Shankar made me smile as I slogged
It was a few days ago that I came to know there was a controversy about a cartoon in our political science textbook. Articles by scholars, professors and experts on the one hand, and views of politicians on the other enabled me to delve deeper into this ostensibly complex issue. Yet no matter how hard I try, or how philosophical I try to get, I cannot go beyond the fact that it is a humorous representation that syncs with the written text. In the sea of monotonous and factual legal and political jargon, the cartoon makes understanding of the text clear and simple. I look at the cartoon and a pleasant smile spreads across my face. It is a break from studies while actually studying. I know it sounds paradoxical, but pictorial representation can and does have this effect. Moreover it enables one to think beyond the text. If the text describes the procedures and the know-how involved in making the Constitution, the cartoon explains how it actually came into being with all its problems and drawbacks. Thus it can be said that while the text is merely theoretical, cartoons are theoretical as well as practical.
Cartoons are essential
The metaphorical representation of the snail's hump as the Constitution and B.R. Ambedkar being the driver of the snail with Nehru to assist him in his quest speaks more than pages of written material.
Using this 5x3 picture, Shankar has encapsulated the very idea of the whole chapter. It enabled me to get a better understanding of the text. Using this very image, any student can successfully deduce the role played by Nehru and Ambedkar in the making of the Constitution. Imagine what any student with reasonable intelligence would be able to do with 20 such cartoons! Though cartoons in textbooks are very rarely directly tested, their presence is essential to understand what is tested. Without their wit and approach, the whole text would seem like an incoherent and never-ending harangue. The whole idea of eliminating them is preposterous. Students would be able to do better in their exams if these cartoons remain.
Political Science used to be my favourite subject in school. I found these classes both enjoyable and enriching. The understanding of political cartoons greatly contributed to this feeling. We used to look at these pictures for a better understanding of the chapter. It never appeared that the cartoons were meant to hurt someone's feelings nor did we think that way. Neither did we feel that they were morally or politically wrong. The cartoons were simply tools for more enjoyable and meaningful learning.
I would now like to illustrate the role played by these cartoons in broadening the mindset of students. If education stands for just memorising certain facts and reproducing them in the exams, then perhaps the utility of these cartoons can be called into question. Yet their presence and understanding is essential for a more holistic and meaningful approach to education. The best thing about pictures, drawings and sketches is that they are open to subjective interpretations. Thus while for some they may represent art and beauty, others may admire their grandeur, wit and humour. It is also possible that some people may develop a negative view of these pictures. This is what has happened in this context. The argument that the cartoon in question hurts Dalit identity is neither true nor false. It is only relative. And it is the relative strength of an argument which determines its validity. The vast diversity of opinion in India makes it difficult to know which arguments are valid and which are invalid. So it has been in the ongoing controversy. There has been a difference of opinion between those who support the cartoons and those who do not. However, as a student of political science I can say that we need to form our opinion on the basis of values of democracy, freedom, diversity and creativity, which is exactly what political science as a subject teaches us.
(Ishaan Sharma is a student of Springdales School, Dhaula Kuan, New Delhi. He wrote the Class XII CBSE Board exam this year, with Political Science as one of his subjects.)
Keywords: political science, education, cartoons
Ishaan 'SHARMA' is a student of Springdales School, Dhaula Kuan, New Delhi. Ha Ha ha ha.... Never Mind but SHARMA's (Upper Caste Brahmins) are known to hate Dr. Ambedkar & laugh on even the most un-funny joke cracked on Dr. Ambedkar. So this article suits him & the education that is family has given him about Caste !!!
People who think cynically about all result -oriented things are an obstruction on the way to prosperity.The cartoon was a very funny cum intellectual representation of the the hardships faced by its creators at the initial level.So please even let our coming generation to study how to look and observe at things in a positive manner instead of opposing everything for the sake of opposition.
Finally a student's version in national newspaper. Thank you The Hindu
for that.
I think across the country irrespective of caste affiliation students
feel that way. I can speak for my collage and what my collage-mates
feel about this entire issue. They say, "This entire controversy is a
part of bigger politics of populism, perception and symbolism our
politicians resort to." This has become now trend in India that BAN
everything that you don't savor with great test. I remember, during
Iraq war in cartoons the then USA president was depicted as dog in
cartoons using UN resolutions for the business that follows human
defecation. Even British leaders were also not spared. Recent political
activities gets me afraid if our country is going to be a "Ban-o-cracy"
.I think, instead, the world's largest democracy deserves to be world's
best "dissent-o-cracy".
I read the article by Mr. Ishaan Sharma with interest. Keeping in mind the natural law
of justice, verdicts should only be proclaimed by the unaffected party, which I
presume Mr. Ishaan Sharma qualifies to be - both because of his anthropological
decent and metrocenteric standards. I am not sure if his "theory of relativity" would
have been equally incisive had he a different "unequal" surname or even if he had
hailed from a rural background. I am not surprised why he could metaphorically see
Nehru to ASSIST Ambedkar in his quest of framing the Constitution! To a dalit friend
the most astounding and insulting feature in the whole controversy was "Nehru
SLOGGING Ambedkar with a whip!" The theory of relative arguments and their
validity is good to score brawny points in a debate but in a complex, diversified,
intriguing society like ours, sensitivities need to be respected at all levels, even if
they belong to those who are surely the underprivileged and unequal in this just
land.
Dalits have the mindset that they have been whipped for centuries by upper caste people, and the whipping continues. Any representation where a Dalit is being whipped by an upper caste person will definitely hurt the sentiments.
I have not read the textbook in question. So I don't know the context of the cartoon. If today, Keshav or Surendra makes a cartoon where a Dalit is being whipped or burnt alive, and this cartoon accompanies a news item where a Dalit house is burnt by Upper Castes, then the cartoon would amuse me as being satirical. But when I see a 60 year old cartoon with such depiction and when I don't know the context, it hurts my sentiments. By the way, I read somewhere that the textbook does not talk about the delay in constitution formulation; nor does it matter now.
when i was in school i hardly knew what a dalit is, at least what it practically means...this cartoon row is nothing but a cheap trick of politics. Anyway politicians are not concerned about what we study and how we study.they ingeniously introduced grading system in india and i have no clue how much benefit its gonna provide.but we cant do much but to hold ourselves back and look at the series of events.
Amidst all the controversy and too much baseless discussion by media,I always thought some one should talk to children for whom this book was meant and take their opinion.What do they think about the cartoon and in general the entire book? Did they ever feel the same about the cartoon what politicians are claiming?
The Hindu does that today,that's true journalism, thanks The Hindu.
But We need to ponder on the way in which cartoon has shown in the book.Explanation is also not relevant as The constitution of India is the longest written constitution of any sovereign country in the world.And you can also check the time taken by other countries',if it is for the slow race of framing and constituting.
And there were attempt to make constitution before that too,all of them were failed. It was Only Dr. Ambedkar who did Almost all the related work and only after that the Constitution could declare India to be a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic, assuring its citizens of justice, equality, and liberty, and endeavours to promote fraternity among them.
It is the narrow thinking of those Indian who always try to target and tarnish the image of Dr. B R Ambedkar.But there was not even a single member in the parliament better educated than him.
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