View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk                                                                                                                             brought to you by    CORE
                                                                                                                                                                                   provided by Defence Science Journal
      Defence Science Journal,  Vol  44, No 3, July  1994, pp 203-205
     @ 1994, DESIDOC
                                                            Remembering                        Daulat           Singh  Kothari*
                                                                                            Prem        Kirpal
                                                                    F-3,  Sujan  Singh  Park,  New  Delhi-llO                         003
           When  Dr  Krishna  of  noble  mien  and  resplendent                                              transcended  the  official                      horizons  of  cooperation
     culture  puffed  the  last  of  his  cigars  and  died  suddenly                                        between  a  funding  Ministry                             answerable  to  the
      in  the  Education            Minister's         room  in  the  North  Block                            Parliament  for  the  financing  of  higher  education  and
     where we were  meeting  for  a discussion  about  the UGC                                               an independent commission entrusted with  the choice
     Budget,  the  post  of  the  Chairman  fell  vacant  soon  after                                        of programmes and priorities.  Being a university teacher
     CD  Deshmukh  had  retired.  I had  run  to fetch  a doctor                                             for many years in Lahore,  I had learnt to value the role
     from  the  Health  Ministry                  across the  verandah,  but  the                            and functioning  of  a University  to which  Kothari  had
     medical  assistance was of no avail.  In  a few  minutes  the                                           already made notable contributions.  Together we could
     President,          Dr  Sarvepalli           Radhakrishnan               arrived        and             serve the cause of education in a way more meaningful
     sadly  we  bade  farewell                    to  the  remains  of  a  great                             than the usual relations between the Chief of a Statutory
     gentleman.  The search for  a new Chairman  started  soon,                                              Commission and a Secretary to the Government  that
     and  while  the  one  very  hopeful  candidate  was  on  his                                            appoints the Commission .
     way to  the  Prime  Minister's                   House,  Dr  Radhakrishnan                                    Simplicity  and humility  wer~ combined with  a lofty
     advised  the  Minister               to  announce  the  appointment                       of            idealism  and a rare  sense of  duty  and service in  the
     Daulat  Singh  Kotbari  who  was not in the running  among                                              person of  Kothari  who  was always greater  than  his
     several  aspirants.  The  third  Chairman  of  the  recently                                            calling  because he valued  and  respected  the  human
     constituted  University                Grants  Commission  on the  lines                                spirit,  nurtured  and reared by the University  of which
     of  the  British          model,  took  office  in  1961.  Little  was                                  Jawaharlal.  Nehru  had  written                              with      feeling         and
     known  of  Kothari                  beyond  the  scientific                  circles      of            eloquence.  He  regarded  the  University  as  truly  a
     Defence  Science  and  the  University                          of  Delhi,  but  the                    Temple  of  .Learning  to  serve  the  spirit  of  man  by
     world  of  education                welcomed  the  appointment                        of  a             knowledge,  wisdom  and the  best of  human  relations
     scholar  and  teacher  known                          and  respected  for  his                          and values. The calling of a Professor was the noblest
     learning  and  dedication  to  teaching  and research.  I had                                           a scholar could aspire to  and he regarded no. honour
     met him  earlier  in the late  fifties  at a UNESCO  General                                            higher than being a Professor. The ideal teacher gathers
     Conference  which  he  attended  as a delegate  of  India.                                              and imparts  knowledge,  attains  and reflects  wisdom,
     He  was happy  to  meet  many  well-known                              scientists  and                  maintains  openness  and  receptiveness  in  humility,
     educationists  from  several  countries,  but  did  not  take                                           approaches all life with compassion, exercises patience
     kindly  to  the  procedures  and  time-consuming                                 debates                in  hope  and  perseverance,  builds  faith  of  positive
     of  a United  Nations  Organization                        seeking  consensus  of                       outlook  and belief, strives for upsurge of creativity  and
     diverse  cultures  and  personalities.                                                                  shows the way of Love to himself and his disciples. In
           After  his  appointment                 as the  Chairman  we  met  in                             this  way he can achieve and impart  creativity  in  the
     the  North  Block  when  he called  on  the  Minister.  Soon                                            pursuit         of     excellence  and  togetherness.  Kothari
     we  developed  a friendship                      which  for  me  was  a  most                           possessed these characteristics of  the ideal  teacher in
     rewarding             experience.             Our        relationship            quickly                abundance and imparted to his disciples and friends the
                            ---
      Received 24 March 191}4
      .Reprinted  fTom IASSI Quarterly. 1992, 11(1), 217-21, with kind permission by the Author and Editor.
      @ Indian Association of Social Science Institutions.
