From RamKumar ram The renaming of Teachers Day with Guru Utsav is not at all a simple change of name. Embedded in it is a deep shift in the way you conceive of knowledge-sharing. Guru is not a simple translation of the word teacher. Major dictionaries will tell you that the word Guru means: a religious leader or teacher in the Hindu or Sikh religion, or a religious teacher and spiritual guide in Hinduism. Similarly, Guru-Shishya Parampara is a tradition that is firmly attached to the learning of scriptures, largely in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. A most undemocratic relationship in its conception, this assumes that the Guru is the know-all, who has the role of transmitting knowledge to the disciple, who just sits, listens and absorbs uncritically. So, when you shift from Teacher to Guru, you are reducing the sphere of knowledge to just one narrow alley. The totally irrational and obscurantist assumption in Hinduism is that Guru is an intermediary between the Soul and the Supreme, and the Guru speaks on behalf of God. Critical thinking is ruled out unless one is ready to admit that God might not exist, or the scriptures could be wrong! Can knowledge grow in such one-way lanes? As a teacher, I learn so much from my students. Without them, I always feel that even my little knowledge might get stunted. That is why in modern days, teaching is not simply about transmitting knowledge in one direction. Methods of teaching have changed, and student feedback plays a major role in evaluating teachers (sometimes even in securing teachers tenures!). Modern understandings of knowledge-sharing are antithetical to the idea of Guru-Shishya Parampara. The word Guru is a gross misfit in our era, and urgently needs a dustbin.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 04:42:10 +0000
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