Assignments, Spot Quizzes, Tests, and Examinations in Gurukul Education

 

Assignments, Spot Quizzes, Tests, and Examinations in Gurukul Education  

There is a school (what else can it be?) of thought among my age cohorts that trumpets that what we (yours faithfully included) learned from our grandparents as they cradled us, carried us snugly in their bosoms, or as we sat their feet that the Hindu epics truly happened. We did not get a chance to question them when we grew up. We trusted our grandparents.

Was it sage Vishwamitrar who took Raman and Lakshmanan to the forest to keep guard while the conclave of sages were performing Vedic rituals? May it be or not, it does not matter to me here. The fact is King Dasarathan gave the go ahead to the sage. This reflects precisely the Assignments in our education system. A specific portion of the syllabus–protecting the sages from the demons, and time bound, only for the duration of the ritual, six days, and seven (or five) nights, as they specify in vacation packages. Vishwamitrar, the chief sage (?) would have been a terrific copy writer for these agencies!

Lord Hanuman was asked by the demon king Ravanan, “Who are you?” How Hanuman responded, per my grandma, was, “Emissary of Lord Raman!” This was patently untrue. He was a one-man (?) reconnoitring mission sent by Raman to locate Goddess Sita. Yet, Hanuman came up with the quick response that would rile Ravanan, “A monkey questions me, me the Demon King Ravanan?”  Hanuman was ordered to be killed and you know what happened next. Spot quiz, with the most appropriate answer that gets the students the maximum mark–Hanuman accomplished what he came to do and more.

Mahabharatham (to be specific, the story that talks on Lord Krishna growing up in Gokulam) does not say the following, but I may be allowed to ad-lib here. It is not much to imagine Krishna asking his foster mother (?), “What do you see in there, inside my mouth?” This is a question suitable for a test. It is a long list that Yashoda had to have observed and committed to memory in an instant when Krishna allowed her to examine his mouth.

Isn’t this precisely what our educationists demand in the so-called Continuous Internal Assessment (CIA) in grading the students? Yes, I thought you would agree. While Yashoda was spared two more such tests in about four months, our educationists extend it over four years, in packets of four months.

The ultimate, the examination. Students are given ten days or more to prepare for writing the final examination, the culmination of the particular semester. More importantly, in addition to the so-called study holidays where most time is not spent on studying, in most institutions, perhaps including the IITs (in my UG time, there was a gap of one day between an examination in one subject and the next; in my PG days, we may have had two final examinations in two subjects in one day, morning and afternoon), there is a minimum of one day gap. This brings to my mind the classic song in the Tamil movie Sampoorna Ramayanam, Raman giving Ravanan a day of rest, and Ravanan being supremely distressed at this concession from his enemy. But students these days demand the same. Students are NOT Ravanan! That is the good news!

In Gurukul based educations, I believe the final examinations are played out in the real world, like Arjuna facing his kith and kin in the battle field. It is death staring in your face. Who would want that? Definitely not me. This is the only difference.

Raghuram Ekambaram

P. S.

This an apology to myself. 

This is the worst post, bar none, of mine. I started out quite focused and had lined up the points. But, something happened when I started typing, my mind strayed. This could be because, no excuse, whatever policy is adopted by the powers that be has within itself, severe contradictions. In all probability, I could not bridge over those and I allowed myself to be mentally tossed about.

One thing good, though, came about - I listened to C S Jayaraman's "Indru Poi Nalai Varaai" (Sampoorna Ramayanam) and the pronunciation was perfect, bringing in older Tamil (only about 70 years) with the distinctions in the various consonants and the meaning of the words. For example, "Mann MagaLL..." is not "Man MagaLL", the former meaning a girl of the soil (Sita) and the later, the one who matched my dream.

I will try my level best to avoid such a mea culpa.

Raghuram Ekambaram