                                                                                                                                                                                                     203
                                                                       DEF  SCI  J,  VOL  44,  NO  3,  JULY   1994
                magic of a truly  great personality that fulfilled  itself and                   addenda  and  annexules  upon  which  a  student  of
                inspired others.                                                                 education could draw for a long time to come. Kothari
                    The  following  lines  that  I  wrote  about  Sarvepalli                     delivered  his Commission's  Report  to  the  Education
                Radhakrishnan  fitted  equally  into  Kothari's  role  and                       Minister  MC  Chagla on 29th June,  1966 with  a brief
                personality:                                                                     letter  in which he expressed in the following  words his
                                                                                                 own view of Education  which permeated the work  of
                           On this Teacher's Day                                                 the Commission:
                           Which was launched in the Sixties                                          "In  a Science-based world,  education and research
                           I  hail  a great teacher                                              are  crucial  to  the  entire  development  process of  a
                           Who was always a learner ,                                            country ,  its  welfare,  progress  and  security.  It  is
                           And  imparted  his teaching                                           characteristic of a world  permeated by Science that in
                           With  love and compassion,                                            some  essential  ways  the  future  shape  of  things  is
                           Patience and Forbearance,                                             unpredictable.  This  emphasizes  the  need  for  an
                           Endless striving            .
                           For Knowledge and Wisdom .                                            educational  policy  which  contains a built-in  flexibility
                                                                                                 so  that  it  can  adjust  to  changing  circumstances.  It
                           With  faith  in Humanity                                              underscores the  importance  of  experimentation  and
                           And  Man's innate dignity!                                            innovation".
                     Kothari  believed  fervently  that  Prt..<;ation should                          Among  the  many  recommendations  of  the
                contribute  to man's innate dignity which often suffered                          Commission,  Kothari  put  special emphasis upon  the
                in  the  Indian  Society  of  traditional  hierarchy  and                        following  for  bringing  about an educational revolution
                persisting  poverty.  One  day at lunch  time  he looked                         in the country:
                out  of  the  window  of  my  room  in  the  North  Block,                        (a)   Introduction  of work -experience and social service
                viewing  a large gathering of peons and clerks relaxed                                  as integral  parts of general education at all levels
                in their frugal mid-day meals and cheerful togetherness.                                of education;
                He  said,  "I  long  for  the  day  when  Ministers  and                          (b)    Stress on  moral  education  and inculcation  of  a
                Secretaries will  join  such groups  and celebrate  their                                sense of social responsibility;
                togetherness in joyful  equality  and real humanity".
                     To such an ideal of human development the best of                            (c)   Vocationalization  of secondary education;
                his  lifework  as  Chairman  of  the  Indian  Education                           ( d)   Strengthening  of  centres of  advanced study and
                Commission was directed in true dedication and service.                                  setting up of a small number of major universities
                     The Indian  Education  Commission of  1964-66 was                               .which        shQuld  aim  at  achieving  the  highest
                a great enterprise of educational thought, organizational                                international  standards;
                structures  and new linkages of  institutions  and stages                         (e)    Special emphasis on the  training  and quality  of
                of  educational  development  suited  to  the  needs and                                 teachers for  schools;
                resources of  a new resurgent India  and the emerging                             (f)   Education  for          agriculture,      and  research  in
                horizons  of  a  World  Society  of  human  welfare  and                                agriculture  and allied sciences; and
                solidarity.  It  set up 12 Task Forces and seven Working                          (g)    Development of quality or pace-setting institutions
                Groups for different  sectors and problems of education,                                                                                        ,
                interviewed  900 persons, including  many well-known                                     at all stages and in all sectors.
                 authorities from home and abroad; travelled extensively                              The  report  of  the Education  Commission  was hailed
                 to the States of the Union  and drew upon the cultural                           as a landmark  of educational  development  in India  and
                 experiences of  many countries and regions, especially                           other       developing         countries.        At       home        its
                 in  cooperation  with  UNESCO  and  through  India's                             recommendations          got  bogged  down  in  the  vagaries  of.
                 growing  links  with  countries  such as the  USA,  the                          a system  which  was not  congenial  to  performance  and
                 USSR,  the  United              Kit1gdom  and  the  British                      implementation.        For  UNESCO,  however,  it  served  a~
                 Commonwealth,  Japan and the Asian  countries.  The                              a model  for  the  launching  in  1971 of  the  International
                 story of the Commission's work is told by JPNaik  and                            Commission  on  the  Development              of  Education  under
                 Jim  McDougal  in  a voluminous  Report,  with  bulky                            the  Chairmanship        of  Edgar  Faure.  Its  Report  entitled
                 204
                                                             KIRP  AL:  REMEMBERING              DAULA  T  SINGH  KOTHARI
            Learning  to  be-the             world  of  education            today  and               himself  who  subsequently  developed  his thought  about
            tomorrow,          influenced         educational          thinking        and            atom  and  ahimsa  expressed  briefly  under  para  1.86:
            planning  for  two  decades.                                                              " Atom      and  Ahimsa,          of  to  put  it  differently,         man's
                Kothari's        leadership        of    the     Indian      Education                knowledge  and mastery  of the outer  space and the space
           Commission  was  a  remarkable                     achievement,          made              within  his skull,  are out  of  balance.  It  is this  imbalance
           possible not only  by his vast experience  and commitment                                  which  mankind  must  seek  to  redress.  Man  now  faces
           to  education,        but  also  by  the  moral  and  intellectual                         himself.  He  faces the  choice  of  rolling  down  a nuclear
           qualities  of  a rare  human  being,  deeply  imbued  in  the                              abyss to  ruin  and  annihilation             or  of  raising  himself  to
           spirit    of  service  and  compassion,               derived       from  the              new heights of glory  and fulfilment  yet unimagined  ..."
