India Post News Service
All of us have read or heard Mahatma Gandhi's ideologies myriad times. We have known that satya, swaraj and non-violence were him. The wave of Gandhigiri caught on high recently, when it became the mantra of all and sundry. But guess what, there is a man who captured a different perspective of the Gandhian philosophy much before.
He is Manish Jain, an NRI, who instilled life in education. Manish Jain is the founder and coordinator of Shikshantar in Udaipur. He is one of the original "walk-outs" having abandoned successful careers in international finance, global consulting and service in top UN agency because he believed none of these were places where he could create real change.
He is also the Chief Editor of a publication called Vimukt Shiksha meaning 'free education', involved in developing learning systems that uses full potential of human beings. Shikshantar is a not for profit movement founded to challenge the culture of schooling and institutions of thought- control in India and beyond. It is committed to creating spaces where individuals and communities can become part of a common discourse.
He baffles you when he holds that day to day school education is no good. While governments all around the world are stressing on education for all, his idea is demarcated. Jain feels that factory- schooling and literacy are suppressing many diverse forms of human learning, relationships and expression. The project in India is all for youth.
Those who have left school and are engaged in meaningful pursuits of livelihood based on values and convictions. The NGO explores the reasons that shaped their decision to free themselves from school education. Their struggle and confusion, their perceptions and the choices that lead to their current situation matter to him.
Tracing his roots one gets to know that he got involved in activism in the 1980s, during college days. Although at that time Jain focused on campus issues related to personal and institutional racism. Afterwards he spent years trying to unlearn his Master's degree in Education from Harvard University, and a B.A. in Economics, International Relations and Political Philosophy from Brown University.
His life was all about jumping from one belly of the beast to another. Jain dabbled with Ministry of Education, NGOs, Wall Street- all big power structures of the world which he tried changing from within. But soon he realized that the game was bigger than just a few 'bad apples'. It was at this time that he came across an often neglected piece by Gandhi called Hind Swaraj. In this Mahatma explores the real purpose of the freedom struggle.
"Gandhi's insights gave me space to transcend false polarizing and debates of capitalism vs. communism, Left vs. Right, East vs. West etc. Since then I have been trying to figure out what swaraj means today in terms of my life in Udaipur. Now I experiment with organic farming, self-healing, community media and physical vocations which are alternatives for not depending on institutions," says Manish Jain.
Surprisingly in Shikshantar, for over seven years they have never asked for a qualification from their team members. He and his wife Shilpa Jain have learnt that degrees can never get you through to a person's talent or wisdom. Instead to a certain extent institutions kill curiosity, creativity and validate monoculture. Interestingly, he strives to teach every participant what they want to learn.
For instance, Naveen Bhushan, a school drop-out, had an ambition to be a film-maker. He had stopped studying as he wasn't keen on academics. Bhushan joined Shikshantar, learnt the art and is today making documentary films.
Writing this column, I was often astonished by the efforts of many NRIs that turned activists and other activists that are NRIs. Always it was their emotional bond with India or the belief in doing good which made them dare. This is where Manish Jain stands apart. In working out an extraordinary ideology.
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