure many of these maladies."10 Notes and References
Courtesy: Gandhi Marg, Volume 40 Number 1 & 2, April-September 2018. * Shivanand Shettar is Chairman, Dept. of Gandhian Studies, Karnatak University, Dharwad, Karnataka. Email: drsvshettar@gmail.com |