Now, we come back to what was the development that was to be brought in. The modern idea of education is that there should be a lot of Medical and Engineering colleges. The question of what then is to happen to the vast majority who do not get to be doctors and engineers, remains unanswered. Actually, what the British officials saw was a need to uplift the quality of the common man. It is the same way that was there in England. The average English man is not an Engineer or a doctor.
It is not engineers or doctors that made Britain great. It was the high quality of the common man. Now, by quality what is meant here? Is it a lot of degrees, post graduate degrees, PhDs, Management degrees etc?
In this context it may be mentioned that Robert Clive, the young boy, who came to India and soon conquered the major parts of India within a few years was a school dropout. His administration of Bengal was quite good, even though he did not have any degree in management or in military sciences.
What is it that lends quality to the Brits? Well, it is the innate training that is given to a British infant that in his own language, that he is not a social subordinate to all and sundry. Even though there is a feudal social set up at the heights of the social order, it rarely interferes with his or her right to interact with others from any level dignified equality in communication.
Here again, things may look quite the opposite. For, England has a feudal setup, and also a Monarch. India has none of these. Moreover, there is a very vibrant democracy at work. The reality does look quite the opposite of my contentions. Well, that is the problem of explaining India and its language systems.
In India, actually everyman is bound to show reverence and bowing to so many persons. Moreover he can demand the same from many others around him as a matter of right. If he is denied his due rights, he can or may get angry or he may go into a terrible mood. However, in England one need show obeisance only to persons who have been assigned such status statutorily. Herein lies the difference. In India, feudal actions are an everyday event, creating a lot of associated emotions. For, people innately dislike being subordinated. Yet, they are forced to do it. At times, they pretend not to notice the other man or his credentials, becomes acrimonious to the other man. It is all a very painful affair, that can be both creepy as well as belligerent.
Talking about the Engineers and Doctors, there is another group that is never mentioned in the same sense. That of Indian carpenters. I have seen in my childhood, carpenters working under a leader, building fantastic buildings of wonderful architectural wizardry. Yet, they are not treated as persons with specialised knowledge as one would like to term a software engineer or a doctor. In the Indian language codes, the carpenters are down below. Yet, a very significant lack of education in them may be mentioned.
It is this: Many years ago, I did see many persons like engineers, doctors, big business men, managers etc. They were all very good in English.
Most of them were quite at home in English classical literature. They had more or less climbed the Mount Everest of English Classical Literature. Their other professional attainments were just a minor extension to this magnificent achievement.
That is, they had climbed the huge Mount Everest of English Classical Literature. Then they had climbed a few more steps of their professional course. So, it was their initial achievement that of being at home in English Classical Literature that gave them the grandeur and the heights.
However, the Indian Carpenters were not educated in English. They had not climbed the Mount Everest of English Classical Literature. They simply stood on the minor mount of knowledge in carpentry. Well, this much I said not to demean the Indian carpenters. For, their professional capacity was undeniable.
What I wanted to mention here is just this: In current day India, most (not all) professionals including the doctors, the engineers, the management professionals, the businessmen and others are all intellectually at the level of the Indian Carpenters. They havent and cant read and understand the English Classical Literature. They stand just on the minor mount of their professional studies.
Yet, they, in the local language codes, are more elevated. For, in the local feudal language codes, they are in the superlative indicant word levels. The carpenters are in the lower indicant word levels*.
Yet, the reality is not simply like this. For, inside each pyramid, including that of the carpenters, there are heights and depths. It is a strange world.
Now, in this scenario, if the British are setting up medical and engineering colleges, what would happen? Would the Indians develop? Well, to say Yes, would be quite silly. For, the Indians who become doctors and engineers would grow up to the heights of the social ladder. The others would simply remain where they had been earlier, and may be even go to a worse situation.
Now, they would have to keep the new Indian doctors and engineers on a pedestal of respect and they would have to belittle themselves.
This is not what India wants. What India wants is an education system that would erase the feudal, snubbing, fragmenting, and pejorative-ennobling contradictory verbal coded social system. For this what is required is an education system that would bring in English in its most glorious form.
*This can change if Indian carpenters are taken to the UK and US, as cheap labourers, like the India software coders were. Then they would be seen as the cream of Indian society