           nature  of  science  and  the  essence  of  the  cultural                                       Kothari       drew  upon  the             Kena  Upanishad,             the
           experience  and traditions  of India.  Notable  among  many                               writings  of  the  Cambridge  Scientist,  E.  Schrodinger  ,
           who  served  the  Commission                     was  my  friend            and           and  Jawaharlal  Nehru's  Azad  Memorial                        Lecture  on
           colleague,  JP  Naik.  Naik  possesse.d immense  energy                                    'India  and  the  world'  in  expressing  his  thoughts  on  a
           and knowledge  of Education  with  a rare sense of loyalty                                challenge  and a faith.  The  writing  on 'Social,  moral  and
           and  deep  dedication               to    persons       and  causes.  As                  spiritual     values'  is  even  more  pertinent             today  than  in
           Member-Secretary            of  the  Commission  his contribution                          1966. I recall  one fine  morning  in the spring  of that  year
           to  the  enormous  task  of  steering  its  activities                      was           when Kothari  came excitedly  to my room  in North  Block
           unrivalled.      As  a specialist  he had  the  natural  tendency                         for  a drive  into  the  Central  Vista  where  we  discussed
           of  projecting       his  own  views  at  the  centre  of  recorded                       the  content        of  his  draft      and  felt  happy  with  what
           discussions  among  the  members;  it  was  necessary  to                                 emerged  after  a discussion.  I discovered  that  he escaped
           correct  this element  in the  making  of  the  Report,  which                            often  to such drives  for  fresh  thoughts  in solitude  which
           Kothari,       as  Chairman,          performed         with     great  tact,             he valued  much.
           courtesy  and  wisdom.                                                                         I  conclude  this  tribute            to  Kothari's       memory  by
                For  the speedy completion  of the Commission's  task                                recalling  briefly  the  experience  of  our  travel  together
           and its harmonious  functioning                for  mobilising  so much                   in  the  US  and  the  USSR  at  the  invitation                     of  their
           talent    in  its  deliberations,          all  credit     is  due  to  the               Governments.  We travelled  extensively,  conferred  with
           leadership  of Kothariand            the labours  of its indefatigable                    academicians            and       officials       about         cooperative
           Member-Secretary,             JP  Naik.      Respect  for  colleagues,                    programmes  in the fields  of Education  and Culture.  and
           encouragement  of workers  at all levels  and good  human                                 shared  ~he  thoughts              and  vistas  of  the  World                of
           relations  marked  the style  of  Kothari's  leadership  which                            Knowledge  in  the  two  dominant  civilizations                      of  that
           yielded  rich  dividends  in the  creative  functioning  of  the                          time.  Those  travels  were  great  adventures  of  learning
           Education  Commission  and  the  relevance  and  wisdom                                   and  of  the  discovery  that  the  Humanity                  of  the  Mind
           of  its  wide-ranging           recommendations.              To  all  who                and the Spirit  transcended  the modes,  styles and belicfs
           worked  with  him,  he was a remarkable  person  imbued                                   of  rival  systems of  Economics  and  Power-politics.                    Like
           with  human  values  that  brought  out  the  best  in  those                             a dazed child  Kothari  viewed  the treasures  o(the  Library
           associated  with  him  in  both  Science  and  Education                                  of  Congress  at Washington  and the Hermitage  Museum
           which  he served  with  rare  distinction.                                                at  Leningrad.        Among  precious  assets of  travel  were
                Among  many  pleasant  memories  and  significant                                    some beautiful  books  and pictures  given  to us as tokc!1);
           experiences  of  the  Commission's                   work,     I  recall  the             of  friendship       which  we  valued  and  cherished.  Somc
           drafting  of  the  last  few  paragraphs  of  the  first  Chapter                         abiding  spirit  of  the  child  remained  with  him  through
           entitled     -Education        and  national        objectives'.       Under              a long  span of  life.  which  endeared  him  to  all  who  had
           -Soci.11 moral  and spiritual  values"  and.  A  challenge  and                           the  good  fortune  of  experiencing                the  fellowship  of  a
           .1 f.lith"-   much  of  the  drafting           was  done  by  Kothari                    very  lovable  person .
                                                                                                                                                                                2(!5